Herbal Perfumes.

To start making your own herbal perfumes you will need a base oil (patchouli, cedar wood, vetiver, frankincense,sandlewood, or myrrh), a middle oil( lavender, cypress, juniper, rosemary, clary sage, petitgrain, palmarosa, or oakmoss, and a top oil (rose, jasmine, neroli, or orange) this is the scent that one smells first in a perfume. Remember with these a little goes a long way. To tie these all together you will need a good "carrier oil". These are used ti dilute the essential oils. Good carrier oils to use are sweet almond oil and very light extra virgin olive oil. You will also need a glass bottle to place your perfume in and remember to keep it out of direct sunlight.

When making your perfume remember that you should use 20 drops of essential oil to a quarter-ounce of carrier oil. Use a few drops of essential oils from each area (base, middle, top) and tie them together with your carrier oil.

When you first start making perfumes try to find essential oils that are moderately priced, as some can be expensive. You also want to play around a bit until you find a scent that suits you.


The article on this as written by Peg Aloi and can be found on pages 247-254 in the 2004 Herbal Almanac published by Llewellyn's.