The Nose Knows: Tips and Tidbits to DIY Scent-sational Signature Scents

If you’re trying to avoid chemicals, but still want to smell good, it’s a good idea to DIY your fragrances. Turn your kitchen or bathroom into a home perfumery and try DIYing your fragrances to provide a simply scent-sational aromatherapy experience!

Create wearable and sharable scents in no time as a treat for your senses and as ideal gifts. The nose knows and everyone’s body chemistry is different and unique. Read on for tips and tidbits to create perfect pairings of scent-sational signature scents.

CARRIER OILS: Jojoba, apricot kernel, sweet almond, avocado, argan, grapeseed, and coconut oil

ESSENTIAL OILS:

Earthy, Woodsy, Herbaceous, and Evergreen: patchouli, vetiver, sandalwood, cedarwood, juniper, cypress, pine, fir, oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme, musk, amber

Floral: geranium, lavender, ylang ylang, jasmine, rose, chamomile

Citrus: lime, lemon, bergamot, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, lemongrass

Spices: vanilla, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, ginger

SUPPLIES AND MATERIALS: eyedropper(s) (separate ones for each scent or clean well before adding another scent), measuring spoons, wooden kabob skewer for mixing, glass and/or plastic spray bottles, roll-ons, vials, jars, and containers.

FRAGRANCE FORMS: perfumes/colognes, body splashes, balms/salves, massage oils, powders, air fresheners/room sprays, deodorants, soaps, and candles.

SHAPING YOUR SYNCHRONIZED SCENT SYMPHONY

Create your own scent symphony, however simply or complexly orchestrated. Pair ingredients that work together harmoniously. Enjoy each aroma individually and collectively as a multi-ingredient fragrance that you yourself custom blend. Top, middle, and bass notes work together, combining different elements to create a varied and balanced scent.

Top notes are the first layer, providing initial impressions that are generally lighter and more fleeting, often with elements of herbs, spices, citrus, and other fruits.

Middle notes, known as the “heart” of the fragrance, linger longer on skin and add to the core character. Typically, middle notes include florals, herbs, and spices. Timewise, these mid-scents are activated within 10-15 minutes and can stay on skin for a few hours.

Bottom, bass, or fixative notes are heaviest hitters when it comes to staying on skin for hours to even days. Scent characteristics are heavy, syrupy, heady, and rich.

SCULPTING YOUR SIMPLY SCENT-SATIONAL SIGNATURE SCENTS

Every scent tells a story, setting the scene with an olfactory experience. Consider not only your personal tastes and preferences, but also the personality and appearance you’re trying to convey. Write down a descriptive character profile for your ideal signature scent.

What experiences do you want these scents to evoke that provoke not just your senses, but also stick in your memory? Start one note at a time and figure out your favs. Then, one element at time, piece together the perfect pairings.

Begin with the vision. There are unlimited directions you could take your fragrance, so however broadly you begin, the more streamlined and specific you go, the better. As in a building requiring a blueprint and a business needing a business plan, formulating a concept and a working game plan for your fragrance contributes to the final product.

POINTS TO PONDER. . .

What experiences do you want to recall, reminisce about, and live over and over again?

Is it grandma’s apple pie and hot cider that kept you warm in her kitchen and that brings back fond feelings and memories? Is it tropical fruit, like the scent of coconut, that brings back the beach with a sea salt breeze, sand between your toes, and wading in the surf? Is it the scent of pine and fir that transport you to hiking through an evergreen forest as the sun seeps through a canopy of trees and you deeply breathe the freshest air?

What experiences do you dream of that you have yet to experience, but want to? Tap into the scents that trigger the most positive feelings and emotions, like love, compassion, peace, serenity, joy, exhilaration, and beauty. Write down which of these you associate with specific scents and incorporate them into your aromatherapeutic creations.

Substituting organic and natural chemical-free ingredients, in fragrance forms you create yourself, yields bountiful benefits for your health. Once you create a simply scent-sational signature scent for yourself, consider creating some for your loved ones as gifts. Boost your health and happiness, celebrate your signature self with scents that keep you smelling simply scent-sational!

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Susan B. B. Schabacker

Forsyth Magazines writer since 2018. Susan Schabacker was blessed to be adopted as a baby and made her journey from South Korea to Massachusetts where she arrived safely into her adoptive mother’s loving arms. She later moved to New Mexico and, after a few years, moved to Winston-Salem, NC, to study classical ballet at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts from the eighth grade through high school. Susan has lived in the Piedmont Triad area for nearly 20 years and had the opportunity to travel to Budapest, Hungary; London, UK; and Beijing, China, where she studied abroad through Elon University. In Stockholm, Sweden, she had a marketing internship at Hachette-Filipacchi, publisher of Elle and other magazines. She graduated with a B.A. in Corporate Communications and a minor in Dance from Elon University. Susan loves writing and is pleased to have written for Winston-Salem Journal’s "Teen Page," Triad Living, KernersvilleMagazine, and of course, Forsyth Mags. She is a co-author of a children’s book, Huckleberry Robin, based on a three-generation true family story. Susan is grateful for her faith, family, and friends and is happy and excited to be part of the Forsyth Mags team. She spreads the word about Forsyth magazines and enjoys reading and sharing them with her family and friends every month.

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