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Have you ever thought about making your own perfume? Not only it is fun and original , but it can save the environment and your pocket. It is not animal tested and with this recession, this is the right step to keeping your family budget on the line.

The basic formula for perfume is 15% to 30% essential oil, 70% to 80% of pure grain alcohol, such as vodka, and 5% of distilled or bottled spring water. Essential oil can be replaced with fragrance oil for a cheaper quality and price perfume. Essential oils can easily be found in a craft store or health food store. Store your perfume in a small glass or plastic container. You can buy a container with a sprayer at almost any local craft store. You might also be able to find vintage perfume bottles at thrift stores or flea markets.

You will have to play around with the oils to make your own homemade perfume. To start, I suggest mixing ¼ cup of straight vodka with 5 drops of an essential fragrance or oil of your choice. Depending on how strong you want the perfume, you can let the mixture stand for as little as 48 hours all the way to a month. The longer it stands, the stronger it will be. After your perfume has sat for your preferred time, add 2 tablespoons of the diluted water. If the perfume is too strong for you, you can add more water to get your desired scent strength. To make your scent last longer, add a tablespoon of glycerin to your perfume mixture. Glycerin is a neutral, colorless, thick liquid. It can be found anywhere soap making supplies are found. When added to water and alcohol, glycerin remains liquid and helps the other ingredients dissolve faster and better.

When you are ready to start combining fragrance/essential oils for a scent that is completely unique, understand that there are three different notes in scented oil. The first is base notes, which will stay longest on your skin. Base notes include oils such as vanilla, cinnamon, and sandalwood. The second of the notes are middle notes, which add to the scent for a while, but not as long as the base notes. These oils include lemongrass, geranium, neroli, and ylang-ylang. The last of the notes are the top notes which do what they say, they top off the scent. The top notes do not last as long as the other two notes, but add to the scent significantly. The top notes include oils such as rose, lavender, jasmine, bergamot, and orchard. When making a perfume of more than one scent, add the base note oil first. Follow the base note with the middle note oil, and finish with the top note oil.

It takes experimentation to get the scent you want, but you can get started in the right direction by keeping in mind the type of scent associated with essential oils: