How to Make your Own Perfume with Essential Oils

How To Make Perfume With Essential Oils

This is a super simple way to make your own perfume at home. Using just essential oils and a carrier oil, it’s totally customizable, affordable and fun to make. Read through to the end to snag my two favorite essential oil perfume recipes!

This post may contain affiliate links of products I use and love. You can read my full disclosure here.

One of the most amazing side benefits of using essential oils for beauty and wellness is that you pretty much always smell good. At least that’s what people tell me!

It is so much fun to make your own perfume with essential oils. All you need are a few essential oils, carrier oil and a 10 ml roller or spray bottle.

Why make your own perfume?

I never like to get preachy, but synthetic perfumes are definitely worth ditching. When you see “fragrance” on a label this one word could mean thousands of not so nice ingredients. And because fragrances are considered “trade secrets” companies have no obligation (maybe just morally?) to disclose the actual ingredients behind the fragrances in their products.

The book No More Dirty Looks by Siobhan O’Connor & Alexandra Spunt (a real gem!) goes on to say, ” Aside from the phthalates and weird animal secretions, lab tests on some perfumes have shown tens to hundreds of known neurotoxins, synthetics linked to cancer and birth defects, as well as waste disposal chemicals.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely sticking with what nature has given us!

What you will need to make your own perfume

Essential Oils

If you already have essential oils, then you rock! If you don’t, then I highly recommend doing a bit of research before you buy them.

You always want to purchase therapeutic-grade essential oils – particularly from a company that is very transparent about their sourcing, harvesting and testing practices. You want to know where they source their plants (should be where they grow indigenously), how they are harvested (must be at peak times) and the type of testing they do.

Once you are comfortable with the info you gathered, buy some oils! 

Carrier Oils

I always recommend using Fractionated Coconut Oil as a carrier oil because it is odorless so it won’t interfere with your scent. This is the one I always have on hand.

I used to make perfume without a carrier oil and the scent never lasted. Using a carrier oil helps to disperse the essential oils onto your skin and give you that long-lasting perfume effect we are looking for! 

I also used to make perfume with vodka, but I found the scent is the same, if not better, without it.

Roller Bottles

I make all of my perfumes and blends in these amazing rollers. They are so pretty and they distribute the oil so well. I also have these spray bottles, but I tend to use the rollers more often. If you are going for the whole perfume experience you may like the spray bottles better.

Which essential oils should you use to make your perfume?

This is where you will have to experiment a little bit. What type of scents do you like? I tend to go for more citrusy and sweet scents (Wild Orange, Vanilla, Bergamot, ) whereas you might like something more floral (Geranium, Rose, Ylang Ylang) or musky (Siberian Fir, Frankincense, Vetiver).

So how do you make perfume with essential oils?

The basic idea is to use a mix of top notes, middle notes and base notes.

Top Notes are the ones that will fade out quickly. Citrus oils are a good example. When I apply a citrus oil it smells great for about 30-45 minutes, but then it fades away.  Top notes will make up about 30% of your blend.

Middle Notes will make up the bulk of your blend. They will last for a good amount of time. Approximately 50% of your blend will be middle notes. Lavender could be considered a top note or middle note. I know it lasts a while on me so I threw it in the middle note category.

Bottom or Base Notes will last the longest (also called bottom notes). Vetiver is a good example. When I use Vetiver I swear I can smell it all day. Same with Patchouli! Base notes will make up about 20% of your blend.

Start experimenting to find your signature scent

Whichever essential oils you choose, mixed with your body chemistry, will be absolutely amazing and unique to you. What smells nice on someone else might not smell as great on you and vice versa.

The percentage of top, middle and base notes are just a rough guideline. You can break the rules! (more on that below) If you love the smell of a full top note blend, then go with it. Sometimes rules are meant to be broken!

To start figuring out a scent you like, start with a total of 10ish drops. That way, if you don’t love it, you haven’t wasted too much essential oil.

The basic formula based on 10 drops will be:

3 drops of a Top Note
5 drops of a Middle Note
2 drops of a Base Note

One of my personal favorites is a mix of Wild Orange, Lavender and Ylang Ylang. So I would add 3 drops Wild Orange, 5 drops Lavender and 2 drops Ylang Ylang to my roller and then fill it about 1/2 way with fractionated coconut oil. I shake it up and let it sit for a few hours (or a few minutes if I have no patience!) and then I apply it to my wrists and behind my ears.

If you like your combination, double or triple it and you are done! 

If you don’t like it consider adding more of one oil (the recommended amounts are not set in stone, they are just a guide) that you like the best. Or just scratch it and start with different oils.

Here are a few of my favorite combinations in order of Top Note, Middle Note, Base Note.

Essential Oil Perfume Recipes

I have two specific essential oil perfume recipes that I absolutely love. A heads up though – they require a lot of different essential oils. One is a floral blend and the other one is a musky, uni-sex blend. Both are amazing!

Please don’t feel like you have to run out and buy all the essential oils. You can leave one out or replace it with a similar essential oil you have.

These recipes also kind of break the rules when it comes to top, middle and base notes. Like I mentioned above, the rules are just a guideline. If I love the way a blend that is more base note heavy smells, I’m going with it! 

Here are my two favorite essential oil perfume recipes:

Floral Perfume Blend (inspired by Young Living’s Joy Blend)
8 drops Ylang Ylang
8 drops Bergamot
6 drops Coriander
5 drops Geranium
5 drops Lemon
2 drops Jasmine
2 drops Palmarosa
1 drop Tangerine
1 drop Roman Chamomile
1 drop Rose

Musk Perfume Blend (inspired by Nucifera’s Balm scent)
15 drops Lavender
10 drops Mandarin 
7 drops Patchouli
7 drops Peppermint
6 drops Frankincense
3 drops Sandalwood
2 drops Palo Santo
1 drop Carrot Seed

How can you make your perfume last longer?

I have two tricks for making your perfume last longer – First is to add your blend to your deodorant and your scent will linger all day.

If I am using my deodorant paste I will just add a drop (or roll) of my blend in my palm and mix it with my paste and then apply. If you are using a deodorant stick just add it to the stick and then apply to your pits. You will smell great!!

Another tip is to spray the perfume in your hair. This will make your perfume last for days, I swear!

Making Your Own Perfume is Better Than Buying!

Once you learn how to make perfume with essential oils you will never buy store-bought fragrances again. Think of how much money you will save! If you want more information on the toxic side of fragrances, here is a great article you can check out.

I hope this post was helpful. Let me know what your signature scent is in the comments!

How To Make Perfume With Essential Oils