A surprisingly good rainy afternoon experience in London: making my own perfume
I was in London recently and had one of those classic rainy afternoons where my original plan of walking around Mayfair and Bond Street didn’t feel very appealing anymore.
Ended up doing a perfume blending experience instead, and honestly, I thought it might feel a bit gimmicky, but it was one of the more memorable things I did on the trip.
You start by choosing from different scent notes, florals, woods, citrus, spices, that sort of thing, and then a scent expert helps narrow it down based on what you naturally like. I found it quite interesting how quickly they could tell what kind of fragrance profile suited me.
The best part was actually creating the final blend. It felt much more personal than just buying a bottle from a department store. At the end, I named mine “Mayfair After Rain” and had it labelled, which made it feel like a proper keepsake from the trip.
Not something I would have originally planned, but I’d genuinely recommend it if you’re in London and want something slower, indoors, and a bit different from the usual museums, shopping, or afternoon tea.
Edit (19th May 2026):
Didn’t expect so many people to be interested in this
A lot of you asked for the details, so adding them here. I was basically stuck indoors doing nothing because of the rain, and my friend surprised me by booking this experience for me and a colleague after I complained about being bored in London for the afternoon.
It’s a bespoke perfume blending experience curated by The Sybarite, which is based in London. From what I understood, the venue changes depending on availability, so I’m not exactly sure how they organise it, but when I did it, the session was in Central London (Near Bond Street, or it was mayfair).
You can probably find it easily if you search for “Perfume Making Experience London”.
Edit (20th May 2026):
Experience link - https://thesybarite.co/experiences/create-your-own-perfume-blend-the-luxe-blending-experience