Fragrance Blending 101: How To Start Creating Your Own Custom Blends
One of the most fun parts of working with fragrance oils is combining them to create your own custom blend.
Blending allows you to create something that feels uniquely yours, whether you’re making candles, soaps, wax melts, or any other scented products.
And the best part is, you don’t need to be an expert to start experimenting with blends.
A lot of newer makers think blending is intimidating, but it is a great way to get more comfortable with your craft and explore all the possibilities of fragrance oils! With a little testing and allowing yourself to step out of your comfort zone, you can discover blends that become signature scents in your product line.
Let’s walk through a few simple starting points.
Fragrance Categories That Blend Well Together
When you’re first learning to blend, a helpful approach is pairing fragrances that naturally complement each other.
There are certain scent categories that tend to work beautifully together and are an easy way to start experimenting with little risk involved.
Fragrances Within the Same Category
Sometimes the easiest blends are scents that already share the same scent category.
Examples:
- Bakery Category: Blueberry Cobbler & Apple Pie
- Masculine Category: Cedar Musk + Lavender & Black Sea
- Floral Category: Baja Cactus Blossom (type) & Wildflower Whispers
These combinations are simple for beginners and tend to feel balanced because the notes are within the same scent family.
Scent Categories That Pair Well Together
Some fragrance categories compliment each other very well, and you can typically expect fragrances from these categories to create an amazing blend when paired together!
Bakery + Fruity
Examples:
Masculine + Earthy
Examples:
- Dark Amber Rosewood & Roasted Pine Cone
- Iced Vanilla Woods (type) & Palo Santo
- Maverick Noir & Pacific Northwest
Fruity + Floral
Examples:
Other Categories To Experiment With
Some easy combinations include:
Our Favorite Fragrance Oils That Blend With Almost Anything!
While some fragrance oils are trickier to find a perfect blend for, we have found that these fragrance oils pair well with almost anything you blend them with!
- White Tea
- Pink Sugar (type)
- Vanilla Bliss
- Bum Bum (type)
- Gingham (type)
- Vanilla Skin (type)
- Heavy Cream (type)
- Cocoa Butter Cashmere
- Lavender
- Cashmere Sugar (a little goes a looong way with this one!!)
Blend Percentages & Ratios
Different blends will require different ratios depending on the outcome you’re looking for in your custom fragrance.
If you want a balanced scent where both fragrances are noticeable, it might seem like a 50/50 blend would always be the correct ratio to use, but that’s not always the case.
Some fragrance oils are naturally stronger than others or tend to overpower other scents in blends. In those cases, you may need more of the softer fragrance and less of the stronger one to achieve a true balance. Other times, you might only want a small touch of a second fragrance to highlight a certain note.
For example, if you love Strawberry Pound Cake (type) but want the strawberry note to pop a little more, you might add just a bit of Sweet Strawberry to bring that fruitiness forward. Blending is really about testing and adjusting until the scent feels right to you.
Common Starting Ratios
When you’re experimenting with fragrance blends, these ratios are a great place to begin.
50 / 50 - Balanced Blend
Example (1 oz total fragrance blend):
- 0.5 oz Fragrance A
- 0.5 oz Fragrance B
70 / 30 - Primary Fragrance + Supporting Fragrance
Example (1 oz total blend):
- 0.7 oz Fragrance A
- 0.3 oz Fragrance B
80 / 20 - Primary Fragrance + Accent Fragrance
Example (1 oz total blend):
- 0.8 oz Fragrance A
- 0.2 oz Fragrance B
These are just a few examples of different ratios- feel free to experiment with any ratio, whether it be 75/25, 90/10, or 60/40 blends! Get creative!
Ratios vs. Measurements (For Beginners)
Ratios tell you how much of each fragrance oil to use relative to the total blend, but the actual measurement can be scaled up or down depending on how much fragrance you want to make.
The ratio stays the same, only the total amount changes. This is helpful if you find a blend you love and want to scale it up for multiple batches of candles or soaps.
For example, a 70/30 blend could look like:
If making 1 oz of blended fragrance:
- 0.7 oz Oil A
- 0.3 oz Oil B
If making 2 oz of blended fragrance:
- 1.4 oz Oil A
- 0.6 oz Oil B
Need further help with fragrance load calculations?
Check out our free Fragrance Load Calculator!
Testing different ratios is often the key to finding the perfect balance. A blend that smells good at 50/50 might become even better at 70/30, so don’t be afraid to experiment until you find the perfect ratio!
How To Blend While Following IFRA Guidelines
When blending fragrance oils for products like soaps, body sprays, or even room sprays, it’s important to keep IFRA usage limits in mind.
IFRA (International Fragrance Association) guidelines provide the maximum safe usage percentage for each fragrance oil depending on the type of product you’re making.
For example, room sprays fall under IFRA Category 10B, and each fragrance oil will have its own maximum usage rate for that category.
What Happens When You Blend Fragrances?
When you blend fragrance oils, the important thing to remember is this:
Each fragrance oil must stay within its own IFRA limit in the final product.
That means one fragrance oil in the blend may have a much lower limit than the others, and you simply need to make sure that specific oil does not exceed its maximum percentage in the finished formula.
Example: Room Spray Blend
Let’s say you’re creating a 10 oz room spray using two fragrance oils.
- Fragrance Oil A - Maximum 5% for Category 10B
- Fragrance Oil B - Maximum 26.6% for Category 10B
If you add 0.5 oz of Fragrance Oil A, that equals a 5% fragrance load, which means you’ve reached the safe limit for that oil.
However, that doesn’t mean your total fragrance must stop there. Because Fragrance Oil B has a much higher limit, you could still add more of it as long as its individual percentage stays under 26.6%.
For example:
- 0.5 oz Fragrance Oil A (5%)
- 1 oz Fragrance Oil B (10%)
Total fragrance in the product = 1.5 oz (15%)
This blend would still fall within IFRA guidelines because:
- Oil A stays at its 5% maximum
- Oil B remains well below its 26.6% maximum
When blending fragrances, thinking about each oil’s individual percentage rather than only the total fragrance load helps you stay within safety guidelines while still giving you flexibility to create the scent profile you want.
This becomes especially helpful when working with fragrances that have very different IFRA limits.
Simple Ways To Test Blends
Before committing to a full batch, it’s helpful to test how scents interact, or experiment with different ratios to create the blend you want.
Here are two easy testing methods many makers use:
The Q-Tip Method
Dip one cotton swab into each fragrance oil you want to test, then place them together in a small sealed jar or bag. Let them sit for a few hours and smell the combination.
This gives you a quick idea of how the scents interact, and if you don't like the results, you can always retry with different ratios.
The Cap Method (my personal method!)
Simply unscrew the cap to the fragrance oil bottles you want to blend with and sniff both of them side by side.
If they have a perfect balance, it's safe to assume a 50/50 blend would work. If one overpowers the other, move the stronger fragrance cap a bit farther away from your nose while keeping the more mild fragrance cap close until you feel like the blend is exactly the balance you want.
This might take a little testing to get it right, but as you experiment more, you will start to become better at figuring out the perfect ratios by smelling caps this way!
It’s simple, quick, and great for brainstorming new blend ideas.
Quick Reminder:
It's important to keep in mind that blends can and probably will change slightly in product. Some notes become more pronounced and the fragrance tends to gain more depth.
It's important to make a small test batch before committing to larger batches to ensure the blend performs the way you want in product!
Two Ways To Blend Fragrance Oils
Once you’ve found a combination and ratio you like, there are a few ways to create your blend.
Blend Directly Into Your Product
You can pour each fragrance oil directly into the product you are making according to the percentages you want- just be sure to be careful and don't pour over your intended ratio measurements.
As a note, you will want to double check and make sure the total fragrance load stays within IFRA guidelines, according to the product you are making.
Pre-Blend Your Fragrance Oils
Another option is combining your fragrance oils into a fragrance-safe bottle and storing the blend for later use.
Many makers like this method because it creates a consistent “recipe” they can reuse in multiple batches, and some makers believe that this allows the blend to better incorporate together.
Once blended, you can treat it like a single fragrance oil when measuring for products.
A Few Reminders For Blending Beginners
If you’re new to blending, here are a few simple tips that can make the process easier (and a lot more fun!).
Start with just two fragrances.
While it might be tempting to mix several oils at once, blends of just two fragrance oils are much easier to control. Once you’re comfortable with those, you can begin experimenting with more combinations.
Always check IFRA documents of both fragrances.
It's important to check the IFRA documents of both fragrances before blending them to ensure you are using them within safe limits for the product you are making.
Need to learn more about IFRA? Check out our IFRA guide that explains everything you need to know!
Take notes while you test.
Make it a practice to keep a notebook or document handy to always keep notes on blends you create.
Try to document the fragrance oils you're using, what percentages you used, and what you named the scent.
It’s surprisingly easy to forget a blend that smelled amazing if you don’t record it.
Test in small batches first.
Even if a blend smells great in the bottle, it may behave differently in wax or soap. Small test batches help you evaluate the true finished scent.
You're Ready To Start Blending!
Now that you know all the basics to blending, it's time to get started!
If you've been wanting to try blending for a long time but feel intimidated by the process, this is for you...just start now. Take the leap and give it a try. You could create a blend that hooks your customers and sells better than you could imagine- trust me, it happens all the time!
And if you need more blend ideas to get started, we've got you.
We have several blend lists filled with blends we personally love, so if you aren't ready to come up with blends on your own just yet or are looking for some inspiration, these will be perfect for you.
Spring / Valentine's Day Blend List
Fragrance blending isn't something you just wake up one day and know how to do...it is a skill that grows with practice, and some of the best combinations come from simple experimentation.
Don’t be afraid to try unexpected pairings- you might discover a blend that becomes a signature scent for your brand!
Hi, I'm Kenna!
I'm the co-founder of Midwest Fragrance Company, business builder since 2020, fueled by coffee and grounded by yoga. I've learned (mostly the hard way) what it takes to grow a maker business.
At MWFC, we sell all the supplies you need to create scented products that truly shine. Want to keep following along? Follow us on Instagram! @midwestfragranceco
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