There are so many new and vintage lockets in the world, and a great way to fill them is with solid perfume! When you make the perfume yourself you know exactly what ingredients go in and you can create your own custom fragrances. I love the versatility of this project – wear the necklace, wear the perfume or wear both!
Supplies:
– a locket – new or vintage will work, and a larger locket will be easier to fill
– beeswax – pastilles or granulated is best, otherwise be ready to grate some off of a block
– petroleum jelly
– essential oils and/or cosmetic grade fragrance oil (be careful to read the label as candle fragrances can irritate your skin)
– an eye dropper for fragrance
– a few measuring spoons
– a toothpick or something similar for stirring
– a small metal container to melt things in
– a candle warmer or double boiler
– heat proof glove or tongs to handle the heated metal
– a small tin or other container (optional) for any extra perfume
Most solid perfume recipes use sweet almond, jojoba or vitamin E oil instead of petroleum jelly. That’s great if the perfume is going to spend it’s time on a makeup table, but since you’ll be wearing the locket I’ve replaced the oil with something that is solid at room temperature. You wouldn’t want your perfume to melt while you’re wearing the necklace!
The recipe is:
1 tablespoon beeswax
1/2 tablespoon petroleum jelly
a few drops of fragrance
Place your beeswax and petroleum jelly into your container and start melting it.
*WARNING* Melted wax is hot and flammable. NEVER leave melting wax unattended. If it starts on fire use baking soda to put it out, not water. I use a candle warmer because it’s designed to keep the wax in the right temperature range. Well attended wax is quite safe, otherwise it wouldn’t be sold as candles.
Once it melts together completely mix in your fragrance oil. Keep in mind that this will be less than a foot from the nose of the person wearing it. Keep adding drops until you like it. If you’re making a gift and unsure what the recipient likes it’s a good idea to start with a floral, then add in a little bit of either a citrus or spicy note. That will result in a fairly classic fragrance profile. For my locket I used 8 drops of Amyris – it’s in the pine family, but it’s doesn’t smell like a cleaning product. The nicest thing about it is that it always smells a bit like I’m walking through a forest when I wear it!
My locket didn’t open all the way flat, so I held it with one hand and filled one side – under filled is better than over, I ended up scraping a bit of this away to make it close. Hold the locket until the perfume sets. It will only take a minute or two. Then hold the locket tipped the other way and fill the other side.
This recipe is probably enough to fill a few lockets. You can also pour extra into a small tin, that way you (or your lucky gift recipient!) can refill the locket as they use the perfume.
