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I'm Carrie. I'm Dave. We made it. Welcome to American Travelers. We are in Grand Caz, up north of the island of Saint-Martin
on the French side, and precisely at Tijon Perfumery, where we make our own perfumes
and where we offer, as well, perfume-making classes, so you can actually get the opportunity to make your own perfume
So welcome to all of you. My name is Mimi. Welcome to Tijon. Welcome to Grand Cals
Today you are being very adventurous because not only are you going to find out how perfumes are made
but you're actually going to make your own. On your farm, there's a list of perfume names
They are the perfumes that we make here at Tijon. We would like you to pick your favorite scent so we can put a small bottle in your gift bag
So I'm going to show you where they are located. we have on this side four women au de parfum
there are four men colognes on that side and on the blue shelves you'll find a unisex collection
now near each bottle you'll see a glass bell I have sprayed them for you this morning so you can directly smell in the bell
and in between you may want or need to use coffee beans
if it gets a little overwhelming there is no scientific evidence that it cleans your nose
but it brings back your memory to something that you know, resets your brain and helps you this way
So you're going to go at this, you're going to smell them. Please pick one, only one
And also we ask you not to take too long on this step because we want to get you into the lab and start making you one
Carrie and Patty confer with Mimi and began their search. It more fresh this is more natural this is a little spicier those are a little more classic and floral So far I like the California Coronado My friend Patty here likes the French collection
Oh, okay. Now this one has a gardenia smell to it. So congratulations on becoming a nose. A nose is someone who uses oil to create new fragrances
and that's what you'll be doing today. So you are standing in front of the perfume organ
which is shaped like a musical organ so you can easily reach the oils which we also call notes
just like in music and we have over 300 of them classified by alphabetical order
starting with a in the top left corner finishing with y here at the bottom right
we offer you two different type of oils the essential oils which are made with natural
ingredients only they are marked with the star and we also have what we call the fragrance oils
They are synthetic man-made there's nothing wrong with that and a perfect example is coconut oil
Every time you smell coconut outside of a fresh one It is always a man-made scent as natural coconut oil actually has no scent
Yes Now the oils are rated on how quickly they evaporate from the skin the top notes are the ones you smell first in a perfume
typically the fruits and the citrus they also the quickest one to burn off so they would last
between five to ten minutes we have the middle notes which are the heart of the fragrance the
flowers but also what we call the woodsy earthy minty spicy and fresh categories and combined to
top notes they would last between one to two hours and we have the base notes the heaviest scented ones They are the ones to add lasting power to the perfume Amber musk vanilla sandalwood oakmose mer frankincense vetiver and so on
Now when we combine top, middle, and base note, we create what we call an accord, A-C-C-O-R-D
again just like in music, and it's a unique combination of oil that makes a new perfume
new fragrance and there are so many possible combinations your creation will be unique
there are also a couple of factors that affect how the fragrance smells on the skin one of them is
hormones both men and women have hormones and something that you enjoy smelling in 20s
may smell totally different when you're 50s also if you're a natural blonde or as we get older our
skin tends to dry and because perfumes are made of oils applied to a drier skin it would tend to
get absorbed quicker so we can suggest to you to create a body lotion or body cream scented like
your perfume apply it first then spray the perfume it adds lasting power well don't worry about
remembering all that i've told you that's a lot but i'm going to provide you with a workbook and
And inside will be what we call the cheat sheet. We have listed the easier oils to blend by families
And you will be getting this bottle today. You can put it in your carry-on, and you will be naming your perfume
Sometimes it is the hardest part of the class. Well, it's time to get to work
Off to the lab where they get their lab coats. Mimi assigns the girls to three different workstations So in a few minutes you going to start by smelling what we call the 12 pre base oils As you do I suggest you bring the jars that you like forward to remember which one you
are likely to use today. Bring them back to your station. Take a clean pipette for each jar and the instruction sheet tells you to add two drops
of coconut, two drops of rose, two drops of vanilla. You have created your first scent
You will help us through this. Yes. I know. Let's live dangerously. Let's. Okay
All right. So she said that the essentials have a little start
I like that idea. That these are essentials. Right. Smell this one right there
This one is 2026. So it's a tropical citrus blend. It has a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little
mango, lime, lemon, orange, and papaya. After much sniffing, everyone picks out their favorites, and it's time to start their own formula
This is so fun! So 90 minutes later, the class comes to an end, and they each have their own perfume of perfection. Cheers
We did it