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Making your own perfumes from your garden

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Topic by Bob posted 1092 days ago 1802 views 0 times favorited 12 replies Add to Favorites Watch
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Bob

1427 posts in 1518 days
hardiness zone 3b

1092 days ago

Topic tags/keywords: resource

I thought this may be of interest to you ladies as the flowering season is just about upon us and our gardens present a wonderful bouquet that can be captured and kept for the rest of the year very easily.

Here’s a basic how to do it method:

With perfumes seemingly getting more expensive by the bottle, it’s not surprising that many people are turning to making the stuff at home. Consider that your favorite designer perfume or cologne can run over 100 dollars, and that will probably be enough to convince you to at least contemplate the possibilities of producing your own unique scent. The process isn’t as daunting as you might think: here’s a quick primer on what it takes to make perfume yourself.

1. First, you have to understand exactly what goes into each batch of high quality perfume. Though these measurements aren’t exact, they give you a basic idea of what is necessary. Here’s the formula: approximately 25 essential oil, 70 grain alcohol (think vodka), and 5 bottled spring water. Essential oil is usually found in health stores, or alternatively, in craft stores.

2. Some experimentation is needed to produce the scent that appeals most to you. The most important factor that will determine what your perfume smells like is the choice of essential oil. A well stocked store will have a variety of options, so choose a couple of bottles that sound and smell appealing, and make that your base. Mix ¼ cup of your grain alcohol with approximately 5 drops of the essential oil, and set the mixture aside. The longer you wait, the more powerful your perfume will be. That said, make sure you wait at least 2 days if you’re looking for something that won’t smell like straight alcohol.

3. Now that you’ve made your first simple batch of perfume, you’re ready to start combining scents to make your own signature perfume. This is where the process becomes individualized, and where you’ll have the chance to showcase your creative and imaginative prowess.

4. Understand the basic chemistry behind creating fragrances. Base notes are the compounds that will stay on your skin for the longest. These oils include common scents such as sandalwood, vanilla, and cinnamon. Next come middle notes, a group that includes geranium, ylang ylang, and lemongrass. Finally, top notes add a powerful punch to the fragrance, but don’t last quite as long as the other two kinds of notes. These top notes include jasmine, rose, and lavender, among many others.

5. If you’re not the adventurous type, you can search out different recipes for perfume on line. There are many different sites that will give you ideas that you can follow to a letter, or else morph into your own specialty perfume.

Making perfume at home is fun, and a much more economical alternative to purchasing fragrances in a department or specialty store. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to find a scent that will make you stand out. Experiment with different scents in the privacy and comfort of your own home, and soon you’ll have a signature scent that will make you stand out from the crowd. It’s possible that you’ll even create a scent so wonderful that others will look to you for shaping their unique fragrance!
How you smell is just as important as how you look. In fact sometimes it can be more important. Smell has a way of effecting people in ways looks never could.

http://articles.directorym.net/How_To_Make_Perfume-a993483.html

-- I want to believe in a lot of things but, in the meantime I have to deal with the truth



View PrettyCurious's profile

PrettyCurious

76 posts in 1096 days
hardiness zone 5

1092 days ago

Intresting. Thanks for posting this.

-- ~ Michigan, zone=Cold! aka: DHG's Wife

View Russel's profile

Russel

74 posts in 1325 days

1092 days ago

”soon you’ll have a signature scent that will make you stand out from the crowd”

Heck, I don’t need perfume for that!

”Smell has a way of effecting people in ways looks never could.”

You got that right!

-- Everyone needs someone irrationally committed to their future.

View Bob's profile

Bob

1427 posts in 1518 days
hardiness zone 3b

1092 days ago

Yeah Russel, phermones are for real and many scent are triggers for emotional respones.
Fresh bread is one while rose petals generally elicit a completely different response.

Then of course there’s that problem of smelling tired. <g>

Bob

-- I want to believe in a lot of things but, in the meantime I have to deal with the truth

View Bon's profile

Bon

7057 posts in 1550 days
hardiness zone 5a

1092 days ago

Sounds like fun Bob.Wish I wasn’t so lazy I would give it a try.(lol)

-- Bon,Hastings,Ont.....zone 5a....Always room for one more

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Bob

1427 posts in 1518 days
hardiness zone 3b

1092 days ago

Bon you can have some good fune with lavender and rose petal even if your don’t make a tea out of them.
Just toss em in an old sock and into your intimate drawer. Presto! A bit of summer in January.

-- I want to believe in a lot of things but, in the meantime I have to deal with the truth

View GrandmaT's profile

GrandmaT

5387 posts in 1648 days
hardiness zone 9

1092 days ago

Russel … I don’t know about you … some days we can dress ya up … just can’t take ya out!!! hahahaha!!!

Wonder what the “combo” is of Polo Black … like my man smelling of that!! ;-) Actually Bob it could be fun trying to come up with “your special scent” ... might have to re-read this as summer progresses.

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" --

View Bob's profile

Bob

1427 posts in 1518 days
hardiness zone 3b

1091 days ago

GT. I don’t know a lot about the combos for blending aromas. I did some work with Givaudan regarding flavours and had to adjust the topnotes on some to please the nose but that’s just a scratch on the surface compared to what these boys can make.
Come to think of it we did make an awfully good Norwegian pine scent for artificial trees about 20 years ago.

Polo black eh. H,mmm. could be his skin reacting too you know.

Bob

-- I want to believe in a lot of things but, in the meantime I have to deal with the truth

View GrandmaT's profile

GrandmaT

5387 posts in 1648 days
hardiness zone 9

1091 days ago

yah, I do know a person’s chemistry will react with certain scents … why one perfume/cologne smells good on one person, but not another. And then of course there is individual taste and what smells good to each of us.
Just happen to love that Polo Black on Russel … what can I say … ;-)

Man, Bob you seem like you have done so much fascinating work in your past … you would be one of those fascinating people I would like to sit around a dinner table with and hear their “stories”. :-)

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" --

View Bob's profile

Bob

1427 posts in 1518 days
hardiness zone 3b

1091 days ago

I doubt that my checkered past is very fascinating Grandma T.
I have worn many hats since I left University back in 1964.
Each path seemed to open a door to another opportunity and now in my declining years I have the time to indulge myself in these creative interests and use parts of my experience to weave my way through some of this gardening and woodworking stuff stuff.

Cheers

Bob

-- I want to believe in a lot of things but, in the meantime I have to deal with the truth

View mario1360's profile

mario1360

921 posts in 1185 days
hardiness zone 5a

1091 days ago

vodka, vanilla, cinnamon, no thanks , all my alcoolic friends will want to lick my neck!!!!!lol…

-- south shore montreal, zone 5a, whish it was 9

View Bob's profile

Bob

1427 posts in 1518 days
hardiness zone 3b

1091 days ago

I have the same problem Mario. ( hold the vanilla, hold the cinnamon) ;-)

I just hate the part where they start crying and telling me I’m their only friend in the whole world and then they puke and go to sleep on the bathroom floor. <g>
I now have a 2 drink limit at my place… one for them and one for me period.

Bob

-- I want to believe in a lot of things but, in the meantime I have to deal with the truth

View GrandmaT's profile

GrandmaT

5387 posts in 1648 days
hardiness zone 9

1091 days ago

Okay laughed at the “licking of necks”—you guys are hysterical!!!!

-- "A beautiful garden is a work of heart" --

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