HOW TO MAKE A PERFUME - A BEGINNERS GUIDE
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- Опубліковано 2 гру 2024
- With Sarah McCartney, indie perfumer at 4160Tuesdays.
"In answer to the often asked question, "How do I start making perfume?" I finally decided to ask Arthur to help making a film showing some absolute basics." SMc.
Five guidelines:
1. Put the lid back on.
2. Write everything down.
3. Get to know your materials very well, not just the smell, also their secret superpowers.
4. Take the shortest route to where you're going.
5. Balance is essential. (See the Jean Carles Method.)
Ask questions in the comments if you like. Also visit scenthusiasm.s... and www.patreon.com/Scenthusiasm
Our perfumes are all at www.4160Tuesda...
The Fluffy Duvet accord is as follows:
Iso E Super 30%
Cedramber 30%
Ethylene Brassylate 10%
Helvettolide 10%
Vanillin 10%
Methyl Ionone G 5%
Ambrettolide 4%
Amber Xtreme 1%
no hedione?!
@@xoxUnD3R0aThxox If there were Hedione, I'd have listed it. 😁 Not everything needs Hedione.
I expected a kind of "jazzed up" Grojsman accord, seems like it would fill a similar role but like "amber-ier"
@@thegroingringus2607 What made you expect a jazzed up Grosjman accord? (Or maybe it *is* a jazzed up Grosjman accord.) You're right about it playing a similar role; I have made quite a bundle of these accords with different textures to them.
The name Fluffy Duvet has a similar sort of connotation to "Hug Me", which (you probably know) is what Grojsman called it originally. It seems to be an effective technique to build a sort of soft and pillowy "perfume accord" and then flavour it with whichever other materials.
I can't believe I've been searching and watching How To Make Perfume vids for months and today is the first time you popped up in my feed. SO HAPPY to have found you!
I'm very happy you found it too. The more people watch it, the more it will pop up in other places, and hopefully displace some of the astonishing twaddle out there by people who ought to know better. 😄
@@SarahMcCartney4160 I am still very much a beginner, and really appreciate your knowledge. Thank you! As a lifelong artist I have searched for decades to find my calling and discovering perfumery was such an AH-HAH moment. No other medium has kept me focused day after days for months on end like it. Your vids are additional inspiration and I eagerly watch and take notes. 🥰
Ive gotten two things right right away, no expectations of selling anything and ive been cutting up my own strips from some very thick scientific filter paper i have gobs of laying around. Going to work on getting to know every material very well before i get carried away with my purchasing. Lately i have been obsessed with anisic aldehyde and how she gets along with my other friends, quite the social butterfly she is
Even if I wasn't set out to learn more about perfumery, and gleam some of your skills and advice, I would still watch your videos.
It's fun hanging out with you two.
But as a bonus, I do get to learn, so thank you.
You're very welcome. I'm enjoying the idea that we've got a worldwide community of people hanging out with us.
My favorite new channel by far, and new subject matter for me. Ive been browsing the fragrance channels here on UA-cam and yours is the very best in my opinion. I narrowed it down to five channels but i keep coming back to yours and have forgotten the others. Thanks you sonmuch for your contribution
You're very kind. I'll keep making more.
Dear Sarah. I'll never forget you for teaching me how to make a violet accord. I once asked you when you did your perfume raw materials tutorial on Wafts From The Loft. Tahnk you.
You're very welcome.
Your videos are very informative and helpful. You explain things in a way that I seem to grasp more than a lot of other videos that seem to put me to sleep. Thank you for the content!
Happy to hear you're staying awake!
For me it's finding the creative inspiration. Trying to figure out what I'm trying to achieve. Sometimes creating a fragrance like a image helps me.
Absolutely. The creative side is the most interesting for me. There are some films here in which I describe the inspiration and the reasons why I chose certain materials.
I loved this tutorial. You took me back to chemistry lab.
Thank you. One of the first things I learned when I was doing workshops is that some people have never used a pipette. No clue what a retort stand and clamp were. 🤣
Super happy I found your UA-cam channel. Thank you for sharing ❤
I'm delighted to hear it; thank you for letting me know.
This is a truly fascinating video! I am a true novice, not even necessarily planning on doing any perfume making, but it's supremely interesting to see someone with so much craft describing the hobby/industry.
The procedure and experimentation reminds me of when I was first learning to bake. Taking copious notes allows you to find a way to do something that works consistently for you, and make changes with knowledge and forethought. I'd figure that perfumery would be similar with even more notations, but your tips really make that very clear.
I'm sure there's plenty of resources for sourcing materials and equipment, but a video on the ethos of how to approach the hobby is, to my mind, extremely valuable.
Thanks for making this. I'm not sure that I need another expensive hobby just yet, but if I come back to the idea, I'll keep this video in mind for inspiration!
Thank you very much for writing to say so. I do aim not to get too bogged down in language which excludes people.
@@SarahMcCartney4160, oh yeah, jargon is the worst! So I really appreciate that!
Sarah what do you mean with running the perfume through the "little perfume helpers" to test compliance? Is there a lab, or company that does that work?
It's software that we own. We don't advertise but we supply it and train people how to use it.
I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but how do you know the concentration of the perfume you just made at the end? Is there a formula with the dilutions you made that needs to be accounted for? All of these dilutions and percentages are so confusing to me but I need to understand them 😢
Yes, there's a method to calculate this and I've made a film about that too. Maths is a huge part of perfumery but the more you practise it the better you get at it.
Although if you find it completely baffling, then have all your materials diluted to the same strength. If all your materials are at 10% then your perfume will be at 10%.
@@SarahMcCartney4160 thank you so much for your quick answer! I will look through your channel and watch some more videos. I am glad I found this little community ♥️
Finally found a practical video ❤️ Thanks Sarah
You're welcome. I'm happy that it's useful.
Excited to be getting into perfumery
It's always exciting, and it gets better as you improve too.
Yup. I had a cheap gram scale from Amazon I used for bread making and I left the batteries in it. Well come summer I went to go use it and the batteries had caused the bottom of the scale to melt and warp somehow! Luckily my perfume scale plugs into the wall so no batteries to mess around with.
Lucky escape.
Helichrysum is like a natural benzyl acetate to me. Not a particularly pleasant smell to my nose, but it definitely adds something in a blend. Interesting combination. Thank you
That's interesting. I shall smell it again with that in mind.
Just looked it up, and it’s high in neryl acetate apparently. 🧐
@@wib6044 Thank you, my fellow nerd. 😁
SM, This is such an amazing primer. Thank you for sharing.
You're very welcome. Thanks for saying so.
Those are two very good rules for life in general!
Come to think of it, yes they are. 😁
God, I wish I you had made this video about 10 years ago when I was getting started, I could have avoided a lot of grief and bogus Master Classes by people whose names I won't mention.
Thank you. Yes, let's not name names. 😁 Ten years ago when I also started, I hadn't worked all this out.
My big problem is storing my creations, which I usually have at least 6 ounces of lol. Naming them also I find very challenging, constantly checking the thesaurus lol. Luv 2 watch u. Dee in Los Angeles
These are real! Unfortunately I share your storage issue and can't offer much guidance. Naming? They just leap into my head unasked. I've plenty to spare but perhaps we ought to make a film about it.
@@SarahMcCartney4160 Thanks for your time Sarah, I really appreciate the social part of social media. It seems you do to! Dee in Los Angeles
What a beautiful video.
I thank you very much, very useful for me.
Good luck to you and your company
You're very welcome. Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you so much for this wonderful video!
Thanks for watching it.
Thanks for sharing your experience with such a great knowledge and detail information..i really love you
That's very kind of you.
Have you done a video on balancing? Like balancing the scents
Pretty sure I have, but I'll have to find it. The one on how you know when it's finished is about balance too.
Oh, I finally know the face behind the voice that's usually hidden behind the camera... :D
I want to state: when you note down what you did, especially when it comes to a formula, be sure to know where you can find it later, as it's a real pain if you wrote it all down but can't find it anymore... :D
This happened with one of the earliest actually wearable experiments I made mabe 7 or 8 years ago and which I wanted to re-visit, as my pallette of materials has expanded and I wanted to know how the almost all natural formula would work with certain synthetics...
And I'm still shedding a tear every now and then when I get reminded what I have lost (and still not found again) :-(
Nowadays I use books in faux leather back to note things down. They actually do look stylish on a shelf (untill someone takes a look at what's written in it :D )
Covered in our first film, rule number two, write everything down. 😁 Then do back up.
what would you recommend for a first timer the basics scents to start and play with?
I'd recommend getting hold of Hedione, Iso E Super, a musk - Romandolide perhaps, Ambrox, plus your favourite essential oils and experimenting with those.
I love this woman, hope to come to a class one day😁
Than you must turn up!
@@SarahMcCartney4160 and turn up I will do📚🛒🥽🥼👃🧪🧫👾🧬🔬😁 thanks for the encouraging response 👍
So the mix you made in the video is ready for spraying on? Or would that be considered the “juice” to which you will the dilute with ethanol to make let’s day and EDP with 30% of that being the juice of what you have done. It’s a bit confusing since the materials used in the video are already diluted. Any tips or ideas on how to calculate scaling to finished fragrances let’s say for an EDP of 30%?
Thanks!
First of all, people outside the industry call two different things "the juice". Inside the industry it is the finished fragrance that goes into the bottle. But it's not a popular term.
The 100% strength fragrance is called concentrate.
What I made here is safe to spray because I already diluted the materials in ethanol to work with them. It needs no further dilution.
If you want a fragrance at 30% - a high concentration doesn't necessarily make a fragrance better just because there's more of it by the way - but if you do, you go back to the original materials, make the concentration at 100%, neat, then you dilute it 3 parts concentrate to 7 parts ethanol = 30%.
I also use water color paper to make my own scent strips!
Good man.
Hi Sarah,
I am a building scents from essential oils and absolutes. I have made dilutions of my oils using cane alcohol. I have found a nice combination of oils and am ready to make my scent, but I am lost on how to continue on to make a eau de parfum from my chosen diluted oils? Do I go back to using full strength EOs and then dilute with alcohol? Or do I take my baseline dilutions, blend and then add alcohol?(this option seems very weak).
thanks in advance for your words of wisdom!
Best is what you wrote first. Make it at 100% strength, then leaving it for about 4 weeks. Make dilutions at different strengths to see what it suits best. Bear in mind that with 100% naturals it can be difficult to make it safe, or to make it last long.
@@SarahMcCartney4160 Thank you!
This is going to be extremely helpful!
Hello Ms. McCartney! I have very much enjoyed learning about perfume from you! I have also watched the videos from Dan and Joe of Wafts from the Loft. I have just picked up my first book about perfumey by Jean-Claude Ellena called Perfume The Alchemy of Scent. Are there any books you might recommend for a beginner? Thank you for your time.
Thank you. I'm working on a book at the moment. You can contact Micelle Press and get David Williams and Tony Curtis's book on Perfumery. They don't sell on Amazon.
If you where to.wear just vanillin what is the safe levels of dilution.
There is currently no restriction on vanillin. You can use what you like, but it's difficult to get more than 5% to dissolve.
Hey Sarah,
Thanks for being so helpful and producing great content. I just wanted to know when making the perfume if the measurements are by %wt or by %vol. For example, if I am making a 100mL batch of Fluffy Duvet, it calls for 30% Iso E Super. If I am measuring by %vol, this will be 30mL; however, if I measure by %wt then I will need to add 31mL (after accounting for all the densities of the components). In this specific case, the difference seems trivial; however, this is highly dependent on the composition of the perfume and the density of the components.
I'm looking to standardize my methods so it will be easy to continue into the future. Any information provided would be highly appreciated.
Thanks,
Deb
Thank you. Always by weight. You're making it far more complicated than it ought to be. 🙂
Eg if f you make 100g of Sexiest Scent it's:
30g Iso E Super
30g Cedramber
30g Bergamot
10g Vanillin.
@@SarahMcCartney4160 Thank you so much ! it is alot more clear now! Have an amazing day!
Fascinating. I'm already curious about how "Slightly Spicy" smells! 😊
I shall revisit it on Monday.
❤️în sfârșit am găsit un parfumier î-mi place metoda dumneavoastră i-mi place cum gândiți mă regăsesc în felul ăsta deși la nivelul de făcut parfumuri în comparație cu dumneavoastră sunt la început dar mă apropii extrem de mult în felul de gândire , pur și simplu í-mi place natura ❤️💕îmbrățișări
Brilliant content. Do you run any courses?
I run many courses, currently online and the one that's probably the most interesting is the Scenthusiasm Slow Scent School on Patreon. www.patreon.com/scenthusiasm
Thanks.
@@milosevic7083 you're welcome. 🌹
merci beaucoup !!
Je vous emprie. 🙏🏻
Hi Sarah, would it be possible to use Everclear Grain alcohol instead of perfumers alcohol?
Hi Mo, yes it is. We don't have Everclear in the UK as it's illegal, but as long as it's pure and contains no substances which are banned in cosmetics use, you're fine. Lots of US new perfumers use Everclear.
Just stay away from anything that has methanol in it (also called methylated spirit).
I see, thanks for your swift response
@@moalosta3160 You're welcome. 😁
hey can u make purfume with fragrance oils too? or just essential oils?
Perfumers don't use fragrance oils. They are OK for candles.
hi there. :)
just have a question. can you add later to the formula? i mean like a few days later. or is it better to redo?
Good question, and I have done both. Sometimes I keep half the original and experiment with the other half. I might want to see how the original works out after a few days or weeks. It's possible to regret what you did when you add things, then you have to start all over again anyway.
Hi. i am interested in taking up the hobby for my own enjoyment. I just wanted some advise in regards to making the "finished product". for example i seen that you had diluted some of the chemicals. so if i wanted to make a 100ml bottle of perfume. would i use say 4 parts of the 5% vanilan to make a 20% parfum percentage?
It's a bit more complicated than that. Percentages don't add up. If you wanted 20% vanillin, you'd have to put 20g of vanillin with 80g ethanol.
But then the vanillin wouldn't dissolve because it won't.
If you have a 5% solution this is 5 parts vanillin to 95 parts ethanol. No matter how much of it you use, it will still be 5% vanillin.
@@SarahMcCartney4160 so if i used 4 seperate ingredients at 5% solution that would be correct yes?
@@petermichaelmarnick8989 No. If you add 4 different ingredients each at 5% in ethanol the resulting solution will be at 5%.
There will just be 4 x more of it.
To take this up for your personal interest, get a friend who loves maths interested too.
Hi Sarah, How do you combine both oils to bland together? When Put both oils together it’s split
I'm sorry, I genuinely don't quite understand the question. I don't use oils, except essential oils which aren't really oils, so I don't have this problem with separation.
A truly lovely experience watching this video. I am still soooooooo new to all this. I would love to know, how much of an influence does ones own scents play in the art of perfumery? Suppose you ate onions for lunch, or suffered a smelly underarm on a hot day, or went crazy on the mouthwash! Could this "kill" ones ability to smell ones creations "honestly"? Thanks for the lovely post here!
Not kill, perhaps it would inflict a temporary wound.
@@SarahMcCartney4160 ❤
Hi, love your videos, what is this software you refer to Perfumers Little Helper. Also, do you do stability testing yourself or hire a toxocologist? Thank you.
You don't need a toxicologist for stability tests, only for the toxicology tests. We always do them ourselves.
PLH is our software, created for us by our friend Colin.
@@SarahMcCartney4160 Im the guy from friday that emailed you. Is there a website I can get PLH?
@@TheFragranceGuy emailing us is the way to go.
To make it last, to fix the parfum...how long the parfum last in the skin, it depends on what ingredient?
It's really not that simple, but here is the film I made about it. ua-cam.com/video/Cyx6eWw8SpE/v-deo.html
Wonderful video and essential information, thank you... and I have never fell so instantly in like with someone as I have just fallen in like with you
Thank you very much, Jessica. You made me smile. 😃
@@SarahMcCartney4160 You're welcome. I now feel compelled to tell you that I believe in synchronicity and I received the best sign that I am indeed in the right hands as I begin my fragrance journey. I treated myself to Michael Edwards Fragrances of the World, which arrived today and upon opening it randomly to page 100... the first words my eyes spied #mrsglossmademedoit 4160 Tuesdays
@@jessicaford4730 Life does throw things at you when you're ready to catch them, doesn't it?
👍😃 Very interesting topic
Please more of it ❤️
Where to get ingredients? Any good suggestions?
Is it possible to enhance the projection of fragrances afterwards without changing the overall smell?
The point behind too, middle and heart notes is it only a thing of hoe high is the concentration of Single note or more how is the character?
How to learn about aroma chemicals? How they react etc.
How to figure out how different lavender types smell? Are there kits out there that carry all kind if them?
Ever tried to grab the aroma on your own if anything or is this a whole different field?
I am new on your channel so sorry if you already covered any questions in other videos.
If you look at my @Scenthusiasm_Ltd Instagram you'll see a bunch of short films which explain more misunderstandings, and at www.patreon.com/Scenthusiasm there are some films you can watch without subscribing.
I give perfumery classes for a living, and I answer questions in depth on the Patreon.
I also made three long videos with Wafts from the Loft, and there is masses of information in there too.
What is your particular interest in lavender varieties?
@@SarahMcCartney4160 okay, great i will check it out.
I just would like to smell how different for example british to french lavender smells. Or hie an absolute to forms smell so i am looking more for some kind note library to snell many different kind of notes.
@@Spiralnebel_GB Do you live anywhere near Glasgow? There is A Library of Olfactive Material there. It is an expensive interest if one wishes to smell every material.
@@SarahMcCartney4160 😂 i‘m from germany. So there are not sample kits for notes?
@@Spiralnebel_GB Your best option is Perfumer's Apprentice in the US. They sell really good kits for starting out in small quantities and competitive prices. Also look at Hermitage in Italy for an excellent range of naturals.
Do you have any socials?
Yes, look for 4160Tuesdays and they will pop up.
No essensial oil ?
I use lots of essential oils. I don't understand your question, sorry.
What about gloves?
I use gloves in the lab when Im using large quantities of 100% strength materials. When I'm playing with tiny amounts like this, sometimes I don't.
@@SarahMcCartney4160 Good to know thanks :)
Way too funny at 11:26 😂
@@jjbobby1969 It is a bit. 😁 U can't be bothered going back, rerecording it and pretending it never happened.
Which is the perfumer's little helper, please?
That's our IFRA QRA Limits multilevel database. Email us.
Despite my true appreciation to Sarah and her work...unfortunately this video isn't very helpfull in terms of the main topic question.
What is "the main topic question"? exactly. Perhaps I can be more helpful. Do you feel that it doesn't guide beginners?
@@SarahMcCartney4160 Quote: In answer to the often asked question, "How do I start making perfume?"
I expected you'd generaly say more. For example:
1. Where to buy oils/molecules (pellwall, hexapus, perfumiarz.com, perfumer's apprentice, hermitage oils, pcw)
2. What to buy? Which of these thousands materials are beginners "must have". What would you recomend?
3. Where to find some simple formulas? (frater, wisemoor, tgsc, basenotes)
4. Where to look for more information (basenotes, fb groups etc)?
5. Where to look for complex information about materials (tgsc)
6. Are there any useful books (you've got some on your desk, I expected you'd present them and say something about them)
7. Common beginer mistakes (for ex. using tiny amounts of everything in the same proportions; using the same pippet to all materials)
8. How to train yourself in smelling, in building simple accords
That's what came to my mind without contemplating it too much. Of course, all of these information can be acquired by oneself, as it is vital to search for information and to be constantly curious, but you know what I mean. If you make a video to help beginners, to give them good start, you could have said that and a lot more, considering your over 10 years of experience :)
@@hackmed9433 Perhaps you aren't a beginner? You already know all these things, so I think perhaps the film wasn't useful for you, as it is intended for helping people to get started.
All those interesting things you suggest would follow in the next ten years.
My book will cover this, and so do my courses.
One of the issues that holds people back.s is that if total beginners do all of these things you recommend, they never actually start making perfumes. 😃
@@SarahMcCartney4160 Perhaps you're right, but these were the questions I was craving for answear to when I was starting year and a half ago. I know that this video wasn't particularly for me but I still consider myself a beginner. Everytime it seems to me that I finaly know something, a week later I realise that I still know shit :)
@@hackmed9433 When I started scarcely any of the resources you mention actually existed, so I think people can survive without them.
There are now formulas we can buy, but without knowing the reasons they were created, or what the perfumer was thinking.
We can watch videos which contradict each other.
We can buy thousands of materials, when usually perfumers will select from a palette of a few hundred in daily life.
There are some great books now, but not really for beginners, not in print anyway.
What you suggest will make a good book, but I'm not sure I could squeeze it all in a film. 🙂