I was absolutely thrilled to be invited to partake in a unique blending experience at the Experimental Perfume Club. This exclusive opportunity allows you to book a complimentary 20-minute session, during which one of the highly knowledgeable staff members guides you through a curated selection of fragrance blends and combinations, helping you discover your perfect scent. I had the distinct honor of experiencing the Luxe Blending Experience, which offers a personalized one-on-one session. This can also be arranged for two people, making it an ideal choice for couples seeking a special fragrance to celebrate their love on a significant occasion, ensuring that each fragrance beautifully complements the other.
In a cozy and private area of the boutique located on Monmouth Street, you will find a perfumers organ, a fascinating setup where you can explore various fragrance ingredients in their purest forms. It’s quite intriguing to discover that some ingredients may possess little to no scent, providing a great foundation for understanding how fragrances are constructed. The incredibly knowledgeable staff members are always eager to share insights and answer any questions you may have regarding the perfume house and its offerings.
Emmanuelle Moeglin, the visionary founder of the Experimental Perfume Club, has always been committed to making fine fragrances both personal and accessible to a broader audience. By adhering to the time-honored, minimalist French methods of perfumery and sourcing high-quality ingredients directly from Grasse, she ensures that her creations are both luxurious and sustainable. This meticulous process helps to maintain ecological integrity, as the raw materials are carefully processed and then sent to London for the blending process. By eliminating intermediaries, Emmanuelle ensures that the cost savings are directly passed on to the consumer, allowing more people to experience exceptional fragrance.
Emmanuelle has skillfully crafted 9 Essential blends that serve as the fundamental building blocks of all fragrances produced by the perfume house. These Essential blends consist of 3 top notes, 3 heart notes, and 3 base notes. Each of these blends can be worn individually as a standalone perfume, but they are also expertly designed to work in harmony with one another, allowing for a multitude of creative combinations that result in unique and personalized fragrances.
You might assume that with 3 top blends, 3 heart blends, and 3 base blends, there would be 27 potential combinations. However, the reality is that by fine-tuning the proportions of these Essential ‘building blocks’, a staggering array of unique concoctions can be created. Among these, some of the most exquisitely balanced fragrances are available as Signature Blends. For instance, Velvet Incense is crafted from 7 parts Bergamot Incense and 1 part Amber Iris, offering a delightful blend of sparkling citrus notes paired with warm amber and soft iris undertones.
Once you are seated at the organ, your journey begins with an engaging conversation with your host, who will help you identify the types of fragrances you enjoy or are searching for. You will then be presented with three Essential top notes to test on blotters, from which you will select your favorite. This process is repeated for the heart and base notes, ensuring that there are no wrong choices since all the blends have been thoughtfully designed to complement one another. Your selections will guide your host in suggesting two Signature Blends for you to experience. One will be applied to your right wrist, while the other will be spritzed on your left wrist, allowing you to compare and choose your preferred scent. This decision-making process can be quite challenging, but once you make your choice, a measuring tube will be rinsed with ethanol. After donning a lab coat and safety glasses, you’ll be invited to pipette the exact measure of each Essential blend into the measuring tube. This carefully prepared mixture is then transferred into a beautiful bottle just for you. The oils are replenished weekly and are blended at a concentration of 28% or more, ensuring that not only is the quality of the fragrance exceptional, but also that it boasts remarkable longevity.
One of the most exciting aspects of this experience is the opportunity to name your own fragrance. A custom label is printed with your chosen name and affixed to the bottle, which is then carefully boxed. Included with your fragrance is a card detailing your unique blend, the proportions of the Essential ingredients used, and the date of your creation. You can contact EPC at any time in the future to reorder your fragrance, as all the details are securely stored in their database, ensuring that you can recreate your signature scent whenever you desire.
While the Signature blends are rotated seasonally, they are always available for made-to-order requests, allowing you to enjoy an almost unique fragrance that isn’t available to the mass market. Additionally, refills can be purchased at a generous 40% discount, and a special refill nozzle is provided for international customers, making it easier than ever to maintain your personalized scent.
The Luxe Blending Experience is priced at £195 per person for a one-hour session, and participants walk away with a luxurious 50ml bottle of fragrance, valued at £145. The knowledge that you possess a fragrance you genuinely love—one that reflects your personal taste and is not widely available—adds immeasurable value to this exceptional experience.
If you are unable to visit the boutique located in London, the EPC Discovery Set offers the opportunity to experience the nine Essential Blends that you can wear and blend at home, and it is readily available for purchase online.
Written by Alison Pitcher
