Olfactory NYC — Local services in New York

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Love the personalized perfume making experience at Olfactory NYC on Bleecker Street! I visited the Greenwich Village fragrance studio yesterday for my bestie’s birthday because we wanted to try something fun and unique in NYC besides eating and drinking. After searching for “things to do in NYC” and “cute activities in NYC” I came across Olfactory NYC and it turned out to be the perfect choice.

The staff welcomed us right away and explained how the custom fragrance process works. I had a hard time choosing a base perfume because there were so many amazing options, but the team kindly asked about the kind of scent I usually wear and recommended a few to match my preferences. Once my friend and I picked our bases, we were paired with Jake, our incredible scentologist. Jake was not only super knowledgeable and passionate but also very patient and kind. He guided us through about eight scent variations that blended beautifully with our chosen bases. The way he described each fragrance with vivid and sophisticated illustrations made it easy to imagine how the perfume would smell and feel.

I wanted something soft, feminine, and elegant but not overly floral since I usually wear more gender-neutral perfumes like woody or musky. Jake helped me visualize exactly the right vibe. He patiently guided us as we narrowed it down to the final four scents and even helped brainstorm names for our custom perfumes. Once we made our choices, the staff personalized the bottles with name tags and gorgeous wrapping, making the whole experience feel luxe and memorable.

The session lasted under an hour and was the perfect NYC birthday activity. I walked away with a perfume that feels warm, sweet, and unique, truly my own bespoke cologne that nobody else has. The whole process was fun, creative, and special.

If you are looking for date ideas in NYC, birthday activities, girls’ night experiences, or thoughtful fragrance gifts I highly recommend Olfactory NYC. Huge thanks to Jake and the amazing staff for making this such an unforgettable experience. This is hands down one of the best unique things to do in...

Our visit to Olfactory NYC was a mix of fun and frustration. We went during the holidays and were excited for the immersive perfume-making experience. The creative part of blending and customizing scents was enjoyable, and we really liked the overall concept of building a fragrance that reflects our preferences. It was fun exploring the different scent options and putting something together that felt like our own.

That said, the experience felt less personalized than we expected. The process relied heavily on preselected scent bases and blends that are already created, which made it feel more like choosing from a menu than crafting something truly one of a kind. For as expensive as the experience is, the product should be more customizable. If it’s meant to be a truly personal scent, there should be more freedom to experiment and combine beyond what’s already been developed.

What really took away from the experience, though, was the long wait. We had a set appointment at a specific time but still ended up waiting over thirty minutes to be seated. I understand it was the holiday season, but if the space is overbooked, walk-ins should not be accepted. And if a group is running over, staff should be clear with waiting guests and start gently wrapping things up after a reasonable amount of time. There was no communication until I asked, and the lack of updates made it even more frustrating.

The location itself is small, and with the crowd, it became hot and stuffy inside. There was barely enough room to sit, and the seating that was available was uncomfortable and not plus size friendly. It felt like the space was not designed to accommodate the number of people they were trying to serve.

Thankfully, we did not have plans afterwards, but this experience left us disappointed. As much as we enjoyed the concept, we will not be returning to...

My rating would be higher if it wasn’t for one of the perfume attendants who took care of my friends and I. This experience is cool as it takes you through the process of building out your custom fragrance. But the attendant Alex dampened the experience from the beginning, yet my friends decided to stay and push through it since we chalked it up to personalities not meshing. He was not too helpful in providing guidance and helping in the process but he was knowledgeable of what each scent was. By the time the experience was coming to an end, his mood got worse, unprovoked. We don't know if he was annoyed by us or we took too long. By no means were my 2 friends and I disruptive or delaying the process( we were here an hour), or affecting others in the store and ruining their experience. We were asking questions to help guide us on all our final decisions so we could be happy with our result and almost $100 purchase. We all made purchases in the end. As we waited for our bottles to be made, and were processing our experience, we noticed the other customers were receiving such a higher quality experience. we felt jipped. Again, overall we like the concept but the actual experience was meh 😕

I do want to mention that I did talk to the manager as I was walking out as he wanted to know how our experience was. He was very receptive and apologetic and appreciated the feedback.

Again, the concept is great and I can tell other workers delivered great experiences but ours unfortunately wasn’t great due to the specific worker we...