I have had this issue crop up a few times at this point - I take a long time getting ratios on my accords just right using dilutions following GSC recommended smelling strengths so the materials are very roughly equipotent, and the accords smell great.

Then I lock in the ratio between the accords for the final composition using these dilute blends, again smells great.

Then I rebuild the formula from neat materials (or much less diluted ones in the case of extremely potent components such as Geosmin). Same ratios, just compounded from neat materials and with the amount of alcohol necessary to bring the concentration down to EdP, EdT etc.

Completely different olfactory profile. Notes that were barely a hint in the diluted blend become incredibly intense, and vice versa.

Is this just something I have to work around by, for example, compounding using dilutions for the final product, or re-tuning all my accords when I rebuild them from neats?

Your advice is appreciated. Thank you for your time.

So basically everyone knows what this accord is(but i don’t)
-galaxoide
-iso e super
-hedione
- here is what i don’t know which should i use
I ve got -methyl ionone gamma coeur
-ionone alpha
Which one should I use and what ratios of each material?
If anyone can help me i’d really appreciate it!
Thanks🫡

Hello DIYERS.. Hope everyone is doing good..

is there anyone here tried to recreate the casual friday by escada or accidently created something like that.. since this perfume has been discontinued and it is one of the fav scent of my father.. so i’d like to recreate it and gift it to him… kindly help me with this..

I want to custom-make a blend of fragrances to put in soap, but this would be my first time ever putting together fragrances. Figuring out how to make the soap was the easy part; there were plenty of resources. My main concern is the fragrances, because text can only do so much to describe something I've never really smelled. I don't exactly have a lot of—or any—materials, so I can't test or experiment with anything, and I don't want to buy something I might not end up using.

For the smells I want to put together, I've come up with Cedarwood, Balsam Fir, Lavender, and Patchouli.

I won't even know how most of these items smell on their own until I've already paid for them, so I have no idea how they'll work together in a final product. I'm really worried that I've made it too heavy and need to throw in something like Bergamot, or that one or more of the scents don't play well with each other. Or maybe I should just look online for a pre-made fragrance similar to what I want?

Hey everyone,

I was going back through some of my formulation notes on vapor pressure management, specifically looking at how certain dense, heavy compositions manage to feel completely weightless and diffusive instead of just sitting flat and thick on the skin.

If you look at the architecture of something universally recognizable like Tom Ford Ombré Leather (EdP), it’s a masterclass in manipulating evaporation curves to pull off a sensory illusion. I wanted to break down the mechanics of how that works on a molecular level:

1. The Cardamom Updraft (High Volatility)

The initial punch relies heavily on natural Cardamom, which is loaded with terpinyl acetate and cineole. These are highly volatile top-note molecules with massive vapor pressure. Because they're structurally unstable on warm skin, they flash off almost instantly. That rapid, intense evaporation actually creates a physical updraft, dragging the heavier, denser molecules underneath right up into the air with it to create that immediate, room-filling presence.

2. The Hedione Engine (Vapor Pressure Smoothing)

The real magic is the transition into the floral heart. Natural jasmine absolute is thick, dense, and naturally wants to sit flat on the skin. To make it project, you need a heavy dose of Hedione (methyl dihydrojasmonate).

Hedione doesn't just add a transparent, watercolor jasmine facet,it physically acts as a vapor-pressure modulator. It binds to the heavy, rugged quinolines (the industrial aroma chemicals giving you that raw leather profile) and alters the overall density of the accord. This allows the heart notes to diffuse into the air as a radiant, floating cloud, creating a massive sillage trail without ever feeling cloying or stuffy.

3. The Lipid Anchor

The seemingly endless drydown of patchouli, moss, and amber is made up of massive, low-volatility molecules. Because of their heavy molecular weights, they anchor themselves tightly to skin lipids. This ultra-slow evaporation curve acts as a physical drag, essentially catching the remaining fragments of the volatile heart notes and stretching the lifespan out for 8+ hours.

At the end of the day, formulation isn't just about finding ingredients that smell good together,it's a literal balancing act between the chaotic complexity of natural oils and the rigid, structural linearity of synthetics.

I'd love to hear how you guys handle vapor pressure when working with heavy leather or dense floral accords. Do you lean heavily on Hedione for that lift, or do you prefer balancing things out with high-amplitude top notes?

I'm just starting out in Hobby, and I'm making a list of materials, it's already at the limit of my budget.... Would I add something or remove it?

I'm thinking about doing something floral, woody and citrusy....

• Decanal (C-10)--15g
• Benzyl Acetate--15g
• Bacdanol (sandalrome)--15g
• Anisic Aldehyde (anisaldehyde)--15g
• Galaxolide (musk gx) --15g
• Musk T (etileno brassilato)--15g
• Undecalactona Gama (c14)--15g
• Geraniol--15g
• Hedione --15g
• Iso E Super--15g
• N Methyl Ionone--15g
• Bergamot (Oil)--15g
• Bulgarian lavender (Oil)--15g
• Vanillin--15g
• Benzyl Salicylate--15g
• Linalol--15g
• Strawberry Glycidate 1 (c16)--15g
• Allylamyl Glycolate--15g
• Ambrocenide --15g
• Methyl Salicylate--15g
• Hexyl Salicylate--15g

Would anything change?

Hello all,
So I am looking into trying to recreate a perfume scent from a out of stock perfume.
The scent notes are translated from Japanese, so that might be causing some of the confusion, but one of the items is a "watery note" or another translation I saw was "water musk". Anyone have any suggestions on what that could mean?

Full scent notes is: A green floral note, this scent opens with the bright, youthful energy of bergamot, mandarin, and pear. This shifts to a cooler heart of green leaf, spearmint, and jasmine, finally resting on a clean, warm base of watery notes, cedarwood, and musk.

Salut à tous, il y a quelques jours, j'ai vu un message d'une personne qui cherchait la composition du célèbre Exaltenone. J'en ai trouvé une sur internet, plutôt sympa, que j'ai légèrement modifiée. L'Exaltenone est un de mes muscs préférés, irremplaçable et malheureusement beaucoup trop cher. Voici donc une composition simple et très proche :

- HABANOLIDE 40
- EXALTOLIDE 30
- ÉTHYLÈNE BRASSYLATE 10
- EXALTONE 6
- MUSCONE LEAVO 10%DPG 5
- TONKIN INTENSE 10%DPG 5
- IRIS GIVOCO 1%DPG 2
- RASPBERRY KETONE 1%DPG 1
- VANILLIN SIGNATURE 1%DPG 1

I've been experimenting with a very weird, oceanic, smokey, abstract idea for a fragrance. I've acquired some ingredients i plan on toying with and would greatly appreciate some tips as I am kinda new to perfumery.

Ingredients are:

Seaweed absolute

Lemongrass EO

Sakura salicylate

Ambroxan

Choya Ral EO

Tobacco Absolute

Ginger absolute

Vernaldehyde

And perfumers grade ethanol alcohol.

In the past I've had certain EOs just not dissolve in the alcohol and also want to know how to fix that, like if I could switch the alcohol out for something else.

Hello,

Les amis, je rêve depuis toujours de devenir parfumeur, j'ai par chance enfin décroché un entretien à la perfumery school de Symrise (après 15 ans d'essais et de recherches) : auriez-vous des indications sur les questions posées ? Des conseils pour se démarquer ?

Bien à vous,

Ok so, this is a question for a friend of mine, (dabbling diy perfumer here)

My understanding (from these forums) is that these are ALL snake oil bull. That there is no such perfuming ingredient that contains pheromones that do anything in the perfume, essentially.

But my friend found this cologne that supposedly has these chemicals in it, and tried to tell me that it was a real thing. So I’m asking… is this like… is there anything to this?

Androsterone: Associated with perceived dominance, confidence, and masculinity.

Androstenol: Often linked to sociability, approachability, and youthfulness.

Androstadienone: Believed to affect mood and increase alertness in others.

My thought is, even if the cologne does include these substances they’re probably not necessarily going to be dispersed and delivered through vapor to have the intended effect…. Is that a valid assumption?

Thank you for your patient responses. I understand this kind of question is a frequently asked one. If there’s already a thread on it, links would be appreciated.

Hello everyone! I am a beginner in the world of perfumery. I have 2 questions:

1. How can I start to smell through the perfumes to understand what is in the perfume without looking at the notes? Are there easy ways to understand? In the pyramid, I have found that the Top are a little easier but to the Mid/Base notes I cannot get it?

2. What are strategies to start in creating your own perfumes?

Iso E Super 8g
Ambroxan 5g
Lemon Oil Pelatrice Messina 4g
Pink Pepper Oil 3g
Orcanox + DPG 2g + 4g
Aldehyde C-12 MNA 1g
Hedione 1g
Stemone 1% TEC 0.5g

It’s not rested for 48 hours but it feels like it’s missing something. Quite earthy. Intriguing but not instant love. Any ideas?

Hello! I posted few weeks ago regarding my first set of raw materials and I'm really thankful for your insightful comments. I now tried making a first trial with these materials. Haven't checked them yet as I just finish them today, but I would love to hear your thoughts as I improve this.

Galaxolide	20.5
Iso E Super	17.1
Ethylene Brassylate	17.1
Hedione	13.7
Methyl Ionone Gamma	6.8
Aurantiol	6.8
Bergamot EO	6.8
Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol	6.8
D-Limonene	3.4
Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol	6.8
Orange EO Italy	0.7

I’m trying to figure out the name of this trendy synthetic. It’s in a lot of new scents. It isn’t Oud but often accompanies oud. It’s masculine, astringent, smells exactly like acetone. Making a lot of trendy scents smell like nail polish remover.

Inspiration

I was hiking in Appalachia last week when I caught a whiff of a native plant called the northern spicebush. The scent is intensely aromatic, complex, and clean. When I say 'complex', I mean it doesn't really hit one note, but instead it strikes a balance between bright citrus and warm, earthy spices.

When crushed, the leaves released a strong, refreshing burst of citrus with a distinct herbal, resinous undertone. Almost like lemonbalm, plus sassafras, with a touch of pine.

The twigs and bark smell distinctly different, much more warm and woody. It smells remarkably like allspice, cinnamon, and cloves, mixed with a sharp, camphor-like cleanliness.

The most fragrant part of the plant is the berries, and when crushed, they produce a pungent, peppery blend of citrus peel and heavy allspice.

So, using that as inspiration, I've been developing an idea for a fragrance. I'd love to hear some feedback from people who have some expertise in the subject before I go hunting down all of these ingredients.

Here's what I'm thinking so far:

Concept

A fresh, dry, spice-driven woody aromatic centered on a native Lindera benzoin (Northern Spicebush) character. The fragrance should feel natural but refined, with citrus brightness, a green aromatic bridge, and a clean modern wood base. The goal is clarity, lift, and structure rather than sweetness or density.

Olfactive Structure

Top (identity + freshness)

• Spicebush extract (tincture or reconstructed accord)
• Bergamot
• Grapefruit

Function: Establish a distinctive citrus-spice signature with immediate freshness and lift.

Heart (green aromatic bridge)

• Petitgrain
• Litsea cubeba
• Hedione
• Beta-caryophyllene
• Very low cypress nuance

Function: Smooth transition from volatile citrus to dry woods. Add radiance and diffusion without sweetness. Introduce subtle green and spicy complexity. Maintain a clean, non-medicinal aromatic profile.

Base (structure + longevity)

• Cedarwood (primary wood structure)
• Iso E Super
• Ambroxide (low to moderate)

Function: Provide diffusion, persistence, and airy woody volume. Maintain a dry, non-sweet, non-musky character. Ensure modern "transparent wood" structure.

Constraints

• No gourmand or sweet direction (avoid vanilla, tonka, balsamic resins)
• No heavy musk profile
• Keep overall composition dry, fresh, and linear-to-gently-evolving
• Spicebush should remain perceptible but integrated, not isolated
• Emphasis on clarity, diffusion, and controlled complexity

Desired Effect

A fragrance that opens with a distinctive citrus-spice identity, transitions through a radiant green aromatic heart, and settles into a clean modern woody base with soft diffusion and persistence. Masculine in tone, but not heavy, sweet, or traditionally musky. Intended as an Eau de Toilette, with concentration and structure calibrated to feel fresh and transparent rather than dense — prioritizing lift and clarity of character over longevity and projection.

Hey everyone,
I’ve been doing some serious side by side testing in the lab lately, and I wanted to check in with fellow DIYers here.
I recently compared a homemade Labdanum tincture (made with raw resin tears and 96% ethanol, filtered down) against a high quality commercial Labdanum absolute diluted to the same concentration.

To my absolute shock, the homemade tincture is so much more complex. The commercial absolute is nice and heavy, sure, but it feels somewhat flattened out, like it lost its spirit during the industrial extraction process. My homemade tincture, on the other hand, retained this incredible, dynamic, multidimensional character: it has the warm, ambery leather depth, but also these beautiful, slightly bright, volatile top/heart nuances that the absolute completely left behind.

It got me thinking: with raw resins (like Myrrh, Opoponax, Mastic, Frankincense) being so relatively cheap and easy to tincture at home in ethanol, is it actually worth buying expensive commercial absolutes for these specific materials? Obviously, for consistency and highly concentrated professional formulas, commercial extracts are the standard. But for small-batch, niche, or artisanal projects, I feel like tincturing raw resins at home gives the perfume a much more organic, rich, and "alive" soul.

Does anyone else here regularly tincture their own raw resins instead of buying commercial replacements? What are your experiences with maturation times, filtration, and performance/fixation?

Would love to hear your thoughts and favorite resins to work with!