Rose Geranium Essential Oil - DIY Natural Perfume Recipe for Valentine's Day

Rose Geranium

I just opened my new bottle of Rose Geranium (Pelargonium odorantissimum) essential oil.  It's called "rose" geranium because of the lemony rose smell of its triangular leaves.  The leaves and stalk are steam-distilled for the oil, which aromatherapists user for its antiseptic and antidepressant qualities, balancing the adrenal system and counteracting stress.


Yum!  Describing scent is challenging, but here it goes: buttery.   Seriously, the fragrance of this oil starts with a buttery softness that melds into a grassy rosy smell, less sweet than rose.  Remember Bambi and his friends frisking in the meadow filled with golden sunlight?  RG is what that meadow would smell like.  


I wanted to see how rose geranium smelled mix with rose absolute so I added a drop of each into an amber vial.  Essential oils, when mixed, often transform into a completely new scent that obscures the personality of the individual notes.  This didn't quite happen when I mixed the two, perhaps because the two were so similar to begin with.  I ended up with a rosier version of rose geranium, think of the Bambi meadow now growing with rose vines.  Rose geranium, by itself, makes for a lovely perfume because of the complexity of the fragrance - grassy, green and floral all at once.  With rose absolute, we now have a more intense and brighter perfume it may be hard to keep from sniffing yourself.  


But lest one not aspire to smell like a rose garden, I decided to temper the rose/rose geranium mix a bit by adding a drop of french high-altitude lavender.  This lavender has a sweet, fruity fragrance with an anise like haze.  One drop was a bit overpowering.  Think Bambi rose garden set in France.  The grassy smell I loved faded into the background a bit.   A few more drops of RG later, I had the perfect scent: rosy, but not so rosy that you'd be bursting into song all day long.  Calming.  Soothing.  Clean.  


Now for the finishing touch - sandalwood.  A few drops to help ground the fragrance.  I have some aged sandalwood that I don't use for experimentation - wild sandalwood is endangered species due to deforestation and overharvesting.  I find that organically grown Vanuatu sandalwood (from the island of Vanatu in the South Pacific) is a good alternative to the real deal from India.  It's creamy, balsamic, woodsy, and similar to the Indian variety.  It doesn't intrude on the rest of the perfume, but gives it a heavier, dreamier quality.  


The result is a fresh, romantic fragrance that is perfect for Valentine's Day!  In fact, that's what I will name it: Valentine.  You will need to dilute this fragrance with at least four drops carrier oil for every drop of essential oil you use, more if you use rose absolute.   May you have much love in your heart on this Valentine's Day.


Valentine Perfume
1 drop rose absolute
4 drops rose geranium
1 drop lavender
4 drops sandalwood
50-60 drops jojoba oil
5 drops Vitamin E, optional


If you don't feel like blending it yourself, Valentine Perfume is available by request only through: Mermaid Lane Perfumes.  Your perfume will be hand blended and bottled in a beautiful 5 ml heart glass perfume vial.  Please contact us for details.