Making your own perfume seems like the ultimate in high-class, romantic projects. Wouldn't it be great to make simple floral toilette waters, just like elegant Victorian ladies, or use exotic essential oils to create your own natural blends? And what about being able to someday make perfumes that are good enough to sell? These aspects attracted me, too, when I first started making my own perfume.
Because I learned perfumery from actual perfume textbooks and historical texts - some so old that I couldn't even take them out of the rare documents collection room at the library - I never looked online for perfume making sites. Recently, out of curiosity, I searched for perfumery information and forums. I didn't realize that there was nothing out there for true perfumery instruction!
Perfumery isn't rocket science, but you do need to know the basics to make anything that approaches professional quality. That's why I wrote these articles, whitepapers and downloadable documents, and my ebook on perfuming for beginners. With these resources, it's my hope that you will be able to create the perfume you truly want, not weakly-scented vodka that separates, or soggy, smelly messes.
Get your feet wet with my free articles.
A lot of the information is free so that you can get your feet wet and learn some basic concepts. My e-book is not free, mostly because I need to pay my credit card. I charged it up with expensive R&D materials and the photographer's fees! By the time you read through the articles, though, you'll know if you want to pay the $18 for it or not.
Then, if you're serious about making perfume, consider buying my book for only $18.
Those who are truly serious about making excellent-quality perfume find it to be more than worth it. It contains hands-on skills, such as an intuitive blending technique adapted from 18th century methods, and step-by-step photos that show you what to expect after you buy your materials. If you actually intend to create perfume, $18 is nothing compared to the cost of materials.
But first, I invite you to take a look around and learn about this fascinating, creative activity.
- Katherine.
How to be a perfumer. - One of my teaching missions is to help people see "beyond the curtain" of commercial products. There is a difference between professional and "craft" perfumes, but your official title isn't one of them! Especially if you want to sell your perfumes, you should read this article.
Amateur and professional perfuming techniques. You can do both at home, but which one will get you the results you want? Using the professional techniques is only a little different than the standard vodka and essential oils folk recipe, and will yield great perfumes.
How is it possible to make such good designer recreations? Read about the fascinating technological breakthroughs that make it possible to recreate a $90 perfume for $10 with 90% accuracy, or better.
Does perfume need to be complicated to be good? Do you necessarily have to spend long hours and use hundreds of obscure components to make the next classic scent? Learn the story of how Diorissimo was created.
Why make perfume? The real question is, what makes perfume such a good do-it-yourself project, even for DIY beginners?
My perfume ebook - with photos that show you how to work with the basic materials.
How do you keep your perfume blends straight? These printable PDFs make it easy. They are handy forms with checkboxes, blanks, and gentle guidance for your original fragrance formulas.
Download them here; they're free.