| In this day and age, part of being well-dressed is | | | | toilettes have lower percentages of the fragrance |
| having the right scent to match our mood and | | | | or essential oil, and more of the alcohol, with |
| outfit for the day. A quick visit around any | | | | some mixtures even incorporating water). The |
| department store and you'll realize that there is | | | | rest is alcohol and fixatives because perfumes |
| probably a scent marketed for every man, | | | | only have from 0-5% water (mostly 0%). |
| woman, and even child out there. But for many | | | | Fixatives are used because many essential and |
| of us who have been in the search for the | | | | fragrance oils are so volatile that if you expose |
| perfect perfume, we know that many times it is | | | | them to the atmosphere, the scent evaporates in |
| hard to find one that we truly love and makes us | | | | a very short time, and, in order to "fix" the scent, |
| unique. This is where the home perfume makers | | | | you need fixatives so that the scent stays longer. |
| make their niche. They can make one-of-a-kind | | | | Also essential are pretty bottles to package your |
| scents that will not make you smell like | | | | scents in, and basically, the two most expensive |
| everybody else. | | | | ingredients in the manufacturing of perfumes are |
| The handcrafted toiletries market, including home | | | | the essential or fragrance oils, and the bottles. |
| perfume making, is indeed on the rise. Everything, | | | | A quick search in the internet will give you a slew |
| from handcrafted soap, lotions, and other spa | | | | of suppliers for essential oils, alcohols, fixatives, |
| products can be seen, in various specialty shops, | | | | and bottles. For the essential or fragrance oils, |
| and at times, even the big department stores | | | | many suppliers sell these at ½ an ounce, |
| have jumped on this bandwagon and attempt to | | | | making it much more affordable for the home |
| make their products appear "handcrafted". The | | | | perfumer. Many even offer sample packs. Prices |
| handcrafted and natural appeal is now very much | | | | range from $2.00 to a high of $80 per half ounce |
| in vogue. | | | | of essential oil, but many of them ranging from |
| In the competitive world of perfume development | | | | $7-$15 per half ounce, the cost progressively |
| and manufacturing, perfume was thought to be | | | | lowering the higher the amount you buy per |
| such a multifaceted chemical mixture of essential | | | | essential oil. |
| oils, aromatic compounds, fixatives, solvents, and, | | | | For the perfumer's alcohol used to dilute the |
| if you did not have a celebrity endorsing your | | | | essential and fragrance oils, the average cost is |
| product, then it is sure to be doomed. It used to | | | | around $6 to $10 for 8 ounces (around 1 cup), |
| be that if you wanted to manufacture your own | | | | depending on your supplier. As with the essential |
| perfume or fragrance, you would have to be | | | | oils, the costs go down if you buy in bulk. If your |
| prepared to spend well over $10,000. Many | | | | perfumer's alcohol contains isopropyl myristate |
| suppliers of raw materials had such steep | | | | then there is no need to add a fixative because |
| minimum orders that you would have to have the | | | | that in itself acts as the fixative. |
| pockets of the industrial giants to be able to even | | | | Many suppliers of essential oils also supply |
| do some research and development. But the | | | | perfume bottles. For the suppliers of perfume |
| Internet has changed that. Many of the | | | | bottles alone, some just ask for a minimum order |
| ingredients are now readily available over the | | | | of $40, with the price per bottle ranging from |
| Internet, including recipes, and many suppliers | | | | below $1 to $9 for the larger bottles. |
| have minimum orders that are well within the | | | | Cost vs. profit wise, the perfume industry is a |
| reach of an average crafter, and you can actually | | | | very lucrative business, even for the home |
| start a business for sometimes as low as $200 | | | | manufacturer. The internet has definitely changed |
| depending on the kind of scent that you want. | | | | this industry that in the olden days was limited to |
| Basically, perfume, the most concentrated of all | | | | the very few big shots in the corporate perfume |
| fragrance products, is around 20-30% fragrance | | | | world. So go ahead, make your scent! |
| or essential oil (colognes, eau de colognes, eau de | | | | |