If you want to do more than wine and dine next time you’re strolling down Newbury Street in Boston, then stop by Olfactory to make your own custom scent.
Founded in New York City by JJ Vittoria in 2017, Olfactory lets you make your own fragrance that is intended to smell “like you.” While the company already had a pop-up location in Seaport, the Newbury spot is bigger and takes appointments instead of just walk-ins. The Newbury spot has been open for about a month as well.
The experience starts with customers smelling nine of Olfactory’s core, gender-neutral fragrances from “Taylor” and “Riley” to “Hunter” and “Blake.” Olfactory’s Boston studio also features three seasonal scents that change every few months.
Once you have chosen your favorite scent, an Olfactory “scentologist” will guide you through the process of creating a personalized fragrance based on your preferred smells.
The process involves the scentologist layering a variety of different fragrances according to each core scent until customers discover their perfect blend. Throughout the process the scentologist will ask you what scents you like and dislike until you are left with 10 options to choose from. You then narrow it down to four options.
Once you do that, the scentologist does a skin test where they spray your top choices on your hands and wrists. After smelling the final options, you get to go home with your new perfume. The custom scent is then bottled and customers can choose the fragrance’s bottle color and hand-stamped label name.
Each package comes with a card that lists the individual scents that went into your fragrance as well.
Olfactory also sends you an email with instructions on how to reorder your perfume. Custom scents, which come in 50ml bottles, retail for $85 each. You can also order a 15ml travel spray ($38) or home diffuser.
Overall, the experience lasts about 30 minutes, but can run longer if you are with another person or group.
Olfactory does recommend you book an appointment online. But the Newbury store does take walk-ins. The space also has a private room where it can host events of up to 20 people.
The store is located at 133 Newbury St. and is open Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Meanwhile the pop-up is located at 85 G Northern Ave. in the Seaport District and is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday from 12-6 p.m.
Can’t make it to the store? Olfactory also offers the option to create custom scents at home.
In addition to the perfumes, Olfactory also offers body wash, body lotion, rinse-free hand wash and soy-blend candles in many of the same scents as the core fragrances. More information about Olfactory can be found online.
