Would you like to learn how to make a home fragrance using flowers? Are you interested in recreating floral scents? Do you want to capture the smell of fresh flowers and nature to create a delicate perfume?
You’re in the right place.
As a florist, I believe that smell is an often underestimated sense, yet it’s the source of many emotions. In my line of work, I often guide my clients in their choices based on the subtle fragrances that come from the flowers.
Today, I’m going to teach you how to create your own refined floral perfume using a simple technique that you can easily do at home.
To create your own ambient fragrance, you will need: fragrant plants, colorless and odorless alcohol, distilled water, and a delicately scented essential oil. Mix equal parts of alcohol and water, then add 20 to 30 drops of essential oil. Next, immerse your flowers or plant extracts in this mixture and let it sit for at least 48 hours, ensuring that your spray bottle is tightly sealed. You can then use this mix to scent your home, freshen your linens, or enhance synthetic flower arrangements!
Want to learn more? Keep reading to find out:
- First, a list of flowers & foliage that emit a delicate fragrance
- A step-by-step tutorial to create your floral perfume
- All the ingredients needed and how to capture the essence of the flowers
- Many uses for your floral perfume
A Small Selection of Fragrant Flowers and Foliage
When you step into a forest, a garden, or even a greenhouse, all your senses come alive! The connection with nature isn’t just about what you see; it’s also, and perhaps most importantly, about your sense of smell! This is a very subjective sense, tied to our personal experiences and how we perceive the world, and it’s crucial not to overlook it!
However, not all plants release a strong enough fragrance to be easily extracted. In the following lines, I will introduce you to a small selection of aromatic plants that you can use in bouquets or to create your own perfume.
Flowers
To begin with, here’s a short list of flowers with a delightful and pleasant fragrance:
- The Freesia
- The Lilac
- The Hyacinth
- The Rose
➡️ This is mainly about garden roses. In fact, most roses bought at florists come from varieties that have little to no fragrance. If you’re looking for a highly fragrant rose available for purchase, consider David Austin roses, which you can order from your local florist.
- Narcissus
- Gardenia
- Lavender
- Jasmine
- Wax Flower
- Ylang-Ylang
Freesia
Foliage
- The Violet
➡️ Here, it’s not the flower, but the foliage that has a pleasant fragrance!
- Eucalyptus
- Labdanum Cistus
➡️ This plant is what creates the scent of Amber!
- Geranium Rosat
➡️ Unlike traditional garden geraniums, this type of geranium used in perfumery is grown worldwide and thrives beautifully in gardens.
Eucalyptus
Fruits and Seeds
- Bergamot
- Blackcurrant buds
- Lemon
- Peppercorns
- Vanilla
- Carrot
- Green cardamom
Wood and Bark
- Sandalwood
- Cinnamon
- Oakmoss or Oak Lichen
➡️ Widely used by perfumers, this ancient plant that grows on oak trees has a strong preservative quality for other fragrances. Add it to your perfume to make it last longer!
Lilacs
How to Make a Perfume with Flowers?
It’s time to get into the heart of the matter! I’ve prepared a simple tutorial for making your own perfume using flowers and other plant materials (leaves, fruits, etc.) that you may have gathered from nature, grown yourself, or even purchased! This is an easy recipe that you can do with kids, for example.
⚠️ Some plants can be highly toxic. Therefore, I recommend that you always check if the plants you use in your DIY projects are toxic, using a plant recognition app like Plantnet, for example.
For this reason, this fragrance recipe is not intended for creating body perfumes or cosmetics. It is meant to be an ambient fragrance!
Without further ado, let’s get started with the DIY project!
What Ingredients and Equipment Do You Need?
Here’s what you’ll need to get:
- fresh flowers or other fragrant plant extracts
- demineralized water (50ml)
- colorless and odorless alcohol (50ml)
➡️ Vodka works really well. It helps to mix essential oils with water and makes your fragrance last longer. Otherwise, you can use water, but your scent will have a shorter lifespan.
- essential oils to suit your preferences (20-30 drops): ylang-ylang, jasmine, geranium, lemon, lavender…
- a spray bottle, preferably clear
How to Proceed?
Here are the different steps to follow to create your fragrance:
🔸 Pour start, pour le mélange, verse de l’eau déminéralisée et de l’alcool dans le vaporisateur.
🔸 Next, add 20 to 30 drops of an essential oil, followed by your flowers and plants. Take a few moments to smell your mixture throughout this process to adjust the essential oil and floral scents.
🔸 Let the mixture steep for at least 24 to 48 hours before refreshing your home with its scent! Make sure your spray bottle is tightly sealed.
👉 Your first attempt may not be successful! Don’t hesitate to try again by adjusting the dosages and changing the plants. To maintain the subtleties of the scents, I recommend avoiding mixing more than three different plants!
A DIY Project with Multiple Uses!
To wrap things up, I invite you to explore how to make the most of your floral home fragrance with some daily usage ideas. Check them out as you continue reading!
Bring Nature into Your Home
Whether it’s a gift for a loved one who enjoys nature or a creation you made for yourself, your ambiance fragrance will be perfect for giving your home a fresh, delicate, spring-like scent. You can use your fragrance in every room: bathroom, bedroom, living room…
👉 If you’d like, you can pour the mixture into a small bottle and add a few thin sticks. This way, you’ll have a homemade diffuser that you can place in small spaces (entryway, bathroom, or closet) to scent them.
To Give Your Laundry a Floral Scent
You can also spray your perfume directly onto your laundry, especially your household linens, while they are drying. Additionally, you can use it as a pillow spray. This way, a subtle scent of flowers and nature will emerge, quickly becoming your best ally for a good night’s sleep!
Floral Scents: Perfect for Bringing Artificial Flowers to Life!
Synthetic flowers are often criticized for being too artificial and lacking the delicate scents of nature. By gently spraying your fragrance on them, you can create the illusion of a flower field or a walk in the woods right inside your home!
👉 To avoid staining your artificial flowers, make sure to use a clear room spray. Start by applying it in small amounts to ensure it’s compatible with your floral arrangement.
You now have all the tools you need to create your floral-scented room fragrance!
To take advantage of this last tip, feel free to check out our online store, where you’ll find high-quality floral gifts and decorations that are long-lasting and require no maintenance! There, you can discover our flower crowns 🌼, as well as our flower walls 🌺, rose teddy bears 🧸, and eternal roses 🌹!