Have you ever wanted to make your own perfume? I know I have and so I was excited to hear about the Molinard Perfume Workshop in Nice, France, while on a walking tour around the city.
With a rich history dating back to 1849, Molinard is one of the oldest perfumers in France, renowned for crafting exquisite fragrances. So, this workshop is a perfect opportunity to connect with one of France’s most historic perfume houses while creating a personalized souvenir.
I popped into the Molinard store and was told they had a space at the next workshop in half an hour, so it was meant to be! Here’s my experience perfume-making in Nice, France, which I highly recommend…
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The Atelier Molinard Workshop in Nice
The Molinard perfume workshop is an interactive experience for beginners and enthusiasts.
- Where: the Molinard store in the centre of Nice, France.
- How much: EUR84
- What you get: an hour-long guided workshop to craft your own fragrance and a 50ml bottle of the perfume to take home.
- How to book: I popped into the store itself and was lucky enough to book on the spot, but you can book online or through a tour operator – the price is the same.
Top tip: Molinard gives you a unique reference number and keeps your special fragrance formula on record, so if you ever want the same perfume again, you can order it from them.
Part 1: The Anatomy of Perfume
We started with a brief overview of how perfumes work. Did you know perfumes are composed of top notes, heart notes, and base notes?
- Top notes are the initial scents that last for around 30 minutes once sprayed and make up around 12.5ml of a 50ml bottle of perfume.
- Heart notes last between 30 minutes to 4 hours on the skin and also make up around 12.5ml.
- Base notes last the longest, up to 24 hours, and total approximately 25ml of a 50ml bottle.
However, not all scents fall neatly into one of these three categories. Some scents are somewhere between a top note and a heart note, or a heart note and a base note. (Molinard had these color-coded for us so we could tell which was which.)
Part 2: Sniffing!
Now for the fun part – smelling more than 100 essences that Molinard has to offer! These were arranged in a spinning tray, with top notes on the top tier and base notes at the bottom. To the side we were given bowls of coffee beans to help refresh our noses when they got weary!
Our workshop host gave some great tips:
- Start with top notes and work your way down to base notes.
- Smell the lid of the bottle, not the contents, which can be overpowering.
- Spend the most time choosing base notes and the least choosing top notes (after all, top notes only last 30 minutes and base notes last up to a day on your skin).
- You only have 20 minutes before you become noseblind, so spend 10 minutes selecting individual scents and the rest trying out combinations.
This last part was hard because with over 100 essences to sniff, there was a lot of choice.
If you like a scent, dip a paper stick into the bottle and let it dry on the table. It’s important to let it dry so that the alcohol dries and the smell isn’t too overpowering. Remember to label each stick.
You can have multiple top, heart, and base notes in your final perfume—and you’ll likely need a wide range to choose from in order to try out different combinations.
Top tip: the host didn’t mention this, but remember to write what type of note it is and/or arrange the scents on the table so that you know what’s what! I forgot and had to go back and find all the bottles again.
These were my selections:
- Green tomatoes (top)
- Pear (top)
- Grapefruit (top)
- Bergamot (top)
- Apricot (heart)
- Rice (heart)
- Violet (heart)
- Jasmine (heart and base)
- Sea (heart and base)
- Praline (heart and base)
- Chocolate (base)
As you can tell, I’m a big fan of fresh, fruity fragrances, but not many of the base notes appealed to me.
Part 3: Combining
The next part was probably the hardest; combining the sticks together to see what went together. This was a lot of trial and error by adding one stick in, taking one away, trying with a different base, pushing one stick forward to be more prominent… this is where you really appreciate the help of a professional.
I had settled on pear and green tomatoes as my top notes (sounds weird but the green tomatoes were so sweet – not what I expected at all), but was struggling with the other layers. The host knew which scents blended together best and combined the sticks for me to smell.
Finally, she wrote down the quantities of each essence to create the final formula:
- Pear 8ml
- Green tomatoes 5ml
- Rice 4ml
- Violet 5ml
- Apricot 7ml
- Sea 13ml
- Praline 8ml
Part 4: Making the Perfume
For the last step, use pipettes to extract the correct amount of each essence and transfer it to the bottle. Start with base notes first, then hearts, then tops.
Help! I’ve Made a Mistake: I accidentally added 8ml of green tomatoes rather than 5ml! However, not to worry. The host recommended to combine first (including adding the additional 8ml for pear) to see what the overall fragrance was like. If the green tomatoes were too strong, we could take out some drops with the pipette and add a small amount of the others to re-balance. In the end, I liked the green tomatoes so much that I didn’t make any adjustments and besides, the top notes only last for 30mins anyway, so they’re less important.
My final scent was fruitier and sweeter than I thought I would like, but I loved the final result! I think I’m going to call it Very Nice (ha!). It was interesting smelling the perfumes created by others in the workshop and seeing how different they all were.
Overall, I loved the Molinard perfume-making workshop as well as my own fresh, fruity, sweet perfume that will always remind me of summer in the French Riviera. I learned a lot and to be honest, my usual favourite perfumes cost around EUR60-70 for a small bottle anyway, so I think the price for the workshop and final product is good value.
There’s also an option for a 45-minute workshop for EUR50 to make 30ml of perfume if you’re pushed for time and funds:
Whether you’re interested in learning about the chemistry behind fragrances or simply want to make a scent unique to your personality, I highly recommend this workshop.
The Atelier Molinard Workshop in Grasse
If you’re not staying in Nice proper or prefer another option, you can do the same workshop at the Molinard perfume factory in Grasse (same price, same duration):
There’s a 20-minute option for just EUR35 (to make a 30ml bottle) if you’re in a rush or on a budget:
There are also workshops available in Cannes and Paris – you can book directly through the Molinard Creations Workshops web page.
Explore the Best of Perfume in Nice, France
Nice is a hub for perfume lovers, and Molinard’s workshop is among the best ways to experience the art of fragrance creation firsthand. Whether you’re looking for a memorable experience in perfume-making in Nice, France or want to explore the history of French perfumery, this is a unique activity. Plus, you walk away with a perfume that is entirely your own.
You can also find other perfume workshops in France from big perfumers such as Fragonard and Galimard.
Don’t miss the chance to learn about the world of perfumery in one of the most beautiful locations on the French Riviera!
Visiting France? Read my recommended list of books set in France to see which books to take with you.
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