Christmas presents

Vintage and I continue our experiments in perfumery (is that a word?) now not just for us, but as gifts for others. My grandmother asked for lilac, but alas, there are no lilac essential oils. Instead I made her a nice citrus blend with woodsy notes. I am told she will love it, but I won’t let her have it until Christmas. Vintage made a floral blend for a few friends who like that sort of thing.


Before we began we compared notes on how our personal perfumes were working out. I, in my miserliness, used about forty drops of essential oils total since we had read that twenty-five would be enough. Vintage used nearly two hundred. Guess which one turned out great and which one turned out only okay. Needless to say, I had to begin again, but it was good to be sure before we began Christmas presents!

We decided that while a bottle of perfume is nice, a whole gift basket is nicer. So Vintage made massage oil (jojoba oil and one essential oil), I made lotion (12 oz baby lotion, 1 Tbls jojoba oil, and the essential oil blend I was using for perfume). We both made sugar scrub (see previous post) and perfume. Finally we rounded things out with a small container of lip balm (1 Tbls Vaseline, 3-4 drops food grade essential oil). They make for nice gift baskets, especially when placed in hand decorated craft boxes (I used white photo boxes which resemble shoe boxes) with pretty tissue paper and a card.

Our other big idea was to name each of our perfumes after a strong woman in history or literature. Vintage named the floral scent Cleopatra’s Secret because it features Egyptian Rose and Nubian Musk. I named my grandmother’s Persephone’s Grove (not really a strong woman, but the name that stuck in my head through two weeks of name hunting). I then included a little card with a synopsis of Persephone’s story (Greek myth about why we have winter) and what notes were in the perfume.

All in all, although Christmas has been even busier than ever (because making my cards isn’t’ enough I had to make perfume?) it’s been awesome! I plan on being very busy for the next few weeks, so I won’t be posting. Therefore, in case anyone reads, I shall wish you a happy Christmas and a delightful New year!!