One of the things teens and adults need to feel and smell good when going out is perfume. There are various brands in the market bought local and foreign that are worth buying but those who don’t have enough dough can try experimenting and making up a concoction at home.

The first thing the individual should do is get the important ingredients to make this work. This is normally made up water, essential oils and pure grain alcohol better known as vodka.

There are various types of perfumes in the market. There is the perfume or body splash, cologne, the Eau De Cologne and the Eau de Toilette that are made from plant and animal oils.

Homemade perfumes essentially come from plant oils. These are not that expensive and can be purchased from various stores. When all the materials are ready, it is time to go to work.

An important thing that the person has to know that there are 3 types of notes when it comes to making perfumes. There are the base, middle and top notes. These vary depending on how long the scent will last on the skin.

Base notes could last up to 8 hours or more on the body. Perfume companies normally use cedar wood, cinnamon patchouli, sandalwood and vanilla in making a product. Some examples of middle notes are bottle nut meg, geranium, neroli and ylang-ylang. The essential oils to create top notes are bergamot and lavender.

The different notes will never work without another type of note known as the bridge note. This will help blend the various scents together making the whole thing work. Some examples of bridge notes are litsea cubeba, lavender and lemongrass.

Is it possible to use all the three notes to make a perfume? The answer is yes. The individual can drop a few amounts of each into the test tube so these will mix together. The person should smell it to check on it and if everything is going well, this is the time that two ounces of vodka are also placed inside.

Smelling the product is not the best way to check if it is working. A small amount must be applied to the skin to make sure it does not have any adverse reaction.

The drops placed from the essential oils and the vodka won’t even reach halfway point of the test tube. If the smell is still good, this should be stored in a cool place for 48 hours before this is mixed with water and then letting it come out through a coffee filter.

The finished perfume is then placed in a small plastic bottle with a sprayer on top. Some prefer to use a dark colored container so that the contents will last longer before it is time once again to produce a new batch.

The rule of thumb for perfumes is that the longer it is stored, the stronger is the smell. So, it is the choice of the individual whether to make the concoction last for an hour or longer.

The process of producing the right scent takes a lot of patience. Sometimes, putting more one type of note can change everything and the individual will have to start over. The same thing also happens with companies trying to produce new products for the consumer so the person shouldn’t worry since everyone is in the same boat.

You walk into the place you usually buy your perfume from. You pick out the perfume that you like and take it off the shelf. At this point, before you pay the money for that bottle of perfume, you should realize that you yourself could make that perfume, or even a better one. Yes, you read right, with just a little bit of imagination, knowledge and willingness to try something new, you could create your dream perfume for yourself, family, friends or even for selling purposes.

What most people don’t realize is that by making perfume yourself, not only do you save up a lot of money, but you also create something that may almost be considered a work of art, all by yourself or with friends, family. This experience will surely give you a lot of confidence and also prove to be fun, especially if you don’t do it by yourself.

Another great thing about yourself is that you get to personalize that perfume to the maximum. I’m sure it’s happened to you at least once to choose a product over another because, although the first one had something you liked, either it was missing something or it was too strong or there was something you’d have like to be different. Well, the good news is that, with making perfume yourself, you can get the perfume of your dreams. It just takes a little time and the will to get there.

The best part is that there are plenty of resources on the internet on perfume making that will help you, whether you’re somebody that doesn’t have anything to do with chemistry / perfumes or you’ve already got perfume making experience.

What you should do first is figure out what type of perfume you’d like to make and what would you like it to smell like. Then, get a list of the most common ingredients and start experimenting. If you already have your recipe for that perfume, you shouldn’t encounter any problems, but if you don’t know exactly what to use and how, you should keep in mind a couple of rules:

1. the ingredients you use for your perfume are extremely important; they need to be of good quality, fresh and without any other impurities; they also need to be handled with care and special instruments, because you don’t need industrial quantities to realize if you like a perfume or not; this way, you’re not using up precious resources, thus minimizing the production costs;
2. surf the internet for ingredient characteristics even if you’ve bought them already and you can recognize some of them yourself; you may find out interesting combinations, recipes on the internet you may not be aware of
3. get as much out of the internet on base notes, middle notes, top notes and bridges, as they are the key elements of your perfume;
4.  if you plan on experimenting a lot, write down your results so as not to be forced to do them again;

To conclude, don’t forget where you read these guidelines from when your name is as well known as Hugo Boss’, Christian Dior’s and so on.

Sandalwood oil is extracted from Santalum album from the Santalaceae family and also known as East Indian sandalwood, santal, saunders and sandalwood Mysore.

Oil properties: The oil has a woody, exotic smell, subtle and lingering. The color of the oil is pale yellow to pale gold.

Origin of sandalwood oil: Sandalwood is an evergreen, parasitic tree that burrows its roots into other trees and it can grow up to 9 meters (30 feet) high and has a brown-gray trunk, many smooth slender branches, leathery leaves and small pink-purple flowers.

It can take thirty to sixty years for a tree to reach full maturity, when it is cut and distilled. The yellowish wood is sold in thin scrapings.

It is commonly agreed that the best essential oils are from Mysore in India.

The documented use of Sandalwood goes back 4000 years and caravans from India to Egypt, Greece and Rome were a familiar sight. Many temples were built from Sandalwood and the Egyptians used it in embalming.

Sandalwood was much in demand as incense; it had a calming effect during meditation.

Once Sandalwood was used for making furniture and caskets, but as it is nearly extinct, it is only used for the distillation of oil.

Extraction: Sandalwood oil is extracted from the chipped heartwood and roots by steam distillation and yields 4-6.5%.

Chemical composition: The main chemical components are: Santalol, Furfurol and Santalene.

Precautions: Generally Sandalwood oil is non-toxic, non-irritant and nonsensitizing.

Therapeutic properties: The therapeutic properties of Sandalwood oil are: antiseptic, diuretic, aphrodisiac, astringent, carminative, emollient, expectorant, sedative and tonic.

Uses: This relaxing oil could be useful for tension, depression, nervous exhaustion, chronic illness and anxiety.
Sandalwood oil could be useful for chest infections, sore throats and dry coughs that accompany bronchitis and lung infections.

It could alleviate cystitis and bladder infections, also helpful with sexual problems such as frigidity and impotence. Sandalwood oil relieves itching and inflammation of the skin, is good for scarring, dry eczema, ageing and dehydrated skin.

Summary:
Sandalwood oil can be helpful for the nervous system, for chest infections, for sexual problems and for skin care.

Burners and vaporizers:
In vapor therapy Sandalwood oil can be used for: aphrodisiac, bronchitis, coughs, insomnia, irritability, nervous tension, stress, tension, for relaxing and as an insect repellant.

Blended oil or in the bath: As a blended massage oil or diluted in the bath, Sandalwood oil can assist with: bladder infections, bronchitis, coughs, cystitis, eczema, insomnia, scar tissue, irritability, nervous tension, stress, tension, as an aphrodisiac and for relaxing.

Gargle: Sandalwood oil can be effective when diluted and used as a gargle for a sore or dry throat.

Lotions or creams: When used in a lotion or cream Sandalwood oil can assist with: chapped, dry or inflamed skin.

Everyday, I see people ignorant of laws they must follow before
selling homemade bath and beauty products.  I also see people
that show no concern for the safety of their products.

I once went to a yard sale, where the lady had advertised that
she sold homemade lye soap just like her grandmother used to
make.

When I arrived, I asked her about her soap, and she showed me a
basin full of what looked like LARGE chunks of chalk.  Now I know
soap, and I could tell by looking at her soaps that they were
extremely lye heavy and would burn anyone that tried to use them.
I mean you could blow on them and the ash would fly about as if
it were actually chalk.

I asked her about the PH of her soap and asked her if it were
safe for sensitive skin.  She informed me that she did not know
what PH was and that it was safe for any skin just as any soap is
safe for any skin.

Now in the old days, yes, the soap was harsh for skin and did
“bite” a bit.  But even then, the ladies knew how to safely test
their soap to ensure that it was not so lye heavy to actually be
extremely unsafe.  These ladies used eggs to test the strength of
their lye solution, before pouring it into their greases.

Evidently this lady at the yard sale had not been informed of
this by her grandmother, and was selling a very dangerous product
to unsuspecting people.  I tried to explain to her how dangerous
it could be if she had not even tested the PH, but she got truly
offended so I just left saying a prayer for anyone that had the
misfortune of purchasing her product.

I was too scared to buy any for myself; I mean this was some
scary looking soap.

If someone is going to take the time to make soap and sell them
for profit, they must do the job right and make sure they learn
every aspect of the soap and cosmetic making business.

These means following FDA regulations and guidelines, making sure
they use preservatives when needed, making sure that their
products are safe, and putting safety warnings on their labels.
There are so many aspects of this business one has to consider
before they ever sell the first bar of soap to any customer.

For instance, if you do not test the PH of your most recent batch
of soap, and if someone purchases a bar for their 5-year-old
child, and your soap burns this child,  YOU are going to be held
liable as the manufacturer of the product.

This means you will have to reimburse doctor bills, pain and
suffering, and you could face action by the FDA and CPSC (if you
do not know what FDA and CPSC mean, then you have some more
research to do before you sell a single product) if your product
does not meet their labeling and manufacturing requirements.

Now regular soap is not a cosmetic if you claim it as just plain,
pure soap.  But it will need to be labeled according to
regulations in place by your state and the federal government.

Any other bath product is considered a cosmetic and must meet FDA
cosmetic regulations.

There are a lot of steps involved to ensure that you are covered
in case someone gets hurt from one of your products.

You will need a business license. Call your local chamber of
commerce to contact your local SBA consultant to get your
business license, tax numbers and other business papers filed
required in your state.

You will also need insurance.  If you do not have insurance, then
you could be sued and possibly lose anything you own.  The best
place to get insurance for soap makers is Bomba insurance, their
website is located at  http://www.bombainsurance.com .  Bomba
provides enough coverage for a home business, and has low yearly
rates.

You will also need to read the FDA regulations and guidelines for
making cosmetics.

FDA cosmetic labeling guidelines
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-lab1.html

FDA cosmetic handbook 
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-hdbk.html

FDA fact sheet on soaps
http://vm.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-215.html

Make sure you spend a lot of time reading the FDA links. They
provide a wealth of information that can keep you from getting
into serious trouble with the federal government.

Another good resource for regulations information is
http://www.soapnuts.com/cosmeticlabeling.html

At the bottom of the page you will find links to information
concerning what ingredients are safe for cosmetic use, using
warning labels (if you make bath oils, you must place a warning
that it could leave the tub slippery or you can get into
trouble), and more information related to the soap and cosmetic
business.

Do not be an ignorant businessperson, educate yourself and think
of the safety of your customers before even thinking of making a
dime of profits.

You owe it to your consumers, and you owe it to yourself and your
family.