An enticing east London space dedicated to bespoke fragrances

Create a signature scent at the Experimental Perfume Club

With all its talk of noses and notes, the world of perfumery can appear rather intimidating, and something of a closed shop. But Emmanuelle Moeglin, who trained with Annick Goutal nose Isabelle Doyen and master perfumer Rosendo Mateu, intends to open it up to the public at her inviting new micro-perfumery in east London, the Experimental Perfume Club. “The space was born out of a desire to help people access the behind-the-scenes world of a product that everybody uses but not many know much about,” says Moeglin. “I wanted to show how exciting and exploratory scent can be.”

Moeglin has worked with perfume maestros like Isabelle Doyen and Rosendo Mateu

Key to this aim is Moeglin’s bespoke service (£350), which challenges clients to rediscover their sense of smell, discussing their likes, dislikes and emotional reactions to ingredients – of which “we have around 120 to draw from”. Clients bring their existing fragrances with them and Moeglin profiles their tastes, asking questions about what they currently wear, or have worn. “After the smelling session I ask clients to write or draw their brief,” she says, adding that with about 500 previous clients she has seen a huge variety. “One male customer had lived in the UK for many years but was originally from the west coast of America. His brief was of a road trip in California, driving along the coast, evoking the atmosphere of the sea, the minerals in the air, the herbs that grow by the road. Another client drew an amazing picture of a woman wearing a big fur coat and smoking a cigarette. She wanted to create an over-the-top-fragrance and came up with a mix of ingredients that included leather, tobacco, rose and violet; it worked perfectly.”

After a three-hour session, clients will have a scent made from scratch that is completely tailored to them

Each session lasts three hours, at the end of which the client and perfumer will have created a fragrance together from scratch, with the final scent chosen after two or three tweaks. “We get deep into the science and meaning of perfume,” says Moeglin, “but I also encourage people to play with scent and use their instincts.”