Sort of on topic - anyone up for a days perfumier-ing?

[bagfish.livejournal.com]

Dear All UK peeps, but especially those in the north/Scotland.

I have made a discovery.  There is a perfumery called  Aroma Sciences on the west coast of Scotland run by a totally mad and interesting sounding guy who offers a days workshop on how to create a perfume (here's an article from the Guardian about the perfume house).  I dropped him an e-mail to find out about his perfume workshops and he says if there is enough interest (3 or four people) he runs a workshop (see his reply to my e-mail below)

Hi

 

I am not at the moment holding one day workshops in London - but we open our shop and cafe at Loch Ewe at Easter and I hold daily sessions (but need a min of 4 people) - at which you spend 2-3 hours and compose a perfume - and of course you can have splendid views - and very good coffee and peruse all our perfumes and creams and gifts

 

best wishes

george

 

ps

I am giving a sniff evening in the Dana Centre at  the Science Museum London - this thr - St Valentines - may be fully booked ?

We went on to have a bit of an e-mail conversation about perfume and having a good nose for smells and stuff and he sounded completely up for having a good old chin wag about perfume even if he wasn't running a course and I just turned up!  So anyway, I'm staying near Ullapool for the week arriving on 28th March and I was wondering if anyone would be up for a mission to make perfume?

xxKateFish

Comments

[wikkidraven.livejournal.com]

ugh this sounds so interesting, but i'm not sure if i can make it. *grr*

[la-colere.livejournal.com]

HAH HAH HAH! SOMEONE HAS DISCOVERED MY SECRET! (I've been silently holding and petting and whispering to Aroma Sciences for YEARS NOW but never got around to ordering samples since my bank account funds are in $ rather than £.) Please do tell us how it goes, and how wonderful their "homegrown" perfumes are! I AM ALMOST LITERALLY DYING TO KNOW!

[bagfish.livejournal.com]

Ha, I thought you'd be up for a trip west from Aberdeen to make perfume ;-)

I can't wait to try the Bog Myrtle oils as I totally adore the scent.

[la-colere.livejournal.com]

I would if I could, sweetie, really! Unfortunately we don't own our own vehicle and after speaking to R's mother it seems Loch Ewe is a wee bit away from us. And to further complicate things we don't have a set sleeping schedule, so it's near impossible to book anything in the future because we just don't know where we'll be (sleepingwise) when the date rolls around.

But you WILL let us know how terrific and fantastic it was, right? (And MY HEART WAS TOTALLY SET ON ONE OF THEIR MYRTLES AS WELL!) And I'll do my bestest to organize a meet-and-sniff in Aberdeen on the 5th of April if that's when you'll be up. (We were thinking about pooling cash in and renting a room at the Travelodge on Union Street so we had a proper family suite to ourselves to cause havoc in while sniffing perfume and exchanging stories, that way I could bring a birthday cake and some drinks, and we could all later go out for a meal or high tea across the street to the tea room...)

In fact, R said that he thought the rooms at the same travelodge were only £19.00 to stay overnight on April 4th into the 5th, but I'm not sure if you'll have the dogs with you...?

[galenx.livejournal.com]

Hey - I'd be up for trying to find this place :)

[bagfish.livejournal.com]

Excellent, that would be fun!

If we want to go ahead with this, I reckon the weekend would be the best time to try and get there, so Saturday or Sunday (29th or 30th), the choice is yours. I think the best thing to do is arrange which day people would be interested, and then I could drop George Dodd an e-mail to say that there are a couple of other people interested and would he run a workshop for us. I would also like to make sure that anyone else going confirms directly with him about the details though, I'm crap at taking responsibility for stuff like this as I get really stressed!

[bagfish.livejournal.com]

Just to let you know, I'm planning on visiting the Aroma Science Perfumery on Saturday 29th. If you are still interested in making the trek, let me know!

[earnest-fervour.livejournal.com]

OH WOW. I had been thinking about perfumery courses and stuff a while back but everything worked out too expensive or too heavy a time commitment but this would be the perfect way to try it out.

So if there should end up being a workshop in that week I am definitely up for it, on any day apart from the 1st & 2nd April.

[bagfish.livejournal.com]

It's great that you're up for it!

I think if we want to go ahead with this, I reckon the weekend would be the best time to try and get there, so Saturday or Sunday (29th or 30th), the choice is yours and everyone else's who's on for it. I think the best thing to do is arrange which day people would be interested, and then I could drop George Dodd an e-mail to say that there are a couple of other people interested and would he run a workshop for us. I would also like to make sure that anyone else going confirms directly with him about the details though, I'm crap at taking responsibility for stuff like this as I get really stressed!

[bagfish.livejournal.com]

Just to let you know, I'm planning on visiting the Aroma Science Perfumery on Saturday 29th. If you are still interested in making the trek, let me know!

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

!! That sounds so awesome. And weirdly, I'm in St Andrews that weekend. Though I have no idea how I would get to this place.

[bagfish.livejournal.com]

Hmm, St Andrews being the direct opposite side of the country! Maybe there would be the chance of a lift with someone coming over from the east, but I imagine it would be a bit of a nightmare trying to get anywhere near by public transport.

[rachel2205.livejournal.com]

True, true. Sadly, that the closest I'm likely to come to that part of the world in some time! Boo. Ah well... It sounds really cool, though :D

[purplekylie22.livejournal.com]

I am totally in for this!

How much does it cost?

I have a friend who did this for her hen night, so she made her own wedding scent!

[bagfish.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds fab. There are no costs on the website at the moment, but the Guardian article from 2005 says £40 so we're probably looking at around about £50 now

[purplekylie22.livejournal.com]

As a note, if anyone else is interested in it, I think it would be ace if we could do it on the Saturday and who ever wants to could all arrive on the Friday night and we could all stay around the same place and get to know each other the night before? Or something like that.

personally wouldnt be able to do the above plan on the saturday night as my OH will have his kids on either the Saturday or Sunday (he can mostly fit around my plans) so If I was there Saturday would need to be home Saturday night or if I was Sunday I would have to be at home on Saturday until he is home - if you catch my meaning!

[bagfish.livejournal.com]

As I said to galenx and earnest_fervour above, I think the weekend is the best time to try and arrange something. Either day would be fine for me :-) I could drop George Dodd an e-mail to say that there are a few people interested and would he run a workshop for us. I would also like to make sure that anyone else going confirms directly with him about the details though, I'm crap at taking responsibility for stuff like this as I get really stressed!

I don't think I would be able to afford to stay nearby as me and my partner are already hiring a cottage about 40 miles away just north of Ullapool, so don't want to have to pay twice for accommodation, but I think it's such a cool idea for those who want to come over. The article about the place from the newspaper recommends somewhere to stay called Pool House (www.poolhousehotel.com).

So all we need now is a decision on which day would be best for people.

[earnest-fervour.livejournal.com]

Either day that weekend is good for me and, since I hadn't realised quite how VERY out of the way this place is and can't actually drive, I would definitely welcome purplekylie's staying over plan as it dramatically ups my chances of being able to catch a lift with someone! Although having had a quick look there do appear to be buses running nearby from Achnasheen which is linked by rail to Inverness so hopefully it wouldn't be impossible to manage without a lift, just a case of very careful planning!

I also came across a couple of other hotels nearby that we could look into
11 minutes drive: http://www.aultbeahotel.co.uk/
20 minutes drive: http://www.hotelaultbea.com/index.asp
about 35 minutes drive: http://www.poolewehotel.co.uk/

and early research indicates quite a plethora of cottages.

excitement!

[bagfish.livejournal.com]

Just to let you know, I'm planning on visiting the Aroma Science Perfumery on Saturday 29th. If you are still interested in making the trek, let me know!

[purplekylie22.livejournal.com]

Okay, ace, this had totally gone out of my head, I have a weekend away this weekend and I am soo excited I have forgotten everything else!

I shall let you know once I am thinking straight! :-)

[dormouseuk.livejournal.com]

Why oh why do I live the other end of the country. :(

If you guys get to do this have a wonderful time and tell me all about it when you get back! xx