Leveling Up - “The 3 Point Strategy” for Mixing Fragrances
If you want to skip ahead to the step-by-step 3 Point Strategy Guide, click the button below!
Part 1: The Purpose of The 3 Point Strategy
My Personal Experience With Mixing Fragrances
When I first started mixing fragrances for my candles, to say I was overwhelmed would be a massive understatement. The majority of my Signature Collection candles are actually single fragrances. Slowly, but surely, I am using my new mixing strategy to enhance those fragrances as well as using it to create new collections including the Spring Collection and my upcoming Men’s Collection.
After mixing countless fragrances together, some amazing and some that belong in the trash, I found a strategy that has seriously helped me to create well-balanced, unique, and complex scents that I personally love.
This strategy is for those of you who have struggled like me to mix fragrances together to get what you want, who are a novice or intermediate mixers, or who simply enjoy doing this.
What I Learned From Mixing Fragrances
Once I discovered the Fragrance Wheel by Michael Edwards, most articles I read on how to use it would state that mixing two fragrances from the same fragrance family would create “Comforting” notes and two from opposite sides of the wheel would create “Complimentary” notes. The instructions were very basic and I was left feeling more overwhelmed than when I started.
Upon learning more and writing “The Ultimate Guide to the Benefits of Fragrance”, I finally had a deeper understanding of the fragrance families and subfamilies and fragrance notes in general. I used my newfound knowledge to try out some fragrance combinations and before I mixed anything together, I took every fragrance I had and placed them around the Fragrance Wheel on the subfamilies they belonged to. Now I knew where everything belonged and could test out some combinations with more confidence.
I started with just two fragrances at a time as all the articles I read before had instructed me to do and upon doing my smell tests they turned out pretty well! However, I wanted to see if I could add more complexity and depth to these fragrances using a third fragrance.
This process was a lot of trial and error, but in the end I found this strategy that was working out better than I expected. What’s important to note about this strategy is that it’s meant to be a starting point. Once I knew which three fragrances I wanted to mix, I then had to select the ratios of each fragrance. I’ll go into more detail about the ratios later on in this article, but I found a process that ended up really helping me to find which ratios worked best.
How The 3 Point Strategy Leveled Up My Mixing Skills
The 3 Point Strategy has helped me dramatically to take my fragrance mixing skills to the next level by adding more complexity and depth to my scents, making them unique and difficult for others to replicate, and understanding fragrance mixing in a way that has given me more confidence.
Part 2: The Basic Strategies for Mixing Fragrances
Fragrance Wheel Basics
Before beginning to look at the basic strategies for mixing fragrances, I would strongly recommend reading my “Ultimate Guide to the Benefits of Fragrance” as it goes in depth about fragrance notes, families, subfamilies, and profiles.
Let’s review the Fragrance Wheel by Michael Edwards briefly here because we are going to be using it a lot for The 3 Point Strategy as well as basic mixing.
There are 4 Fragrance Families with their own Subfamilies:
Fresh
Fresh fragrances usually comprise citrus, water, and green notes, which means they have refreshing, zesty, and vibrant smells. They are reminiscent of herbal and leafy scents such as rosemary and mint and produce crisp, zingy, and aromatic notes with underlying woody tones. Fresh fragrances are the most diverse family on the wheel, as they can be oceanic, citrusy, bright, or herbal.
Subfamilies: Citrus, Water, Green, Fruity
Floral
As the name suggests, this family includes anything with a sweet and flowery scent. It’s one of the broadest families and can range from light and delicate to complex and intense. This family includes florals such as rose, jasmine, orange blossom, and lily of the valley.
Subfamilies: Floral, Soft Floral, Floral Oriental
Oriental
The Oriental subfamily is synonymous with the Amber subfamily. This group of fragrances is warm, sweet, and luxurious. They’re often considered sensual and exotic since they include notes of cardamom, cinnamon, and vanilla and floral notes such as jasmine, orchid, and orange blossom.
Subfamilies: Soft Oriental, Oriental, Woody Oriental
Woody
The Woody Family is warm, timeless, and captivating, with cedarwood, sandalwood, vetiver, and amber scents. Woody scents are earthy, smoky, or leathery and are described as being opulent and mysterious.
These fragrances bring a sense of grounding and sophistication to any space. The woody aromas evoke images of wandering through a serene forest, enveloping you in a cozy embrace.
Subfamilies: Woody Oriental, Woods, Mossy Woods, Dry Woods
The Fragrance Wheel
Mixing 2 Fragrances Using The Fragrance Wheel
The basic strategy for mixing two fragrances is to focus on the Fragrance Families, not the Subfamilies.
There are two primary types of combinations you can create using 2 fragrances:
To create a “Comforting” mixture, you would select two fragrances that belong to the same Family.
To create a “Complimentary” mixture, you would select two fragrances on opposite sides of the Fragrance Wheel (opposite Families).
Once you’ve selected which two fragrances you want to work with, you would then begin testing different ratios of the fragrances until you get what you want. The problem with this is that it can be wasteful, timely, and frustrating until you find a process that works well for you. I chose to only use increments of 1 Tsp as it made this process simpler and allowed me to keep track of the ratios better.
Some of my mixtures ended up as 1:1 ratios while others ended up as 5:2. It’s going to vary based on where you source your fragrance, the strength of the fragrance, your individual olfactory senses, and what your fragrance profile goal is!
Part 3: The 3 Point Strategy for Mixing Fragrances
Why Use This Strategy?
Leveling Up - A way to level up mixing fragrances for more balanced, unique, and complex scents
A Guide - A way to simplify the mixing process in the sense that it provides a step-by-step guide to follow instead of guessing. It can be really time consuming and overwhelming to mix fragrances from scratch, which is what I was experiencing every time I wanted to mix a new collection or mix for fun.
Exploration - A way to help you identify which fragrances you resonate with. Prior to writing my Ultimate Guide to the Benefits of Fragrances, I already knew I loved the earthy, musky fragrances the best. But, after all that research I was able to narrow down which Families and Subfamilies I like to work with and resonate with, giving me better direction and focus for what I want to work with.
Saves time and money! - Using this strategy has saved me from dumping so much wasted fragrance oil down the drain, and as we’re all aware, those oils are not cheap! It also saves so much time and frustration because I don’t get overwhelmed and just guess my way through the mixing process anymore as I just follow the steps and get to where I want to go.
What is The 3 Point Strategy?
Essentially it uses the Fragrance Wheels and the basics of mixing two fragrances and brining it up a notch by adding a third fragrance. In other words, using three ‘points’ around the Fragrance Wheel instead of two to create an elevated, complex, and well-balanced scent that’s unique!
It starts by created a “Comforting” mixture base and then adding an “Accent” fragrance to add an extra element.
We will go into further detail in The 3 Point Strategy Guide in Part 4!
Who Is The 3 Point Strategy For?
This strategy is intended for:
Those who already have a basic understanding of the Fragrance Wheel
Those who already have a basic understanding of fragrance profiles and notes
Candle makers, soap makers, or anyone who enjoys mixing fragrances!
Part 4: The 3 Point Strategy Guide
Follow this step-by-step guide to use The 3 Point Strategy.
Step 1 - Print the Fragrance Wheel
Print out a copy of Michael Edwards’ Fragrance Wheel (you can find one on Google) and place it on your counter or table (if you have a lot of fragrances, I would suggest using a surface with plenty of space)
Step 2 - Arrange Your Fragrance Bottles
Arrange all the fragrances you have (or want to work with) around the Fragrance Wheel on their respective Subfamily sections.
This is image depicts a birds eye view of what it might look like placing your fragrance bottles around the Fragrance Wheel. The circles are color coded for clarity.
Step 3 - Choosing the “Comforting” Base
Select your first 2 fragrances you want to work with. Keep these 2 fragrances within 3 Subfamilies away from each other (see image) to create the “Comforting” base of the mixture.
Smell the 2 fragrances together until you find the base you want to work with.
Step 4 - Choosing the “Accent” Note
Select the third fragrance from the general opposite side of the Fragrance Wheel to create the “Accent” note.
Note: You can go to the “Soft Floral” or “Citrus” Subfamilies in this example as well because the 2 Comforting fragrances are farther apart. Test them out yourself and see if those are options that you like!
Step 5 - The Smell Test
Pick up the 3 fragrances you have and hold them as close together as you can. You will keep the “Accent” farther from your nose than the “Comforting” scents (as the Accent note is just that; an Accent). If the blend is what you’re looking for, then you can skip ahead to The Ratios in the next section.
Step 6 (Optional) - Testing the “Accent”
If the blend isn’t what you’re looking for, but you think you’re close, then start by switching out the “Accent” for something different and do the smell test again until you get what you’re looking for.
Step 7 (Optional) - Starting Over
If the blend is not working at all and you’ve tested several Accents and Comforting combination, start over at Step 3.
Step 8 - Get Ready to Mix
When you find the 3 that you like, you’re ready to move on to the mixing part!
Mixing The Fragrances
The Mixture
We now have the following to begin our mixture:
“Comforting” Base = (Fragrance 1 + Fragrance 2)
“Accent” Note = Fragrance 3
The Ratios
I found that starting with 1 Tsp of each fragrance (in the same glass container for testing and mixing) gives me a really good starting point, which looks like this:
Testing
Perform a smell test for this 1:1:1 ratio and see what you want to adjust (if any). If you want to adjust any of the fragrances, do so in 1 Tsp increments. This will keep everything simple and straightforward.
Continue adjusting until you find what you’re looking for!
Part 5: Examples Using The 3 Point Strategy
In each example below, the red circles represent the “Comforting” fragrances and the blue circle represents the “Accent” fragrance.
*** These are examples for examples’ sake. I do not know if these blends create anything that smells good or bad.
Example 1:
The “Comforting” Base
Let’s say we choose Leather (Dry Woods) and Pine (Woods) to create our Comforting base.
These 2 fragrances are within three subfamilies away from each other.
Leather
Pine
The “Accent” Note
Let’s choose Violet (Soft Floral) for our Accent.
I chose an Accent note in the general opposite side of the Fragrance Wheel.
Violet
Example 2
The “Comforting” Base
Let’s say we choose Lavender (Aromatic) and Cedarwood (Woods) to create our Comforting base.
These 2 fragrances are within three subfamilies away from each other.
Lavender
Cedarwood
The “Accent” Note
Let’s choose Lily of the Valley (Floral) for our Accent.
I chose an Accent note in the general opposite side of the Fragrance Wheel.
Lily of the Valley
Example 3
The “Comforting” Base
Let’s say we choose Rose (Floral) and Lilac (Soft Floral) to create our Comforting base.
These 2 fragrances are within three subfamilies away from each other.
Rose
Lilac
The “Accent” Note
Let’s choose Sage (Aromatic) for our Accent.
I chose an Accent note in the general opposite side of the Fragrance Wheel.
Sage
Example 4
The “Comforting” Base
Let’s say we choose Vanilla & Tonka Bean (Soft Oriental) to create our Comforting base.
These 2 fragrances are within three subfamilies away from each other.
Tonka Bean
Vanilla
The “Accent” Note
Let’s choose Rosemary (Aromatic) for our Accent.
I chose an Accent note in the general opposite side of the Fragrance Wheel.
Rosemary
In Conclusion
I don’t get overwhelmed or lost anymore when mixing fragrances because of this 3 Point Strategy. I’ve discovered blends I wouldn’t have ever been able to create without it and this strategy made it fun again! I hope this strategy inspires you to try new blends and discover scents that are special and unique to you.
Do you have a mixing strategy you use? Do you like The 3 Point Strategy? Leave a comment and let me know!
