Understanding Notes When Making Perfume

If you’re planning to make your own perfume, it’s important that you understand the basics.
When we think of expensive perfume, we automatically think of France, since France is the
perfume capital of the world. Although the French did not discover perfume, they were the ones
that turned making perfume into a Science.

Although the perfumers in France were not the original creators of perfume, they were the
geniuses that figured out a way to make the fragrances last longer than a few minutes. Their


method was by layering the different fragrances. They started using the three layers that we
now call notes.

If you’ve never made perfume before, you may not know the importance of using the different
notes. For the best fragrances, you can’t just throw together several essential oils and hope for
the best. Some fragrances are stronger and longer lasting than others. Knowing what essential
oils are in each note group will help you to make some beautiful and interesting creations with
your perfume. Notes are what make up the difference between perfume and cologne.

Top notes are the scents that you smell as soon as you apply it. If you’ve ever sprayed a
perfume in a store, the smell you get immediately after spraying is coming from the top notes.
The top notes, although they quickly evaporate, are what give us our first impression of a
perfume. Examples of some popular top notes include bergamot, peppermint, lemon, orange,
lime, chamomile, lemongrass and neroli.

Middle notes are what we smell when the scent from the top notes disappears. It is generally
considered as the heart of the perfume and often server to cover up any unpleasant scents that
may come from the base notes. This scent often evaporates after 15 seconds. Some typical
middle notes include lavender, geranium, rosewood, ylang ylang, jasmine, rose and hyacinth.

Base notes are what you smell after about 30 seconds of applying it to your skin. The based
and middle notes are what make up the main fragrance of the perfume. However, for a perfume
to be successful, they must have a combination of all three notes. Commonly used for based
notes are vanilla, sandalwood, patchouli, cedarwood, clove, vetiver, cinnamon and
frankincense.

Keep in mind, when making your perfume, that you can mix and match different essential oils to
get the scent that you want. The purpose of using the specific notes is to ensure you have a
fragrance that’s not only appealing but one that lasts as well.

How to Make Perfume

One of the things teens and adults need to feel and smell good when going out is perfume. There are various brands in the market bought local and foreign that are worth buying but those who don’t have enough dough can try experimenting and making up a concoction at home.

The first thing the individual should do is get the important ingredients to make this work. This is normally made up water, essential oils and pure grain alcohol better known as vodka.

There are various types of perfumes in the market. There is the perfume or body splash, cologne, the Eau De Cologne and the Eau de Toilette that are made from plant and animal oils.

Homemade perfumes essentially come from plant oils. These are not that expensive and can be purchased from various stores. When all the materials are ready, it is time to go to work.

An important thing that the person has to know that there are 3 types of notes when it comes to making perfumes. There are the base, middle and top notes. These vary depending on how long the scent will last on the skin.

Base notes could last up to 8 hours or more on the body. Perfume companies normally use cedar wood, cinnamon patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla in making a product. Some examples of middle notes are bottle nut meg, geranium, neroli and ylang-ylang. The essential oils to create top notes are bergamot and lavender.

The different notes will never work without another type of note known as the bridge note. This will help blend the various scents together making the whole thing work. Some examples of bridge notes are litsea cubeba, lavender and lemongrass. 

Is it possible to use all the three notes to make a perfume? The answer is yes. The individual can drop a few amounts of each into the test tube so these will mix together. The person should smell it to check on it and if everything is going well, this is the time that two ounces of vodka are also placed inside.

Smelling the product is not the best way to check if it is working. A small amount must be applied to the skin to make sure it does not have any adverse reaction.

The drops placed from the essential oils and the vodka won't even reach halfway point of the test tube. If the smell is still good, this should be stored in a cool place for 48 hours before this is mixed with water and then letting it come out through a coffee filter.

The finished perfume is then placed in a small plastic bottle with a sprayer on top. Some prefer to use a dark colored container so that the contents will last longer before it is time once again to produce a new batch. 

The rule of thumb for perfumes is that the longer it is stored, the stronger is the smell. So, it is the choice of the individual whether to make the concoction last for an hour or longer.

The process of producing the right scent takes a lot of patience. Sometimes, putting more one type of note can change everything and the individual will have to start over. The same thing also happen with companies trying to produce new products for the consumer so the person shouldn’t worry since everyone is in the same boat.