Blending perfumes is not a joke nor is it easy. It involves handling various natural oils and blending them into something that smells beautiful. Essential oils and absolutes are usually used in making perfume.
These substances emit very strong odors that could make you really sick especially if you work in unventilated environments. Thus, it is necessary that you safeguard your blending procedures taking time to install safety procedures.
When working with aromatic oils and such, there's a tendency to become too accustomed with the smell. At times your nose has been exposed too long on the smell of oils and various blends that you become somewhat "immune" to the smell.
At this point, you really need to take some short breaks. You could take a walk and get some fresh air or run a couple of lapses or any activity which would result to some heavy breathing. This will clear you nose. Another common practice not only by those blending perfumes but as well as those trying various types of perfumes on a single time, is sniffing coffee beans.
As a perfume blender, you should always try and give each blend a chance. Let the blend evolve in a bottle first. This will allow a fresh blend to properly meld and mellow which creates rather surprising scents and character. You should treat each blend this way. You need some patience and let things settle down. Never rush things.
It is like making wine, you blend the wind, seal it in barrels and wait for years to drink the brew. At least for perfumes, it will not take you that long. Also, once you put a perfume on, let it settle and evolve on your skin. As you left the perfume on your skin, the blend reacts and changes because of your body heat. Allow the base tones to emerge first before passing judgment on the blend itself.
Basically when you start blending natural perfumes, you're mixing three oils: to top note, the heart note and the base note oils. You choose what oils appeal to you and start mixing them up together. Ideal top notes include citrus oils like bergamot, lemon, mandarin and orange.
Also popular top notes are conifer oils, mint oils, cardamom, basil, chamomile, juniperberry, ginger, petitgrain and rosemary. Middle notes, on the other hand, use various floral oils and absolutes like elemi, coriander, galbanum, sweet marjoram, geranium, lavender and nutmeg. The best base oils are wood oils like cedarwood, gaiac, linaloe wood and sandalwood and resin oils like frankincense and myrrh.
You get one oil from each note and start putting them together in separate a bottle. Be sure to write down how many drops of each you blending. Start working on combinations. You could start with equal amounts moving on to some other mixes until you get a sniff of the scent you're looking for.
If you think you got a great blend, cover the bottle and warm by rolling the bottle between your palms. Turn it upside down to blend the mix further. Smell your concoction. Just remember that the top note oils will fade more quickly than the middle and base notes so having a strong top note may not be that bad. As I mentioned earlier, let the perfume evolve.
Get a strip of coffee filter and apply a drop of perfume on it. Let is stay on for a while. In an interval of a couple of minutes to a couple of hours, keep sniffing the strip so you could get an idea of how the perfume evolves.
You really need a lot of patience when you make your own perfume. If you want the easy way then you could always buy one from the mall. But you will never experience the joy and triumph one experiences when they maker their own perfume.
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