Homemade Perfume: Create Exquisite, Naturally Scented Products to Fill Your Life with Botanical Aromas

I'm the perfume version of a home cook. I've been collecting rare oils and been blending my own fragrances for decades. I've read every book on natural perfumery, but I can say in complete honesty that I consider Anya McCoy to be the Julia Child of natural perfume. Her breadth of knowledge and expertise is unmatched: botany, fragrance blending, and now at last, creating perfume from your own garden. Do not be intimidated by some of the more laborious techniques. Start small! If you have a small patch of lavender you can create a lavender tincture that captures the soul of the flower. Amy's will guide you through each technique, and her sumptuous photographs will whisper that it is worth the effort.

My newest adventure of babe craft project is making perfume with plants gathered from my garden. For a newbie like me, this is a perfect book to start with. The book explains the different methods to extract plants essences. They are not difficult. It ‘s been a lot of fun for me to tincture/infuse plants I have and know I can creat a unique fragrance with theses ingredients. If you are looking for many recipes for quickly making perfumes with essential oils, you might be a little disappointed. There are a few recipes to start with, but you have to experiment to creat your own.

I'm impressed. This author knows how to teach and write instructions, and is extremely knowledgeable about the topic. I've read a lot of instructional books (I have a strange passion for how-to books, and I have a lot of hobbies so I tend to actually use the information). This book is well-written and well-designed. It seems care was taken to make the Kindle version actually usable which is, sadly, often not the case. I was able to read and use this book on my phone - very handy for a reference book. I found very few typos, apparently, some proofreaders still exist.

I like this book pretty well. It is very easy to read. Nothing complicated. You can definitely read this and go make some perfume (liquid or solid), body butter, or scented powder. All of the standard techniques are described in plenty of detail to execute them without going to another reference. There are a few specific recipes, with plenty of guidance on starting from scratch. And there is enough theory that you can easily dive in and make up your own unique formula.One aspect that was a little confusing was the variety of techniques described - it wasn't quite clear to me when to select a particular technique to make a particular product - the information is there, but somewhat buries in each chapter. A table to help select one technique over another would have been nice. The book could also use a little more detail when it comes to the distillation process. It would have been helpful to cover the specifics for at least the setup the author uses herself. The other miss is a continued emphasis on keeping things clean, and then encouraging the reader to use wooden spoons in several of the processes. Wooden spoons have pores and fibers, which can harbor bacteria. So if you're going to make perfume, stay away from wooden spoons - stick with stainless steel and glass.All in all, a decent book. A good balance between theory and practice. Very practical. Several external sources are listed to purchase what you need to get started. If you're a cook that likes to mix and taste to come up with the perfect recipe, and you're thinking about making perfumes, this would be a great book for you!

Visually, this book is a work of art. But unlike many beautiful books, this one is also practical. For many years I've admired Anya's work. What she was doing - making fragrances from her own garden - just seemed too difficult. But I've been making botanical perfumes for a few years now, and want to start making more of my own ingredients. I already make skin and body care products using herbs and plants I grow myself, and I'm excited to find ways of incorporating what I grow and wild harvest into fragrances. This book will help me start that journey!

I was hoping for a little bit more from this one. I was hoping it would offer a few more recipes. It does a good job at explaining the different things needed to create your own perfume, but none of the recipes were super original. Overall, it's OK, but nothing here you can't find by simple doing a google or pintrest search

I just received this book and absolutely love everything about it. 💕 I can’t wait to try out these techniques and get my hands on some fragrant flowers and plant materials. A great book for beginners and those who do not own expensive setups or equipment. The recipes and techniques teach that anyone can try creating their own scents. The pictures are also very well done.

This is a throughly written manual on homemade perfumes, presented beautifully. If you or someone you love wants to learn the art of perfume making (and many other uses for aromatic plants), this is the book to own. Purchase a few for the holidays while you can and enjoy the process of cultivating and transforming the gifts of the Earth into something you can wear & share.