If you’re after a unique souvenir to commemorate your travels to Japan, look no further than a customised perfume from My Only Fragrance!

Visiting My Only Fragrance was one of our favourite activities that we did in Japan - here’s everything you need to know about making your own fragrance. 

My Only Fragrance is a small fragrance shop located in the Gion district of Kyoto. The store has a minimalist interior filled with shelves of different scents. This place is English friendly so don’t worry if your Japanese isn’t the best.

Picking Your Scents

When you arrive, you will have a designated scent maker who will take you through the process of creating your own perfume. To begin, you will go through all of the scents available of the wall and pick out your favourites. The scents are labelled with numbers rather than actual names, so you don’t have any biases and pick out your favourites based on the actual smell rather than what names you might favour. I went for a floral vibe while Alex went for a more fresh scent 

Once you confirm the scents you like, your scent maker will spray samples onto paper so you can see what they smell like combined. At this point you can swap out scents to make sure you will like the final product!

Picking Scent Percentages

Once you are happy with your chosen scents, you will need to decide of the percentages for your perfume. It is recommended to have an even spread of between 10-40% per scent. 3 scents are included in the base price, however we opted to add an extra premium scent for 4 scents in total.  

Mixing Your Perfume

When you have your scents and percentages confirmed, the scent maker will get into creating your perfume! It was so cool to watch the scents being mixed in front of us. The standard price includes eau de toilette strength, but you can upgrade to eau de parfum strength if you like - that’s what we did. You also get to choose between a gold or silver cap for your perfume bottle. 

Customised Label

You also get to name your perfume and it comes with a customised label too, so make sure you have some ideas for a name before you arrive! Even with all the upgrades, our perfumes still came in at under $100 each which was super affordable for a customised product. 

Conclusion

Overall we had such a fun experience at My Only Fragrance, we would recommend visiting and making your own perfume if you are in Kyoto! Bookings are necessary - you can book through LINE or message on Instagram. 

My Only Fragrance also has a shop in Nagoya too if you are visiting on your travels!

My Only Fragrance
Japan, 〒605-0827 Kyoto, Higashiyama Ward, 清水寺門前産寧坂 清水3-348
https://myonlyfragrance.com/

Still Hungry? Check out some of our other posts:
Japan Travel Tips 2022: 5 Things to Know Before You Visit!
Osaka Food Tour - Japanese food around Namba, Dotonburi, Shinsekai & Sonezaki