How to Make Perfume in Two Minutes

Perfume is made with notes that create an accord, like music. The top notes can be smelled immediately upon application and evaporate the fastest. The middle notes emerge just before the top notes dissipate and have slightly stronger scents than the top notes. Finally the base notes hold the heaviest and longest lasting of the three scents and are used to add depth to the perfume. Although commercial perfume makers use between 20 and 200 different scents in one perfume, you can make a basic perfume with two or three essential oils and a solvent.

• 1

  Choose at least two essential oils that smell good together. Choose one with a lighter scent and one with a slightly heavier scent. These will act as your top and base notes. Popular scent duets include peppermint and lavender, citrus like tangerine or lemon and geranium as well as juniper and jasmine. Play around with different scents until you find two that work well together and work well with your body chemistry. Scents change when exposed to skin, so wait 20 minutes after using an essential oil combination on the skin before smelling it again.

• 2

  Concoct your perfume using 15% essential oil, 5% distilled water and 80% grain alcohol. Pour water and alcohol into bottle first using a funnel. Then, using the eyedropper, drop 7 or 8 drops of each essential oil into the bottle. Mix slowly to ensure dispersal.

• 3

  Wear immediately. Most perfume makers wait up to six weeks for full maturation of perfume but your concoction may be worn immediately upon stirring. Mix a drop of essential oil and water and apply on top of the perfume on wrists or neck to "open" smells. Do not apply only essential oil directly on skin, as some may cause irritation, skin rash or itching when undiluted.