How to make homemade perfume: ingredients, steps and recipes

To make homemade perfume you need 96% alcohol, essential oils, distilled water and a dark glass bottle. For 100 ml, mix 75 ml of alcohol, 20 ml of essential oils and 5 ml of distilled water with a few drops of glycerine. Split the oils into top notes (30%), heart notes (50%) and base notes (20%), leave the blend to mature for three weeks somewhere dark, then filter and bottle it.

Making your own perfume is the best way to understand how a fragrance is built: what you smell first, what comes next and what stays on the skin. In this guide you'll find the ingredients, the ratios, the step-by-step method and five simple recipes to get started.

What ingredients do you need for homemade perfume?

• Dark glass bottle: protects the blend from light and keeps the scent better. Choose one big enough for the whole batch.
• 96% ethyl alcohol: available at any pharmacy. It dissolves the oils and helps the scent project.
• Essential oils: these give the perfume its smell. You can start with lavender, peppermint or rosemary. divain Ritual offers pure essential oils if you want to start with quality raw materials.
• Distilled water: softens the blend. The more you add, the lighter the result, closer to a cologne.
• Liquid glycerine: a few drops help fix the scent.
• Dimethicone and colouring (optional): dimethicone makes the scent last longer and colouring adds a touch of colour. One drop of each per 100 ml is enough.

The ratios: the fragrance pyramid

A perfume unfolds in three stages, and the oil blend is divided according to them:

• Top notes (30%): citrus and herbs, such as sweet orange or peppermint. They're the first thing you smell and fade in about 30 minutes.
• Heart notes (50%): flowers and spices, such as lavender or ylang ylang. They come through next and last 2 to 4 hours.
• Base notes (20%): woods, resins and musks, such as sandalwood, cedar or vanilla. They stay on the skin for 6 hours or more.

For a stronger perfume, raise the oils to 25% of the total. For a light cologne, lower them to 5-8% and add more distilled water.

How to make homemade perfume step by step

1. Prepare the base: in the bottle, mix 75 ml of alcohol with about 5 drops of glycerine.
2. Build the scent blend: in a separate bottle, combine the essential oils. Start with the base notes, then the heart notes and finish with the top notes, smelling the blend between drops.
3. Combine and mature: add the oils to the alcohol, close tightly, shake and leave for two weeks in a cool, dark place. Shake gently every few days.
4. Dilute: add 5 ml of distilled water (or more for a cologne), shake and leave for one more week.
5. Filter and bottle: pour the perfume through a paper filter into its final bottle and keep it away from heat and light.

5 easy recipes to get started

Each recipe is designed for about 10 ml of alcohol. For a bigger batch, multiply while keeping the same ratio.

1. Floral and relaxing

• 10 drops of lavender
• 5 drops of ylang ylang
• 3 drops of sweet orange

2. Citrus and energising

• 8 drops of sweet orange
• 6 drops of peppermint
• 4 drops of eucalyptus

3. Woody and elegant

• 10 drops of sandalwood
• 5 drops of cedar
• 3 drops of vetiver

4. Herbal and fresh

• 8 drops of rosemary
• 6 drops of peppermint
• 4 drops of tea tree

5. Sweet and enveloping

• 10 drops of vanilla
• 5 drops of jasmine
• 3 drops of ylang ylang

Tips for getting it right

• Write down how many drops of each oil you use. If you love the result, you'll be able to repeat it.
• Test the perfume on a small patch of your forearm before using it: some essential oils can irritate the skin.
• With citrus oils, avoid exposing the area where you've applied it to the sun.
• Store it somewhere cool and dark; heat and light make it go off sooner.
• To make the scent last longer, take a look at our tips to make perfume last longer.

Would you rather have a ready-made perfume?

Homemade perfume is fun to make, but it has its limits in longevity and complexity. If you're after a fragrance with more sillage that lasts all day, the divain catalogue has hundreds of perfumes to choose from.

Frequently asked questions

What ingredients do I need to make homemade perfume?

96% ethyl alcohol, essential oils, distilled water and a dark glass bottle. Glycerine, dimethicone and colouring are optional.

How long should homemade perfume mature?

About three weeks in total: two weeks with the oils in the alcohol and one more after adding the water. This lets the ingredients blend and the scent gain depth.

How should the notes be split in homemade perfume?

A ratio that works well is 30% top notes, 50% heart notes and 20% base notes.