Perfume, essential oils, aromatherapy – a rich package of care for our mental and physical well-being. We introduced the basics of safe use and different methods of applying essential oils (as well as what aromatherapy is and isn’t) in the article Aromatherapy Isn’t Just Scents: What You’re Not Told When Buying an Essential Oil.

Now I’d like to focus on making a homemade perfume – your personal blend of essential oils – that can accompany you through various stages of life, whether difficult or light-hearted. It can help quiet your mind, ease stress, or boost your confidence and sense of attractiveness. Everything we give our attention to grows. So let’s devote time to a beautiful, fragrant, and supportive practice that allows us to gently direct our energy where we need it most.

Scent as a Guide Through Life

The human body is incredibly fascinating. Do you know what olfactory memory is? Our sense of smell—whether we realize it or not—is a crucial sensor. It tells us what’s beneficial or harmful in any given situation. Every time we experience a physically or emotionally significant moment, the scent we smell (if distinct) gets imprinted in memory along with the feelings we experienced. These form one complete “experience” or memory that becomes deeply stored.

The more frequently we associate the same scent-feeling combination, the stronger and more vivid the memory becomes. This also applies when we experience intense emotions, like fear, sorrow, joy, or delight. Evolutionarily, our olfactory memory preserves these scent-experience links. So when we smell a scent tied to a specific memory, we instantly feel the same as we did during that initial moment.

Why Make a Perfume When I Can Just Buy One?

I teach my clients how to use essential oils in a way that truly benefits them. To avoid forming unhelpful olfactory memories (a phenomenon called olfactory association), I never recommend using essential oils in isolation. I explore this more in the article How to Blend Essential Oils and Why. It’s important to always connect specific scents with positive, intentional experiences.

But we can also use this to our advantage. For example, if you’re going through a tough time—like a breakup, a death in the family, a career change, or any other uncomfortable transition—I highly recommend creating a supportive blend for that period. It will accompany you, give you strength and courage.

Don’t be afraid to use your perfume, spray, or roll-on often. Before you know it, the situation (and the blend made for it) will pass. Your fragrance will support you through what it needs to, and now it’s time for new experiences and new scents.

Scents of Celebration, Joy, and Pleasure

Here’s a tip I always give my clients: “Use scent to celebrate.” Whenever something meaningful happens—a milestone, a personal success—create a celebratory perfume. Ingrain that fragrance and its joy deep into your roots. Then, when life feels a bit off, you can draw on that embedded joy and strength.

Of course, you don’t have to wait for success to celebrate or feel good. What counts as “success” is subjective. It’s about your sense of calm, peace, and strength. For me, there’s always a reason to celebrate. Now, you can literally imprint these feelings into yourself, breathe in a wonderful, rich fragrance, and feel nourished by it. Isn’t that amazing? 🙂

If you’d like a personal consultation on creating your own perfume or other aromatherapy products, feel free to contact me here, I would be very honoured.

So How Do You Make a Blend Like This?

The process is very simple. The more challenging part may be choosing which essential oils to include and in what proportions. In my courses and consultations, I always explain the concept of the “fragrance pyramid.” This term refers to the structure and composition of a scent—how it smells and how it evolves over time.

Fragrance Pyramid Basics:

• Base Notes: The heaviest and most intense scents, often sweet, deep, and slow to develop (woods, roots, spices, resins).
  
• Middle Notes: Medium-weight scents, sometimes still complex and sweet (flowers, aromatic herbs, leaves).
  
• Top Notes: The lightest and freshest scents, which evaporate quickly and are the first to fade (citrus, fresh herbs).
  

Your Personal Scent Guide

Now we need to choose specific essential oils. I recommend having 10–13 oils to choose from for each layer of the pyramid. From experience, more than that can overwhelm your nose—especially if it’s not trained.

Include as many categories from each layer as possible. For example, sample several woods, resins, spices, and a root or two for the base. Not only does this expand your scent vocabulary, but it improves your sense of smell and helps you identify which types of scents you enjoy most and which are suitable for you right now.

Let Your Nose Lead, Not Your Head

Once you’ve smelled your way through the dense base, flower like sweet middle, and refreshing top layers, you’ll likely know which oils you want in your blend—and which to skip. For your first perfume, I recommend choosing one oil per layer. If you can’t choose between two favorites in one layer, go ahead and use two from that one layer but stick to just one oil in the others.

Why? Because after going through all the options, you and your nose might be too fatigued to create a balanced perfume with four or five oils. If you’re distracted, tired, or rushing, your blend might not turn out well—and you might miss out on enjoying the process, which is a big part of the magic.

Your Personal Perfume Is Waiting

Once your ingredients are chosen, sniff the final combination together to ensure harmony. If it resonates with you, wonderful! Getting to this point can take time. Now imagine how you want to feel when you smell the perfume.

Do you want something heavy and sweet that gives you a loving sense of safety? Or a strong, floral, seductive fragrance that makes knees weak? It’s entirely up to you and how you want to feel.

This returns us to the idea that everyone perceives scent differently—based on their own unique olfactory associations. For instance, I personally love the scents of benzoin, vanilla, and tonka bean because they give me a sense of calm and security. But someone else might feel completely different. I’ve never seen two people create the same perfume from the same set of oils. It’s amazing how unique we all are 🙂

Already Picking Out Essential Oils?

I hope I’ve inspired you to explore essential oils and the world of fragrance. Whether you’re going through something tough or celebrating something wonderful, creating your own scent blend can be meaningful, healing and supporting. Essential oils are nature’s gifts for our support, joy, and delight. What scents do you enjoy the most, and in which combinations? Share your experiences with us—we’d love to hear them 🙂