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Aromatica Perfumes

Today we were visiting Aromatica Perfumes in New Westminster. To be honest, they reached out with an invitation and I thought it would be fun to make our own fragrances.

However, we weren’t expecting them to be located in the annex of a residential home, at the based of a dead end block. Therefore were a little skeptical waking through the threshold with the only greeting being from a toddler. We would help ourselves in past the first room of stacked perfume boxes, into the back fragrance room. There, we were able to engage with the owner framed by shelves of labelled jugs.

If you are smell sensitive and have allergies to fragrances be warned, it is potent. I was overwhelmed and stuck to sniffing coffee grinds for reprieve. Then after we would walk away with the cumulative scents lingering on our clothes, well after the estimated 7 hours of longevity they promised their perfumes to hold.

The reality is most fragrances typically only use 18-20% of actual extracts, where as Aromatica utilizes 30%. This is more than the original brand for a longer lasting scent experience.

This obscure perfumery, specializes in imported Arabian perfumes, which is apparently a large industry with a dedicated online following. This was my first experience and impression of them, and I can see the fanfare. These were more than just scents in a jar, each with its own heavily jewelled and detailed vessel. Altogether they surrounded us on display like in a museum.

Aromatica gives you the option to purchase these original fragrances, as well as purchase dupes of famous North American branded scent the likes of Louis Vuitton or Tom Ford.

And if you don’t smell something you like you can customize your own. We came in thinking this would be from scratch, combining base scents like lavender with leather and fresh linens. Instead they offer you the ability to combine one already established fragrance with another. A process just as finicky, considering not everything pairs well with one another. Luckily the owner has a flair and passion for this work and is able to lead you on this journey.

We thought it would be fun to make fragrances for one another for Valentine’s Day. Not only having this serve as an activity we can do together, but allowing us the ability to make and gift it to one another.

You start by describing the scent accords you typically gravitate towards: sweet, clean, smokey, woodsy, musky, etc. Our expert tech then pulled lids off of the shelved bottles for us to smell. We were pretty easy going so after 4-5 we had made our choice.

He then gave us 2-3 options that went well with them. There is no limit to how many you can mix, but two seems to be ideal as to not bog down any one profile.

From here it gets mixed together in a scientific beaker using a pulsating magnet. If you are looking to further customize, you can have your new fragrance dyed either red, yellow, blue, or green. Only one drop and no mixing colours. There is variation in the bottle sizes, with each one given a label, indicating that mixes you’ve made.

Here it would have been nice to further the customization process with a label that allows you to give this blend its own signature name. One that you can also write on the box. During the time of our visit, they did not have special branded gift boxes or bags, but I have been told that this is in the works.

In truth, they are working on a new more commercial location with a further flushed out concept. Here, I you will have the ability to make an appointment and blend a fragrance from the base level, just as we thought we were doing today when we first entered. But for now this makes for a pretty original gifting solution, in time for Chinese New Year or Valentine’s Day.

Aromatica Perfumes
110 Sprice St, New Westminster, BC V3M 5L4
(672) 200-9944
aromaticaparfums.com

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