Make Perfume

Now that you have made a decision to produce your own perfume, whether to earn an extra income or just as a hobby, you will need to start looking for places where you can get your supplies from.  So in this chapter of the book we will look at ways of getting the necessary supplies in order for you to make your own perfume.

1. First, you will need to choose a formulation or perfume recipe.  The reasons perfumes differ is down to the formulation or recipe that has been used, and in order for you to produce a perfume that people will like, it is necessary to choose a good recipe or formulation.
   It is very important that you decide what kind of perfume it is you want to make, and then read through the description of a particular recipe, to see if it will produce the desired result you are looking for.
2. Next, you will need to look at essential and fragrance oils that are available.  As these are one of the major ingredients in the making of perfumes, it is important that you choose ones which are of a good quality.  The better quality oils you use, the better quality your finished product will be.
   The oils used will establish the perfume’s inherent attributes, like mood, quality and character.  What you should remember, however, is that essential oils are much more expensive than fragrance oils. When first starting out, it may be wise to just use fragrance oils only to save on money until you’ve become more skilled. 
   Also it is important that you learn about, and understand, the health risks which are associated with essential and fragrance oils.  There may be some formulations or recipes which could cause health problems if the oils included in them are used incorrectly.
3. Any perfume made today is not made with fragrance or essential oils alone, and alcohol is also used as the primary solvent (helps to reduce the strength of the oils).
4. When making any home made perfume, it is important that you use the right materials for not just measuring, but for handling, mixing and storing the finished product in.
   Do not use utensils you already have in your kitchen (ones for measuring water or food items), as they are not suitable for measuring fragrance oils, alcohol and other such solutions that are required to make perfume.  It is better that you use measuring devices that allow you to exactly measure out the amounts of oils and solvents required.  If you do not, the perfume you make may not be what you wanted. It is best if you use measuring devices made from glass so that you can see what is inside and when handling any formulas (i.e., transferring them to storage bottles or other containers), then use a funnel with a narrow long neck.
5. Fixatives are used with the other ingredients in order to lower the rate of evaporation of the fragrance or essential oils.  The reason why a perfume may lose its fragrance faster than normal is because only a little amount of fixative was used when preparing the perfume.

Now that you know what supplies you need to use to make perfume, you need to know where to get them.  You may be able to get them from a shop in your area. You could also go online, as there are plenty of places which sell perfume kits. Simply do a search for “perfume kits”, and you will soon see what is available.