The Deal Mommy

Galimard Create Your Own Perfume workshop

I’ve mentioned before that scent is one of my favorite souvenirs.  I’ve discovered fragrances in Ireland and Italy but in Grasse, France I went a step further: creating my own signature fragrance. Attending the Galimard Create Your Own Perfume workshop was like being handed a Golden Ticket.

Grasse, just outside of Cannes, has been the center of the perfume industry for hundreds of years. While Fragonard has a more established “Museum” (gift shop), if you’re a perfume lover I’d strongly recommend a visit to Galimard to attend their perfume creation workshop.

The classes are capped at 32 people so I’d recommend booking in advance. Each student gets her own selection of 127 “notes”- individual ingredients. We were taught the difference between “base” (long lasting), “heart” (a few hours) and “top” (a few mintes) notes.  Then we were let loose! We selected up to 15 individual scents for our perfect mix.

It was amazing to me how individual scents clashed or went together as layers. For instance I thought I loved a leafy note but the effect with my base was jarring. The process was much more detailed than I expected for a two hour class.

I selected a base of green amber and floral musk, middle notes heavy on lily and top notes of citrus.   After two weeks to settle, I’m thrilled with the results.

At 49 Euro the two hour class would have been good value.

The fact that you get to take home 100 ML of your creation makes it a no-brainer. Even better, you get to name your signature scent (mine is “Fleur de Vacance”) and are assigned a lot number so you can re-order your fragrance when you run out.

Have you tried perfume creation? Did you like the results? I’d love to hear about other classes out there.

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