Making Perfumes with Essential Oils:
A Blend Using Rose, Frankincense, & Black Pepper Notes (Part 2 of 3)
Advanced Essential Oil Perfume Recipes
In advanced perfumery, one worries about the staying power of the perfume and develops bases (usually alcohol bases) with components called fixatives. These base blends are often proprietary, part of the secret art of perfumery. I am sharing a recipe that has worked well for me. It requires some planning ahead, but will be especially important for the non-incensey version of the Blend, since that version has less base-note components.
In a bottle of Everclear, add approximately 3 tablespoons Orris root, several chips of Benzoin (Styrax) resin (caution, possible dermal irritant/sensitizer) and two crushed vanilla beans. Shake the bottle every day (or as often as you remember) for three months. The fixative properties do not really come out until then – and the longer you can stand to wait before using the base with your blends, the better it will be. You may also choose to add more or less vanilla (which turns the base brown), sandalwood chips, or resins other than Benzoin.
Related Article: Essential Oil Blending >>
Article: Aromatherapy Safety Precautions >>
Article: Tips for Purchasing Essential Oils >>
The advanced recipes have two Rose components instead of one and several ideas for personalizing your fragrance. I am assuming that you are sufficiently interested in perfumery to invest in the more expensive absolutes and essential oils.
Advanced “Incensey” Version:
10 drops Frankincense essential oil (EO)
5 drops Black Pepper EO
4 drops Rose absolute AND
2 drops Rose Otto
1 drop Jasmine (grandiflorum) absolute
1 drop Ylang ylang extra (EO, absolute)
5 drops Myrrh EO
10 drops Atlas Cedarwood EO
3 drops Rosewood EO
5 drops Sandalwood (EO, CO2) – or Amyris EO
1 drop Patchouli (EO, absolute)
2 drops Peru Balsam EO – some people are sensitive to this, use with CAUTION!
4 drops pre-diluted 20% Vanilla (oleoresin, CO2)
2 drops pre-diluted 10% Agarwood attar or CO2 (expensive, strictly optional)
Advanced Lighter, “Less-Incensey” Version:
5 drops Frankincense essential oil (EO)
5 drops Black Pepper EO
2 drops Rose absolute AND
4 drops Rose Otto
1 drop Jasmine (grandiflorum) absolute
2 drops MyrrhEO
10 drops Atlas Cedarwood EO
6 drops Rosewood EO
3 drops Palmarosa EO
3 drops Lemon (cold pressed) EO (optional, not for sensitive or sun-exposed skin)
3 drops Mandarin EO (red mandarin, or warm-smelling normal mandarin, not green)
3 drops Peru Balsam EO – some people are sensitive to this, use with CAUTION!
6 drops pre-diluted 20% Vanilla (oleoresin, CO2)2 drops pre-diluted 10% Iris (Orris) absolute or CO2 (expensive, strictly optional)
Go to Part 3, Personalizaing Your Blend >>
Home | Articles