I started to think I am a natural in traveling for day trips near home. Not only am I good at matching suitable point of interests with my friends, I am also good at planning.

On the day to Grasse, the town of Perfume, we changed bus so seamlessly: the moment we got off bus 200, the bus to Grasse was just right behind. It was the exact same situation on the return bus ride 😉 OH what a genius I am. (done with boasting mode, moving on!) There are 3 major perfumeries in Grasse, but they all kind of sound alike just to confuse us. So first on Fragonard, there was an art collection museum and traditional jewelry and clothing museum (for free) that was quite nice to visit. (There were CCTV everywhere so I could not snatch a photo of the beautiful necklaces and keychains)

Apart from shopping for perfumes, each perfumery provides free guided tour in English. Or at least they claimed so. When we were at Molinard, they said there were no English tours for that day. 😦

  Just when we were about to leave with a disappointed heart, I saw a group of tourists speaking alien language (I assumed it was french) and I thought, oh well it’s free, might as well spend 30 minutes to see what’s inside!)

So we followed the crowd and proceeded with the tour. Midway I realized it was an Italian guided tour and I could not stop laughing at my stupidity. We nodded as if we understood fully.

Thank god there were occasionally written english descriptions on the methods of making perfume. We got to test our sense by smelling different scents and guessing what it was.

At the end – the highlight of our tour! Making customized perfume! I was never a perfume person, but I am definitely in for anything that I can play around with.

For 45 euros you get 2 hours to mess around with 80 different fragrances, a bottle of self-made 100 ml perfume with your own label, your own formula number and a certificate ❤

First you choose 3 scents from several categories and/or vanilla. Then you pick 3 fond notes from the categories you previously picked. 6 scents of the heart notes were then added into the cylinder.

Every time you add a new scent, you have to pour it out and back in so it is mixed thoroughly. Then you dip in the perfume paper and smell the new scent through it to check if they are compatible.

Oddly enough, some scents smells extremely terrible on their own, but surprisingly pleasant along with other scents while some just stinks one way or another.

Lastly 5 peak notes were selected and your bottle was removed and labeled with the name you picked. The lady in lab coat explained to us how to test whether the scents go well together and all in all was a special experience. I think my nose was numb afterwards.

To my pleasant surprise, no bottles were broken and not even a single drop of perfume was spilled. Skillful me. (Very unlike my usual self)

VOILA, here is the end product. 🙂