The basic equipment needed to start perfumery

THIS VIDEO HAS BEEN UPDATED FOR 2022: • EQUIPMENT YOU NEED to ...
My perfumery course: www.perfumerystudent.com/
Shop perfumery supplies: thefragrancefoundry.com/
Download my perfumery app for free: formulair.app/
My perfume brand: zur.ai/
This video explains the basic equipment needed to start doing perfumery at home.
Ingredients starter kits:
pellwall.com/shop/ingredients...
shop.perfumersapprentice.com/...
Join our community of perfume makers on discord to share tips on perfume making: / discord
Listen to the video as a podcast: anchor.fm/sam-macer
Instagram accounts:
@sam.macer - / sam.macer
@zurai.official - / zurai.official
@thefragrancefoundry - / thefragrancefoundry
Starting your own perfume brand? I host my online store with Shopify: shopify.pxf.io/jryWdn

[@jasperdrak]

I'm very new to making, although I've been a perfume obsessive and collector for decades. These videos are invaluable.Thank you.

[@sammacer]

Glad I can help, good luck with it all!

[@Myself002ty]

I love your channel! I love the way you explain with simplicity. I am a chemist trying to start making my own perfume for fun. Thank you for making a great channel for us❤

[@sammacer]

Thank you, that’s much appreciated 🙏 good luck with your perfumes!

[@skylarkohai]

Thanks for the video! Bookmarking a lot of the links in the description! I am really interesting in perfume making but didn’t know what to buy to start! I really appreciate this video thanks!

[@sammacer]

I'm glad you found it helpful!

[@e.rvanrood7373]

I'm glad I found your channel. You came into my life at the right time!

[@sammacer]

Glad it helps :)

[@nunyab8342]

I really appreciate this channel and have been taking notes on your videos. Cannot wait to start my hobby!!! Thank youuuuu

[@sammacer]

Good luck!

[@Bigshoots86]

I'm sure after all the hundreds of hours of research and actually pulling the trigger on a bunch of stuff I'm about to find out I did it all wrong

[@sammacer]

Haha what do you mean?

[@natalierobinson6631]

Thanks so much for this Sam it was super helpful!😊

[@sammacer]

Glad it was helpful!

[@deenafemi1144]

I am new for making a perfume and so interested to do something new....... your explanation is very clear and neat thankyou

[@soniaexplores_]

Just found your channel Sam! Keep it going, you're gonna blow up! 💗 Will be binging your videos 😁 now

[@sammacer]

Thank you Sonia! 🙏

[@douglascampbell6482]

Great info, great format, great topic, just fkin great man. 99% of KZbin frag vids are about how to get compliments or ass or ass and compliments... Thank youd for producing some real edutainment. Some of us actually want to learn about this hobby. Thousands of topics left out there, man, please keep up the great work!

[@sammacer]

Thanks for the motivation, let me know what topics you are most interested in more videos on.

[@douglascampbell6482]

Sam Macer I don’t know if others would appreciate it as much as I would, but I’d like to see you take the whole black box off making a perfume soup to nuts. You’d probably have to break it down into a series. Maybe starting with the inspiration (I’d like to make my son a scent- he’s 13 and loves fragrances. I’m thinking his favorite notes are patchouli, incense maybe some vanilla; he loves Habit Rouge). So after you get the inspiration do you pick notes? Which ones should be accords? Do you make the accords from scratch? Where do you get your materials and how do you choose them? Are there databases of good accord formulas out there? Do you have to experiment with the formula based on what raw materials you use or their role in your finaaal perfume? When youve got your individual notes and accords you want to use whats missing? Balancing notes? Fixers/modifiers? How do you make sure the scent develops the way you want it to off the skin? What do you use as a diluent? Anyway, thats my first thoughts

[@danlightened]

​@@sammacer I​​'m trying my hands at perfumery and we've talked before. I've watched like 30 of your videos. I'll soon be commenting on those specific topics. There's one thing I've been recently confused about. I'm from India and as you probably know, people have been making attars from thousands of years here with a traditional method. And I'm talking specifically about pure attars which are basically hydro distilled essential oils. They're call Ruh Khus or essence of vetiver, Ruh Gulab or essence of Rose and so on. I've bought a few of them and they're the real deal, if you get it from a genuine seller. And they say we can directly apply it on the skin and I've actually done that. But it's said they're essential oils should be diluted to have like 3% E.O. and 97% alcohol or some carrier oil. They told me that these can be applied neat. I don't understand why E.O. needs to be diluted but not these? Although I hear, sandalwood oil was used as a base before and now they use liquid paraffin and all in some of these, so maybe that dilutes them.

[@bentleycreative6407]

great video, I'm going to dive into the rest now. Would love some more of these super beginner type of videos, there is so little content for people wanting to know how to start. To beginners like me it all seems like a 'dark art' so anything that illuminates is great.

[@sammacer]

That's exactly what this channel is for, glad you found it!

[@danlightened]

Rightly said. I think a lot of it because the designers keep it as trade secrets. I think they directly brief to IFF etc and we don't even know what are the aroma chemicals are being used. Also, they don't want us to know that it costs like not even $10 to make them and they're selling it for $100+. I have watched like 30 videos by Sam and I can say, he's a godsent.

[@passsacaglia]

Excellent! Whatsup Sammy! Cheers thanks for this!

[@jrccandleco7939]

Really Sweet information!! Your awesome!

[@sammacer]

Thanks dude

[@user-tk7pe9cg3z]

Very informative video! :)

[@carloscortes8613]

Thank you for all the valuable would I be able to buy the starter kits on Amazon? And do you have any suggestions?

[@sportsmen4569]

I work with the ingredeances in alcohol, and I put them in a bottle with a glass pipette, so I dont need to use a plastic one every time. only to fill um the solution, or to make a finished parfume.

[@connorpowell6338]

Heyo man, been following your stuff for a while and it's been incredibly helpful, so thankyou! Can i ask, as I noticed you have some FreshSkin benzoin, what are your findings with the brand? They've been my go to for EOs for a while, as they're reasonably local and so well priced, however I've recently found them pretty hit and miss. Namely, their citrus oils seem to be somewhat lacking to my nose. What do you reckon, am I just being dramatic? Thanks!

[@sammacer]

I used to use them when I first started out, which was good at the time, but I would never buy from them now. They're just like Mystic Moments; cheap and of a quality that's fine for aromatherapy but not perfumery, except for maybe a lucky 1 in 25 oils. I just got some new benzoin which I would really recommend, mentioned in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3PUm35pr9qnmLM

[@ahmedizzeldin2175]

Starting point in a nutshell, nice work. A question perhapds, relative to the weighing scale , which do you think should I go for 10, 20, 50 or 100 g scale caliber/correction ?

[@sammacer]

This is something that the scale will tell you in the instruction manual. You need to make sure you get the correct one for the scale you choose.

[@bensake5590]

Great channel. I think people should not throw away plastic pipettes (or at least not all of them). If you rinse the inside of the pipette with ethanol and leave it somewhere to dry for a few weeks, eventually all aroma chemicals evaporate and you can use those pipettes again. Many of these single-use plastics end up in the oceans and from there into every single living organism, including humans. Accumulation of microplastics in the body can interfere with delicate molecular processes and contribute to various illnesses.

[@sammacer]

I would love there to be an elegant solution to plastic waste. Sadly even trace amounts left in pipettes can contaminate your raw materials. Hopefully in the future there will be a better solution

[@jessiebailey9206]

2 questions! Do the bottles need to be amber? And do the fragrances have a shelf life? Like before you use them?

[@sammacer]

Those two question tie together; some raw materials break down slowly with light, but amber glass shields them, making them last longer

[@kennethearl9878]

I don't know if you'll support my suggest, but how about formulations for designer inspired fragrance oil? It's for business only.

[@seksaravy]

Thank you very much , your video is very useful . I have a question , If we would like to get a strong smell out of clothes after washing ,what is chemical raw material for adding to get a strong smell when we make liquid detergent ?

[@sammacer]

I'm afraid I have no idea, sorry!

[@shihanpk2934]

When i try to buy weighing scale i saw two different scales of 1mg One is with load cell technology and other one is with magnetic base technology which is more accurate than load cell but magnet base cost me arround 350$ and load cell cost me arround 150-200$ What is your opinion on this? Should i go for magnet base or load cell base Both are 1mg scales

[@kvitka7415]

Thanks a lot !

[@sammacer]

No problem!

[@estiiim]

"denatured" ethyl alcohol is good to buy online. the denatured makes it unable to drink

[@allysonbriner1883]

First of all, your videos have been such a godsend! Thank you so much for sharing your heard-earned wisdom and saving me many hours of frustrating web-browsing! I do however have a question: I live in Italy and it has been impossible to find any perfumer's alcohol for sale. Companies like Pell Wall won't ship it across borders. If I use food-grade alcohol (96%) that is usually used for making liqueurs, would this negatively affect my perfumes in any way? Also, could I dilute my materials using DPG and then save the alcohol for my final perfumes (thus mixing DPG and alcohol)?

[@allysonbriner1883]

Sorry to add one more question: is denatured alcohol acceptable for perfumery? Seeing very mixed opinions online!

[@sammacer]

Thank you for the nice complements! Unfortunately, getting alcohol in other countries is not my area of expertise. I would not recommend denatured alcohol as it can be toxic. I wouldn't recommend using too much DPG either as it makes your perfume sticky on the skin. I would look up the laws in Italy on getting a license to buy TSDA alcohol for perfumes, i.e. the same thing a registered perfumery would do.

[@allysonbriner1883]

@@sammacer Thanks for the tip! However, doesn't TSDA stand for Trade-Specific *Denatured* Alcohol? Do perfumers use a special kind of denatured alcohol then that is safe for skin use? Or would 200 proof pure (nondenatured) ethanol be the ideal? So far, the best I can find is 96% food-grade ethanol in the grocery store, or 96% denatured ethanol (which has no odor) from my friend's science lab.

[@sammacer]

@@allysonbriner1883 Maybe the food grade would be okay because I'm guessing that's not toxic? I use SD 40B Alcohol in my business so that's the best help I can give :))

[@danlightened]

​@@allysonbriner1883My search for perfumer's alcohol continues too. The thing that even makes it harder is, while experts like Sam do give the right info, every country has a different rule. And different denatured alcohol. Basically, denaturing makes alcohol unfit for consumption. Some make it bitter, some make it smell bad and some make it straight up toxic. While perfumer's alcohol is not toxic, they add some useful things for perfumery, like DPG etc. If DPG is not added you can add 8% for increasing longevity. That's what I got from one source.

[@mainozenut]

What is the basic essential oil to make perfume ? Base note, top note, middle note like what smell should buy ? Sorry for my bad English.

[@sammacer]

Watch this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpnEmq16nLhjj5Y

[@passsacaglia]

Hey Sam! Missin your videos hope you're doing well! Just wondering would any bottle of "essential oil" be fairly the same like buying from PellWall or let's say I find the essential oil from Pursonic, any difference like "this essential oil is better suited for perfumes" or are the natural/flower ones more common an essential oil you'd find anywhere? So I could go with any kind of essential oil out there basically or ... I also found the Hermitageoils which have almost the same prices as PW.

[@passsacaglia]

ps topics: how to blend the other kind of aromas that you don't find in the kits? or best aromachemicals/EO's to add to the kits for "next steps". :) Keep it up! It's all about consistency, you're a great guy and the potential is huge! Really loved the one when you were mixing the Amber accord I think it was.

[@sammacer]

Yeah I'm good thanks, hope you are too! Yeah there can be quite a difference in quality - some EOs are high quality and others low, and it's not necessarily as as simple as looking at the price alone. In theory you could use any EO from any supplier but you would need to gamble and evaluate it then decide for yourself that it's nice enough to use (that's what I do with mystic moments). The reason to use a perfumery supplier like Pell Wall is that they preselect the EOs in advance which they stock to make sure that they are of high enough quality to be used in a perfume, saving you the trouble of deciding for yourself.

[@sammacer]

Thanks for the suggestions

[@passsacaglia]

@@sammacer Wow amazing! Alright thank u so much for this!! Will take ca look and compare them all! All the best as always and look forward to the next one!

[@altairya40]

Hi Sam I have 96% ethanol concentration can I use it to create eau de parfum or I have to put distilled water in addition to regulate the ethanol concentration?

[@sammacer]

Ethanol alone is fine

[@NiceNiceBaby]

Great vid but can’t find any perfumers alcohol on Amazon in the US 😞

[@sammacer]

That's a shame - but maybe this could work: shop.perfumersapprentice.com/p-9064-base-de-parfum.aspx

[@hassanfreeman2876]

Hi the link you sent for perfumers alcohol is sold out. Can you recommend other link. I live in Denmark

[@sammacer]

Sadly not, I can only recommend for the UK

[@saunterscamper3952]

In the US here, don’t use rubbing alcohol for perfume making. Rubbing alcohol smells too strong. Instead, for high percentage alcohol, you’d have to go to a liquor store and look for the highest proof alcohol they sell. Some people refer to this as “Ever Clear,” but there are various brands making it, depending on what region of the country you are in.

[@sammacer]

Yes, I have heard that too

[@rebirthofthecool5619]

What's your opinion on the fresh skin essential oils, I bought about 60 of them to get familiar with different naturals? Then I'll move onto higher quality ingredients and think about developing a perfume with the proper ingredients.

[@sammacer]

They are okay to get a rough idea of the smell, but bear in mind that professionals say beginners should stick to learning high quality things first

[@rebirthofthecool5619]

@@sammacer this is true I'm starting out making reed diffusers first but will move onto higher quality ingredients when I have a go at perfume.

[@hulkblue9244]

40B %96 i use its good

[@sammacer]

I use SD 40B too

[@Daniel08353]

Filtering waxy florals... with your papers you use; do you fold it into the funnel? I’m debating what type of paper filter to get, to filter CO2 Jasmine Total extract.

[@sammacer]

You you mean filtering the pure raw material itself or the perfumes you make with it?

[@Daniel08353]

@@sammacer I was referring to the raw material; but now I’m curious on both. I filtered the CO2 Jasmine last night with some filter paper similar to what you have (your link is out of stock); folded the paper several times to make an inverted pyramid shape; and it worked quite well. I added the remaining residue back into original container, to see if I can use it for something else, or just to smell 🙂.

[@sammacer]

@@Daniel08353 Normally you would filter a final perfume, not the raw materials as they should already be pure from the supplier. But I don't have any Jasmine CO2 nor have I had experience with it in the past so I have no idea if it's a good thing to do or not - hopefully it pans out well

[@Daniel08353]

@@sammacer it filtered quite easily, and very clean. It looks like I’ll have to do the same for oak moss, beeswax, butter CO2, and orris butter. Filtering the final perfume makes sense: for optimal clarity and residue-free product.

[@sammacer]

@@Daniel08353 Good luck with it!

[@jackfrangiamore3853]

Do you not use glycerin ? Only I’ve seen some videos of people using it

[@sammacer]

No, I don't use it

[@taytitat3667]

Isit ok to reuse glass pipette? If so, how can I clean it thoroughly to avoid contamination?

[@sarahkuyindama765]

You can use distilled water or warm water or even acetone

[@sammacer]

@@sarahkuyindama765 Ethanol and acetone are both good options. It may cost you just as much in washing solvent as it would to get a new pipette though. It's a tricky area...

[@dmitryaksenov9166]

Alright, but wouldn’t it be better to use an automatic pipette with disposable tips and work with precise volumes instead of weights?

[@sammacer]

To be honest I could do a whole video about that but there are a few reasons. One is that volumes change depending on things like temperature whereas weights don't. Another is that volumes can change upon mixing two things together. Weights are proportional to the number of molecules in your mixture whereas volumes are not. That said, old fashioned perfumery was often based on volumes so as long as you are consistent in the way you work you could definitely get somewhere using volumes.

[@letsgetitgaming3812]

Honestly from my journey so far I’ve learned that whatever you feel most comfortable measuring with in the beginning is what you should do. The beginning stages of perfumery are more about getting acquainted with the different qualities each scent brings to the table and using them to complement each other.

[@sammacer]

@@letsgetitgaming3812 Hey, yeah I agree to some extent. If not wanting to weigh everything is the roadblock stopping someone starting, it's best just to get going with volume and worry about best practices later. That said, I don't like to advise people to use volumes because I think it's a big source of confusion and can lead to problems later down the road - better to do things right from the start in my oppinion.

[@AimingAtYouu]

hello sam do you have an Ig with your products?

[@saunterscamper3952]

Great point regarding the investment in the scale allowing you to use less ingredients. I’m sold on the concept.

[@sammacer]

Thanks! And yeah exactly, imo using 10x raw materials all the time is more costly than an expensive scale

[@laurenbray8314]

I searched around for a while and ended up finding a 200 × 0.001 analytical balance for a little over $60 bucks after tax on ebay. It was used once so it was cheaper than normal. Its the cheapest style I could find but its good enough for now. I tried getting away with a 0.01 and just no. It was a waste of time and money even though it was dirt cheap.

[@sammacer]

That sounds like a great deal you found. Yeah exactly, if you cheap out on the scale you have to use larger amounts of ingredients to compensate for the accuracy. I hope other people can take note of your experience!

[@shellywoods6067]

where is the link to get all the item, and they ship overseas

[@sammacer]

I sell most on my web store: lux-terra.co.uk/ where we can provide a shipping quote for countries not on our website if you send us an email. Otherwise I would check on Amazon: I left some links in the description.

[@fastrunlogistics3560]

Ambrocenide crystals do i dilute them with dpg or ethanol?

[@sammacer]

Not sure, but I always try ethanol first.

[@fastrunlogistics3560]

@@sammacer thanks,, i wasnt sure so i added it raw

[@emekaagbo9586]

Do I need extra training to have my own brand. How can I get the sale and the ingredients

[@emekaagbo9586]

Sorry I I wanted to write scale

[@sammacer]

I don’t see why you would, as long as you can teach yourself to a competent level. I sell scales on my online store (www.lux-terra.co.uk). For raw materials there are lots of places, for example Pell Wall and Perfumer’s Apprentice.

[@danielorapeleng5928]

Could these things be shipped to Africa?

[@sammacer]

I'm sure they could be

[@bigibtv4432]

I don't wanna buy in Amazon or online I prefer going around shops 😊

[@dollyjhaom]

Books for beginners??

[@sammacer]

lux-terra.co.uk/collections/perfumery-supplies/products/perfume-the-alchemy-of-scent

[@Max865-]

Not true, I know a master perfumer who has never touched a scale in their life…… and it’s Roja perfume…. Sooooooo this is false

[@sammacer]

Maybe Roja has something to learn...