My New Hobby (Smells Amazing)

 A while back, I started a page listing perfume dupes. I have a favorite place to buy dupes of Not A Perfume, Molecule 02, and Another 13. The more I thought about those, the more I wondered how hard it could be to make my own fragrances. Guess what? It's not difficult and, even better, it's not that expensive.

I started out with using some ingredients to add to my own store-bought or "brand" perfumes. I experimented with adding cetalox and ambroxan to my favorite fragrances. I have some Ana Abeyedh, Sweet Tooth (the original and the Caramel Dream version), Fancy, Fantasy, etc. I even doctored some of the Molecule 03 dupe from Miraclelayer. 

My results were pretty good for being new at this. Since I love the brand fragrances I wear, I really wanted to play with amping up some of the notes I particularly love. Also, I notice that I get better longevity from the doctored scents. A couple of them have gone from having very weak to medium weak lasting power to being almost eternal. 

I didn't intend for this to be a hobby but I love it. Playing around with the different ingredients and blends is something my screwed up brain can handle. I'm not trying to sell this stuff so I don't really bother to keep but the barest notes of my formulas. 

It's been a long time since I have found something I can do without getting all stressed out and frustrated. When I am playing around with doctoring my fragrances, I don't have to worry about being accurate or messing up anything. (I'm not using heat or volatile ingredients, by the way!)

As for supplies, I'm just using amber-colored glass bottles with stoppered drip tips (I already had plenty around), the pestle and mortar I never used much for anything but appearances, and I got some perfumers alcohol - which is really inexpensive.

My ingredients have all come from Perfumer's Apprentice (so far). As I said, I started with cetalox crystals (for an ambery/woody note)  and ambroxan (which has the same notes). Since then, I have added:

• Ethyl Maltol crystals (super sweet-scented & described as "sugary, caramelic")
• Ethyl vanillin (as strong vanilla scent that is supposed to add the middle/heart notes)
• Fixateur 505E (a woody, ambergris scent - can you see a pattern?)
• 5-Methyl-2-Phenyl-2-Hexenal (has cocoa/mocha undertones)
• Iso E Super® (a woody/floral ambergris scent that adds strength to a fragrance)
• Veramoss (the powdery-mossy scent that I adore in a fragrance)

Some of my favorite perfumes of the past several years have been Glossier's You, JHAG's Not A Perfume, and anything that resembles BR540 (something I'm too "BR4" - or Broke For!). When I looking into it, I learned that my fave scents tend to use a lot of cetalox (or actual ambergris which I cannot afford),  Ethyl Maltol, and vanillin. My favorite note of all in a perfume is a cloudy-powdery-papery one. 

By the way, if anyone is looking to make their own dupe of BR540, this is a video that lists a "recipe". I might try that one day.

Once I realized how affordable it is to amp up my existing perfumes and even make my own concoctions, I decided to whip up a few of them to give as gifts this season. I found some beautiful decorative glass bottles on Amazon and I'm going to be gifting them to loved ones. Of course, I had to get a set of small amber bottles to send the perfumes in because the cute bottles are mostly for show.

So I'm thrilled to have a way to amp up my existing perfumes or, eventually, make my own from scratch. Right now, I'm just loving the longevity of the doctored scents. I have some White Diamonds that I never wear because it's just not quite right for me. I mixed it up with some cetalox and ethyl maltol and it is so yummy I can't stand it. Also, I can spray my wrist and throat once on the morning and still catch the scent when I wake up the next day.  (By the way, this is the link to the video of the BR540 recipe someone presented.)

Now I have to go and get some rest. I'm totally wiped of energy this week but I sure do smell good!

Peace

-- Free