Musings on Buying Essential Oils for Natural Perfumes

I’ve just finished a few custom blends and am ready to start replenishing my supplies.  I need to order more essences.  This can be a hit or miss process since the oils scents can change even among the same suppliers depending on the season, the weather, the alignment of the planets, the wiggle of the earthworms. . .  what I’m saying is shopping for essential oils is not an exact science. 

It pays to shop around.  Different suppliers can have vastly different prices for the same oils.   Reputation matters in this business, since adulteration of essential oils is a big problem, particularly when spectrometers aren’t exactly a household appliance (save for the one on your face).  My favorite suppliers are Mountain Rose Herbs (Eugene, Oregon) and Eden Botanicals (Hyampon, California).  Mountain Rose aims to keep prices reasonable and has a good selection of herbs, teas, and spices in addition to oils.  Eden Botanical’s website provides detailed descriptions of its oils and always includes samples in your order.

I’ve also bought from Essential Oil University–  I am expecting a second order from them next week.  The wonderful natural perfumer Charna from Providence Perfume didn’t love the yuzu she ordered from Essential Oil University – but I found the sample I received to be quite zesty and alive.  Perhaps I was lucky to have received a fresher sample?  Citrus oils lose their quality more easily than others.  Or maybe EOU improved their quality after reading Charna's article?  We’ll see if I still like the yuzu when the full product comes next week.

One product that has been reliable is the frankincense (boswellia frereana) from Edens Garden (different than Eden Botanicals).  It's rich, woodsy aroma doesn't have the sharp edges other frankincenses can have and isn't medicinal smelling.  

If you are thinking of buying from Ebay, make sure you fully question the seller about their oils.  Sellers who purport to sell “essential oils” often sell “fragrance oils” side by side to their EO’s without making a clear distinction.  Let cost be your guide: if a deal’s too good to be true, it is.

Japanese honeysuckle makes a cooling tea, and hopefully a fragrant tincture.

Finally, don’t underestimate the benefits of tincturing your own plants.  Sure, it’s a long wait.  You have to shake the bottle regularly.   You have to find a good source of high proof alcohol, which can be expensive.  But it’s rewarding.  I was at my local Chinese grocery store yesterday and found all sorts of interesting things that screamed to be tinctured.  Dried honeysuckle.  Green jasmine tea.  Star anise.  Dried shiso leaves.  Not sure if they’ll all be successful but the experimentation is part of the fun.  

Yuzu is one of the more expensive citrus oils.

Maybe I can even tincture some yuzu.  

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.