How to Make Perfume from Ingredients Found in the Garden!

Published: 03/05/2018

Believe it or not, anyone can make their own perfume from home, and even grow the ingredients right from their back garden! Why make your own perfume? Well, just to name a few reasons: it’s cost-efficient, fun and the perfect way to create a personal gift. Keep reading to find out how to make perfume from home with ingredients which you can easily grow in your garden!

How to Make Perfume from Flower Petals

Flower petals create a beautiful, floral scent and they can easily be grown in any garden. Follow these simple steps on how to make perfume from flower petals:

• Pick the petals from the flower you wish to make perfume from. Great options are roses and honeysuckle.
• Put some cheesecloth inside an empty bowl, with the edges hanging out, and place your petals on top of the cloth.
• Pour a small amount of water on top of your petals to cover them. Ensure the edges of the cheesecloth are still hanging out of the bowl and cover the bowl with a lid.
• Leave the petals to soak overnight.
• The next day, remove the lid and gently bring the four corners of the cheesecloth together, lifting the pouch out of the bowl with the petals and water still inside the pouch.
• Squeeze the cheesecloth gently over a small saucepan extracting the flower-scented water.
• Simmer the water over a low heat until you have around 1 tsp of liquid.
• Allow the liquid to cool then bottle up your perfume. The perfume made from petals generally last about a month if stored in a cool and dark place.

How to Make Perfume from Essential Oils 

Step 1: Distillation.

Essential Oils are highly concentrated oils extracted from aromatic plants, like lavender and rosemary. A lot of different plants contain these oils, and there are actually a few different methods on how to extract the oils. The most common method however is distillation. Follow the steps below on how to extract essential oils from a plant:

• Purchase an Essential Oil Still - These can be fairly expensive, so you could consider buying one from Ebay or potentially borrowing one. You could also use a Slow Cooker - see how below. 
• Now prepare your plants. The amount of oil in a plant actually depends on where it is up to in its Life Cycle. You must undertake some research on the plants you wish to distill to find out the correct time to harvest the plant. A great example of this is the popular plant Lavender, which needs to be harvested when about half the flowers on the stem have withered. 
• Be VERY careful when harvesting your chosen plant. Also, if you're buying your plants harvested try to find out information on them - when where they harvested etc. 
• Ideally you should take some time to then dry your plants - this will increase the amount of essential oils you get from each batch. You don't want your plants to get too warm, so try to find a spot that is dry and sheltered from the sun.
• Now you're ready to distill your plants. First of all, pour some water into your still. Then fit your plants inside the still filling with water to cover the plants. Don't break the plants up or chop them, just try to fit them in (otherwise you can lose some of your oils). Bring the still to boil. Close the lid to make sure the steam goes through the pipe attached. Most plants will release their oils at 100 degrees Celsius. 
• Keep an eye on the process. After a while, distillate should begin to come through your condenser and into your separator. You need to make sure your water doesn't go cold, if it does then you may need to replace it to keep the process going. 
• Once complete, you may opt to filter the contents through a cheesecloth, but this is not necessary. 
• Pour the oil into a container using a funnel. The container ideally should be made of glass or stainless steel and stored in a cool, dark place. Most can be kept for a few years but some do have a short life span.

Using a Slow Cooker instead - Pop the dried plants in, 2 cups of oil, cook on low for 6 hours then drain through a cheesecloth.

Step 2: How to make the perfume using the oils made. 

We're going to discuss how to make a romantic and floral smell, which would work perfectly as a thoughtful gift for a loved one.

Before making the perfume: Perfume made from essential oils generally are made with three different types of essential oils - a base, a middle tone and top note. The top note you will smell first in the perfume then the other smells will follow. You should also try to use a small, dark bottle to store your perfume.

What plants to distill for this scent: For our romantic and floral smell you will need to distill dried lime peels, Damascus Roses and Vetiver. Making perfume from essential oils:

• The first thing you need to do is is add your base note. For this particular smell that we're doing we advise to add 25 drops of rose essential oil.
• Now you need to mix in your middle note. For our more floral and romantic scent we advise to add in 10 drops of lime essential oils.
• Now add your top note. We advise to add 10 drops of vetiver essential oil.
• Although you don't have to do this, many people now add in alcohol to preserve the perfume. One of two ounces should do it, and we would advise to go for something which won't have an overwhelming smell like vodka.
• Now you've added in all your ingredients, give the perfume bottle a good shake to mix all the ingredients properly.
• If you are patient enough and have the time, let it sit for as long as a month! You can use it beforehand but the longer you leave it without using it the stronger the scents will be and the longer they will last.

An Unusual Way to Wear your Perfume!

A fantastic way to use your homemade perfume is to wear it as jewellery with the Drops of Joy Jewelry products. There's tons of different pieces to choose from and all you do is fill up your jewellery with your chosen essential oil/oils. Check them all out here.