EO/FO blends

[Mobjack Bay]

I went back and forth about which sub-forum to put this in and settled on this one because this is mostly where I see posts about blending FOs with EOs.

At some point last year I did a little research on perfume blending and then promptly forgot about it. Luckily, I took notes and when I found the notebook the other day, I decided to try to make a couple of the blends that form the basis for some perfumes. I don’t have some of the expensive or new to me ingredients, like labdanum, oakmoss absolute or jasmine eo, but I do have FOs that lean in the right direction, so I gave it a shot. Much to my delight, the blends I ended up with smell delightful OOB. Further testing of my blends are needed, but I’m posting now because I’m also interested in any additional ideas or suggestions.

I wrote in my notes that the original blends are chypre accords from the website thegreatestsmellever.com, but I didn’t write down the full link)s) and so far have been unable to relocate the pages. If anyone knows the link(s) and feels like sharing them, please do! I found the right web page!
https://thegreatestsmellever.com/essential-oil-perfume-recipes/
“Basic“ with patchouli, original (in drops):
10 labdanum
20 oakmoss absolute
20 patchouli
50 bergamot

I used:
3 g Oakmoss & Amber FO (Oregon Trails)
2 g patchouli (Camden-Grey, fairly dark and a year old)
5 g bergamot (also Camden-Grey)

I love this one! This is one of the few times I thought some magic happened in the bottle for a blend I made.

Floral variation, original (in drops):
10 labdanum
20 oakmoss absolute
5 patchouli
36 bergamot
4 vetiver
5 lavender
10 jasmine
5 rose
5 ylang ylang

I used:
3 g Oakmoss & Amber FO (Oregon Trails)
.5 g patchouli (Camden-Grey, fairly dark and a year old)
3.6 g bergamot (Camden-Grey)
.4 g vetiver (Camden-Grey)
.5 g Bulgarian lavender (a sample from Essential Depot)
1 g Jasmin Showers FO (FB)
.5 g Wild Rose FO (BB), with a drop or two of rose EO from?
.5 g ylang ylang (Camden-Grey)

I was expecting to love this one more, but it’s not quite there. My nose can pick up the Ylang Ylang or some other sweet note and it’s just a little too much for me. I want to add a wee bit more bergamot or lavender, maybe…

Another blend I made and love is a mix of eos and sandalwood FO. I’m sure I must have gotten the idea from @lsg and it may be one of her blends. That one is buried in my notes and I will post it when I find it. ETA: well, darn, I can’t find the notes with the recipe. Thank goodness I already made the labels for the soap with the blend listed in order: sandalwood FO (Mysore Sandalwood, Oregon Trails), with lavandin, bergamot and cedarwood. As I recall, I used about 50% FO with the rest being mostly bergamot and lavender with the cedarwood in the background. Does anyone do a lavender, bergamot, cedarwood blend? I did a quick search but there are more posts coming up then I can possibly read.

I know that some of you blend EOs and FOs and would love to hear about what you think works well.

 

[glendam]

I have not made that particular blend (bergamot, lavender and cedarwood), but it sounds nice. I only have the Texas cedarwood which is actually cypress if I remember well, so it is not the same.
The blends you made sound nice! I need to remember to Try them next time I venture on perfume making.
I did buy the labdanum and it’s so thick I could not measure drops out of it, they were more like blobs. I had not heard of the oakmoss absolute, but will look into that.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I'm very curious about labdanum and many of the other EOs and resins that I haven't had an opportunity to smell in a pure state. I never thought about them much until I started making solid perfume. I've read that labdanum is used to provide amber notes, which I really like in scents. I've never ordered from Eden Botanicals, but after reading some of the links here, I may order a really small bottle. It sounds like oakmoss is difficult to use, but at least the kind they sell is IFRA compliant.

 

[glendam]

I was a bit disappointed by the smell of labdanum, to me it smells somewhat like licorice but once blended with other notes, not as much. I bought it from Amazon, I think. (It was a link from a “Humblebee and me” recipe that no longer works)

I did like the smell of the resin that is supposed to smell like vanilla, Benzoin, though you need to use more of it since it is a delicate/light note. I bought that one from New Direction aromatics.
I have only made liquid perfumes, but now I am curious about these solid ones.