Holiday Recipes

My daughter Megan and I sat down today and made up a bunch of yummy holiday recipes that we'd like to share.

Christmas at Mom's: Cinnamon (1), Coconut (1)
This is my all-time favorite right now. When my kids smelled it they said it reminded them of Christmas at my house, ergo the name. This is for Spicy/Fruities.

Christmas Eve: Peppermint (1), Vanilla (1), Coconut (3), Cinnamon (12)
This is a strong cinnamon scent, with the just a hint of mint. Spicy/Herby.

Ginger Snaps: Maple Spice (2), Brown Sugar (2), Cinnamon (4), Ginger (2), Clove (2)
It smells just like a gingerbread house. Unfortunately, ginger and clove have been discontinued, but you can probably get the same effect (or close to it) with Allspice. If anyone tries it, post your recipe in the comments section. Spicy, definitely.

Pinecone and Holly Berry: Pine (1), Cedarwood (7), Fig (1), Pomegranate (1)
This one is so yummy. I came up with the name and Megan created the recipe to go with that name. Megan is exceptionally good at creating new scents that people love. I know this will be one that my assistant Sandra loves because she's a Woodsy and loves pine and cedarwood.

Pumpkin Pie (Lite): Cinnamon (8), Allspice (1), Brown Sugar (1), Clove (3), Nutmeg (1), Ginger (1), Honeydew Melon (1)
I told McKenna I'd made a pumpkin pie recipe and she said, "Nuh-uh! How do you make pumpkin pie without a pumpkin oil?" Well, it worked perfectly. It's not a strong pumpkiny smell (which is why I call it "lite") but the honeydew melon gives it a hint of that flavor, and the name convinces you that you're really smelling pumpkin. Again, clove, nutmeg and ginger have been discontinued, but you can add more Allspice. Fruity/Spicy.

Snow on the Windowsill: Juniper (2), Water Lily (1), Garden Mint (3)
I told Megan I wanted something that smelled like fresh fallen snow and this is what she came up with. It really does remind me of a crisp and sparkling winter morning. Herby/Leafy.

Sweet Candy Cane: Coconut (6), Peppermint (4), Eucalyptus (1)
This one isn't as sharp as you might think. It's really kind of sweet. The coconut balances the mint and make a refreshing fragrance to wake you up on wintry mornings. Herby/Fruity.

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Eucalyptus (Leafy)

Eucalyptus comes from a tree that grows in Australia, Africa, India and Southern Europe. It is known by several common names, including Blue Gum Tree, Fever Tree and Stringy Bark Tree. The trees grow very quickly and are the tallest known trees in the world.

The fragrant volatile oil, found in the leathery leaves, is used medicinally to treat croups and coughs, flu, congestion and as an antiseptic. It is also used in spas and saunas to open the poors and the nasal passages. As a perfume, it is used to scent shampoos, soaps and other body products. Like the mints, it is fresh and invigorating. It makes an excellent shower gel to wake you up on those cold and dreary winter mornings, and as a bubble bath in the summer to cool you off and revitalize you after a long work day.

UB's oil is a true eucalyptus, with a hint of wood and moss to create a perfume oil that is timeless. Mixes well with other leafy and herby scents, and adds a bit of zing to the florals and fruities.

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Believe

This is such a fabulous fragrance recipe. It's great for a sophisticated perfume, lotion, or shower gel.

It's spicy, fresh and very confident. Green Tea has a bit of a bite, proclaiming to the world that you are alive and ready for whatever it throws at you. Bergamot is a tangy spice that exudes confidence and passion.

Green Tea: 3 parts
Bergamot: 2 parts

Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

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Ember Glow

This fragrance recipe is so beautiful and versatile. It's a sexy perfume, a sensual bubble bath, a warming shower gel, or an inviting home fragrance, especially during Fall and the Holidays.

Bergamot offers a warm, spicy undertone while Brown Sugar balances it out with sweet caramel. Coconut keeps it from getting too sweet while adding a come-hither dimension.

Bergamot: 2 parts
Brown Sugar: 5 parts
Coconut: 2 parts

Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

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Almond (Herby)

The luscious nutty aroma of almonds warms and delights the senses, reminding us of home, family and holiday baking in Grandma's kitchen. A favorite flavor in candies, teas and baked goods, almond is used in fragrances to evoke that sweet treat feeling.

Sweet Almond oil is nutrient-rich and helps to condition and soften your skin. It is wonderful in our nourishing body lotion.

Almond is a base note, meaning it adds depth and sensuality to a recipe and the fragrance lingers for a long time. Our almond is strong and true. A little of this widely loved fragrance goes a long way.

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Cinnamon (Spicy)

Cinnamon is used as both a spice and a medicine. As a spice, it flavors breads, cereals, fruits and desserts, and is often added to chocolates, coffees and teas. As a medicine, it has been used to cure colds, to treat digestive ailments and toothaches, to increase blood flow, and as an insect repellent.

Cinnamon is truly versatile and adds a bit of spice and spark to your scent recipe. It has been valued through the ages and highly prized as a gift fit for a king. It was known as a sensual perfume in China and Egypt as early as 2,000 BC and is even mentioned in the Bible. Our cinnamon is warm, and strong enough to add pizazz and depth to any blend.

Try cinnamon in a mix of bergamot, honeydew melon and green apple for a warm, fresh, lighthearted scent that speaks of flirtatious innocence.

Blend it with your favorite citrus, floral, sandalwood and musk to create a scent especially for women who love life!

Add it to lavendar, mimosa and oak moss to make a sexy scent for men.

Mix it with our rich vanilla and coconut to create a wonderful winter holiday scent, or mix it with one of our berries, add a little Naked and voilá, you have a fun summer scent. The possibilities are endless!

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Coconut (Fruity)

Coconut is native to tropical areas. The coconut tree has been called the "Tree of Life" and the coconut itself plays a significant role in a nutritious and healthy diet of the islands. Called "Summer in a Bottle," coconut fragrances are delicious, exotic and comfortably tropical.

Coconut is by far my absolute favorite fragrance. I have used it in every single recipe I've created for myself. Why do I love it so much? Because it is a wonderful blending scent. It is very light and helps to round out the other fragrances in your recipe without changing the overall scent.

Want a tropical feel? Add coconut. Want a scent that's great for summers on the beach? Add coconut. Want a fragrance that is ever so slightly flirty? Add coconut. It mixes well with...everything!

You're in for a real treat here. Our coconut is too delicious for words.

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Hope for Tomorrow

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You've probably seen a lot of pink ribbons around the past two weeks. I have a friend, Mary N., who passed away from breast cancer a few years ago. Even though she was 20 years older than me, she was still way too young to go. I wanted to do something to honor her and to help raise awareness.

As my contribution to this wonderful cause, I have created a special fragrance called Hope for Tomorrow—a light fruity blend of Passion Fruit, Coconut, Asian Spice, Egyptian Musk and Heliotrope. I think Mary would like it.

Passion Fruit: 5 parts
Egyptian Musk: 5 parts
Heliotrope: 4 parts
Coconut: 2 parts
Asian Spice: 1 part

Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

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Geranium (Floral)

Geraniums are prolific bloomers and come in a spectacular number of colors and varieties. They also come in a variety of fragrances, such as lemon, rose, apple, peppermint, nutmeg and others.

Our geranium is a true geranium scent—romantic and feminine. As a middle note fragrance, it rounds out your recipe. It works as a great mediator scent, acting as a common ground when blending two very different scents together. It balances recipes with really light delicate scents and really heavy, deep scents, bringing the two together without affecting the overall fragrance too much. Geranium is great for blending with other florals for added depth and dimension.

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White Linen

This is one of the top 10 recipes I get asked about. It seems everyone who tries this one absolutely loves it. Fresh and clean, sweet and youthful.

You can purchase it pre-mixed, or mix it up yourself.

White Linen:
2 parts Green Tea
1 part Freesia

Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

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Bergamot (Spicy)

Bergamot is a small, pear-shaped citrus fruit produced in Italy. It is a cross between a pear lemon and a grapefruit. The fruit is sour, but the peel is used to produce an aromatic oil that is used in making the popular Earl Grey tea. It is also used in candy-making, as an aromatherapy to treat depression, as a digestive aid, as well as in many perfumes.

Bergamot is one of the more popular scents in both high end men's and women's fragrances. Bergamot awakens the heart and opens the spirit, offering a sweet, citrus (lemony), pepper-like aroma that is a joy to blend with. Try mixing it with masculine scents for that perfect cologne or with other natural fragrances such as lavender, sage, basil, green tea, grapefruit, and mandarin.

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Garden Mint (Herby)

Garden Mint is an earthy mint that's blended with patchouli and oakmoss. The patchouli and oakmoss give this scent a richness and depth that the other mints (peppermint and spearmint) don't have, without overpowering it's light crisp aroma. Garden Mint is a cool, grounded fragrance sure to win the heart of any Herby personality. Leafy's really like it too.

Garden Mint is one of my favorite scents. I've used it in my WinterMint recipe and in Snow on the Windowsill and in Cool Berry. I think it goes well with almost any of the other oils, adding a sweet gentle tang to any recipe.

I like it because it's not as strong as Peppermint, and it's sweeter than Spearmint. It sort of reminds me of that Orbit brand, SweetMint gum (which is my favorite flavor of gum).

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How Big is Your Scent Circle?

Did you know...

• Everyone has a personal "scent circle": approximately an arm's length from the body. No one should be aware of your fragrance unless he or she steps inside your "circle." Fragrance should be one of the most subtle, personal messages you send to those with whom you come in contact.


• For a long-lasting effect, fragrance should be layered all over the body, starting with a shower gel or bubble bath, then adding lotion and parfum spray. Because fragrance rises, spray or smooth fragrance onto skin from the feet to the shoulders. If fragrance is applied only behind the ears, it will eventually rise and disappear.


• The wearer's diet can affect the way a fragrance smells and lasts on the skin. If the wearer is on a high fat, spicy diet, for example, fragrances will be more intense. A dramatic change in diet can alter skin chemistry, causing fragrances to smell differently.


• Skin type will also affect the way a fragrance smells on a person. Fragrance wearers with oilier skin should remember that fragrances interact withthe oils in their skin to create a more intense scent. Dry skin does not retain fragrance as long as oily skin, requiring the wearer to re-apply the fragrance more often.

Copyright ©1996-2004 The Fragrance Foundation®, Inc.

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Musk (Woodsy)

Urban Botanic has three different musk oils, and although they are all Woodsy scents, they each have their own personality.

White Musk is the lightest of the three musks and closest to the "traditional" 70's musk scent. It adds a lightly sexy note to your recipe without overpowering the other scents.

China Musk is a white musk surrounded with classic, oriental notes for a truly light, fresh and airy aroma. You'll detect hints of vanilla, tonka bean, jasmine, fresh lily and hyacinth notes that round out this beautiful and delicate perfume oil. Blends well with nearly every UB scent.

Egyptian Musk blends several soft musks and mixes well with every single UB scent! It instantly cuts the harshness of any Herby or Spicy and nicely rounds out any other custom blend.

Both the China and Eqyptian Musks add heartiness and depth to a recipe, while White Musk adds a softer, powdery feeling. White Musk also adds a sensual romantic scent to your fragrance.

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Fleur

The scent of Fleur will take you away to a fresh wildflower meadow. It's not like most "floral" fragrances in that this one smells like actual flowers, and not like someone tried to re-create the scent of flowers.

You can purchase it pre-mixed, or mix it up yourself.

Jasmine: 4 parts
Freesia: 3 parts
Mimosa: 5 parts

Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

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Only Four Drops!

I knew I was running low on my Raspberry Macaroon shower gel, but I was hoping I could make it last through the end of the summer. I know that as soon as the air turns even the tiniest bit crisp I’ll want to switch to a fall fragrance. There’s no way I’ll use a whole bottle of raspberry shower gel over the next three weeks so it would end up sitting all winter and who knows if I’ll want to be a raspberry macaroon next summer? I may want to be a cool berry, or a macadamia nut, or pina colada. I’m fickle that way.

So yesterday, I ran out. But being the clever penny-pincher that I am, I put a quarter inch of water in the bottle, shook it up and it lasted one more day. Then I forgot I was out. So this morning, when I grabbed my puff scrubby and went to pour shower gel on it, all I had was four watered-down drops. Seriously. I counted the four teensy drops as they fell onto the scrubby. Then I stood there trying to decide what to do. Do I drip all over my house while I make more? Or do I (shudder) use some of the old store-bought gel that I haven’t gotten around to throwing away yet?

In the throes of my dilemma, I suddenly realized I was unconsciously wringing my hands around my scrubby. I looked down and there were bubbles! I am not kidding you. Of course, it wasn’t the super rich, decadent lather that I usually indulge in, but FOUR DROPS produced enough lather to wash my entire body! FOUR WATERED-DOWN DROPS!

This stuff is amazing.

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Gardenia (Floral)

There are approximately 250 different species of Gardenia. They are small evergreen shrubs with white or pale yellow flowers. They are prized for their strong sweet scent.

Gardenia is a key ingredient in many popular perfumes, including J. Lo Glow, Intrusion by Oscar de la Renta, Elizabeth Taylor's Gardenia, Kimora Lee Simmons' Goddess, and others by Givenchy, Gucci, Liz Claiborne, Nina Ricci and more.

Our Gardenia provides a lovely lift to any floral combination. It creates a soft romantic, almost powdery, essence. Also works well in tropical, exotic blends.

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My Dog Doesn't Stink!

With all that hair, my dog comes inside from a hot and sweaty romp just reeking. Sometimes I can hardly stand to be in the same room with him. And I just don't have the energy to bathe him every other day.

But I do have a solution.

Puppy Parfum Spray.

I mix a little lemon, lime, coconut and cinnamon into the Urban Botanic parfum spray, give the dog a few generous spritzes and voilá! I can actually stand to have him around.

He doesn't seem to mind the fragrance. UB doesn't use alcohol, butane, formaldehyde or any of the other harsh preservatives that would irritate his sensitive skin. And the oils are very natural and easy on the nostrils, both his and mine.

Now, if I could just find a toothpaste that would cover up doggie breath...

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Four Delicious Home Scents

Here are four very yummy home scent recipes, guaranteed to make your mouth water.

• Apple Pie: One drop each of Green Apple, Maple Spice, and Cinnamon. You can get creative with this one… Peach Cobbler anyone? Simply substitute our Peach Blossom for the Green Apple.


• Brown Sugar Fig: Two drops Brown Sugar and one drop Fig — this one is a dead ringer for the popular fragrance, and fabulous for fall.


• Almond Cookie: One drop each of Almond and Cinnamon plus two drops Coconut.


• Harvest: One drop each of Vanilla, Allspice, and Maple Spice.

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Surf's Up!

This fragrance comes straight from the islands, with the slightest bit of spicy kick from the plumeria flower. It's my favorite in the form of a shower gel or lotion.

Hawaiian Rain 3 parts
Plumeria 5 parts
Coconut 2 parts

Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

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My Laundry Smells Spring!

I've had to use unscented laundry soap for years. I know my clothes get clean, but they just don't have that fresh scent that clean laundry is supposed to have.

The other day I was washing sheets and decided to add a little Garden Mint to my wash water. When I pulled them out of the dryer, the sheets smelled so yummy. Not a heavy perfumy scent, but just a light whiff of heaven. I can still smell that fresh light minty fragrance, ever so slightly, when I crawl into bed.

I add Garden Mint to every single wash load now. I do 3 drops for clothing; and 5 drops for towels and sheets. Now all my laundry smells like spring!

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Honeysuckle (Leafy)

Honeysuckles are not technically flowers, but blooming bushes or vines that twine around posts and rails. That is why they show up in our Leafy family, not Floral. They are grown almost everywhere, but especially in China, Europe and North America. The honeysuckle blooms are bell-shaped with a sweet scent that is this season's favorite in the perfume industry.

Soft and sweet, this flower-like fragrance is a "top note," meaning that it is the first scent you smell when you spray it on, but also the most volatile and the first to evaporate as the day goes by. When mixing your recipe, you'll want to add lower woodsy notes to give it some staying power.

Most of the top perfumeries have a honeysuckle-based scent, or will be introducing one this year (spring 2007). And it's not just for women. Fahrenheit (for men) by Christian Dior has honeysuckle as one of its main ingredients.

Get ahead of the rage and make your own honeysuckle custom scent for spring!

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Blue Moon

I absolutely love this multi-faceted and oh-so-alluring fragrance recipe, it's one of my favorite creations. Dark and sexy with innocent, flirty top notes, you're sure to love its sweet allure.

White Musk: 8 parts
Sandalwood: 7 parts
Oakmoss: 3 parts
Jasmine: 2 parts

Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

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This One is Just Right!

I have a friend who loves strawberry scented perfume. She has strawberry and vanilla, strawberry and musk, strawberry and spice. She even has a strawberry and chocolate spray.

The trouble is, she's having a hard time finding one that's just right. They have a little too much musk or not quite enough vanilla.

A lot of women have that problem. Maybe you like Freesia, but all of the Freesia perfumes you try are overpowering. Or maybe you love Green Tea but no one makes it quite strong enough. Or maybe you've found an almost perfect mix of Cedarwood, Pine and Musk for your husband—but you'd like it even more if it had a dash of Cinnamon in it.

That's the beauty of Urban Botanic. With our 66 oils, you can create something that fits you perfectly. You choose the ingredients. You choose the fragrance ratios. You even get to choose the name.

And my friend? She can finally have a strawberry concoction that's exactly the way she wants it!

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Pomegranate (Fruity)

Pomegranate is a sweet, refreshing, exotic fruit with a slight floral smell. Pomegranates are native to Iran and some people believe that it is the forbidden fruit from the Bible. In one version of Greek mythology, Persephone eats a pomegranate while in the underworld and has to spend eternity there as a punishment.

Pomegranate mimics many other fruits and goes well with so many of our oils. Mix it with Mandarin to get a scent of apricots and mangos. Or mix it with Peach Blossom, Strawberry and Raspberry and you will think you mixed up a Cranberry brew for a summer party. Pair it with Cedarwood and China Musk, or...

You get the picture. It is fresh and clean and refreshing—and so willing to be what you want it to be. I mixed pomegranate with juniper and cinnamon and called it Cinnaberry. What do you think would go well with pomegranate?

[Info on pomegranate stolen from Sandra and her Fragrance Designer blog.]

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5 O'Clock Somewhere

This is my current favorite recipe, named after the Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet song, of course.

It adds a little fun to my day and makes me feel like I'm on a beach somewhere instead of land-locked here in Utah.


Pina Colada: 6 parts
Vanilla: 2 parts
Naked: 1 part

This is definitely a scent for Fruities.

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Plumeria (Floral)

Our Plumeria oil has a fresh picked, subtle and sexy fragrance. It is perfect for light and airy blends, but also makes a fabulously darkened fragrance when added to any of the Woodsy scents.

Plumeria is a flowering tree, or bush, discovered by a seventeenth century French botanist named Charles Plumier. It is native to Central America, Mexico and Venezuelaand is also grown in Australia and the Cook Islands. It generally grows no more than 2 feet tall and has dark green, shiny leaves. There are four variations of plumeria: white flowers with yellow centers, yellow flowers tinged with pink, a deep pink flower with yellow centers, and white flowers with yellow centers and red or pink tips.

Plumeria is often called Frangipani because it is reminiscent of a fragrance developed in the sixteenth century by Italian perfumer, Marquis Frangipani. Urban Botanic has both Plumeria and Frangipani—and they are delightfully different.

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Day Dream

Day Dream is one of our all time most popular fragrances. I haven't met a single soul who hasn't gushed over this refreshing, cheerful scent.

Perhaps the reason it's such a crowd pleaser is because it works with just about everything. It's appropriate for ages infant to 101.

It works best in Spring and Summer, but also in Fall and Winter. It won't bug you if you hate those nectar-sweet scents, food scents, or way-too-floral scents.

It's a great fragrance for parfum, lotion, shower gel, bubble bath... do you catch my drift?

If you're new to making custom bath and body products at home, start with this fragrance and you're sure to be pleased.

You can purchase it pre-mixed, or mix it up yourself.

Naked: 5 parts
Green Apple: 2 parts
Violet: 2 parts
Honeysuckle: 2 parts

Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

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Frangipani (Floral)

Frangipani, often confused with Plumeria, was developed in the 16th century by Italian perfumer, Marquis Frangipani. He marketed this to women of the upper class as a fragrance for scenting glove boxes 100 years before the plumeria flowers were discovered. However, when these flowers became popular among the elite, it reminded them of the frangipani fragrance, and therefore plumeria was nicknamed "frangipani."

This can make for a lot of confusion in the world of perfumery. Plumeria is more of a floral scent, while Frangipani has a slightly more fruity base. Urban Botanic has both Plumeria and Frangipani—and they are delightfully different.

Our Frangipani oil is very delicate and pretty. It blends well with every single UB scent! Use it to calm a dominating Herby or Spicy, or to cut down excess citrus in your scent.

A funny story: At one of my parties, a guest used Frangipani in her signature scent. She struggled with the pronunciation. When I said "frahn--juh--pah--nee" she responded, "What? French panties?!" Guess what she ended up naming her scent?

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Put de Lime in de Coconut...

Coconut Lime Verbena has always been one of my favorites from Bath & Body Works, so I thought I'd play around with the theme a little bit.

This recipe is very similar, but I don't like to do knock-offs, so all the recipes on this site are original.

I like this one better than B&BW's because it doesn't have quite as much of a lime kick, which means I can wear it as a perfume while also wearing something other than a lava-lava and a swim top, as opposed to only using the B&BW version in the shower as a wake-me-up.

Coconut: 4 parts
Verbena: 1 part
Frangipani: 4 parts
Vanilla: 1-2 parts (can't decide which version I like best)

Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

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Plumeria and Frangipani—The Story

Once Upon A Time...

During the 16th century there was an Italian nobleman named Marquis Frangipani. He was a perfumer who created a fragrance just for scenting glove boxes. So when women wore their new gloves, they would smell like the perfume. He named this perfume after himself, "Frangipani."

A century later, a French botanist, Charles Plumier, discovered or created/cross-bred? (not sure which) the Plumeria flower... which he named after himself.

The smell of the Plumeria flower reminded people of the popular Frangipani perfume that had been around for about 100 years, so they nick-named the Plumeria plant "Frangipani."

Now that we are able to extract so many more fragrances than in the 16th and 17th centuries, and because our olfactory senses are much more developed, it's easy to detect differences between the popular Frangipani perfume and the Plumeria flower smell. But the name association remains the same.

So... in short, Frangipani and Plumeria were people before they were smells. Frangipani is a perfume, Plumeria is a plant. The names got crossed along the way, but the two scents provided a lovely contrast to each other and lived happily ever after in the world of U.B.

The End!

(Courtesy of McKenna Gordon, founder of Urban Botanic.)

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Freesia (Floral)

Freesias are among the most popular cut flowers in the world. Named after German physician, Dr. Friedrich Heinrich Theodor Freese, freesias are known for their intensely sweet and citrusy perfume.

In bloom, freesias make for great aromatherapy. In a perfume, freesia is often used as a middle note, rounding out other scents in the recipe. You'll find freesia in many popular perfumes, such as Acqua di Gio by Giorgio, Intuition by Estee Lauder, Rapture by Victoria's Secret, Red Door by Elizabeth Arden and Paris Hilton by Parlux Fragrances.

Freesia is a light and airy floral, clean and crisp. This fragrance is fantastic on its own or blended with nearly any other fragrance to give it a fresh and sweet accent. Guaranteed to delight your scentsitivities!

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Hawaiian Punch

This fragrance recipe is really ripe! Fresh and cheery, perfect for any pre-teen perfume or a fun bubble bath for kids. It's easy too!

Passion Fruit: 1 part
Guava Fruit: 1 part
Strawberry: 1 part


Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

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I Wonder If It Smelled Like Cake

According to legend, at the height of the French Revolution in 1791, the French royal family attempted to flee France disguised as commoners. They may have made it were it not for Marie Antoinette's signature fragrance, designed by Charles Francois Houbigant.

When the family's coach was stopped in Verennes, Marie Antoinette was recognized as royalty because of her Houbigant perfume, which only royalty could afford. They were immediately returned to Paris, and we all know the rest of the story.

While it didn't turn out so well for Marie Antoinette, having a signature fragrance is a great idea for us regular gals!

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Wisteria (Floral)

Wisteria is a climbing vine that grows native in the Eastern United States, China, Korea and Japan. It has lovely flowers in purple, pink, blue or white. Chinese Wisteria is the most fragrant, but they all smell wonderful.

Wisteria has a somewhat exotic and musky scent, sharp and alluring. It is fantastic and unique all on its own, but when mixing with other florals, it yields deep, leafy garden or cool meadow type scents.

Wisteria can act as a mediator scent, to balance and round out the other scents in your recipe.

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Forever Young

This recipe makes an awesome fragrance for lotion or perfume for tweens and teens alike!

Also great for us oldies (20+) as a lotion or shower gel.

It's so simple and you'll be surprised at the ingredients:

Garden Mint 3 parts
Coconut 8 parts

Unlikely pair, wouldn't you say?

Garden Mint is a mix of several mints. It's not harsh, but has a sweet undertone.

Coconut compliments it wonderfully. So fresh and young.

Use this recipe in any of our bath and body products or as a home scent with our fragrance warmers.

Spearmint (Herby)

Spearmint is thought to be the oldest of all mints. It is grown for its aromatic oil, which has many uses, such as flavoring teas, candies, gum, toothpaste and medicines. It's used as a breath freshener and for the treatment of stomach ache and headache. As a tea, it helps to calm and relax frazzled nerves.

A lighter scent than peppermint, spearmint is a mouthwatering, crisp and refreshing fragrance which is lightly stimulating. Spearmint is generally considered to be a top note, and it mixes well with all of the herby fragrances and is a fun addition to many floral and fruity scents as well. Use it to make your fragrance a clean and fresh feeling.

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Pina Colada (Fruity)

Escape to paradise by adding our Pina Colada oil to your signature recipe. Our pina colada is so yummy...just like the drink. It's a perfect blend of coconut and pineapples with touch of vanilla for a sweet kick. When I use the shower gel, I can close my eyes and pretend I'm standing under a Hawaiian waterfall. I wear it to hold onto the summer that is quickly passing into fall.

Pina Colada is the definitive scent for summer at the beach. Ours is distinct but light; not overpowering like the pina colada scents that come in some tanning lotions.

I used Pina Colada in a recipe I named Five O'clock Somewhere, adding in a little more Vanilla and some Naked. I spritz it on at the end of a work day to help me relax and to add a little fun to my life.

Pina Colada mixes well with the berry and citrus oils, or can be added to Hawaiian Rain for an exotic experience.

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Naked (Fruity)

Naked gets everyone's attention and is a fruity favorite at every party. I go through more Naked oil than anything else!



Naked is the aroma of fresh green apples, perfectly blended with honeydew and spicy pear notes. If you want a fresh, fruity scent that is definitely different and bright, this is the fragrance for you. You will adore t his truly fruity sexy aroma.


Naked blends well with the other fruits and the spicy scents. It also does well mixed with the woodsy scents. One guest mixed Naked and Egyptian Musk and called it "Naked Egyptian." (Sometimes naming our scents is the funnest part of the party!)

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Fragrance Families

Urban Botanic fragrance oils have been divided into fragrance families. These are the original 66 oils. They are available at Urban Botanic while supplies last.

FLORAL

• Freesia
• Gardenia
• Geranium
• Jasmine
• Juniper
• Lemon
• Lilac
• Lily
• Linden Blossom
• Lotus Flower
• Mimosa
• Plumeria
• Rose
• Violet
• Wisteria

FRUITY

• Coconut
• Frangipani
• Grapefruit
• Green Apple
• Guava Fruit
• Honeydew Melon
• Lime
• Mandarin
• Naked
• Passion Fruit
• Peach Blossom
• Pear
• Pina Colada
• Pomegranate
• Raspberry
• Strawberry
• Vanilla

HERBY

• Almond
• Basil
• Chamomile
• Garden Mint
• Lavender
• Peppermint
• Sage
• Spearmint
• Tomato Leaf

LEAFY

• Cucumber
• Eucalyptus
• Green Tea
• Hawaiian Rain
• Heliotrope
• Honeysuckle
• Verbena
• Waterlily
• White Tea

SPICY

• Allspice
• Asian Spice
• Bergamot
• Brown Sugar
• Chocolate
• Cinnamon
• Fig
• Maple Spice

WOODSY

• Cedarwood
• China Musk
• Egyptian Musk
• Myrrh
• Oakmoss
• Pine
• Sandalwood
• White Musk

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Scents That Go Well With Everything

(In Most People’s Opinion)

FLORAL: Freesia, Juniper

FRUITY: Coconut, Naked, Vanilla

HERBY: Basil

LEAFY: Cucumber, Hawaiian Rain, Heliotrope, Waterlily

SPICY: Brown Sugar

WOODSY: China Musk, Egyptian Musk, Sandalwood


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Don’t Even Think About Ratios

A lot of people ask how to know what ratios to use in their scent.

“How did you know to use 10 drops of Coconut and only 4 drops of Cinnamon?”

The answer is, I didn’t know.

I didn’t even think about it, and neither should you.

When creating a scent, just go with what smells good. Add a drop of Coconut and smell. Not enough Coconut? Add another drop and smell. Still not enough? Keep adding until it’s just right.

Make sure you add a hash mark to your "My Scent In Progress" sheet after adding each drop to your glass, but otherwise, don’t even think about your ratios until your fragrance is just how you want it to be.

At the very end, look at your ratio. If it ends up being a one to one ratio for each ingredient, so what? You love your scent.

If it ends up being two ingredients with a 10 to 1 ratio, so what? You love your scent.

Once I had a woman create the perfume of her dreams and it had only two perfume oils in it. The ratio was 136 drops of one oil to 14 of the other. Another time a woman used two oils, with a 1 to 1 ratio.

Both times, they were thrilled. Their recipes were perfect in their eyes and that’s all that matters.

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Making Legal “U-Turns”

So you’re creating a new fragrance and it’s coming along great. You decide Mandarin would compliment your scent nicely as a light accent. So you add just one tiny little drop of Mandarin, smell it, and whoa!

That’s no accent, it completely took over your fragrance!

You may think the only solution is to rinse out your mixing glass and start over (and don’t even dream of adding any Mandarin this time). But go back to the reason you thought to add Mandarin in the first place – because you felt it would be a great addition to your scent.

Well, it still can be, you just need to make a “U-Turn” and back out some of that Mandarin. You can fix your scent so it’s as if you had only added a half-drop, or even a quarter-drop of that Mandarin. This works even with the most strong and powerful scents.

Always try solution 1 (below) first. If that doesn’t work, move to solution 2.

Solution #1:
The first thing to do after adding a drop that ends up too strong or just “not right” is to take a disposable dropper and mix your perfume oils right in the mixing glass. The best way to do this is to “suck up” and “squirt out” your oils several times.

Sometimes the most recent perfume oil you added to your mixing glass is sitting on top of the rest of the perfume oils (similar to how salad dressing separates and all the oil sinks to the bottom). Try this first and smell again.

A lot of times the new scent added isn’t overpowering, it’s just the only scent you can smell because it’s sitting on top of the other scents and cloaking them. Mixing your blend before smelling it will give you a more accurate representation of the fragrance. If doing this doesn’t work, and your new addition is still overpowering, move to option 2.

Solution #2:
Turn to your My Scent In Progress sheet to take note of everything you have in your mixing glass. Now add everything – your entire recipe thus far – into your mixing glass again, only leaving out the latest scent that is overpowering (Mandarin in the above example).

For example, if your My Scent In Progress sheet says you have the following:

3 Brown Sugar
1 Fig
2 Vanilla
1 Mandarin (most recently added, and way too strong)

You will add everything in again so at the end, your My Scent In Progress sheet will say the following:

6 Brown Sugar
2 Fig
4 Vanilla
1 Mandarin (because you didn’t add in extra Mandarin)

Now mix your oils together as in solution 1 above, and smell it.

What you have just done is cut your Mandarin ratio in half. It’s as if you only added 1/2 drop of Mandarin before. Mandarin will now have half the bearing on your fragrance as it did before.

If Mandarin is still too strong at this point, add the whole recipe back in again and it will smell as if you added 1/4 drop of Mandarin.

Just make sure you update your My Scent In Progress sheet with the new doubled numbers. Your My Scent In Progress sheet should always represent exactly the number of drops that are in your mixing glass.

If solution 2 doesn’t work, it probably means Mandarin wasn’t a good choice for your blend. With practice, you’ll become very familiar with mixing fragrances and you may decide in some cases that Mandarin (or the particular scent at hand) is a “no-go” and it’s not even worth it to try solution 2. You’ll get a knack for this in time.

How do you know when it's time to start all over?
When your fragrance smells like something from the janitor’s closet. Bug spray. Turpentine. This is when to realize there’s no turning back. Try your scent again without the Mandarin. (And let it be known that I have nothing against Mandarin. In fact, I love Mandarin! I just needed an example.)

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What To Do If…

You love your blend but it’s just not right. Maybe it has too much of a citrus edge. Or it’s too sweet. Too frilly. Too… whatever. Here are some tips on how to fix this before dumping your creation.

Citrus Edge
If your fragrance is so full of citrus and fruit it almost smells over-ripe, cut out that edge with Egyptian Musk or Sandalwood. This will fix the problem and you probably won’t even be able to smell much Egyptian Musk or Sandalwood (depending on how much you choose to add). Add one drop and smell. Keep adding one drop at a time until your fragrance is just ripe enough for you.

Too Sweet
We love those sweet flowers and fruits like Violet, Freesia, Green Apple, Guava Fruit, and Honeydew Melon. But put them all together and sometimes they’re tooooo sweet! You have several options for resolving this. Egyptian Musk and/or Sandalwood will pull some of the sweetness out without affecting your overall fragrance much at all. There are other options that will pull sweetness out but also change your fragrance quite a bit at the same time. If you feel any of these will change your particular fragrance for the good, try them out: Vanilla, Chamomile, Hawaiian Rain, Asian Spice, Bergamot, Fig, China Musk, Myrrh, Oakmoss.

Too Powdery
Citrus scents do the best job of combating too much powder in a scent. Here they are: Lemon, Grapefruit, Lime, Mandarin, Basil, Verbena, Bergamot. Although not citrus scents, the following will also help if your nose thinks they will be good additions to your blend: Juniper, Green Apple, Guava Fruit, Pear, White Tea, Cedarwood, Pine.

Too Musky
Is this possible? A fragrance can be too musky? If you say so! Simply add more of the other non-musk scents you already have in the blend. Add them slowly so you can stop when it’s just right.

Too Dark and Spicy
Mixing some of our darkest, deepest scents with Florals, Fruities, and Leafies can create some very beautiful fragrance blends. But when that darkness takes over, the easiest way to combat it is with more of the other non-spicy scents you already have in the blend. If that’s not what you’re looking for, Egyptian Musk and/or Sandalwood can help bring up some of that heavy darkness without dramatically changing the other great scents in your blend.


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The Mediator Scents

So, you love Allspice and you love Pear, but when you put the two together, they don’t mesh so well. It’s like they’re fighting with each other. A lot of times, they just need a mediator to help work things out. A third scent, if it’s the right scent, can close the gap between the two scents you’re trying to blend. It can act as a common ground and really blend two very different scents together nicely.

Usually a “Mediator” is needed because a fragrance has all top and bottom notes, but no middle notes. In other words, your scent probably only has a mixture of really light, delicate scents and really heavy, deep scents. It needs something “in the middle” to balance it. Here is a list of scents that act as great intermediaries – bringing two together without affecting the overall fragrance too much.

FIRST: Only add a Mediator if you:

• Like the scent you’re adding
  

• Feel it will go well with the other two scents already in your mixing glass
  

• Take into consideration how much the middle note you’re adding will affect the overall fragrance (ie, adding one drop of Egyptian Musk may affect it much less than adding one drop of Pomegranate).

FLORAL: Gardenia, Geranium, Jasmine, Lilac, Linden Blossom, Mimosa, Rose, Wisteria

FRUITY: Guava Fruit, Naked, Pomegranate, Raspberry, Strawberry

HERBY: Almond, Chamomile, Lavender

LEAFY: Green Tea, Hawaiian Rain, Heliotrope, Verbena, Waterlily, White Tea

SPICY: Asian Spice, Brown Sugar, Maple Spice

WOODSY: China Musk, Egyptian Musk, Myrrh, Sandalwood, White Musk


Not to influence your artistic creativity, but you can put it on record that McKenna’s personal “default” Mediators are Egyptian Musk and Sandalwood (with the other two Musks tying for second). Karlene's default mediator is Coconut. The reason is that these scents will help balance almost any scent combination you have in your mixing glass, whereas some of the others listed might not work in every situation.


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Want More of This in Your Blend?

You know you want your scent to be more romantic (or fresh, or sweet, or clean, or flirty), but aren’t quite sure what to add to accomplish this. Here is a family color-coded key to get you going. Want to make a powdery scent? Try adding Gardenia, Chamomile, Heliotrope, or White Musk.

(Click images to view at larger size or to print.)



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The Nose Knows

We're not saying the Top/Middle/Base Note Method of creating a fragrance blend is invalid or even outdated. It’s a great method to use. It’s just that most of the time, you will “accidentally” use this method and create fragrances that have appropriate ratios of top, heart (middle), and base (bottom) notes, without even knowing the concept exists. This is because scents including top, middle and base notes simply smell “complete,” whereas you may feel a scent is missing something if it doesn’t have notes from all three categories.

You are free to intentionally use this method, but you’ll probably find you love your other fragrance recipes just as well… and that you’re able to make great recipes faster when you’re not thinking too much about top/middle/base notes.

Rather than listing every single-note scent sorted by top notes and base notes, I’ll let your nose tell you:

• If a scent smells light and airy, and evaporates within an hour on your skin, it is a top note.

• If a scent smells deep and hearty, and lasts all day on your skin, it is a base note.

• Everything in between can be used as a heart, or middle note.

• The lines are slightly blurry between top, middle, and bottom notes. For instance our Maple Spice would be considered somewhere between a middle and bottom note. Sandalwood would be considered somewhere between a top and middle note. But Green Apple is definitely a top note, Wisteria is definitely a middle note, and Chocolate is definitely a bottom note.

The most important thing to remember though, is that fragrance making is an art. Art requires creativity. And creativity means there are no rules (except that you must write a hash mark to your sheet after adding every single drop!).

Some popular fragrances contain little to no base notes (Escada’s Ibiza Hippie) while some are extremely heavy in base notes with few top notes (YSL’s Opium).

Bottom line: your nose knows what it loves. All you really need to know are a few tips on what different perfume oils can accomplish, and how to get yourself out of a bind if your fragrance isn’t turning out just how you imagined.


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The UB Method

If a good perfume can only be developed by elite perfumers with exclusive trade secrets and years of practice, how is something like Urban Botanic even possible? A couple of reasons:

First, a typical perfumer has so much to think about when creating a fragrance. For them, it’s not only about which scents will go well together, but also the reaction of each chemical involved. With Urban Botanic, all of this is done for you. The products start out naturally balanced. All you need to worry about is what your favorite scents are and what you want to blend them with.

Second, in the case of a typical perfumer, the fragrance must sit for at least week, sometimes several weeks, in between each note or chemical being added in order to fully “blend”. This means it can take months or years before a fragrance blend is complete. At Urban Botanic, we designed our perfume oils to blend with each other instantly. You will know what your fragrance will smell like almost immediately upon mixing perfume oils together in your mixing glass, and that fragrance will stay constant.

Third, perfumers have the challenge of creating a fragrance for the mass market. Their fragrance must have extremely broad appeal in order to sell. You already know the reason UB is different in this area. You and your customers make fragrances for yourselves. You’re even pretty safe creating gifts for others. No market research needed!

Because of Urban Botanic’s patent-pending process, now anyone can be the fragrance designer, and yes, anyone can create a fragrance as complex, as sophisticated, as eloquent and beautiful as any other perfumer can. Even better, the scent you and your customers create for yourselves will be much more appealing to you than a fragrance another perfume designer created for the mass market. Your customers can only come to you for this. No one else has this patent-pending method. No one else can help your customers so easily create a scent they love. Only Urban Botanic allows the customer to be the one creating the signature fragrance.



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Perfumery’s History and the Top/Middle/Base Note Method

For a hundred years, the art of perfume has been compared to music, with different notes all combining to create a harmony. In this theory, perfumes are composed of three types of notes: top notes, middle notes, and base notes. The top notes are the most volatile and evaporate the fastest. Middle notes, which would compare the heart of a musical chord are the “main attraction” in the fragrance blend. Base notes are the deepest and are the last thing you can smell after the rest of the fragrance has evaporated or died down. Each of the notes creates is its own scent, yet blends with the others to create much more than a smell. It creates an emotion. A story. And with Urban Botanic, a direct reflection of your personality.

In order to better understand the comparison of fragrance and music, think of your most simple fragrance, made from only one or two perfume oils. Compare this to a one-handed piano solo. Now add a few more perfume oils to the creation and it becomes a full orchestra. Both are equally as beautiful, for different reasons.

In music and in fragrance, you don’t want any one note to overpower. You wouldn’t be pleased with a scent that screams “LIME!” too loudly just as you wouldn’t be pleased to hear an unruly tuba belt out above the rest of the symphony. Harmony is key, and before Urban Botanic, harmony in fragrance was only achieved by elite perfumers with exclusive trade secrets and years of practice.


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Scent Blending Tips

Each time you add a drop to your mixing glass, go through the following process to ensure your scent doesn't change to quickly as you create it:

Smell your creation and ask yourself a series of questions to help you determine what to do next.

• Do you like it?


• Is one scent overpowering the overall blend?


• Is cone scent acting as a nice compliment, but you'd like it to come through a little stronger?


• Do you want your scent to be more sweet? More dark and heavy?

If one scent is overpowering the other scent(s), in your Mixing Glass, add one more drop of the other scent(s) already in your glass. Then smell again. Continue doing this until the over-powering scent is at the strength you prefer.

If you'd like a scent to come through a little stronger, add another drop. Just add one drop at a time. UB perfume oils are highly concentrated and not diluted so your fragrance creation can change rather quickly!

If you want your scent to be more sweet, smell all the scents in your UB collection and choose one that you feel is sweet, and that will also go well in your blend. Try adding one drop to see how you like it. You can keep adding more drops of this scent until your fragrance is the desired sweetness...just remember, do it one drop at a time! This technique works with anything you want your scent to be—sweet, deep, flirty, romantic, sporty...

Swirl your mixing glass around before smelling. This helps mix the oils and gives you a more accurate representation of your recipe.

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Signature Collection Recommendations

Listed below are just a few ideas for fragrance groupings. We suggest you decide first which family type appeals to you most. Then purchase the recommended oils in that grouping.

You might notice that not all the oils in the groupings are from the same family. For example, not all six oils in the Floral family are Floral notes. If you'll check our posted recipes, you'll notice that rarely does a recipe consist of oils from one family alone. The six oils in each family listed below have been tried and tested by many, many people to find oils that go well together and that will make a wonderful variety of fragrances. We've never had anyone unable to create a fragrance they love using these groupings.

If some of the oils in a grouping do not appeal to you or we are sold out of a particular oil, simply mix & match as desired.

Floral

• Freesia
• Jasmine
• Mimosa
• Naked
• Sandalwood
• White Musk

Fruity

• Green Apple
• Honeysuckle
• Naked
• Pomegranate
• Sandalwood
• Violet

Leafy

• Bergamot
• Freesia
• Green Tea
• Hawaiian Rain
• Sandalwood
• White Tea

Herby

• Almond
• Coconut
• Garden Mint
• Lavender
• Rose
• White Musk

Spicy

• Bergamot
• Brown Sugar
• Coconut
• Fig
• Maple Spice
• Water Lily

Woodsy

• Jasmine
• Pine
• Oakmoss
• Sandalwood
• Water Lily
• White Musk

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How Much Product Will My Oils Make?

One question I get a lot is, how long will a bottle of oil last? How many products can I make with my oils?

Here's the math:

One bottle of oil has approximately 450 drops in it. (We know this because we counted out every drop in every bottle of oil in the designer kit and averaged them. Some oils have fatter, thicker, fewer drops and some have smaller, thinner drops.)

A parfum spray needs 150 drops of scent; the lotion, shower gel and bubble bath need 50 drops of scent. Therefore, one bottle of oil will create approximately 3 parfum sprays or 9 of the other products. Or in a warmer, anywhere from 90 to 225 uses, depending on how strong you like your scent.

If your recipe had a 1 to 1 to 1 ratio, a set of 3 oils would make 9 parfum sprays or 27 of the other products. Of course, very few recipes have a 1:1:1 ratio so you'll need to replace some oils more often than others.

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Welcome to the Urban Botanic Home Scent Revolution.

You've been asking for Home Scents and now they're here! Urban Botanic has been investigating many different methods of scenting your home, from candles to reed diffusers, plug-ins to room sprays… we wanted to find the best way to fill your home with inviting fragrance. In the end we found the best method to be oil warming. UB Perfume Oils make the most fabulous home fragrances and are safe to use in an oil warmer.

Simply place 2-3 drops of your favorite UB Perfume Oil directly into a Fragrance Warmer and turn it on. Within five minutes, you'll be enjoying rich, inviting fragrance throughout your home. It takes just a few drops to scent your home for 6-8 hours. You can also turn the Warming Plate off after a period of time and the scent will linger in your home much longer than candles and other home fragrance methods.

• One-tenth the cost of candles. A popular brand of candles (one I've always enjoyed) sells their 22 ounce candle for $22.50. This candle has 110 burning hours. One bottle of UB oil has 450 drops. It takes 2 drops of oil to scent your home for 8 hours, giving you approximately 1800 "burning" hours.


• Longer lasting than other oils. UB oils are more than 5 times stronger than many if the other popular brands of oils. Our oils are 1/2 ounce; theirs are 1/3 ounce. Ours oils take two drops; they recommend 10 or more drops. Ours oils last much longer.


• Safer and more convenient than other home scents. No open flame. No tea lights or matches needed to keep your house smelling awesome. Simply plug it in and turn it on.


• Environmentally friendly. No metal wicks, no toxins releasing into the air, no soot or wax build-up on your walls.


• Change your scent with your mood. When you buy a candle, you're committing to love that fragrance for 110 hours! With UB, you only commit to love your scent for the day. What are you in the mood for today? Just coconut? Or coconut mixed with cinnamon? Or just cinnamon? The possibilities are endless.

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