Natural perfumes are crafted with sumptuous natural essences and pure bases.
Botanical essences like essential oils and absolutes made from flowers, leaves, trees, fruits, nuts and resins are the main odorants used in composing this type of perfumes.
The other group of essences used are those derived from animal by products.
Examples of this are the Civet oil, an oily substance secreted by the Civet cat and Ambergris, a solid, waxy compound from the Sperm whale.
Professionally, most natural perfumers prefer to work with botanical essences exclusively for ethical reason.
Fortunately, in general perfumery, there are many synthetic, nature identical or similar alternatives for replacing most of the animal odor notes.
The process of making pure perfume is one of the most special activities to partake in.
It's simply magical to be able to craft perfumes that are hauntingly captivating, with intoxicating notes, or blends that are intense and passionate; boldly permeating the wearer's environment.
However, one of the biggest challenges of natural perfumery is the matter of consistency in the quality of the aromatic essences used in the blends.
This can vary year to year, depending on ecological factors and each year's harvest.
A rose plantation that produced abundant premium grade absolute oil one year might have a poor harvest the following year.
This difference will reflect in your blends if that's where you get your regular supply from.
In the blending process, the aromatic oils are added to the perfume base depending on the type of perfume that is being made.
For perfume oils, the base could be Jojoba oil, solid perfumes can have a base of Jojoba Oil and Bees wax and Alcohol based perfumes can be made with pure grain alcohol.
Once the blending stage is over, oil based and solid perfumes can be used right away, but it wouldn't hurt to leave the perfume to age for a couple of weeks before using it.
Alcohol based perfumes on the other hand, would need to be aged for 4-6 weeks to allow the fragrance to fully mature and any harsh notes to round out and allow the blend to blossom.
After aging, you will need to filter this type of perfume to remove any sediment that might be in it, so you can produce a clear liquid.
Whatever type of perfume you are making, working with natural essentials oils is always a beautiful experience, filled with whimsical discoveries and aromatic fantasies.