DIY Sweet Lavender Botanical Perfume ~ All Natural Essential Oil Blend

"And lavender, whose spikes of azure bloom

shall be, ere-while, in arid bundles bound

to lurk admist the labours of her loom,

and crown her kerchiefs witl mickle rare perfume."

~ William Shenstone (1742)

These "Sweet Lavender" botanical perfumes provide an all-natural scent while integrating a sense of relaxation via aromatherapy. They are very simple to make and don't have any of the toxins found in traditional perfumes. They are also convenient to carry around and make lovely gifts! 

In order to prepare this project, you will need the following* (some of which are affiliate links to the products I used):

• dried lavender flowers (optional but pretty), 1/8-1/4 tsp. of lavender buds per bottle
• 10 ml roll top bottle (you can also recycle essential oil bottles)
• small essential oil funnel
• sweet almond oil (or fractionated coconut oil, sunflower oil, or mild carrier oil of your choice)
• roman chamomile essential oil, 1 drop per bottle
• lavender essential oil, 2 drops per bottle
• peppermint essential oil, 1 drop per bottle
• juniper essential oil, 1 drop per bottle
• vanilla oleoresin essential oil, 2 drops per bottle (you can also use 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract if you need to be resourceful but it will cloud the look of your blend. If you do use it, I would omit the lavender flowers and add the extract in the first step.)

* If you haven't yet built up a collection of essential oils, then this can be expensive to prepare. With that in mind, you can try for a more frugal version by experimenting with a simple mixture of lavender and vanilla essential oil to get a nice basic blend.

1. Begin by filling each bottle with 1/8-1/4 tsp. of lavender buds if you are using them.

2. Using a small funnel, carefully fill each bottle with your carrier oil (almond oil, fractionated coconut oil, sunflower oil) making sure to leave 1/4 inch headspace. As you can see, this can get messy!

3. Next, add the essential oils (amounts are shared above).

4. Fill up the remaining of the bottle with carrier oil (up to the neckline) if necessary.

5. Press roller ball lid onto each bottle and shake each bottle to blend your perfume.  

And you are finished! I like to let the blend "marry" for 24 hours and then test the aroma. You can label them if you choose or keep them in their "au natural" setting. I think they smell divine but feel free to add or subtract the ingredients to make it pleasing to your senses. 

Use this as you would perfume (though keep in mind that since it is natural, you may have to do a few applications during the day to keep up the scent). To get the aromatherapy benefits, make sure to inhale the fragrance nice and deeply each time you apply it for relaxing results!