Perfumes made with essential oils are some of the loveliest scents available. The essential oil itself is a tiny part of the plant makeup. The amount needed to replicate its essence is microscopic and requires a deft hand to blend into a signature perfume. A well-made essential oil perfume will penetrate the senses without overwhelming.

Individual intensity levels are also taken into consideration: for example a drop of peppermint essential oil will be far more detectable than a drop of English chamomile oil. So the final effect in a blend will not totally depend on quantity.

A good blend will use components that complement each other. In describing aroma, different levels (“notes”) are recognized. These can often be identified by the part from which the essential oil was extracted.

The top note is what you notice first and, in perfume, this is most often a citrus. Examples would include lemon, grapefruit or lime. These scents are considered bright, uplifting and happy. Oranges and mandarins provide a sweeter, yet still clean, presence. As is true for many beautiful things, the top notes are fleeting, the first to fade out.

Middle or “heart” notes include leaves and most flowers. Here we would find the orange blossom, tuberose, geranium and some lighter evergreens such as cypress or white fir. Culinary scents such as basil, bay laurel and myrtle belong here.

But cinnamon and clove are considered base notes, perhaps purely for their intensity. Other base notes include bigger woods, roots and resins. Cedarwood, frankincense, patchoulie – all these speak to strength and continuity. These notes linger for the longest time.

The skillfully designed scent really is not evocative of any individual aroma – the synergy of the blend is somehow more than the sum of its parts. The effect is pure and subtle and evolving, all the way to the drydown. If you re-apply in 1 or 3 hours there is no buildup from previous applications.

Mainstream synthetic perfumery has a large number of synthetic fixatives available, we believe it is better not to use any synthetics and to reapply.

Your perfume is such a personal expression. Contact us to help find your individual signature.