But all is not lost!  I’ve had offers over the last couple years to buy the site & books (theperfumereport.com, not this blog), and I am really willing to sell to the right buyer.  You can read more here:

http://www.theperfumereport.com

I will continue to blog here and run this site, and take bath bomb mold orders.  (Speaking of, I will send out a notice soon — just got the new supplies straightened out, FINALLY.)

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• My “Aphrodisiac Scents” report I did for members on Valentines Day 2009, covering what are reputed to be sensual fragrances, and what current research has to say about the scent-sex connection
• Really good and hard to find perfumery textbooks!
• Great sites for finding rare absolutes, CO2s, and essential oils at decent prices (still expensive, though, perfumery is not a cheap hobby)
• And more, as I find it

I assume that you have some experience in making perfume. If you are a total beginner, read some of the perfuming articles on this site.

Just fill out the form below, click the confirmation email, and you’ll be sent a link to the page, with the password.

Even organic essential oils have an impact.

How can they not?  They’re still grown on farms.  Any human activity on the planet will have some kind of effect, and thinking that using organic and natural products don’t have an impact is not realistic.  It will still have an impact, but one that may not be as harmful.  “Wild crafted” essential oils are those made from non-farmed natural sources, but there are concerns that this practice will endanger plants, as no cultivation efforts will replace them.

I’m not an expert on aromatherapy or essential oils, other than using them for their scent properties, but here is a more in-depth look at this issue from someone more knowledgeable.

Synthetic musks.

One of the biggest questions is the effect of synthetic musks.  Natural musks, which have to be cruelly harvested from animals, have been banned since the 60′s, so the only other alternatives are expensive musk-like plants, which can get close but lack that animal quality, or lab-made fragrance.

Musks are used in just about everything scented, and there are a lot of synthetic musks in drinking water, lakes and streams, fish, human blood, breast milk, and other disquieting places.  No one knows if musks are carcinogenic in humans or not, or if they are a real threat to the environment, but it is well worth thinking about.

http://www.mindfully.org/Pesticide/Synthetic-Musk-Risks24mar99.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_musk

Phthalates & Children

One of the recent concerns is children’s exposure to phthalates — present not just in fragrance, but many other products.  Children absorb more than adults, and the potential consequences are disturbind.  Phthalates may disrupt endocrine function, especially in boys, and lead to lower fertility in adulthood.  Phthalates in fragrance is the tip of the iceberg, but many baby products, such as powders, lotions, and shampoos, do contain it.

I have never advocated the use of any of these products, and when people ask me how to make them, I say, “Don’t.”  Scented products are fun to use, but you just never know when it comes to children.  Use plain, unscented products with minimal preservatives and no fragrance in leave-on products such as baby powder and lotion — not even essential oils.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/latest/phthalates-47020418

http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/NEWSCIENCE/oncompounds/phthalates/phthalates.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalate#Health_effects

I have a son (now 2) and, while I do take potential risks seriously, I cannot stand articles such as, “What’s Turning Our Boys Into Girls?”  Such pieces of “journalism” only make the problem seem ridiculous because of the unsoundness of the writing!  Please beware of people looking to turn this into sensational news pieces, but do look for reasonable information to help you make up your own mind.

Plus, plastic is not excellent!  Who likes to use cheap, disposable junk?  Most of the plastic I have is either recycled or vintage, like my son’s toys.

What threat do you pose as an individual “manufacturer?”

The worst offenders aren’t scented bath and body product and perfume, but the more common stuff used in greater quantities — laundry detergent, especially dryer sheets, cleaning products, hair care products, dish detergent, and things like that.  Those are always heavily scented, often to cover up the bad odors of other ingredients.

If you’re concerned about the environmental and health effects of making personal care products, but you don’t want to completely stop your hobby, consider changing to all-unscented household products, such as your kitchen and bathroom sprays, laundry products, and dish soaps.

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But those things can be said of any do-it-yourself project. The real question is: what makes perfume in particular such a great thing to make?

Most people’s ideas just stay in their heads.

Most people never act on their ideas. Whether they’re ideas for a business, painting a room, a short story, an article of clothing, or just a simple scarf, most people just talk about what they want to do someday “when they have time.” In my experience, most of those projects never become physical reality. Even the most hard-core among my friends only finish a small percentage of the projects on their lists.

Perfume is one of those things that most people would never dream they could make themselves. Much of this is industry mystique; after all, the delicate bottles, flashy packaging, and exotic titles all conspire to elevate this particular product into the realm of fantasy. It seems too glamorous for us mere mortals.

In reality, perfume is easier than knitting.

But anyone who wants to can make perfume. In fact, it’s much easier than knitting or sewing, which requires a lot of physical dexterity, practice, and learning before you can turn out anything remotely good.  Most of the steps to sew something require some specialized knowledge – if you know how to sew a seam, it doesn’t mean you know how to alter a pattern to fit. If you know how to use a sewing machine, it doesn’t mean you can sew well by hand.

It requires a lot of practice before you can master all the basic skills needed to sew an easy pair of PJ’s! I clearly remember my frustration when I first started sewing, and a pillow case came out bad.

But perfume only requires a small amount of physical and technical ability.

It’s a relatively short path between wondering if you can blend anise and grapefruit (you can, it’s pretty cool) and actually doing it. There are no physical skills you need to make that happen except being able to eyeball measurements and handle small bottles.

I’m not saying that perfuming takes no skill, but it’s creative ability. Obviously, there is some design work involved, but it takes place in your imagination. Once you have the clear idea, you can easily make it. It’s more like mixing a paint color than making a painting. You get the ingredients, and you just mix them together – no additional steps between your imagination and your fragrance. In a relatively short amount of time, you’ll be looking at your own unique perfume creation. (Whether it’s pleasing or not is another story…)

The only technical information you need is the basics on what makes a professional-quality perfume. Even industry perfumers don’t know chemistry; you shouldn’t worry about that either.

And if you need help in the organization department, I have some printable fragrance formula sheets so you can quickly write down your perfume experiments in an easy to read format.

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The fragrance formula sheets come in four varieties: full page, color; full page, grayscale; half page, color; and half page, grayscale. I usually store mine on a clipboard when I’m using them, and then put them in a binder when I’m done with the project.

Full Page Sheets

Full Page in gray.

Full Page in lavender.

Half Page in gray.

Half Page in lavender.

Two things I know about you.

I probably don’t know you personally, but I’m pretty sure of two things about you. You like to make stuff, and you don’t have enough time to make everything you want. That describes just about every do-it-yourselfer I’ve encountered, myself included!

If I asked you – or any of the DIY-ers I know – if they would rather get stuff done faster or slower, most of them would say, “Faster, of course.” If I asked them what was more important, the hours they put into knitting a sweater, or having the finished product, many (though not all) would say that the finished sweater was more important than the hours. (That’s why we like to finish our projects.)

This is a roundabout introduction to the concept that perfumes don’t have to be super-complicated to be good. They don’t have to require months of development. Some of them even happen by accident!

Some of the designer scents on the market have hundreds of components, witches’ brews of synthetic and natural ingredients that would scare off anyone if they were required to list the formula on the label!

But some of them are only 8 components, carefully balanced. Now that you can handle!

Even more important than the number of components is…

But even more important than the number of components is your idea. If you have a clear vision of what kind of perfume you want to create, your solution-seeking mechanism will kick in. Your fragrance idea is what makes a perfume great, however you can make it happen. As a real life example from The Emperor of Scent:

Dior created Diorissimo out of ambergris (yes, the whale vomit) and a cheap Miss Dior knockoff, discovered in someone’s bathroom soap. The man, a perfume ingredient buyer, had been handling ambergris and washed his hands with the Miss Dior knockoff soap before getting on a plane. He smelled his hands, and it was exactly what he had been looking for. It only took two ingredients and thirty seconds, and no amount of tinkering in the lab could have yielded it.

Trust in your own ideas and solutions.

If you’ve been through the educational thought-control mill… sorry, I mean school, then you know that people aren’t encouraged to be creative past elementary school. Unless we have extraordinary teachers, our creativity and problem-solving abilities get squashed when we “just try to get A’s” (or B’s and C’s, in my case.)

Original thought is swept aside in favor of memorization and regurgitation, and only two kinds of intelligence, verbal and mathematical, are tested. If you’re not good at either of those things, you might go through your childhood and early adulthood “knowing” that you aren’t smart. That your ideas aren’t any good, especially if they come easily. “That can’t be a good idea because it came from me!” says the little voice in our heads.

Great works of art start in the mind. Often, the idea comes in an instant, like a bolt of lightning. After that, the implementation of the idea – the mechanical problem solving – is what takes up your time and energy.

What matters is that you (or your customers) like your perfumes.

I can tell you that everyone who bought Diorissimo didn’t care that it was discovered in 30 seconds, or that it was made from a cheapola knockoff. Perfume customers only care that they like the scent.

When you make perfume, perhaps you should keep the story of Diorissimo in mind. The only thing that matters is that you like it. If it’s just lavender absolute plus d-limonene, so what? If it smells great, it is great!

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The first project in my ebook is making a designer duplication perfume. Most major, popular perfumes are available for the “knocking off,” and the duplications are incredibly accurate, given that they only cost about 10% as much as retail. I give instructions on how to do this for several reasons:

1. It is so easy that anyone can do it as a way to get started. If you follow my directions and sequential photos, it is very difficult to screw up.
2. It gives people, especially beginners, confidence – many people have written after they tried it to say how fun it is to make “real perfume.”
3. It’s not expensive, unlike working with essential oils and absolutes. No one has to worry about wasting precious materials.

Many people are curious about how the designer duplications can be so good. So, I have finally gotten around to writing about it.

Historically, designer perfume duplications haven’t been that great.

The knock-off market is nothing new! Counterfeiting and duplications are a part of the art and fashion market. It’s not always illegal or black market stuff, either. Most of us can’t afford a Picasso, but we can certainly afford a nice reprint from an art poster shop! (And it’s probably less stress – I can’t imagine having a peaceful nights’ rest with a masterpiece in the house and three cats, one of whom is nicknamed “Wrecko.”)

You may remember Designer Impostors from the 80′s and 90′s: “If you like Obsession, you’ll like Compulsion,” etc. Well, Compulsion may have been in the right ballpark – the same general fragrance family – but it wasn’t that accurate. This is because, just like computers, the technology has really matured. They were using the equivalent of an old Pentium 35 laptop to recreate their duplications.

Matured technology makes it possible.

Now, there are machines where you can analyze a sample of anything, even if it’s incredibly delicate and subtle. The air around the sample, which contains the scent, is sucked up. Using sensitive gas chomatography and other methods, including human judgment, scent scientists can use the profile returned by the machine.

Whether the scent is snow, fresh-squeezed orange juice, new apple blossoms, or the latest expensive fragrance creation from House of Creed, it is possible to get quite close to the original. Like all things, there is some variation. If you make a lot of duplications, you’ll get a few misses. But most of them – especially the most popular – are so accurate that most people can’t tell the difference.

Can you recreate a designer formula from scratch?

Anything is possible, I tell people, but I believe that your time is better spent creating original blends. Designer duplications are just the beginning, and why spend your precious “making stuff” time reinventing the wheel? (Hey, it’s a cliche because there’s a lot of truth to the phrase.) The truth is, I don’t think you can get accurate duplications without technological assistance. At least, it would take you a very long time!

During that time, you could be blending your own scents that you like better. And the cost of the machines is about what you’d pay for an electron microscope. Not in the range of most people’s household budgets.

Instead, I encourage people to leverage the existing designer duplications and use them to further their perfume making abilities.

Pure ethanol instead of vodka. Pure ethanol makes a great solvent for even the most resinous oils. It is what all commercial perfumes are made with, except some boutique brands that make roll-on oil or solid perfume. If you live in a state where you can get 180-proof Everclear, then you can experiment with it and see how much better it works than vodka.

The only problem with Everclear is that you can’t sell perfumes made with it. You also cannot get it in half the US states. If you want to sell your perfume, you must get perfumer’s alcohol, which is alcohol made undrinkable with additives such as Bitrex (extremely bitter but no odor) or methanol.

You can get perfumer’s alcohol from Snowdrift Farm, a supplier for the bath and body and perfume industry. There aren’t many places that sell perfumer’s alcohol due to special licensing requirements, but that is one of them.

Rose absolute sample - powerful even in small amounts.

Different fragrance materials, not just essential oils. There are many more fragrance materials available, not just essential oils. If you only use essential oils, you limit your perfume blending possibilities. It’s like wanting to paint a mural, but only having red and yellow paint!

There are also absolutes, fragrance oils, and isolated aromachemicals, all supplying scents that can’t be produced with essential oils. Some plants are too delicate to be pressed or distilled; making an essential oil out of them is impossible. Jasmine is one of these plants. Absolutes are stronger and smell truer to the plant than essential oils, and are used extensively in perfumery.

Fragrance oils, despite what you may have heard, aren’t cheap substitutes for essential oils. They are a completely different spectrum of scent, containing both essential oils and synthetic aromachemicals. Fragrance oils give you access to scents that you can’t get naturally, such as strawberry, peach, and watermelon.

Aromachemicals are isolated scent molecules that are either synthetically produced or refined from plant sources. For example, the compound vanillin is what gives vanilla its characteristic odor and flavor. Artificial vanilla flavor is usually pure synthetic vanillin. Natural vanilla has many more compounds than just vanillin, which is why it tastes better!

Strawberry fragrance oil, one of the most sought-after scents in the cosmetic and fragrance industry, is a combination of strawberry aldehyde (Ethyl methylphenylglycidate) and other compounds to round out the scent. Strawberry Kisses (and also Pear Glace) from Victoria’s Secret? Chemical.

The use of fixatives. Remember when I described the problem of extracts vanishing too fast? Fixatives are a way to help make fragrances last longer. They are natural or synthetic substances that enhance scent and slow down the evaporation of scents that tend to disappear.

Why do fixatives work? No one knows for sure, and a few perfumers think that the use of fixatives doesn’t actually do anything for the longevity and strength of a blend.  You’ll have to do your own trial and error to find out what works for you.

A common theory is that they are very high in scent molecule count, often with no distinct odor of their own. For example, musk can enhance the scent and make its perceived strength stronger. It only takes a small amount for a big effect – with effective use of musk, you won’t smell it, but the entire perfume will last longer and smell stronger. (Musks have been synthetic since the 1970s due to cruelty and endangerment laws.) Plant fixatives include many resinous, sticky oils and absolutes like benzoin and orris. They have an earthy scent that “deepens” a blend.

Professional materials are more expensive and harder to use, but worth it!

As you can probably tell, using the professional methods are not much more difficult than what you’ve tried already. A little change of materials, and you will get a better end result. However, I must say that the techniques given here are more expensive than the home-brewed. They require the use of specialized, more costly materials.

Using perfumer’s alcohol and absolutes are only for people who are somewhat serious about perfume, but it is a fun, fascinating activity. It is definitely possible to get started cost-effectively; you don’t need to shell out hundreds of dollars worth of absolutes.

The sample vial of rose absolute only cost $2 and made a strong 1/3 ounce of toilette spray. You can certainly experiment with samples of many precious botanicals for $2 – $4 each (unless they’re really rare) and about $12 worth of perfumer’s alcohol. If you are truly interested, my perfume ebook guides you through the process with step-by-step photos.

(Actually, amateur simply means “for love.” It has no bearing on the quality of your product, but that’s a discussion for another day.  For the purposes of this article, amateur means “beginner.”)

Vodka and essential oils. This can make a nice toilette water or linen spray, but it is not perfume. Perfume has at least 15% aromatic materials, usually higher. Using vodka, you can only achieve around 5%, sometimes not even that much with denser oils. (Essential oils are only one kind of aromatic materials, by the way.)

Vodka and essential oils separating.

Why is this? Ethanol is what dissolves the oily fragrance materials; ethanol is an effective solvent for most lipids. Vodka has ethanol in it, but only 40%. The rest is water, which also combines with the ethanol. Your fragrance materials end up competing with the water for the ethanol, and the water wins.

The oils will separate from the vodka if you go over a certain low percentage, which varies depending on the density. You will never be able to get a full-strength perfume from vodka and essential oils.

Using flower petals, bark, or other raw botanicals in alcohol, water, or oil.

This gets you either a weak, sticky extract (like vanilla extract) after waiting about 2 months, faintly scented oil, or an oil-saturated mess of soggy flower petals. It’s fun to try, but you will never get a strong scent. Why is this?

It takes much more than a few flowers to make perfume. It takes 80 pounds of rosemary to produce 1 pound of rosemary essential oil – and this is an oily plant. In fact, in the case of jasmine, it takes 8000 flowers to make one gram of absolute (which is like essential oil, but stronger and more true to the plant scent.)

Most essential oils are made by steam distillation (like rosemary) or pressing (like many citrus fruits.) Most absolutes are produced by solvent extraction (like hexane or CO2.) These are the best ways of making the scent into a concentrated substance which is strong enough to be used in perfume.

Using food extracts as perfume. My sister and I used to do this all the time when we were young. We loved vanilla in particular and coated ourselves in it. This is fun, but, most food extracts are not that strong (the solvent problem), sometimes sticky, and they never last long.

Most flavor extracts, such as lemon, vanilla, and peppermint, are fragrances that evaporate quickly. With nothing to anchor them down, they vanish off your skin within 1 to 2 hours. Still, if you like to mix them, you’ve had your first experiences of blending perfumes! Now that I think about it, this is probably how I got interested in perfumery.

Want to know more about methods that will make your perfume turn out more professionally?  Read more articles on perfumery.

In every industry, there are “old timers” who think that you have to “pay your dues” before you can really-officially be a professional. Well, perfume is an art, and art has never had a set path to mastery.

Do you need a piece of paper that says your smart?

Sure, there are some people who go through a standard 4-year course for design or fine arts, but there are also many others who forge their own path. It’s perfectly acceptable. Every artist has to rely on self-confidence and self-direction; no one will ever crown them “an artist,” no matter what the degree.

What matters is your perfume, and if it’s any good.
Perfumers make perfume. You need no other qualifications to be a perfumer; you just have to make perfume. Believe me, every kind of artist goes through the same kind of thinking: “Am I really a writer? I’m not published yet…” “Am I really an artist? I haven’t even had any gallery showings.”

We’re kind of brainwashed to believe that we need titles and degrees for everything before we’re “qualified” to do something – especially something skilled. My friend used to call a college diploma “a piece of paper that says you’re smart.”

Here’s the great thing about perfume: anyone can do it, as long as you have a good nose. Even a large percentage of industry perfumers (you know, who work for Dior, Escada, etc.) have no formal training. Some of them went through an apprenticeship program to help them learn about the materials and the business. But many of them have no knowledge of chemistry or “perfume science.”

They see themselves as scent artists; it’s unnecessary for them to learn technical information. It may even get in the way of their creative expression.

The pros make bad stuff, too!

“Professional” perfumers have to do as much trial and error as you do. They make bad blends that smell like monkey butt, and they make fragrances that smell divine. Trial and error and experimentation are part of a perfumer’s work – that means you will do it, too.

I know it’s a little scary, knowing that there’s no “official” channel to go through to become a perfumer. You just have to do it. You can’t be afraid to screw up or make bad blends, because that is inevitable. Who’s ever done a DIY project right the first time? Certainly not me! Experience is the best teacher.

That is not to say that there isn’t help or guidance. There are some shortcuts, things that will help you avoid unnecessary – and sometimes expensive – mistakes, and there is a wealth of good books and resources out there for not very much money.

What if you want to sell your perfumes?

The only thing that matters is that your customers like your perfumes enough to buy. Many boutique perfumes have risen from the humble beginnings of home perfumery, so don’t feel like you need a fancy lab to plunge right in. If you know the basic professional perfumery methods, can work with the materials, and have a knack for blending scents that people like, you’re ready.

Still feel a little weird about putting “perfumer” on your business cards? Try these instead:

* Custom fragrance designer
* Personal perfume blender
* Custom boutique perfumes
* Creative perfume artist
* Or whatever else describes you best!