We Tried It: Custom-Blending a Fragrance

Who Tried It: Alex Apatoff, Senior Style Editor
Why I Tried It: I’ve had this job for seven years and I still don’t know how to pick a perfume
What I Tried: A one-on-one meeting with Mark Crames, the CEO of Demeter Fragrance Library
Level of Difficulty: I found it harder than I thought to make decisions — luckily, Mark knew what he was talking about so could steer me in the right direction

Courtesy Alex Apatoff

To celebrate their Destination Collection, Demeter invited editors to learn about the connection between scent and memory, and I found myself drawn to orange blossoms — a fragrance that reminds me of my California childhood. And while I was there, I asked Mark why I am so strongly drawn to certain scents, but I have so much trouble picking a perfume at a department store. “I think I know what I like,” I explained, “but every time I pick up a perfume that says ‘jasmine’ or ‘tuberose’ it never smells like what I’m imagining.” He took pity on me and offered to come by my office with his whole kit of scents and help me find a fragrance I’d love.

This is that kit of scents — and it’s just a fraction of everything they’ve got in the library:

Courtesy Alex Apatoff

Mark explained that many mass scents today are hard to differentiate because there are certain things that are eternally best sellers — fruity florals in particular — which leads to that confusion at the fragrance counter. Demeter’s hope is to take the tricky combinations out of the equation and just boil things down to what you like. Thus we found ourselves sitting opposite each other dipping scent strips into vials of jasmine, lilac and other strong florals, then tempering it with notes of vanilla and grass.

RELATED PHOTOS: 28 scents worth trying this summer!

So how does the average person without a kit full of pure scents find a fragrance they’ll love? Well, Mark says, first start with scents that make you happy and build from there. You aren’t necessarily going to smell it all day (and if you do, it’s too strong) because your brain acclimates to the scent after 30 or 45 minutes and “turns it off,” so when you reapply, it should be a smell that gives you a positive feeling. Pick a few basic notes and blend them, relying on the dominant scent last. And the one thing the perfumers do have right: Adding an unexpected note like a musk (Mark is a big advocate of them — they’re completely different than most people think) or a wood (to ground a lighter scent) will make your perfume more classic and lasting.

Mark put together a dizzying array of scents for my final blend (eight in all!) and they arrived on my desk, personally labeled, a few weeks later. (One has more grass than the other; I was skeptical so he had me try both.) And the result? A sweet floral cologne that actually smells like the fragrances I love — and like no one else at all at the same time. I’d absolutely do this again for a “nighttime” scent at one of the city’s cool make-your-own scent shops. As it turns out, you just need patience (and perhaps a smell sherpa) to make scents (sorry) of it all.

Would you blend your own scent? Share your thoughts below!

RELATED VIDEO: The Key to Your Best Skin Ever Is in Your Fridge