If passing through the perfume section of Macy’s without spritzing yourself with a few free samples seems unthinkable, if your bathroom sink is cluttered with old perfume bottles (because that Britney Spears perfume may smell like liquified cotton candy, but you’ll be damned if you toss anything you spent your hard-earned allowance money on), and if you can’t walk into Bath & Body Works without impulse buying seasonally scented lotions – then congratulations, you’re a fragrance junkie.  Welcome to the club!

Luckily for us fragrance lovers in Chicago, there’s a place called the Aroma Workshop to call home.  The Aroma Workshop is the perfect blend between chemistry and artistry where you can create your own custom perfume that is unique to you!  The walls are lined with fragrance oils from four different categories: citrus, floral, fruity, and mysterious.   The lovely employees at the store will ask you to smell about thirty different oils and then pick out ten that you love. From there, you begin to mix and match until you find the combination that is perfectly you! Once you name your signature scent they’ll even keep it on file so you can stock up on more or even add your perfume to their unscented lotions, body washes, etc.  This experience is not only adorably fun, but a very personal expression of who you are.

Audrey Harrington, just one of their passionate & knowledgable employees, beautifully explains the sentiment of the Aroma Workshop as “the most interesting way of making someone feel special”, and it’s easy to see why.  Not very many fun activities are quite as intimate as this one.  “The certain smells a person likes can really reflect their personality.  For example, a very energetic and upbeat person will probably like fresh, fruity scents.” She continues, “Your perfume speaks to you.  Every note is of something you love.  Everyone is so different.”

The Aroma Workshop is a sweet, lighthearted way to spend the afternoon and the product isn’t something you can get anywhere else.  They also offer house blends and aromatherapy, and offer “scent events” where you & your friends can have the whole store to yourselves.  So indulge your sense of smell and, for the love of perfume, check out the Aroma Workshop!

Roger