There’s nothing quite like having a custom scent made from scratch in the comfort of your own home. Enjoy the recipe!

Use the basic formula of 15% to 30% essential oil, 70% to 80% of pure grain alcohol, such as vodka, and 5% of distilled or bottled spring water to make perfume. Essential oil can be replaced with fragrance oil for a cheaper quality and price perfume. Fragrance oils however are not natural and do not make a natural perfume. Essential oil can easily be found in a craft store or health food store. Craft store ‘essential oils’ are most often not natural either, but are fine if being all natural does not matter to you. Store your perfume in a small glass or plastic container. You can buy a container with a sprayer at almost any local craft store. You might also be able to find vintage perfume bottles at thrift stores or flea markets.

Note that you will have to play around with the oils to create the perfect scent. To start, try mixing ¼ cup of straight vodka with 5 drops of an essential fragrance or oil of your choice. Depending on how strong you want the perfume, you can let the mixture stand for as little as 48 hours all the way to a month. The longer it stands, the stronger it will be. After your perfume has sat for your preferred time, add 2 tablespoons of the diluted water. If the perfume is too strong for you, you can add more water to get your desired scent strength. To make your scent last longer, add a tablespoon of glycerin to your perfume mixture. Glycerin is a neutral, colorless, thick liquid. It can be found anywhere soap making supplies are found. When added to water and alcohol, glycerin remains liquid and helps the other ingredients dissolve faster and better.

Remind yourself that when you are ready to start combining fragrance/essential oils for a scent that is completely unique, understand that there are three different notes in scented oil. The first is base notes, which will stay longest on your skin. Base notes include oils such as vanilla, cinnamon, and sandalwood. The second of the notes are middle notes, which add to the scent for a while, but not as long as the base notes. These oils include lemon-grass, geranium, neroli, and ylang-ylang. The last of the notes are the top notes which do what they say, they top off the scent. The top notes do not last as long as the other two notes, but add to the scent significantly. The top notes include oils such as rose, lavender, jasmine, bergamot, and orchard. When making a perfume of more than one scent, add the base note oil first. Follow the base note with the middle note oil, and finish with the top note oil.

– See more at: Wikihow

Ingredients

For the caramel

• 100g/3½oz unsalted butter
• 100g/3½oz caster sugar
• 400g/14fl oz can condensed milk

For the banoffee pie

• 150g/5 oz digestive biscuits, crushed
• 230g/8oz pecans, halved
• 75g/3oz butter, melted
• 3 large bananas, chopped
• 250ml/10½oz double cream, whipped until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed
• cocoa powder, for dusting

For the caramel sauce

• 125g/4oz unsalted butter
• 125g/4oz soft light brown sugar
• 125ml/4fl oz coconut milk

Preparation method

1. For the caramel, place the butter and sugar into a non-stick pan over a low heat, stirring until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves.
2. Add the condensed milk and slowly bring to the boil, stirring continuously, to make the caramel. As soon as the mixture thickens and begins to smell of caramel, remove from the heat and allow to cool.
3. Meanwhile, for the banoffee pie, place the crushed biscuits and 115g/4oz of the pecans into a bowl. Add the butter and mix well.
4. Transfer the mixture to a 25cm/10in cake tin. Press in to pack the mixture evenly into the base.
5. Add the chopped bananas to the caramel mixture and mix well, then spread the mixture over the biscuit base.
6. Transfer to the refrigerator to cool for 30 minutes.
7. Remove from the fridge and spread the whipped cream evenly over the top of the banoffee layer.
8. Place the remaining pecans over the top in a circular arrangement and dust with cocoa powder.
9. For the caramel sauce, place the butter, sugar and coconut milk into a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Bring to the boil and cook for 3-4 minutes, until it forms a thick, light golden-brown sauce.
10. To serve, cut out slices of the banoffee pie, place onto plates and pour over the caramel sauce.

Recipe from: BBC Food