How to Make a Solid Perfume Locket

A perfume locket is a cute yet elegant gift idea that will delight many people on your gift list. (Spoiler alert: many of my girlfriends are getting these for the holidays.)

Creating botanical perfumes has been growing in popularity amongst grassroots herbalists in the past several years. I have to confess I have bought more perfumes in the past two years than I have in my entire life!

Botanical Perfumes Are Unique

Well-crafted botanical perfumes have a complex scent that shifts while you wear them. You’ll find that the high notes of the blend come through first and then more sustaining scents emerge as you wear the perfume.

I also love that these blends are one of a kind. You’ll find that even if you use the same recipe the scent will shift subtly because of the volatile nature of the aromatic essential oils.

Do chemical scents bother you? Me too! Unlike commercial perfumes these natural scents are not irritating and they never give me headaches.

Hardly a day goes by that I don’t dab a little bit of botanical perfume here and there. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve hugged people to hear them exclaim, “What are you wearing? It smells so good!”

A Note on Using Essential Oils

Essential oils are almost never used “neat.” They need to be diluted before using. Even though these oils are natural, some people still have reactions to them. It’s always a good idea to try a little bit of the diluted oil to test for a reaction before using it in larger amounts.

Botanical perfumes dissipate within 1-3 hours of wearing them. Reapply as desired.

Essential oils are made by distilling enormous amounts of plant materials. Use only high quality essential oils from ethical companies like Mountain Rose Herbs.

How to Make a Solid Perfume Locket

This botanical perfume combines the playful bright smells of grapefruit with the deeper woodsy smells of juniper and fir. The clary sage has a floral scent and provides a fixing base for the other oils.

To come up with the specific blend below I tried several different variations and this was the one I liked best. You can play around with these essential oils or try something entirely different. You could even just do something super simple like using only lavender essential oil.

I know the biggest question about this recipe will most likely be, “where do I find a locket?” Keep your eye out for lockets and old pocket watches at thrift stores. I found these lockets on Etsy and I saw some at Amazon as well. You can also simply use another small container such as a shallow glass jar.

What you’ll need…

• 5 grams beeswax
• 1 1/2 teaspoons jojoba oil
• 11 drops grapefruit essential oil (Citrus paradisi)>
• 8 drops clary sage essential oil (Salvia sclarea)
• 6 drops fir needle essential oil (Abies balsamea)
• 5 drops juniper essential oil (Juniperus communis)
• Locket, old pocket watch, or even a small shallow glass jar
• Need herbs? Visit Mountain Rose Herbs.
  

1. In a double boiler or over very low heat, melt the beeswax.
2. Remove from heat.
3. Using a popsicle stick, stir in the oil.
4. Add the essential oils and stir well.
5. While still a hot liquid, pour the mixture into your desired containers.
6. Let cool to a solid state before using.

This recipe makes a very small amount. If using larger jars, you can double or triple this perfume locket recipe.

Written by Rosalee de la Forêt

Rosalee de la Forêt is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She’s a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild. Explore Rosalee's website and podcast. All content and photos in this article are © Rosalee de la Forêt.