Tired of wearing the same fragrances as everyone else? Learn how to concoct your own fragrance based on your personality at a perfume workshop run by Je t’aime Perfumery.
The bespoke perfumery offers fun and engaging beginner’s perfume workshops where you can create your own fragrance drop by drop and learn more about the world of perfume through fun perfume-themed quizzes and trivia where participants may even win prizes. The workshops are designed for perfume novices so simply let your nose lead you!
Understanding Your Perfume Personality
Your olfactory journey begins with a simple “Perfume Personality Quiz” where you answer 20 questions about your likes and dislikes to help capture the essence of your personality so that you can match the perfume oils to your personality.
As smells are associated with our experiences such as pleasure, fun, love, solitude and a sense of belonging, they affect our personality at a very deep level.
Your answers will help to determine whether you are a “Citrus”, “Fresh”, “Floral”, “Woody” or “Oriental” (or a combination of two) perfume personality.
Your answers are also tabulated and the respective numbers multiplied to determine how many drops of perfume oils to put into your signature scent.
Perfume Basics
Your personality quiz results are then explained along with a brief introduction to some basic perfumery concepts such as perfume pyramid, Michael Edwards’ Fragrance Wheel, and top, middle and base notes, as well as the Aroma Box in front of you.
The Aroma Box contains 60 bottles of colour-coded perfume oils (made with orchid notes) that you will be using to concoct your signature scent. The perfume oils are colour-coded to represent the respective five olfactory or perfume categories of “Citrus”, “Fresh”, “Floral”, “Woody” and “Oriental”.
Creative Blending Process
Start by sniffing the oils from your perfume personality category which has the highest number listed on your “Perfume Personality Quiz” sheet. Set aside your favourite scents from that perfume category before doing the same with the other categories.
Then add drops (according to the number listed on your “Perfume Personality Quiz” sheet) from your selected oils into your bottle of perfumer’s alcohol. Ideally, you should add no more than 600 drops of oils into your bottle.
You can always tweak your signature scent by adding more drops of a particular oil or reducing some oils or even doing away with some oils as you go along.
Once you’re happy with your signature scent, your bottle will be topped up with perfumer’s alcohol and capped with a hand crimper. You’ll no longer have to share a scent with anyone else!
TAKE HOME
One 100ml crystal bottle (includes free engraving of your name with advanced booking), complete with box and carrier bag, and formula sheet 
FEE
From $100 per person (includes materials for perfume making) for a 2-hour workshop
VENUES
• Workshop@Goodman
90 Goodman Road, Goodman Arts Centre, Block 0 #01-57
• Scent-Osa
Sentosa Nature Discovery, 51 Imbiah Road, Sentosa Island
www.PerfumeWorkshop.com/
Photos courtesy of Dennis Chiam
PERFUME 101
Prachi Saini, Je t’aime Perfumery’s founder, offers some useful tips on trying, applying and storing fragrances.
Photo: Je t’aime Perfumery
What’s the correct way to try a fragrance?
Apply it on your wrist or exposed skin and wait for a few minutes before sniffing it. Give the fragrance time to bloom on your skin.
What’s the best way to try on several fragrances?
Apply the first fragrance on one wrist, the second on the other wrist, the third on the inside of your elbow and the fourth on the other elbow. Four is the maximum number of fragrances you should try at any one time. Try any more and your nose is likely to be confused.
How accurate is the fragrance on a scent strip?
It is accurate because you’re experiencing the real perfume, encapsulated into tiny bubbles that break as you stroke your wrist across the strip. Be sure to run your wrist on the strip!
Where should I apply my perfume?
The pulse points– inside the wrists or elbows, on the temples, below the ear lobes, at the base of the throat, behind the knees, and anywhere else you feel a heartbeat. In cold climates, apply perfume on warm skin as heat helps diffuse and magnify the fragrance’s aroma.
What’s the best way to spray on perfume?
Spray the perfume about 20cm away from your skin. An even spray over a wider area will help your fragrance last longer than a generous amount in a small area. If you’re applying it on your wrist, don’t rub one wrist against the other to dry the fragrance as doing so will bruise the notes and dull the perfume’s development.
How long will an opened bottle of perfume last?
It depends on the fragrance and the time it has spent on the shelf with UV lights. If stored properly in a dark bottle, the perfume should last between six to 18 months. Light, citrus-based perfumes deteriorate in as little as six months while floral scents in about a year and a half.
How should I store my perfume?
Keep your fragrances in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight and heat. Store perfumes in spray bottles as an atomiser admits less air than a bottle with a screw-on cap, prevents contamination and slows down the evaporation of the perfume.
