Make your own perfume

Whether you are an expert or a novice, you may be curious to create your own perfume. This experience can be very playful, but also very instructive, allowing you to discover the scientific side behind the fragrance composition. Here are a few recommendations for making your own perfume.

How to make your own perfume?

First of all, it is important to know that a "real perfume" requires one to two years of orchestration to achieve a balanced formula between top notes, heart notes and base notes. Creating a perfume therefore requires a lot of time and patience.

Each perfume requires a formula made up of 30 to 100 different ingredients that will create a harmonious composition, releasing emotion. 

It is important not to copy a perfume from the already existing market, and to dare to experiment in order to get off the beaten track and carry out a real act of creation.

Contrary to popular belief, the shorter the formula of your perfume, the better it will be. Moreover, it is of course normal not to be satisfied from the first creation. Making a perfume requires a certain talent, which develops over the course of many creations.

Indeed, with the same 7 notes of music, you can compose Mozart's music or simply make noise.

 

 

Precautions to take before making your own perfume

Certain precautions should be taken before you start creating a perfume yourself. First of all, be careful with the compositions you are going to make and the materials you choose. Sometimes, certain natural raw materials or synthetic products can cause allergies. 

Usually, perfumes are tested before they are sold (each test represents a fairly significant cost, ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 euros).

To avoid the risk of reactions, test your fragrance on your clothes rather than directly on your skin.

How to orchestrate your perfume yourself?

We advise you to make a perfume from only a few raw materials, otherwise you risk embarking on too complicated work which can disappoint you. It is, indeed, very difficult to respect the olfactory pyramid and to properly orchestrate the base notes, top notes and heart notes in order to create a harmonious and balanced fragrance. 

If you are just starting out the simplest thing to do is to go for raw materials that you like the most, that correspond to you and belong to your olfactory family.

Moreover, in perfumery, the sum of 1+1+1 is not equal to three scents, but will be the result of an alchemy. When this alchemy is well done, it will be very difficult to identify the three components. 

What accords should be used in a perfume?

Here are a few examples of surprising accords in the same fragrance that you can test: 

• Combine a fresh jasmine note with a note of violet and bergamot. The final accord will give a tea note.
• Combine lime, rum, mint and sugar and you will obtain a Mojito accord.

In order to avoid cacophony and to obtain a harmonious composition, we recommend you make simple chords with a maximum of 3 or 4 components, or by reproducing chords that have very often proved their worth and are often used by perfumers. These are classic chords that always work very well.

Here are a few examples of simple chords you can make at home:

• Cologne, bergamot essence or orange essence, petit grain essence, neroli essence and orange blossom absolute.
• Bergamot essence, petit grain essence and cedar essence.
• Grapefruit essence and vetiver essence.
• Vanilla absolute and patchouli essence.
• Rose essence, rose absolute and patchouli essence.
• Rose essence, jasmine absolute and vetiver essence.

How to choose the right raw materials?

Raw materials can be very different from one supplier to another and can vary a lot in quality. In addition, alcohol is needed to distribute the raw materials. It will act as an excipient and allow the fragrance to be diffused.

Pure alcohol or 80° alcohol is difficult to find in France (unlike in Italy where it is sold in supermarkets). For this reason, some people use organic vodka, which is frequently used to dissolve the essences. The other alternative may be to combine it with an odourless fat. The trail will be more discreet and give a more intimate presence (this is called the concrete).

Sylvaine Delacourte fragrances

Discover Sylvaine Delacourte's brand with her Orange Blossom, Musk and Vanilla Collections. You can try them thanks to the Discovery Boxes (5 Eaux de Parfum x 2 ml) and rediscover these raw materials as you have never smelled them before.