I'm making my own cologne

[JoePerri]

Hi All,

I have worked my way through samplers from Truefitt & Hill, Penhaligons & Floris. I did not find anything interesting in the Floris but REALLY love T&H Trafalgar & Penhaligons English Fern & Blenheim Bouquet. I also just tried QED Sandalwood soap. I really like scent but it is a bit to herbaceous and "green" for me. It needs to be a bit more woody and sweeter like Taylor's Sandalwood soap. I asked Charles if he had a cologne recommendation to go with it but he did not. I asked if he had thought about making a cologne to go with it but he is too busy right now. So I have decided to try my hand at making my own!

I looked around the net and read a bunch of articles about perfume & EdT. I also did some serious looking at essential oils and absolutes. It turns out that they are not hard to obtain at all. A high quality EdT can be easily made by combining about 20-30% EO with ethyl alcohol. A fixative can be added but is not strictly necessary. It also seems the high quality EO's are not that expensive. The way some people go on about it I assumed we were talking like $100 a ml. This is happily not the case. One can obtain high quality sandalwood EO for between $6 to $15 a ml. Thus producing 50ml of a straight sandalwood might cost $60 to $150. This is exactly what one would pay for a high end EdT at retail. Most other EO's are far less expensive(a few are far more!!)

Thus I have ordered up a bunch of different EO's and will set to experimenting. My goal is to produce an EdT that I like, mostly a sweet sandalwood with a few other notes. I have no intention of producing anything commercially so I will be happy to post all the recipes I come up with and will ship small samples to a small number of people as long as you agree not to sue me if you have an allergic reaction and get a small rash(a very small danger when working with EO's and absolutes.)

Here is what I have to tinker with for now:


Sandalwood
Cedarwood, Atlas
Frankincense
Jasmine Sambac
Lavender Mailette
Myrrh
Indonesian Patchouli
White Sage
Tobacco

I am open to any sugesstions or hints from anyone who has done this before!

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Steerpike]

Tried it, as I have a lot of EO's mainly for use in medicines (I'm a herbalist). I now really appreciate the skill of the "noses" who blend fragrances- I was unable to make anything coherent, the different smells seemed to clash, and I couldn't get the right balance of base to topnotes. I wanted a Sandalwood, but just the EO in alcohol doesn't work- no topnotes, the aroma doesn't lift, it just sits on your skin, and can only be smelt up close.
Also you need a good alcohol, and to use the lowest % that will keep the oils soluble- 70% is probably good. Isopropyl is right out, smells foul, so applying the perfume isn't enjoyable. I have found an Irish Poteen at 90% which smells faintly sweet and fruity, but is mainly without character (like vodka) which seems to work best.
Basically, expect to try a lot of different blends before you get the effect you are looking for, this may cost a fair bit of EO in testing. However it must be doable, I'm sure if you stick at it you'll get there, and learn a lot. Maybe I'll have another go sometime.
I suggest you get a few citrus EO's to experiment with as topnotes- lemon, orange and grapefruit are very cheap, bergamot is a little more costly. Have fun!

 

[Sue]

Also you need a good alcohol, and to use the lowest % that will keep the oils soluble- 70% is probably good. Isopropyl is right out, smells foul, so applying the perfume isn't enjoyable. I have found an Irish Poteen at 90% which smells faintly sweet and fruity, but is mainly without character (like vodka) which seems to work best.

Never use Isopropyl alcohol, it reeks! For home use you can use vodka, better is a grain alcohol like Everclear; best is perfumers alcohol.
Sue

 

[JoePerri]

Hmmm, sounds more difficult than I thought. Well, I guess I'll have to try anyhow.

My oils came last night and smelled them all. The sandalwood is very dry, somewhat woody and has a smoky note to it. It is real Santalum album too. Very interesting but not something I would wear as a single note. It definitely needs more sweetness and more wood. Maybe some spice as well. I made a quick 25% dilution with vodka and put it on the back of my hands. Wow is it potent!! I can still smell it a little bit this morning after showering and washing my hands several times! The tobacco is very interesting and smells exactly like tobacco. The white sage is sharp and has a slight fishy note to it. The atlas cedar wood is very woody and slightly camphorus. The jasmine is out of this world floral and POTENT!! It is very reminiscent of plumeria, tuberose and jasmine. I added a tiny bit to the sandalwood and all I could smell was the jasmine! The patchouli smells like patchouli. The frankincense & myrrh are unusual and might blend well. The lavender is a pure, spicy lavender. The company I ordered from sent a handful of samples of other oils as well. Clary sage, some different cedars, etc. I'll try those too.

I can see what you mean by how difficult it is to blend the notes in the right way. It will be interesting to see how my first attempts turn out. I avoided the citrus scents on purpose because it seems that every single EdT out there has "citrus top notes". I want something different. Of course this could turn out to be a stupid move. ;-> Much like avoiding millennia of bread baking knowledge and trying to make bread without using flour "just to be different". We'll see.

Sue, I just followed the link in your sig. Very cool stuff! Do you send out samples of your EdT's? Maybe one of yours is what I'm looking for and then I won't have to make it! I'm planning on picking up some 90% ethyl alcohol this weekend. Any other advice or hints you can give without giving away your trade secrets?

Thanks,
Joe

 

[Sue]

Joe,
Don't give up and dont' get a cold . In all seriousness, just keep trying. The latest round of SCS fragrance blends went something like this: We had over 75 blend samples taped around my kitchen bar and everyone who stepped foot into my house was locked in until they smelled them all. Those were then weeded down to 13. The remaining 13 were sent to the SCS "test team"; 13 is now 3.
Sue

 

[JoePerri]

Essential Oil & Alcohol Don't Mix.

Well I have made up my first test EdT. It is mostly sandalwood & cedarwood with a touch of clary sage, lavender & myrrh. It is hard to tell how it will smell when it is so young. I'm a bit confused though. All of the sources I found state that the E.O. will dissolve into the alcohol. This does not seem to be the case. My mix is 25% E.O., 75% grain alcohol(everclear). The oil just sits at the bottom with the alcohol floating on top. If I shake it it really well it just separates after a few hours. It has been sitting for about 18 hours now and I've shaken it several times but it just separates right back out. Will it eventually dissolve? Does it take several days? Do I need to add an emulsifier? If so any recommendations?

I hope someone can give me a few pointers.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[JoePerri]

I still haven't figured out why the E.O. isn't dissolving/mixing in the alcohol but it looks like Polysorbate 20 is the preferred emulsifier of most perfumers. I will have to order some.

Joe

 

[Sue]

I have added Polysorbate 20 to this thread: http://www.badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?p=340678#post340678
Sue

 

[Walravine]

I tried it. I started with a base of ethyl alcohol, blended in essential oils of vermouth and added one unit of Olea europaea, and drank it.

Seriously, you might profit by visiting www.basenotes.net and see if there's anything on that site that might guide you.

 

[JoePerri]

Awesome!!

Thanks Sue!

Joe

 

[Mama Bear]

I still haven't figured out why the E.O. isn't dissolving/mixing in the alcohol but it looks like Polysorbate 20 is the preferred emulsifier of most perfumers. I will have to order some.

Joe

You can add polysorbate, but it is best not to if you don't have to... they WILL blend with time without it. A drop or two of distilled water in the mixture will give it a professional scent and I would put them in the fridge and shake them a couple times a day.. after about a month, it should blend for you. Some folks will also put it in the freezer and then strain it back into the bottle after 24 hours... then back in the fridge and shake every day.... the scent will also morph over this time, it can be fun to sniff it every day and see how it is coming along..

Good luck! Be careful, this can be addicting... ;-)

 

[Steerpike]

Strange- is the alcohol a high enough percentage? I had the idea that everclear was quite a high abv, should work at over 70%. In making varoius embrocations and liniments with an alcohol base I just add the EO's to a high abv tincture (capsicum 1:20- 70% alcohol) and shake it up, works fine. Fixed oils don't dissolve, except castor oil. Maybe you're having trouble because the proportion of essential oils is so high.

 

[JoePerri]

That could be true. Everclear comes in 95% and 75.5%. I could only find the 75.5% kind. That makes my EdT 25% E.O, 56.625% ethyl alcohol and 18.375% water. It is slowly forming a mixture though, VERY slowly. I think if I wait a month it might be mostly mixed. I could order some perfumers alcohol(expensive) or just get some 96% ethyl alcohol(cheap) from a chemical supply house. Since I'm not selling anything it does not have to be denatured. I went ahead and ordered some polysorbate-20. That seems to be what most commercial perfumers do. Some don't use emulsifiers but they seem to be using mostly synthetic scents and thus don't need it.

I made a mix the other day that is 10 parts sandalwood, 5 parts cedarwood, 1 part almond & 1 part vanilla. It is pretty nice but not complex enough, mostly just woody. I have a bunch more E.O.'s on the way and will tinker some more this weekend. I made a perfume for my wife, mostly jasmine sambac & lavender with a bit of clary sage. It did not turn out well at all. It has a harsh "chemical" note to it....

It turns out that this is pretty hard if you don't have a talent for it. ;->

Joe

 

[Lumiens]

I enjoy reading about your experiences as I've always wanted to try this myself. A couple/few years ago I read about an Egyptian that sold his book of perfume recipes for a fortune to some big perfume house. But the Egyptians really don't use alcohol but aromatic oils. I wish I had that link/article, but keep up the struggle. Honestly, you could be at the start of a new career

Lum

 

[Esscentual Man]

Joe,

I'm working with Mama Bear on a new line of EDTs so I'd be more than glad to help you with your new hobby.

What you're in the process of assembling is what we call a perfumer's organ. Much like composing a symphony, perfumers use base, middle and top notes to create a scent that is balanced and flows from one element to the next smoothly.

Here's a list of some of the base notes I have in my organ.

Vetiver
Oakmoss
Cedar Virginia
Cedar Himalaya
Chinese Cedar
Rosewood
Balsam Peru
Guiacwood

Of course, the list goes on and on. At the present I have more than 200 EOs, FOs, and aroma chemicals, and the collection grows bigger each day. LOL.

If you'd like to experiment with combos, www.rainbowmeadow.com is a good place to start. They have a feature where you can click on any one EO and see what others is blends well with. Click on any two, and you can pull up formulae using both of them, and believe me, you can spend hours exploring their 1,700 formulae. They also have monologues on each of the EOs they carry, telling you whether it's a base, middle, or top note.

www.snowdriftfarm.com is a good place to pick up your perfumer's or formulator's alcohol, and the price is pretty good. Need bottles for your concoctions? They have a good variety.

www.naturesoils is mind boggling with the almost endless lists of EOs and FOs. Most of their sample bottles of FOs are 1oz sized and more than ample for lots of experimenting. Of course, the EOs will vary in price, according to how exotic they are.

Once you become more adept at blending, you might want to visit www.perfumersapprentice.com and check out her master perfumer's aroma chemicals. But don't freak out. Sandalwood is comprised of some dozen chemicals that make up its scent and the chemists are able to duplicate it more consistently, and cheaply that way. The real stuff is prohibitively expensive and scarce. If you can get it, it has probably been adulterated.

Have fun, and if you need more help, you can get in contact with me via Mama Bear.

Gary

 

[Handy]

So how are you making out with this Joe?