Perfuming Basics

[DrSmellThis]

You're

welcome!

***
As promised, I'm going to let people in on an advanced secret of professional perfuming; one

that you probably won't read about in books, using my own perfume as an example.

I'm sitting here smelling

Pheros on the back of my hand. I'm happy the oud came out to be so prominent, as I thought I was going to go

broke before I could get it to smell like oud, or have a prominent oud note. Maybe I should have called it

"Oudi"! As it turns out, you could get away with calling it an oud perfume, and yet it's not anything like

$1600.00 for 9ml! It's like 1/50 of that price.

How could this be?!

Usually, when some scent is cheaper

than another, outrageously priced scent that's supposed to be the same thing, it's because a synthetic version was

used in the cheaper one. But in this case, I used only pure, high quality oud essential oil -- the best I'd ever

smelled, at a dollar per drop; and no artificial oud.

What happened is that the other 149 ingredients enhanced

the oud, fixated it, and brought it out! It's funny how perfuming can work that way. For instance, it turned out

that, since oud has so many natural musk notes, the real musk just magnified it. The sandalwood did the same thing,

magnifying the oud's woody notes.

Anyway, this is a good advanced lesson in perfuming, IMHO; as I learned that

whenever you want a perfume to smell like some particular thing (say, Rose), you need to use the other things in the

perfume to "protect, articulate and enhance" the thing you want. In the case of a rose perfume, for example, it's

not enough to just make it from rose oil! It won't smell like a rose! Instead, you think about the various aspects

of rose, and find other things to enhance and recreate those aspects. Only in this way can you get it to smell like

a real rose without using a ton of synthetic chemicals.

So as a learning exercise, I am asking people to

smell something they like, and imagine what other smells might be contained in it, or suggested by it!

If

people want to try applying this principle in creating a perfume, check out the recipes I posted in this thread for

"Here Smell Me" and the jasmine perfume, both of which incorporated this kind of thinking!

Good luck in your

mixing!

[CptKipling]

Hi Doc,

Just wanted to give

this thread a little bump and ask a question...



I am playing around with a Ylang Ylang, Patchouli and

Lavendar, I haven't actually mixed anything yet, I have just been getting a feel for the oils. Using my wrist as a

palette with an 8% dilution, I have guesstimated that a good ratio is 2:3:1, give or take. By good I mean it smells

like the blend I am trying to recreate. However, my ambition has gotten the better of me and I have decided to try

and make a woman's fragrance, for a gift (or three, depending on how far I can stretch it). I might also add it too

an uncented bath mixture, for a little variety (that 2:3:1 ratio would smell great for that purpose as it is).



My question is, could I create something like the oriental mix early in this thread, but alter it and base it on

my blend? I am gunning for a slightly fruity/citrusy top, oriental middle, and woody/earthy base.

I *could* have

the following oils:

Cedar
Sandalwood
myrrh
cinnamon
benzoin
anise
valerian
orange


Bergamot
Lemon
Jasmin


Any thoughts?

[CptKipling]

bumpety

[DrSmellThis]

Let's just work with virtually

everything you have, for the hell of it. I'll call this:

Him a Lay Ya


5 Lemon
1 Pine
8

orange
8 Bergamot
5 Neroli
2 Rose

Geranium
3 lavender
4 Ylang Ylang
7

Jasmine
3 Clary Sage
1 cinnamon
2

anise
5 benzoin
1 Labdanum
3

Sandalwood
1 Patchouli
2 Frankincense
1

myrrh
1 valerian

Instructions: I know you are in a hurry, so I'll

accelerate the maturation part to the max. Get a small, clean, sterile bottle with a lid (atomizer lid is OK) and

add 5 drops of everclear. Then combine these in strict reverse order, starting from the bottom of the list.

Shake the bottom of the bottle well from side to side with small, rapid shakes after each addition. Pay close

attention to what each new ingredient does, so if you want to add a touch more of something later you'll

have the knowledge to do so. Let sit for 24 hours sealed, then mix with 100 more drops of everclear. Shake well.

Tell your friend to shake the bottle 2x/day, and add 20% more filtered or distilled water to it if she wants,

only after a week of maturation though, to mellow it out and extend it. You may double or triple the recipe

if desired to make a larger quantity; or to get your atomizer bottle to be 4/5 full.

Enjoy!!

[CptKipling]

Thanks a lot Doc, that's great



I've actually got a few more oils on the way, inclding:

Neroli (10% in jojoba) ( the absolute is

expensive!)
Clary Sage
Frankincense
Rose Geranium
Labdanum
Pine
Eucalyptus

...but they can just sit on the

side for this brew (unless there is an obvious use for one or two).

I'm going to use jojoba as a base, do I

need to do anything different? And I'm assuming that because my Jasmin is a 10% (in jojoba again) then I just x10

the Jasmin drops...? Do I reduce the amount of jojoba that I add because of this? I will end up with the equivalent

of 108 drops of jojoba before I've even started adding any carrier.

Oh, and what is the best point to add some

pheros?

Thanks again Doc, muchly appreciated

I'll let you know how it goes.

[bjf]

Let's just work

with virtually everything you have, for the hell of it. I'll call this:

Him a Lay Ya


5 Lemon
1 Pine
8

orange
8 Bergamot
5 Neroli
2 Rose

Geranium
3 lavender
4 Ylang Ylang
7

Jasmine
3 Clary Sage
1 cinnamon
2

anise
5 benzoin
1 Labdanum
3

Sandalwood
1 Patchouli
2 Frankincense
1

myrrh
1 valerian

Instructions: I know you are in a hurry, so I'll

accelerate the maturation part to the max. Get a small, clean, sterile bottle with a lid (atomizer lid is OK) and

add 5 drops of everclear. Then combine these in strict reverse order, starting from the bottom of the list.

Shake the bottom of the bottle well from side to side with small, rapid shakes after each addition. Pay close

attention to what each new ingredient does, so if you want to add a touch more of something later you'll

have the knowledge to do so. Let sit for 24 hours sealed, then mix with 100 more drops of everclear. Shake well.

Tell your friend to shake the bottle 2x/day, and add 20% more filtered or distilled water to it if she wants,

only after a week of maturation though, to mellow it out and extend it. You may double or triple the recipe

if desired to make a larger quantity; or to get your atomizer bottle to be 4/5 full.



Enjoy!!

DST, I noticed that the top notices are used in significantly higher quantity than the

base notes. Can you break down the general-rule-of-thumb percentages that perfumers use for the base, middle and top

notes?

Thanks

[DrSmellThis]

DST, I noticed that

the top notices are used in significantly higher quantity than the base notes. Can you break down the

general-rule-of-thumb percentages that perfumers use for the base, middle and top notes?

Thanks

It

varies. Some have mentioned 3:2:1, top to bottom, but it depends on the oils and desired effect. It's discussed

earlier in this thread, too.

[DrSmellThis]

Let's just

work with virtually everything you have, for the hell of it. I'll call this:

Him a Lay Ya


5 Lemon
1 Pine
8

orange
8 Bergamot
5 Neroli
2 Rose

Geranium
3 lavender
4 Ylang Ylang
7

Jasmine
3 Clary Sage
1 cinnamon
2

anise
5 benzoin
1 Labdanum
3

Sandalwood
1 Patchouli
2 Frankincense
1

myrrh
1 valerian

Instructions: I know you are in a hurry, so I'll

accelerate the maturation part to the max. Get a small, clean, sterile bottle with a lid (atomizer lid is OK) and

add 5 drops of everclear. Then combine these in strict reverse order, starting from the bottom of the list.

Shake the bottom of the bottle well from side to side with small, rapid shakes after each addition. Pay close

attention to what each new ingredient does, so if you want to add a touch more of something later you'll

have the knowledge to do so. Let sit for 24 hours sealed, then mix with 100 more drops of everclear. Shake well.

Tell your friend to shake the bottle 2x/day, and add 20% more filtered or distilled water to it if she wants,

only after a week of maturation though, to mellow it out and extend it. You may double or triple the recipe

if desired to make a larger quantity; or to get your atomizer bottle to be 4/5 full.

Enjoy!!

Leave out

the everclear, mix oils in order indicated, let sit for at least a week, then put in the everclear, let sit for

another three days. You can lengthen times if you want, and check to see if it's making a difference in the smell.

At the very last stage you add the water.

[CptKipling]

Thanks again Doc