Making your own holiday scents can be inexpensive and fun.  You can also make them for gift giving or for your own self.

Essential oils are easily to obtain these days. You can purchase them on line, in stores and health food stores all carry them. A big misconception is that essential oil needs to be top line expensive to work. The answer is that is wrong.  The ones that you can buy in stores work just as well. They are from the first and second presses or processing.

Also, the use of fresh herbs works great too. The energy from the plants is much stronger because they are alive and not processed.

Making your own fragrance

Perfumes, toilet waters, body oils and room atomizers are easy to make. Light, wearable signature scents can affect more than personal moods and memories. They can be healing as well, reducing stress, energizing one's spirit or evoking a romantic and sensual mood.

The first thing is to decide how strong you want your fragrance. Perfumes are the strongest; containing 15 to 30 per cent essential oils diluted in a base of alcohol, with a small percentage of distilled water. Less potent toilet waters contain five to ten per cent essential oils, and colognes and body splashes may have one to two per cent.

Things you will need:

• Your favorite pure essential oils (such as rose, lavender and sandalwood)

• Alcohol or rubbing alcohol

• Fixatives (such as sandalwood, benzoin, myrrh or vanilla)Eyedroppers

• Small vials, bottles, jars

• Any of the following alcohols may be used; the best are the highest proof, which contain the greatest concentrations of ethyl alcohol:

• 95 per cent grain alcohol (190 proof)

• Vodka (use highest-proof available)

• Rubbing alcohol

Fixatives prolong a fragrance. They are ingredients added to a composition to lend their own unique scent and to 'fix' the other ingredients as well, retarding their overall rate of evaporation.

Commonly used fixatives are:

• Sandalwood

• Benzoin

• Myrrh

• Vanilla

• Balsam

Other fixatives, particularly useful for oil and bath blends, creams and lotions, are:

• Tincture of benzoin

• Grapeseed oil

• Castor oil

• Liquid from Vitamin E gel caps

Rules of thumb

• Use glass containers (rather than plastic) for preparing and storing perfumes.Record, date and name each blend.

• Ageing your formula is necessary to smooth out and mellow the raw-ingredient smell, so allow your blend to age for a few days or weeks in a cool, dry, dark area.

• While constructing a formula, after adding each new essential oil, be sure to smell and check your recipe to get an idea of how each one changes it and how you might like to modify it in the future.

• Clean the eyedropper in alcohol or vodka between each addition of a new essential oil.

Christmas potpourri recipe

Make a chunky mix of mandarin orange slices and broken pieces of cinnamon stick mixed with Cinnamon fragrance oil and Orange oil and any Christmas spices including nutmeg, cloves and star anise.

Just put it in a plastic bag and shake with a few drops of fragrance oil.

• 3 handfuls of orange slices

• 5 broken up cinnamon sticks

• 5 whole mandarins

• 1 handful star anise

• 1 handful rose hips

• 1 handful cloves

• 10 drops in total of cinnamon and orange fragrance oils.

Essential oils to use during the holiday season:

The Christmas season is marked for wonderful smells! Scents fill the air: pine, spruce, and other evergreens as well as cooking smells like the orange, cinnamon, cloves and ginger in fresh baking.

Even a dull office party can be livened up with vivid scents like clove, ginger and spruce. Diffusing essential oils can fill the air with the smell of Christmas cheer, warming a room for a party or event. Many of these oils (citrus oils, spruce, flower scents) have calming or sedative properties, bringing a more relaxed and joyful atmosphere to an otherwise tense family dinner. The same oils calm children, helping hyperactive little ones stay settled at large parties and sleep through the night on Christmas Eve.

Frankincense

Frankincense (Boswellia carterii) This is one of the most recognized with the religious holiday season. It is the oil that has been used in the East as incense, and as a anti-age in beauty preparations. It’s used on mature and aging complexions and to fade old scars, reduce inflammation, moisturize dry hair, and cure acne. It is warming and grounding with a rich, sweet-balsamic undertone. It is also used to calm nervous conditions and has a positive effect on anxiety, tension and stress-related illnesses. It also treats infection of the lungs, the reproductive organs, and the urinary tract, and it increases the menstrual flow. The oil works in two ways to help the body fight infection and pain. It first numbs nerve endings to reduce the amount of pain sensations that reach the brain. And then it boosts the bodys immune system to accelerate the healing process. As an added bonus, the oil’s aroma relaxes the brain, which helps bring on sleep.

Add to lavender to make a soothing end of day preparation to add to a bath or burn. By adding 1 drop to a 50g of Vitamin E you also have an effective anti-ageing moisturizer.

Bergamot

Bergamot is also known as bee balm which it comes from. It has a citrus fragrance which is ideal for uplifting effect on emotions. This essential oil is used as a treatment for skin conditions such as acne, pimples and eczema, and can also be used as an insect repellent.

Its fresh, sweet fruity smell also works well when combined with the sensuous Ylang Ylang to make a massage oil. Add 2 drops to 50ml of water with a tablespoons of distilled Witch hazel to make a great skin toner.

Cedarwood

Cedarwood (Cedrus atlantica), (Juniperus virginiana) : A holiday favorite, this fragrant scent is often used in accenting closets and cupboards. Cedar is versatile oil that acts as an astringent and a cleansing agent. This essential oil provides an exhilarating tonic for the scalp and face to help the body deal with dandruff and acne. It can also be massaged into the skin for soothing, relaxing muscle rubs. Cedars are thought to offer longevity, and the oil it yields was used for embalming in ancient Egypt, and as an incense by Tibetan monks to aid in meditation.

Lavender

This oil is incredibly versatile - it has relaxing, sedative antidepressant qualities. It is soothing and antiseptic on the skin if it is burnt. With its sweet, flora -herbaceous scent and balsamic-woody undertones, it is one of the most well-recognized essential oils.

A drop massaged into the temples can relive tension, and a drop in your bath or on the pillow at bedtime promotes restful sleep. For clearing the energy in a room, just mix lavender, cypress and rosemary oils to make a lovely fresh room fragrance.

Ylang Ylang

This sensuous oil has long been used as a beautifier and aphrodisiac. It has a distinctive sweet, floral-balsamic, slightly spicy quality, which combines well with Bergamot to make an attractive fragrance.

To make sensual massage oil: add 1 drop of Ylang Ylang and 2 drops of Bergamot to 20mls of carrier oil.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon (Cinnamoma cassia): Cinnamon comes from the dried bark of trees in the laurel family. Cinnamon has a rich history in Chinese medicine as well as Western herbal medicine. Cinnamon is usually associated with the time of the holiday season. A holiday favorite, this dark scent is often used to accent cookies, cakes and cocoa. It has a warm, spicy comforting aroma. It has been used, due to its anti-spasmodic qualities, for digestive and menstrual problems, rheumatism, kidney troubles and as a general stimulant. Cinnamon tea is not only delightful but helpful for relieving nausea and indigestion. Cinnamon oil is great for colds. Add a few drops of cinnamon oil to boiling water and inhale the steam.

Make a seasonal room fragrance by blending 2 drops of cinnamon and orange oil and one drop of clove oil.

Clove

Clove (Caryophyllum aromaticus): Clove is a hot oil. A holiday favorite, this delicious scent is often used in warming recipes. It has a distinctive aroma - sweet-spicy with a fruity-fresh top note - which combines with other seasonal scents to create a warm, comforting smell. It can be used in a carrier oil for any infection. This oil has pain-killing, antiseptic and anti-bacterial properties. It has been used in the dental industry for years to deaden pain. Clove oil can be applied topically with a carrier. It has been used for arousing and fortifying. The most notable use of clove oil or cloves in domestic medicine is a treatment for toothache, and as a tea to relieve nausea. If you are suffering from toothache put one drop of the oil on a cotton bud and gently rub the gum under the painful tooth relieve the pain.

Orange

Oranges have a distinctive aroma with anti-depressant and sedative properties. Made from the peel, it has similar properties to the more expensive Neroli oil, extracted form Orange blossom. Its warm, spicy, citrus fragrance reminds people of sunny climes, which is cheering in Winter.

Add to cinnamon and clove to make a wonderful seasonal room fragrance.

Pine

Pine (Pinus sylvestris) : Pine Needle was used by the ancient Romans and Greeks to treat respiratory problems and muscular aches. A holiday staple, this fantastic scent is often used to accent potpourri and diffused into the air. If the aroma of pine is what brings back memories like going out and cutting your own tree. With natures essential oils, the aroma of Christmas need not be forgotten.

It promotes a healthy immune and musculoskeletal system. Distilled in Austria from the finest pines, Pine Needle can be diffused to help strengthen the respiratory tract and maintain sinus passages.

When massaged into the skin, Pine Needle supports healthy circulation and soothes the discomfort of sore joints and muscles. A true disinfectant, a strong germ killer, excellent for viral infections and for muscular aches, rheumatism and arthritis.

Simply spray the tree with a mixture of 1 cup of water and 6 drops of essential oil of pine, or put a few drops of pine oil on an absorbent material and tuck around the base of the tree.

Refreshing, Christmas tree fragrance can be used to make a cleaning room freshener (try putting a few drops on burning logs if you have a real fire). It can be used in steam inhalations, instead of eucalyptus, to relieve the congestion of colds or sinusitis.

Peppermint

Peppermint (Mentha piperata) Traditionally used as a calmative for indigestion. If suffering from indigestion, drink the tea after meals. For colicky upsets and stomach cramps, add 1 drop to 20 ml of carrier oil and massage in a clockwise direction over the abdomen. Peppermint oil acts as a muscle relaxant, particularly in the digestive tract, reduces the inflammation of nasal passages and relieve muscle pains. A mixture of peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil and ethanol (ethyl alcohol) on the forehead and temples can reduce headache pain. Peppermint can be take as a tea, capsules ortinctures.

It is also excellent as a treatment for tired, sweaty feet - try putting 3 drops of peppermint oil and a handful of sea salt in a bowl of warm water, and soak.

Neroli

Neroli (Citrus aurantium) : A holiday favorite, this rich citrus scent is often used in the scenting of perfumes. Neroli oil has a sweet, floral and slightly haunting aroma, the color is pale yellow and the viscosity is watery. This essential oil is also known as orange blossom; and it takes about 1000 lbs. of orange blossoms to make 1 lb. of Neroli oil.

Orange petals are often associated with marriage, purity and brides who traditionally wore it in their hair.

Sweet Orange

Sweet Orange (Citrus vulgaris) : The orange in itself is a highlight nutrias fruit containing many vitamins including A, B, and C. Being that essential oils are extracted directly from the peel of the orange, it contains all of these natural nutrients as well. This yellow-orange oil is quite sweet in fragrance and is used in fruity fragrance blends. Orange may also be used by itself for a light personal scent. Orange has been used as a beauty oil especially for the neck to help prevent and reduce the appearance of lines. Being that it is a citrus essential oil, it may cause irritation in people with sensitive skin.

Myrrh

Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) : Myrrh has been used since Biblical times to treat many ailments. A holiday favorite, this pungent scent is often associated with Christmas and is said to be one of the gifts of the Magi. It is a sap that dries into hard crystals. The sap is used by some for making tinctures. Myrrh is both antiseptic and astringent. It is used today as a mouth wash and used for treatment of mouth ulcers, sore throats and even for the relief of sore gums. To use it as a mouthwash, drop a few drops of the sap into a glass of water.

Christmas tree Blend Christmas Tree Blend:

Combine 5 drops Spruce essential oil, 3 drops Fir Needle essential oil, 3 drops Pine essential oil and 2 drops Cedarwood essential oil. A few drops of Juniper oil can also be added to mellow the scent.

Christmas Baking Blend Christmas Baking Blend:

Combine 5 drops Cinnamon essential oil, 3 drops Clove Bud essential oil, 3 drops Pine essential oil, 2 drops Nutmeg and 2 drops Ginger essential oil. Sweet Orange oil can also be added for a lighter note.

Angel's Breath Blend Angel's Breath Blend:

Combine 12 drops Lavender essential oil, 6 drops Sweet Orange essential oil, 4 drops Chamomile essential oil, 4 drops Ylang Ylang and 3 drops Sandalwood essential oil.