The Science of Natural Perfuming with Essential Oils
“Smell is a potent wizard that transports us across thousands of miles. . .”
-Helen Keller
Smell was our first sense as we evolved and our sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than our other senses.This is the only one of the five senses that is processed via the right side of the brain which governs emotion and creativity.In addition, aromas can trigger emotional and sexual reaction. It is no wonder that the perfuming industry has survived and flourished.
History of Perfuming
As early as 4000 BC fragrant substances were burned in China, Arabia and Egypt for sacred purposes.In Egypt certain scents were considered more precious than gold.
After the fall of the Roman civilization in 476 A. D. the use of personal fragrance declined in Europe until the Renaissance.The Renaissance was a great period of development for fragrance.The use of essential oils expanded to include spices and the use of animal fixatives such as ambergris, civet and musk.
The first alcohol based perfume was created in 1370 for Queen Elizabeth of Hungary.This recipe became known as Hungary water and was said to be responsible for preserving her great beauty.It is still manufactured today.
Modern perfumery began in 1806 with Eau de Cologne created by Jean Maria Fatina in Cologne Germany.This alcohol water based fragrance contained the essential oils of neroli, bergamot, rosemary and lemon.
Defining Perfuming
The word perfume is from the Latin phrase “per fumum”, meaning “through smoke”.One of the original purposes behind perfuming was to eliminate anti-erogenous odors and use a second scent to create an erogenous effect.
In masking unpleasant odors, fresh fragrances are used such as Bergamot, Lemon, Citronella, Cypress, Mints, Rosemary, conifers, and Thymes.The refreshing effect of essential oils as mentioned above, are stimulating to the senses but a prolonged duration can lead to saturation.To avoid this result a truly refreshing effect must have a vanishing quality.The purpose of a perfume is to include the duration of the fragrance without over saturation.How is this accomplished?
Building a Perfume
Perfumes are built using a system of notes.There is the top note, the middle note and the base note.This concept was implemented by a 19th Century perfumer named Septimus Piesse by using a musical scale.Each odor was assigned a note on the scale and the perfume was created using appropriate chords.
In 1923 W. A. Poucher used the note system and added an evaporation rate to the scale.The fastest evaporation included the top note with essential oils such as mandarin, coriander, lemon.
The top note will be the first impression of the fragrance as it evaporates. They tend to be light and penetrating and will last on the body around 30 minutes.
The middle note or the body of the perfume is generally the overall odor of the blend and rounds out the fragrance.The middle notes can make up 50 to 80% of the blend and can last as long as three hours.
Base notes or the dry note of the blend contain deep, warm, sensuous oils.The base notes are the slowest to evaporate and often function as a fixative slowing the evaporation rate of the other notes.Base notes consist of woods, resins and roots and tend to be some of the more expensive essential oils.
Now that we have the basic blue print of a perfume it is time to decide on the materials to use.Natural perfumes use essential oils or floral infusions.Most commercial perfumes use synthetic fragrance, but a few, like Chanel No. 5 use a combination.The preference of essential oils over synthetic fragrance allows for a full, gentle scent that usually is not offensive to scent sensitive individuals.Essential oils all have health benefits so they play a dual purpose.
Choosing which essential oils to use can be tricky and sometimes requires an experienced “nose” and patience.Individual odor has a great effect on how a perfume will present itself.This is why some perfumes smell great on one person and horrible on another.The human individual odor consists of the odor produced from a clean naked body and includes the skin and orifices of the body.The most important odors are produced in the area of hair.
Paul Jellienk has distinguished individual odor to the three basic hair types:
Blonde:acidic-cheesy
Red:sharp, burnt
Black/dark:sweet; rancid
As mentioned above, the first step in creating an attracting fragrance is to create an effect that is complimentary to the human body odor.For example Geranium has a top note which is also reminiscent of blonde skin odors, Frankincense chemistry is reminiscent of dark hair and red haired individual’s sweat.The next step in building our perfume is to determine if you want a stimulating fragrance, or a narcotic or erogenous fragrance type.Kurt Schnaubelt breaks down some of the fragrance groups indicating appropriate essential oils:
Anti-erogenous:strong citrus notes, Verbena perfumes
Fresh, stimulating:violet leaf and others with green notes
Stimulant:Mimosa, Cassia
Sultry:“oriental” perfumes, jasmine, Narcissus
Narcotic:Rose, Tuberose (example is found in Chanel No.5)
Calming:Lavender, Eau de Colognes with Bergamot notes
Getting started you will need to use non-metal implements to avoid chemical reaction which may alter the scent.Glass beakers and glass stirring rods are recommended and can be purchased at most hobby shops.Never use essential oils directly on the skin.
As you mix the blend use a perfume paper to test the performance or use coffee filters cut into strips for your perfume testing.Natural perfumes preferably are kept in dark bottles to prevent light penetration.
Perfumes consist of 15% to 30% essential oil cut by alcohol or a carrier.It should last four to six hours.Eau de Parfum is a 10% to 15% dilution ratio and will last two to four hours.A cologne is one part oil to six parts perfume diluent or vodka and one part fixative.This will last only about two hours.(note the fixative as a class usually has a high boiling point and slow evaporation rate to make the fragrance last longer:benzoin and oakmoss are examples).
It is advised to record your recipe and reactions to the combinations as you blend; don’t trust your memory here.Once you have the combination of all three notes complete you then add it to your base.For those with drier skin Jojoba oil works well and doesn’t evaporate as quickly as alcohol based cologne.It is recommended to let the blend sit for 48 hours before making any changes.During this time the oils will blend together to form the complete perfume.
Your blend can be as simple or complex as you like.Mindy Green author of the book, “Natural Perfumes” offers simple recipes and basic guidelines to get you started in creating your own perfumes.She breaks down the different proportions to make getting started easy.
Body mists5-10 drops essential oil2 ounces distilled watershake well
Room sprays10-15 drops essential oil2 ounces distilled watershake well; do not
Use on furniture
Linen spray20-30 drops essential oil2 ounces distilled watershake well; test for
Staining on fabric
Massage, bath, body oil5-12 drops of essential oil1 ounce vegetable or jojobashake well
oil
Eau de toile4-8- drops of essential oil92-96 drops of a blend ofUse Everclear not1/3 alcohol & 2/3 waterVodka
Perfume15-30 drops70-85 drops of pure grainUse Everclear not
Alcohol or jojoba oilVodka
Conclusion
Scent is the most sensitive of all of senses. Creating a perfume is an art and a science.We have reviewed some of the chemistry behind perfuming but the blending truly is a artistic process much like painting a picture or composing music.As you gather your ingredients for your perfume allow yourself to be creative.Perfuming is the language of fragrances and can communicate the most simple of messages to the most complex.What do you want your perfume to say?
Reference
Green, Mindy“Natural Perfumes”, 1999
Miller, R.A and Miller, Iona“The Magical and Ritual use of Perfumes”, 1990
Schnaubelt, Kurt, “Pacific Institute of Aromatherapy Third Edition Course Study”, 1997