Mix Master Having Fun Making Your Own Special Scent

Mix Master- Having Fun making your own Special Scent

Creating your own special scent can be a way of personalizing a fragrance and making it truly your own. One of the greatest advantages of creating your own perfume is that you allow it to maintain its true essence and you are guaranteed that you are getting the real thing. It is not about fancy bottles but about how your special scent can have an effect on your moods, thoughts, ideas and memories. If reducing your stress load, perking yourself up, make yourself feel more joyful or getting you into a sexier state of mind is what you desire than creating your own special signature scent is just what the doctor ordered! Making your own fragrance is not a difficult process nor is it expensive. Most ingredients you would need to mix up your special concoction can be purchased at a health food store or drugstore.

Before you do anything else you must make a decision about how strong a scent you wish to make. Are you going for heavy or light? Bear in mind that perfumes are the strongest as they contain 15 to 30 percent essential oils, diluted in a base of 70 to 85 percent of alcohol and at least 5 percent of distilled or spring water. Toilet waters tend to be less strong and consist of 5 to 10 percent essential oils while body splashes and colognes have the least at 1 to 2 percent. For the alcohol to be used, 100-proof vodka is the best or else 95 percent grain alcohol (190-proof). Fixatives are needed to give the fragrance a long shelf life. The definition of fixatives is, "ingredients added to a composition to lend their own unique scent and to "˜fix' the other ingredients as well, retarding their overall rate of evaporation."� Some of the most popular fixatives include balsam of Peru, benzoin, myrrh, sandalwood and vanilla. The most commonly used fixatives for creams, lotions, oils and bath blends include castor oil, grape seed oil, tincture of benzoin and Vitamin E gel cap liquid. If you would like to add a splash of color to your special scent then use a natural, vegetable food dye of the highest quality.

The materials you will need to gather together to make your own perfume include your favorite essential oils, whether they be lavender, rose, sandalwood, etc., fixatives of your choice (examples as previously mentioned are myrrh, sandalwood or vanilla), alcohol, eyedropper, small bottles, jars and vials and a notebook to record the exact amounts of essential oils you use in your perfume recipe.

Things to keep in mind when making your own special scent are glass containers and jars are fine for preparing your scent but avoid them for storing it as the sun has a way of distorting the aroma. If you plan to make a number of perfume blends, always name, record and date each one. After you add a new essential oil to the recipe take the time to smell it in order to determine if it is what you want. Always clean the eyedropper with a bit of alcohol between each new addition of essential oils. Just like fine wine, perfume gets better with age so remember to age your concoction for a couple of days or even weeks in order to smooth it out and settle the scent. Keep it stored in a cool, dark, dry area.

The process is very simple for making your own special scent. First you need to take the essential oil concentrate of your choice and add it to the alcohol, stirring slowly but for long enough that the oils are able to disperse in the mixture. Once you have done that allow the recipe to stand for a period of 48 hours. Once the 48 hours have passed add 2 tablespoons of distilled (or spring) water to the mixture and then stir it slowly but as thoroughly as possible. The longer you let your perfume stand the stronger it will become. If you want a strong perfume and not cologne then let it stand for as long as 4 to 6 weeks (this is known as a curing or maturation time). If your mixture becomes too strong for your liking then the solution is to add more water to dilute it further. The final step after the mixture has cured is to carefully pour it through a coffee filter (to avoid any sediment destroying the perfume) and into a bottle. And now you have your own special scent!