Making perfume at home can sometimes feel a little overwhelming. With things like top/middle/base fragrance notes, should you use alcohol, if so, which kind…and it goes on and on. I just want something quick and easy to throw together, that doesn’t require a lot of overthinking on fragrance notes, uses ingredients I have on hand, and smells amazing. If you’re an oil user, you most likely have everything on hand for making simple perfume recipes. If not, below is a list of what you need.
Making your own perfume is cheaper than buying perfume, you can customize the scents to your liking and you can feel good knowing there are no bad-for-you chemicals in it. These are perfect gifts to make and give for Mother’s Day, bridesmaids gifts, or bridal shower favors.
Supplies for Making Perfume:
- glass bottles: I get most of my bottles from Amazon, you can find ones we like here. The geometric glass spray bottle can be found here.
- essential oils: I am a big fan of Young Living oils, you can find out more about that here
- fractionated coconut oil
- witch hazel: use one with alcohol in it, I usually just use generic brands
- I used vinyl sticker letters to label the black roller bottle
I prefer to use roller bottles over spray bottles, I just feel like the scent is more concentrated when rolled on. If you’re only using roller bottles, you won’t need witch hazel. And if you’re only doing spray bottles, you won’t need fractionated coconut oil.
Once you have your supplies, you are ready to start making! Perfume scents are personal, and everyone has their own preference. I like woodsy, earthy scents over floral. If you’re not sure if scents will go together, open the oil bottles and hold them next to each other to smell and see what you think.
I’ve listed a few recipes below that I’m currently loving, but again, it’s personal preference and you should mix and match to your liking. I prefer to make smaller amounts so that they are used up more quickly and I can try out new scent combinations (these small roller bottles are perfect for that). But I also have about a dozen different bottles made up at one time, so I’m constantly switching between them – haa!
I usually have success loosely following this combination of scents:
- -floral (use the least amount of drops)
- -citrus (somewhere in between the other two for number of drops)
- -woodsy/earthy (use the most drops)
Simple Perfume Recipes
Recipe amounts may need to be adjusted depending on bottle size you are using
ONE
(this is in the geo spray bottle and is clear-ish)
-frankincense – 15 drops
-cardamom – 10 drops
-royal hawaiian sandalwood – 5 drops
Add essential oils to bottle. Top with fractionated coconut oil if it’s in a roller bottle or with witch hazel (I fill bottle about 3/4 full when using witch hazel, not all the way to the top) if it’s in a spray bottle. Shake gently a couple times before applying.
TWO
-northern lights black spruce – 15 drops
-white angelica – 7 drops
Add essential oils to bottle. Top with fractionated coconut oil if it’s in a roller bottle or with witch hazel (I fill bottle about 3/4 full when using witch hazel, not all the way to the top) if it’s in a spray bottle. Shake gently a couple times before applying.
THREE
-valor (this creates the blue color) – 8 drops
-bergamot – 6 drops
-frankincense – 4 drops
-sacred mountain – 4 drops
-joy – 2 drops
Add essential oils to bottle. Top with fractionated coconut oil if it’s in a roller bottle or with witch hazel (I fill bottle about 3/4 full when using witch hazel, not all the way to the top) if it’s in a spray bottle. Shake gently a couple times before applying.
Hopefully those tips/simple recipes are enough to get you started in creating your own scents! You can follow my wellness Instagram account for more tips and ideas on this – @essentiallylivewell. If you’re looking for more fun beauty products to make at home, you can see more of our DIY beauty recipes here!
-Manda