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There are 3 types of
components that can be used to make hand blended perfumes, essential
oils, fragrance oils and aroma chemicals. Manufactured
perfumes use "aroma chemicals" which are the broken down constituents
of fragrance oils and synthesized constituents of natural essential
oils (they have names such as amyl acetate, ambroxan and
limonene). There are a few sources of these aroma chemicals
online, if you choose to go that route. But this
book does not cover that type of blending. What we cover here
is the use of essential oils and readily available fragrance oils for
designing and blending your perfumes.
Whether you choose to use essential oils or compounds, or both, is a
personal decision.
What
are essential oils?
Essential
oils are the volatile essences extracted from various parts of living
plants. They are said to be the "life force" of the
plant. Of the thousands of plants in the world, only 200
produce essential oils that are used in the art of perfumery.
Essential oils are very intense and must be diluted when using to make
perfumes. Some essential oils are readily soluble
in oil, some are only soluble in alcohol.
Because essential oils are highly concentrated they can not be used
directly on the skin. A
1-5% dilution of your essential oil blend to your base (oil or alcohol)
is standard.
When I blend perfume using natural essences, I have them already
preblended in a base. For example, my ylang ylang oil is
already diluted in a base, 3% ylang ylang in oil. Blending
scents in an undiluted state for me makes for an intense session with
lots of headaches. Diluting the oils before hand,
allows me the freedom to continue working unhindered and smell the oils
the way they were intended to be in the final perfume.
Other components used in natural perfumery include absolutes,
concretes, C02 extractions...and probably
some things I'm forgetting....Also tinctures and infusions which one
can do on one's own…
What
are fragrance oils?
Fragrance
oils are synthetic oils and are much cheaper to manufacturer than many
essential oils, therefore less expensive. Most of you will
prefer to work with fragrance oils as they are available in a much
wider range of scents. And because they are not derived from
specific plants, a fragrance oil can be made to imitate the scent of
virtually anything on earth! Your creativity is
unlimited with fragrance oils.
Make sure the fragrance oils you use are cosmetic grade.
Fantastic sources of top quality fragrance compounds are available on
the net. But the best sources are difficult to discern
because there are so many suppliers online. My
ebook The
Sweet Smell of Success has a comprehensive list in the back
of quality fragrance and perfume supplier sources that I have used over
the years..
Fragrance
Blending
Blending
your own perfumes is not difficult if you follow a few basic
steps.
Your first goal should be to try to collect as many oils as your budget
will allow. The more oils you have, the more experimenting
you can do and the more creative you can be.
Creating
Your Scent Library> >
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