DIY Perfume: Making Your Signature Scent

If you read my post about my DIY dryer balls or my carpet freshener, then you know that I'm in absolutely obsessed with the smell of orange and jasmine. {sigh} The jasmine is romantic and the orange gives it a little bit of crispness and freshness. I love it! I love it! I love it! So why not wear it, right it?

I decided to make my own signature fragrance, but I needed to figure out how to do it!

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Research
If you know anything about perfumes (I did not until a year ago) then you know that there is a top note, middle note, and base note. It's recommended that you use one of each of the notes in your perfume, but you don't have to. It's your signature scent! Do what you want!

But before you decide on a scent, let's get some education on the basics of notes....

• Top Note: Your first impression and the scent that will fade the quickest. 
• Middle Note: I have seen it referred to as the heart of the perfume. It will fade after a couple of hours
• Base Note: This will be the anchor to your perfume and it will be the note that lasts the longest.
•  It is also important to note that usually a base note isn't the most pleasant of the three initially, but it will become more pleasing over time.

My top note is orange, my middle note is jasmine and my base note is.... uhhhhh.... I don't have a base note. And considering that it's the longest acting, well, I think I want a base note.

Lucky for me I stumbled across this great website that talks about blending essential oils and gives a general idea about which scents pair well with others. The author offers some ways to make perfume as well, but I decided to go with a slightly different recipe from Small Measures with just a small adjustment: Less alcohol. I was a little worried that I would end up smelling like a drunkard with all that booze. The alcohol mainly acts a preservative from what I've read, so to hell with it! I'm changing things up. BTW: She has great step-by-step pictures and she is way more detailed than I am so definitely check out her site.
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