all the ingredients and materials needed on a clean surface in an odor-free environment. Using the blotting strips to assess the scent is described in detail here.
1 Select the oils that you think will be required to constitute the dominant notes in the blend (see here), including base note, middle note, and top note oils. Measure out the base oils in drops into a small glass bottle containing 1 tsp/5ml jojoba or fractionated coconut oil, following your intuition as to proportions. Record the name and exact quantity of each oil used.
2 Shake the bottle and assess the scent with a blotting paper strip. Add the middle note oils, measuring and recording carefully. Shake the bottle again and assess the effect as before.
3 Add the top notes, measuring and recording as before. Shake well and test.
4 Fine-tune, either by adding more drops of some ingredients, or by incorporating a new element. Add these oils a drop at a time, as one drop can radically affect the overall balance. Test the revised mixture on a new blotter strip.
5 When satisfied, seal the mixing bottle. Store it in a dark place for several weeks to mature. Check again to ensure the scent is rounded and well balanced.
PERFUMERY IS BOTH a science and an art—it requires precision and sensitivity, but above all the ability to translate an intangible emotional experience or idea into a tangible composition.
In blending a perfume, the “rules of composition” have to be obeyed, as in music or painting, but the blender’s creative skills transcend these rules to produce an indefinable blend that stirs the emotions and echoes a mood. A professional perfumer has to have a thorough knowledge of the properties of a huge range of ingredients, and how they interact, but it is nevertheless possible to make successful perfumes for one’s own use, and as gifts for other people, using essential oils.
People generally prefer a many-layered fragrance, since a combination of different aromas tends to be more interesting and intriguing. When natural aromatic oils are combined, the effect is a chemical reaction that breaks up their original molecular structure and they recombine to form entirely new molecules. The final quality of the blend is always an unknown factor. The aim is to make a “bouquet” or a “seamless scent,” where the whole adds up to more than just a sum of its parts. The famous French perfumer Pierre Dhumez declared that the ideal perfume consisted of a basic harmonious blend of just three or four dominant “bodies.” When combined in “inspired” proportions they form a whole in which it is impossible to distinguish one odor from the other. The scent is a perfectly balanced mixture which smells as a separate entity. This basic harmony, once it has been achieved, is enhanced by the addition of tiny amounts of other fragrances.14
Many of the spicy and more exotic essential oils come from the East.
RESIN | BENZOIN
CITRUS | LEMON
FLORAL | LAVENDER
A good perfume has a range of top, middle, and base notes.
In the art of blending, balance is everything. In his book The Art of Perfumery, Charles Piesse was the first to draw an analogy between odors and sounds. To create a perfect “bouquet” of odors, he chose scents that combined to create a harmonious chord and added other scents to act as half-notes.
Modern perfumery still uses Piesse’s terms to describe the art of blending, although in a simplified form. The perfume should be a perfect balance between the top, middle, and base notes. The top notes are immediately apparent—the ones that are light and fresh—and are the most volatile ingredients. Typical top notes include lime, lemon, and bergamot. The middle note lies at the heart of the fragrance, and usually forms the bulk of the blend—typical middle notes are florals such as lavender, rose, or geranium. The base note gives depth to the fragrance and acts as a fixative for the more volatile components—typical base notes include oakmoss, benzoin, or patchouli.
Another simple way of blending oils is to put them into families. Fragrances from the same family tend to mix together well, as well as with those from neighboring families. A small proportion of a scent from an opposed or diverse family can add interest or piquancy to an otherwise dull blend.
NEROLI
PETITGRAIN
A fine perfume is worthy of a fine container.
The art of perfumery is as old as civilization.
THE BIRTH OF modern Western perfumery as we know it today occurred during the 14th century with the discovery of alcoholic extraction techniques. Before that time, perfumes had been based on fatty or oily materials which did not allow the finesse afforded by alcohol or synthetics. Many modern perfumers consider that it is impossible to make a good perfume without the use of synthetics or alcohol. This is because these ingredients can impart lift, radiance, and diffusion to an accord. In their view, only eau-de-Colognes can be made wholly from simple, natural ingredients (known as naturals).
On the other hand, synthetics can have a flat and two-dimensional quality, whereas natural essences are more full-bodied and complex. In addition, many people are sensitive to certain chemicals used in modern perfumes and toiletries, which can cause skin allergies, headaches, or other side effects in sensitive individuals. Some modern perfumes contain well over 100 different ingredients or compounds, but for the purpose of aromatherapy, it is enough to blend as few as three oils to produce an interesting result. This is because pure essential oils, unlike synthetic chemical fragrances used in modern perfumery, already contain many different components, each being made up, in some cases, of hundreds of different constituents, including trace elements. Rose oil, for example, contains over 300 constituents, which is why it is so difficult to imitate it or to construct a “nature identical” rose scent.
