Creating My Own Fragrance in Grasse: the Perfume Capital of the World

Ever strolled past the fragrance counters at your local department store, smelled the perfumes and thought you could do better? Well, in Grasse — the French town dubbed the perfume capital of the world — you take a workshop and do just that. I don't think I'll be troubling the big fragrance houses any time soon but I was very happy with the perfume I created and I had a lot of fun!

Grasse is a charming Provençal town in the South of France, known as the birthplace of the modern fragrance history. It's well worth a visit even if you aren't interested in perfume and it's only 12 miles from Cannes. I haven't been for years. When planning our recent trip to the Gorges du Verdon, I realised Grasse was on the way. As soon as I found out you could take perfume classes, I was sold!

Several major fragrance houses run introductory workshops, including Fragonard, Molinard and Galimard; I booked with the latter. You can browse and book many of the workshops on GetYourGuide. They are all similar in scope, length and price. Note that Fragonard and Galimard's workshops take place a couple of miles outside Grasse old town — Galimard's studio is a 15-minute bus ride away. 

Galimard has been in the perfume business since 1747 and they run many workshops a week with French, English, German and Italian options. My workshop cost €62 and lasted about 1h45; there were about 20 of us in my session (mostly English and a few French and German speakers).

After checking in (and being told not to smell the perfumes in the boutique), we were taken into the fragrance studio and each assigned to a work table with dozens of vials of fragrances in three rows. The expert 'noses' gave us a short introduction to creating a harmonious fragrance blend. In particular, the fragrance pyramid with base notes (which last the longest), heart notes and more ephemeral top notes. 

The first step was the smell all of the 30 or 40 base notes and pick our top five. Our teacher suggested we move quickly and act instinctively. I found this step the hardest as not many of the base notes 'spoke' to me. And as I had strong opinions about the top notes I wanted, I was worried I'd pick a combination of base notes that didn't work with my preferred top notes.

In the end, I went for cedar, dried fruit, tonka bean, sandalwood (shout out to one of my favourite episodes of the UK Apprentice!) and amber, in that order. The Galimard team helped me to create a recipe, which added up to 50 ml. I decanted my fragrances into the cylinder and mixed it a couple of times.

Next, we had to pick our heart notes and this time, we had to dip a little fragrance strip into our blend and then waft that under our nose along with each bottle. I was drawn to more of the heart notes and it was hard to narrow down my choice to just five.

I chose 'air de Provence' (a mix of lavender, rosemary and other herbs), pine, mimosa, fig and tobacco. These scents added another 25 ml to the blend. After mixing again, I dipped another fragrance strip in and took it outside into the fresh air to better evaluate it. I was pretty happy with my blend at this stage.

Finally, it was time to select my top notes. I knew I wanted both citrus and aromatic notes — my all-time favourite perfume is Hermès's Un Jardin en Mediterranée. But I tried to go with my gut and selected yuzu, bergamot, sweet mandarin, wild lavender and blackcurrant. With the help of the 'noses', I added a further 25 ml.

They also suggested moving lavender further down my ranking. This was the only real input I got during the workshop. I'd thought they'd make more suggestions and, of course, I didn't want to create a perfume that smelled bad. But they only really said that my recipe sounded good. I did hear them giving more feedback to other participants, so perhaps I just didn't need help!

Once I'd handed over my measuring cylinder for bottling, the only thing left was to come up with a name. I'd meant to think of some ideas before I came but I also wanted the name to relate to the actual fragrance. In the end, I chose the name Un Rêve Provençal, inspired by the few days we'd spent in the Provence area. Galimard also keeps your recipe on file so you can order more perfume, as well as shower gel and body lotion.

You can take your fragrance home in a screw-top glass bottle or pay an extra €12 for a spray bottle, which I did. The team told me that the perfume needed about three weeks to 'rest', but I've worn it a few times and really enjoy the scent. It's a unisex fragrance: quite citrusy and aromatic, with some woody and spicy notes. 

When I put some of my top/heart notes into a fragrance database, this Calabria perfume by Claire de Lune came up as a match. So, maybe my new career as a 'nose' or master perfumer awaits! Well, not quite yet...but if you're interested in the art and science of creating your perfect perfume blend, you should consider taking a perfume workshop. I learned a lot and had a lot of fun!

If you don't have time for the full workshop, Fragonard runs a mini-workshop combined with a factory tour, though you only get 20 minutes to pick out your notes, which seems a bit rushed. And for a more informative take on the history of perfume-making, visit the Musée International de la Parfumerie in Grasse Old Town.