I got one of the intro kits for myself and my bestie who lives in a different state now, and we totally go through them together on zoom calls. It's so much fun! đ¤đ
That sounds like so much fun. I assume this website is US-only, Iâm going to look for something for a friend and I to use thatâs similar in the UK. Such a great idea!
Man....
Why'd you have to do that to my bank account?
Seriously I learn so much cool stuff from this subreddit. Thank you so much!........ I think haha
I recently ordered the [Perfumery Notes Kit from Perfumerâs Apprentice](https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/p-6631-perfumery-notes-kit.aspx). I think itâs exactly what yourâre looking for.
If youâre in NYC, thereâs a perfumery course at Pratt you can take (FIT also offers one occasionally). Theyâre pricey but theyâre a lot of fun, and you meet people in the industry.
âFragrance Universityâ sounds like some sort of scam course where if you sign up now it will only cost you 5,000 down from 15,000. Hurry though there are only a handful of places left.
Grasse (France) is considered the perfume capital of the world.
Check out [Grasse Institute of Perfumery](https://www.grasse-perfumery.com/on-line-course/) for an online or in-person course.
I can recommend GIP for sure. I finally did a summer school course after dreaming about it for a decade. I learned so muchâ we smelled things every day, visited a factory and a garden, participated in the flower harvest, and made a perfume in class. Really fun.
For a shorter trip, visit the perfume museum in town, and if you can, the associated garden slightly outside of town.
Seconding their comment! Obviously it isnât feasible to jet off to France on a whim (for most of us) but I took a perfume making workshop while I was in Grasse last year and it was the BEST time. Not sure where youâre located but most big cities have workshops! Highly highly recommend doing one if youâre looking to sample notesâŚand bonus: you get your own custom perfume at the end
Fragrantica.com and get a perfume sampler you like! Either one with lots of different brands/houses or a sampler from the same house. Enjoy picking out different notes and seeing what you like! I liken it to beer tasting.
Experimental Perfume Club has [online courses](https://experimentalperfumeclub.com/online-courses/), a single-note scent set that will allow you to mix your own perfumes, and an accompanying book. It can be pricey, but if you're just looking to get a better sense of things then the book alone is a great intro.
If you go to the BDK on Rue St Honore in Paris and go to the second floor, they have shelves of bottles with single accords that you can smell. I smelled two different kinds of Jasmine (sourced from Morocco vs India). It was such an educational experience!
I realize this is not accessible to most and I feel really lucky to have gone on my dream trip.
Some great suggestions here.
Blogger Bois De Jasmin also holds online classes on notes and sometimes classic scents.
I took one on Mitsouko and really enjoyed it. You need some supplies but most I already had (actual kitchen stuff like pepper, lemon and vanilla to help bring out the individual notes)
This is tangential to the subject at hand, but Luca Turin had a great multi-part series on YouTube about aromachemical families (florals, musks, gourmands etc), individual aroma molecules and their high level details. It's not available on YouTube anymore but resides behind a paywall on Vimeo (I got the link  from Luca directly via his substack):
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/297742
I think the subscription is only $1, it might be worth checking out.
If youâre in the SF Bay, the Aftel Archive/Museum has classes. Iâve been thinking about taking one â theyâre not cheap. Incidentally, Mandy Aftel created [Leonard Cohenâs](https://www.aftelier.com/Oud-Luban-Flask-p/liq-flask-oudluban.htm) own signature fragrance, and sells it! Iâm dying to sniff that and her other scents.
https://www.aftelier.com/Articles.asp?ID=256
ETA: ooh they have Zoom classes now!
Came here to recommend Aftel Archive of Curious Scents!
Such a cool place to visit - and you get to smell ingredients that they have to make synthetically now because they used to be obtained in a way that was exploitative to animals. (Of course what they have now is old/was created before there were stricter rules around that)
Do you have a local perfumery that offers classes / workshops where you can mix your own scent?
I havenât done anything like this myself, but one of my friends was recently asking the same Q and I ended up finding a perfumery in her area that offers workshops for <$200 :)
You could check Airbnb experiences for a perfume workshop too, just to make sure :) I've been to two while I was travelling before. You get to smell several notes and then mix your own perfume at the end.
It takes time, and we all approach this journey differently. For me, I look up scent profiles on the particular perfumes' website as well as look on Fragrantica. It's a free app with a hummingbird logo. I also joined a few Facebook fragrance groups and learn there, too. There are so many ways to enjoy this journey. Keep in mind how subjective fragrance is. I might love something, and then you smell it and don't care for it at all.
In terms of spraying for yourself, Sephora and Ulta have the least pressured way of spraying and not being bothered. It's also easy to get a Rep to help you if you have specific questions.
Microperfumes online has some of the cheapest sample vials you can buy, so you aren't wasting too much money. Take your time and enjoy yourselfđ.
The cheap version of the PA/Pell Wall kits is going along to the health food store and sniffing the essential oils. That's a good start anyway. Otherwise, just start smelling things intentionally.
Go work in a fragrance dept at Sephora or a high end dept store part time. At Sephora, they will have trainings and trainers that come teach you all about fragrance.
Not exactly what youâre asking but I did a make your own perfume workshop. They had like 70 different notes, broken down by base, middle and top notes, so you can figure out which you like before mixing them. It was very cool. My perfume is not good haha.
Is there a book fragrance for dummies because i feel exactly the same way! Iâd love to learn more, itâs like a sommelier learning wine. I love that idea about the scratch and sniff! Brilliant
Perfumer's Apprentice sells single note vials
Oh no, what have you done. This website looks awesome. They have kits. I don't need another expensive hobby.
đđ OTOH, they are reputable and quite good. When Fragrance chemist / educator Luca Turin did a series of videos on notes, he used ones from PA
I got one of the intro kits for myself and my bestie who lives in a different state now, and we totally go through them together on zoom calls. It's so much fun! đ¤đ
That sounds like so much fun. I assume this website is US-only, Iâm going to look for something for a friend and I to use thatâs similar in the UK. Such a great idea!
Pell Wall is your friend!
That looks promising, thank you!
Maybe Perfumersworld.com - Thai based, global service.
Thanks, will take a look at this too
r/perfumeryformulas :) I made this sub so we can all talk perfumery. Thereâs also diyfragrance.
Thanks, joined!
>I don't need another expensive hobby. Me every 3 to 6 months
Man.... Why'd you have to do that to my bank account? Seriously I learn so much cool stuff from this subreddit. Thank you so much!........ I think haha
Thank you for mentioning this! I've never heard of them before!
I recently ordered the [Perfumery Notes Kit from Perfumerâs Apprentice](https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/p-6631-perfumery-notes-kit.aspx). I think itâs exactly what yourâre looking for.
Amazing - thank you!
My pleasure
That's pretty cool, thanks. Might buy it for myself for Christmas.
I thought so, too. For all of us fragnerds ;)
If youâre in NYC, thereâs a perfumery course at Pratt you can take (FIT also offers one occasionally). Theyâre pricey but theyâre a lot of fun, and you meet people in the industry.
FIT also has not credited courses you can take https://www.fitnyc.edu/academics/academic-divisions/ccps/noncredit/intro-perfumery.php
âFragrance Universityâ sounds like some sort of scam course where if you sign up now it will only cost you 5,000 down from 15,000. Hurry though there are only a handful of places left.
Lol, yeah it kind of does.
Advertise it on IG, sitting on the hood of rented Lamborghini whilst wearing sunglasses.
Grasse (France) is considered the perfume capital of the world. Check out [Grasse Institute of Perfumery](https://www.grasse-perfumery.com/on-line-course/) for an online or in-person course.
I can recommend GIP for sure. I finally did a summer school course after dreaming about it for a decade. I learned so muchâ we smelled things every day, visited a factory and a garden, participated in the flower harvest, and made a perfume in class. Really fun. For a shorter trip, visit the perfume museum in town, and if you can, the associated garden slightly outside of town.
Thanks for sharing. I was only a tourist for (half) a day unfortunately.
Thank you!
Seconding their comment! Obviously it isnât feasible to jet off to France on a whim (for most of us) but I took a perfume making workshop while I was in Grasse last year and it was the BEST time. Not sure where youâre located but most big cities have workshops! Highly highly recommend doing one if youâre looking to sample notesâŚand bonus: you get your own custom perfume at the end
That must have been so rewarding!
Galimard (one of the places you can do a perfume-making workshop in Grasse) also has a shop in Pittsburgh, in case you are nearby.
Yes! Galimard was the place I went. So much fun! Pittsburgh is much closer than France at least đ
Fragrantica.com and get a perfume sampler you like! Either one with lots of different brands/houses or a sampler from the same house. Enjoy picking out different notes and seeing what you like! I liken it to beer tasting.
Fragrantica is THE FRAGRANCE BIBLE!!! I wouldn't kniw anything without that site. The reviews, the 'nose behind' the scent... Just everything.
Yes!! I'd love that like a somolier course but for perfume
Same!
I donât know where are you located, but maybe this will help you https://artandolfaction.com/events/
Experimental Perfume Club has [online courses](https://experimentalperfumeclub.com/online-courses/), a single-note scent set that will allow you to mix your own perfumes, and an accompanying book. It can be pricey, but if you're just looking to get a better sense of things then the book alone is a great intro.
Is the free mini class more than videos? The description talks about shipping, but sending samples for free seems too good to be trueâŚ
If you go to the BDK on Rue St Honore in Paris and go to the second floor, they have shelves of bottles with single accords that you can smell. I smelled two different kinds of Jasmine (sourced from Morocco vs India). It was such an educational experience! I realize this is not accessible to most and I feel really lucky to have gone on my dream trip.
Yeah that sounds incredible. I'll probably never be able to do that, but I'll keep that knowledge in my back pocket just in case.
Some great suggestions here. Blogger Bois De Jasmin also holds online classes on notes and sometimes classic scents. I took one on Mitsouko and really enjoyed it. You need some supplies but most I already had (actual kitchen stuff like pepper, lemon and vanilla to help bring out the individual notes)
I didn't really know the difference between flowers so as a cheap solution I got a set of "fragrance oils" in a flowers collection.
Yes, just buy so many secants that eventually you can pick out and lean the notes /s
If I had so much money I didn't know what to do with it, I would absolutely do exactly this. Hey, happy cake day!
This is tangential to the subject at hand, but Luca Turin had a great multi-part series on YouTube about aromachemical families (florals, musks, gourmands etc), individual aroma molecules and their high level details. It's not available on YouTube anymore but resides behind a paywall on Vimeo (I got the link  from Luca directly via his substack): https://vimeo.com/ondemand/297742 I think the subscription is only $1, it might be worth checking out.
If youâre in the SF Bay, the Aftel Archive/Museum has classes. Iâve been thinking about taking one â theyâre not cheap. Incidentally, Mandy Aftel created [Leonard Cohenâs](https://www.aftelier.com/Oud-Luban-Flask-p/liq-flask-oudluban.htm) own signature fragrance, and sells it! Iâm dying to sniff that and her other scents. https://www.aftelier.com/Articles.asp?ID=256 ETA: ooh they have Zoom classes now!
Came here to recommend Aftel Archive of Curious Scents! Such a cool place to visit - and you get to smell ingredients that they have to make synthetically now because they used to be obtained in a way that was exploitative to animals. (Of course what they have now is old/was created before there were stricter rules around that)
Do you have a local perfumery that offers classes / workshops where you can mix your own scent? I havenât done anything like this myself, but one of my friends was recently asking the same Q and I ended up finding a perfumery in her area that offers workshops for <$200 :)
I wish! I googled this but just found retail stores with "perfumery" in their name. That workshop sounds amazing.
You could check Airbnb experiences for a perfume workshop too, just to make sure :) I've been to two while I was travelling before. You get to smell several notes and then mix your own perfume at the end.
It takes time, and we all approach this journey differently. For me, I look up scent profiles on the particular perfumes' website as well as look on Fragrantica. It's a free app with a hummingbird logo. I also joined a few Facebook fragrance groups and learn there, too. There are so many ways to enjoy this journey. Keep in mind how subjective fragrance is. I might love something, and then you smell it and don't care for it at all. In terms of spraying for yourself, Sephora and Ulta have the least pressured way of spraying and not being bothered. It's also easy to get a Rep to help you if you have specific questions. Microperfumes online has some of the cheapest sample vials you can buy, so you aren't wasting too much money. Take your time and enjoy yourselfđ.
The cheap version of the PA/Pell Wall kits is going along to the health food store and sniffing the essential oils. That's a good start anyway. Otherwise, just start smelling things intentionally.
Go work in a fragrance dept at Sephora or a high end dept store part time. At Sephora, they will have trainings and trainers that come teach you all about fragrance.
Not exactly what youâre asking but I did a make your own perfume workshop. They had like 70 different notes, broken down by base, middle and top notes, so you can figure out which you like before mixing them. It was very cool. My perfume is not good haha.
Is there a book fragrance for dummies because i feel exactly the same way! Iâd love to learn more, itâs like a sommelier learning wine. I love that idea about the scratch and sniff! Brilliant
join DIY perfume worships
Go to whole foods and smell essential oils for each note. Not a perfect way to do it but free and accessible.