That said, start with your carrier oil (and alcohol, if you so choose) and add in your notes, one by one. It’s best to start from the ground up with perfume, Blankenship notes, so you’ll want to add your base notes first, then your middles, then top it off. In terms of measurements, it depends on how much fragrance you want to make or how big your container is. Just make sure the majority of the formula is the carrier oil and not the essential oils, as high levels can cause a potential for irritation. “A good ratio is 80% carrier oil to 20% essential oils. This can easily be measured by 80 drops of oil to 20 drops of essential oil,” Plescia explains. You may also want to start with fewer drops and work your way up. As with most DIY projects, you can always add more, but you can’t exactly remove ingredients from the mixture. That’s where your watercolor paper comes in: Blankenship recommends dipping strips of paper into the mixture to smell each time you add ingredients. “Take the time to really make sure it’s going where you want it to go,” she says. A final note: This DIY recipe is for a spray perfume, but a solid version is just as simple, says Tina Hedges, product formulator and founder of LOLI Beauty. All you’ll need to do is melt your carrier oil with some beeswax (or sunflower seed wax, for a vegan option) over a double boiler, then remove from the heat before adding in your essential oil blend one at a time. Pour the mixture into a container to set for several hours. Once fully cooled, you’ll have a solid perfume to dab onto your pulse points. But you may need to re-spritz throughout the day: “A true citrus accord does not have too many middle or base notes and thus does not last very long,” says Plescia. “However, citrus blends very well with herbal, floral, or spicy notes. Try blending citrus with lavender or even clove to extend the olfactory experience and add some interest and complexity!” “For example,” she says, “ylang ylang is often very fragrant, with slightly fruity and heavy tonality. However, to enhance your floral accord, use top notes such as citrus or blend with woody notes to add additional depth.” The key here (as with citrus) is to make sure your base notes add depth but not too much that they overpower the more delicate notes of the perfume. Of course, if you are using new essential oils, you’ll always want to do a patch test before spritzing—an irritating reaction from your fragrance is not so glam. But otherwise, it’s a pretty painless process: “You just need the ingredients, a vision, and plenty of time to experiment,” says Blankenship. Trust your nose, and soon you’ll have a scent that suits only you.
