Create Your Own Fragrance With 3 Essential Oil Perfume Recipes

This post is sponsored by NOW®. All opinions are my own.

In my early teens I took a class trip to France. In between the long bus rides, delicious food and standard tourist pit stops, I remember visiting a Parisian perfumer and watching them blend different ingredients and scents until I was left with a fragrance that was uniquely mine. It was fascinating! And it clearly left an impression because I love making my own essential oil perfumes, even now.

Like a mad scientist, I’m always pulling scents from my collection of NOW® Essential Oils and making my own perfume blends based on my mood. Not only is it cheap and easy, but a few quality oils blended with a carrier oil is all you need to create a fragrance that’s 100% yours and yours alone.

Essential Oil Scents

Perfume making is both an art and a science. Scents are capable of evoking memories, changing moods and even altering one’s identity, if only temporarily. So it’s important to choose your perfume wisely. Whether you’re looking for a fun and flirty scent, something masculine and crisp, or soft and natural, you can, and should, tailor your perfume to your own tastes.

Essential oils are usually divided into 7 scent categories. I personally gravitate toward soft, musky scents with a hint of floral, but there’s nothing better than playing around with different oils and taking risks. I always keep a well-stocked supply of NOW essential oils like jasmine, neroli, cedarwood and patchouli on hand for that very reason.

The high-quality oils in classic scents pair well together and create those subtle layers that make perfume so fun to wear. And since they’re 100% natural without any added chemicals, fillers or man-made fragrance, you’ll also reap the aromatherapy rewards as well.

Blending Essential Oils for Perfume

When it comes to essential oil perfume, you need a lot of oil to create a strong, noticeable fragrance, therefore those teeny bottles most essential oil companies sell won’t cut it. I measure my main scent in ¼ teaspoon increments (about 18 drops), which is another reason I love NOW essential oils.

They come in 1 ounce bottles, so even if you pour with a heavy hand, you shouldn’t run out on the first blend. And NOW has established long-standing relations with essential oil vendors, which allows them to purchase oils in large quantities at a bulk discount. They then pass those savings on to consumers so you can get the same high-quality oils as other companies, but for a lot less.

For added effect I combine my oils in 10 ml roller bottles filled with natural gemstones. I found roller bottles online that came pre-filled with a variety of crystals for just a little bit more money than standard roller bottles. Gemstones are said to give off energy, which, in essence, infuses your perfume with beneficial life force.

Even if you don’t believe in all that, they still look gorgeous floating around in your perfume bottle. A pretty bottle is part of the perfume experience (and they make great gifts!).

Supplies for Perfume Making

• Essential oils of your choice (scroll down to see my favorite perfume blends)
• Carrier oil (something light with little to no scent like jojoba, grapeseed or sweet almond oil is best)
• Several 10 ml roll-on bottles, crystals are optional

Add your essential oils to the roller bottle. It's amazing how quickly the scent of essential oils dissipate when applied, so for light, everyday oils, don't be afraid to use a little more than you think you might need. Obviously some oils are naturally stronger than others, so if you're worried about your perfume being too strong, start with 5 drops and work your way up.

After you’ve poured the oils into the bottle, gently swirl to combine them. Then fill the rest of the bottle with carrier oil, replace cap and swirl again. Apply to pulse points like wrists, clavicle and behind the ears. Remember to shake the bottle before each use.

3 Perfume Recipes

Musky Floral

Jasmine is perfect for homemade perfume—it's soft but not too girly in this perfume body spray. To keep it from feeling overpowering, blend with neroli and sweet orange.

• 5 drops NOW Sweet Orange Oil
• 18 drops (¼ teaspoon) NOW Jasmine Absolute
• 8 drops NOW Neroli

Warm and Earthy

I love this rich, earthy scent. Patchouli sometimes gets a bad rap but I love the way it tones down the other scents and warms everything up.

• 3 drops NOW Patchouli
• 5 drops NOW Cedarwood
• 8 drops NOW Sweet Orange Oil
• 18 drops NOW Rose Absolute

Summery and Spicy

Clove will quickly overpower a blend so go slow when adding it and work your way up, if needed.

• 6 drops NOW Ylang Ylang
• 18 drops NOW Bergamot
• 1 drop NOW Clove
• 2 drops NOW Vanilla Oil Blend

Get 12 more essential oil perfume blends right here!

Need inspiration? Check out our DIY vanilla sandalwood perfume recipe.

Bonus Recipe

This essential oil perfume recipe is a great base to plan your next scent. You'll need: 

• 7-34 drops of essential oil blend (you can use a mixture of your favorite essential oils, such as bergamot essential oil, sweet orange essential oil, lemon essential oil, ginger essential oil, lime essential oil, vetiver, ylang ylang, or any other oils you like)
• 1-2 teaspoons of carrier oil (such as sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, grapeseed oil, or any other carrier oil of your choice)
• 1-5 drops of base notes (such as earthy scents or woodsy scents)
• 2-7 drops of top notes (such as citrus scents or floral scents)
• 1-4 drops of middle notes (such as bergamot or other essential oil blends)

Instructions:

1. In a small glass bottle, combine the essential oil blend and carrier oil.
2. Add in the base notes, top notes, and middle notes to create your desired scent.
3. Close the bottle and shake it gently to mix the ingredients.
4. Let the mixture sit for a few hours or overnight to allow the scents to blend together.
5. After the scents have had time to blend, add 1-3 drops of distilled water to the mixture and shake again. This will help to bind the oils and enhance the scent.
6. Your perfume is now ready to use! You can apply it to your wrists, neck, or any other pulse points.

Note: If you have sensitive skin, be sure to do a patch test before using the perfume all over your body. Also, this recipe can be used to make a roll-on perfume or a solid perfume by adding 1-2 teaspoons of beeswax or shea butter and pouring the mixture into a roll-on bottle or a small tin. Enjoy your homemade perfume!