How to Make DIY Perfume With Fresh Flowers

A fine perfume can have a hundred ingredients coming together to create an olfactory sensation—but sometimes, something simple is just as sweet. While you can make perfumes with complex top notes, middle notes, and base notes—or combinations of essential oils—a delicate water-based perfume made with flowers and offering a subtle floral scent is deliciously direct and an ideal gift for a romantic at heart.

Making your own perfume is a great way to eliminate the potentially harmful chemicals or preservatives often found in synthetic fragrances. For example, scientists and activists have argued that phthalates in perfume and other cosmetics are not safe to use. A homemade, all-natural, water-based perfume could be the best option for you and the Earth.

When making perfume as a gift, it’s important to consider the recipient’s tastes and preferences. You’ll want to use a highly fragrant flower to achieve a good scent, so think about which flowers your loved one enjoys (you might even get a bouquet to make the perfume and save the remaining flowers to give alongside your handmade gift). Get even greener with this gift and pick the flowers from your garden. Rose, honeysuckle, and lavender are some fantastic options to play around with for a DIY perfume.

Below are the steps for making a simple but beautifully smelling homemade perfume.