Perfumes are typically made with a variety of ingredients, including essential oils and flowers. These ingredients are generally difficult to obtain, and instructions on how to make perfume from flowers may be limited or difficult to comprehend. In this article, I will walk you through the various steps and tips on how to make perfume with flowers.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROFILE OF A PERFUME FRAGRANCE
Most importantly, before making your perfume mixture with flowers, it is always a good idea to first learn about the scent profile of a perfume fragrance. Perfumes combine multiple scents and notes, layering them to create a subtle and layered scent sensation when you smell them.
When picking flowers, there are three(3) categories within a perfume fragrance. Although there is no official set of rules when making perfumes from flowers, the breakdown below provides an understanding of the structure of a scent:
- Top Notes
- Middle Notes
- Base Notes
When you perceive a perfume scent, your sense of smell picks the top notes first, followed by the middle notes, and the base notes. Consequently, production should begin in the opposite order, starting with the base notes till you get to the top notes.
The base note is commonly a heavy and warm scent. Familiar scents in this category are cedarwood, vanilla, sandalwood, and frankincense. The middle note is generally a floral scent. Common flowers used for homemade perfume are rose, peony, lavender, jasmine, honeysuckle, and violet. The top note is the most dominant scent that first captures people’s attention. It can be grapefruit and orange notes. Knowing about the various notes is very important if you want to know how to make perfume from flowers.
BLENDING SCENTS
Pick one or two scents from every three categories until you end up with a perfume that speaks to you personally. Sometimes, making the wrong decision can lead to getting that scent that smells right. Always follow your nose and trust your instinct while picking flowers for your perfumes.
You are in total control of blending your scents, but keeping these procedures in mind will help you achieve the result you are aiming for.
Firstly, citrus is commonly used as head notes because its presence is strong and bold. Secondly, light and airy florals capture the pure scent of the middle note. Lastly, the perfect base note is woodsy because they are long-lasting and comforting.
When it comes to floral scents, ensure you choose a dominant floral scent and build around it, dealing with the head and base notes as complementing elements.
USING WATER TO MAKE YOUR PERFUME FROM FLOWERS
While some homemade perfume oils use alcohol as an emulsifier, it is possible to create a lovely fragrance without using it as the principal ingredient. As a result, homemade perfume formulas made using water need to be used very quickly, as they do not have preservatives like commercial perfume.
Homemade water-based perfume can generally be stored for up to one month. A natural perfume is a fragrance without synthetic aromas typically used in commercial perfumes.
How to make perfume from flowers
Creating your perfume is a lot easier compared to what most people think. Below are the things to do if you want to know how to make perfume from flowers.
Select your ingredients
Most importantly, you should select the plants you would love to use, depending on your preference or the person you’re gifting. It could be rose petals, citrus blossoms, rosemary, or anything your nose is drawn to.
Always collect your plant materials when their scent is the strongest, and the leaves are not wet yet. You can collect flowers from your garden if you are a gardener, a horticulturist, or a farmer’s market.
It is important to use only organic blooms because the perfume will be applied on your skin to avoid potentially harmful chemicals or preservatives from causing skin reactions or infections. This is necessary for knowing how to make perfume from flowers.
Remove the moisture content in the blooms
Afterward, you dry out your plant materials after cleaning off dirt and bugs. It involves airing them until they lose their moisture content. A process that can be employed is the clover drying method, which reduces the water content, hence helping your perfume smell more concentrated when making perfume from flowers.
Soak the flowers
Next, put some cheesecloth inside an empty bowl, ensure the edges are hanging out, and place your petals on top of the cloth.
Then, pour a small amount of water on top of your petals to cover them, ensuring the edges of the cheesecloth are still hanging out of the bowl, and cover the bowl with a lid.
Finally, wait and allow the mixture to rest and soak overnight.
Remove the solids
The next process is to remove the lid and gently join the four corners of the cheesecloth. Then, gently lift the pouch out of the bowl with the water and petals inside.
After, you will strain by gently squeezing the cheesecloth over a small pot or saucepan to discharge the flower-scented water you need. This is where you get to know how to make perfume from flowers.
Heat your flower-scented perfume
Finally, turn on the stove or stovetop, then simmer the flower water over low heat until you have about one teaspoon of liquid left. Let the liquid cool, and pour it into a small spray bottle or rollerball container.
To give the packaging an extra feel or look, you can decorate your bottle by attaching a label to it, and that’s how to make perfumes from flowers. Generally, perfumes made from flower petals will last up to one month when kept in a cool and dark place.
Adding essential oils
Some perfume mixtures can contain six to twenty scents depending on the fragrance in focus. It is crucial to research the effect of your ingredients because essential oils can be irritating if misused. If you have sensitive skin, you might have to consider using a lower concentration of oils or strictly sticking to the right amount and proportion prescribed when making perfume from flowers.
CONCLUSION
It is a kind, loving and great gesture to take time out to make perfumes, whether for yourself or someone. Creating a perfume from flowers means producing a substance with both scent and power sophistication that is unique from commercial perfume products. Therefore, you should try out these procedures for making perfume from flowers if you wish to gift someone or make one for yourself.