DIY Vegan Solid Perfume

Did you know that you can easily make your own natural, cruelty-free, and vegan solid perfume? It’s easy! With just three ingredients — candelilla wax, jojoba oil, and your favorite essential oils — you’ve got your own personal scent to savor or gift to friends. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll even start your own Etsy shop! 

Sunny Subramanian from Vegan Beauty Review is here to show you how with this DIY vegan solid perfume recipe from her new book The Compassionate Chick’s Guide to DIY Beauty.

What Is Solid Perfume?

Solid perfumes are typically a solid or cream, similar to the consistency of lip balm and come in jars or tins rather than bottles.

The base is normally a wax that melts with skin contact, releasing the scents more slowly than other types of perfumes. It’s applied by either rubbing a finger or cotton swab in it and then applying it to the skin.

Ingredient Notes

This solid perfume recipe only requires 3 ingredients and is shockingly simple to make! Here’s everything you’ll need:

• Candelilla wax: This vegan wax is made from the small Candelilla shrub native to northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. In food it’s used as a glazing agent but you might know it best from its use in lip balms! It’s solid at room temperature with a low melting point that allows it to easily meld into skin upon contact.
• Jojoba oil: This oil is most similar to our own skin oil and provides tons of skin benefits, too! It’s a must for homemade solid perfume and a great carrier oil for all the wonderful fragrances.
• Essential oils: These concentrated oils are perfect for adding to solid perfume as a little goes a long way! See below for our favorite combinations.

Don’t forget a clean tin to place your finished solid perfume into!

Best Essential Oils For DIY Perfume

For long-lasting fragrance, this recipe calls for essential oils. You’re probably familiar with scents such as lavender and tea tree oil but there are many more options out there for freshening up your personal aroma.

Here are some of our favorite essential oil combinations:

Flower Power – If you’d like to evoke thoughts of wandering through a field of lilies or garden of roses as you go through your day, then floral might be just the right choice for you! Rose, geranium, ylang ylang, and lavender are just a few of the more popular types of floral essential oils.

Fresh and Fruity – If you’re hoping to smell like a basket of strawberries or a bowl of oranges, well, you certainly can! Scents like orange, strawberry, mango, and cherry are available as essential oils. Just be careful when going outside in the summer otherwise you may attract some flying friends! You can also mix floral with fruity—imagine how good rose mixed with cherry could smell!

Epically Earthy – Does the smell of fresh mud immediately calm you down, no matter how much rushing around you may have had to do that day? Well, my friend, let me introduce you to woody and earthy patchouli. A scent commonly associated with hippies and drum circles, it boasts properties of stress relief and can actually be used as an anti-fungal agent! If you find patchouli to be a bit strong, feel free to balance it out with a floral scent such as lily or perhaps even try cedar oil instead.

How to Make Solid Perfume

Step 1: Place the candelilla wax in a small metal or heatproof glass bowl. Melt it over a double boiler by pour enough water into a small saucepan to come about 1½ inches (4 cm) up the side; bring to a simmer. Place the bowl on top of the saucepan, making sure the bottom doesn’t touch the water. Heat, stirring, for 5 to 10 minutes or until wax is melted and smooth.

Step 2: Add jojoba oil and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined.

Step 3: Stir in essential oil(s) of choice until evenly distributed.

Step 4: Immediately pour into lip balm tin. Let cool until solid.

That’s it! This simple recipe takes hardly any time at all for a wonderful gift that can last all year!

How Long Does Solid Perfume Last?

In terms of wear, solid perfume will last about 4-8 hours once applied to the skin and is meant to wear off during the day. When it comes to shelf life, solid perfume can last anywhere from 1-10 years, with 3-5 years often being the average lifespan.

And while solid perfume is an excellent way to stay smelling fresh while on the go, do consider that it can become more liquid-y when left in the heat too long. If you find your perfume looking soupy, just stick it in the fridge to get it solid!

Gift Idea

One of the best things about making DIY perfume is that you have a go-to vegan gift idea to make for your friends and loved ones, depending on what they want to smell like!

Perhaps your spouse can’t get enough patchouli or your best friend is a lavender lover—this vegan perfume is the perfect way to express your adoration. You can even make a gift bag with some of your favorite vegan goodies to give to them!

Verified Vegan Solid Perfume

Looking for more perfume recommendations? Keep in mind that not all perfumes are created vegan! Aside from animal testing, some perfumes contain animal-derived ingredients such as musk (from deer), civet (from the African Civet), and ambergris (from sperm whales). With so many amazing plant-based fragrance options available, there is absolutely no need to use cruelly-derived animal products in perfume!

There are several vegan solid perfumes on the market that you can find find from popular brands. 

Cruelty-Free Solid Perfume Brands

• Pacifica Beauty Solid Perfume (100% vegan brand)
• Sea Witch Botanicals (100% vegan brand)
• LUSH Solid Perfume (100% vegetarian brand with mostly vegan options)
• Glossier Solid Perfume (cruelty-free brand with vegan options — their solid perfume comes in a reusable, refillable, and recyclable container)

More DIY Beauty and Gift Guides to Explore

• DIY Vegan Body Scrub Recipe
• Keep-It-Dry DIY Vegan Deodorant Paste
• Vegan Mother’s Day Gifts Guide
• Luxury Vegan Gift Ideas That Any Herbivore Will Love
• 15 Conscious Vegan Gift Ideas That Everyone Will Love!
• The Ultimate Vegan Gift Guide: 100+ Ideas for the Holidays & Beyond

DIY Vegan Solid Perfume with Essential Oils

Author: Sunny Subramanian

5 from 5 votes

Did you know that tons of perfumes contain nasty animal ingredients, such as whale barf (ambergris) and animal gland juice (civet and castoreum)?! Apart from taming the gross factor, another benefit of making your own natural and cruelty-free perfume scents is that you can customize them to capture your je ne sais quoi. With just three simple ingredients: candelilla wax, jojoba oil, and essential oils, you’re in business. This vegan solid perfume recipe is ridiculously simple, and homemade perfumes make really thoughtful gifts, too.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Cook Time 12 minutes

Total Time 12 minutes

Servings 1 tin

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons candelilla wax, 10 mL
• 2 teaspoons jojoba oil, 10 mL
• 40 to 50 drops essential oils, of your choice
• Lip balm tin or tube

Instructions

• Place candelilla wax in a small metal or heatproof glass bowl. Pour enough water into a small saucepan to come about 1½ inches (4 cm) up the side; bring to a simmer. Place bowl on saucepan, making sure the bottom doesn’t touch the water. Heat, stirring, for 5 to 10 minutes or until wax is melted and smooth.
• Add jojoba oil and stir for 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined.
• Stir in essential oil(s).
• Immediately pour into lip balm tin. Let cool until solid.
• Rub solid perfume on pulse points, such as wrists or neck.
• Store at room temperature for up to 1 year.

Notes

• With so many options for unique essential oil blends, you can cater your perfume to match your current mood or set a specific tone for the day. Two super-simple combos to try are peppermint and grapefruit, or lavender and orange.

Course Perfume

Cuisine N/A

Keyword diy vegan perfume, homemade perfume, homemade vegan perfume, vegan solid perfume

If you try this DIY Vegan Solid Perfume, let us know what you think by leaving a comment and rating below! Be sure to follow along on Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook for even more vegan recipe inspiration.

Vegan solid perfume recipe courtesy of The Compassionate Chick’s Guide to DIY Beauty by Sunny Subramanian & Chrystle Fiedler ©2016 RobertRose.ca Reprinted with publisher permission. Available where books are sold. Article written by Michelle Cehn and edited by Rachel Lessenden.