Create a Bespoke Perfume
That Tells Your Unique Story
From inspiration to bottle, craft a fragrance that’s truly yours, and relive your Vietnam journey with every breath at our hands-on Perfume Workshop in Hanoi by NOTE – The Scent Lab.
About the Experience
Explore unique bespoke perfume workshop to take home your own scent
Bottle the Spirit of the Capital — Take Home a Piece of Hanoi
A perfume workshop is a hands-on session where you create your own fragrance. Guided by expert perfumers, you explore scents, blend your favorite notes, and bottle a personalized perfume to take home – a creative, cultural experience and a unique souvenir for travelers.
Perfume Ingredients
Unlock your signature scent with over 30 curated notes, designed for you to mix & match your way.
4 Sizes — Hanoi Carry-On Friendly
Available from 10ml to 50ml — all under TSA carry-on limit, perfect for flying out of Noi Bai or onward to Ha Long, Sapa, or Ninh Binh.
Customers since 2018
Over 8,000 people have turned their scent ideas into reality at our workshops.
About the Experience
Explore unique bespoke perfume workshop to take home your own scent
Bottle the Spirit of the Capital — Take Home a Piece of Hanoi
A perfume workshop is a hands-on session where you create your own fragrance. Guided by expert perfumers, you explore scents, blend your favorite notes, and bottle a personalized perfume to take home – a creative, cultural experience and a unique souvenir for travelers.
Perfume Ingredients
Unlock your signature scent with over 30 curated notes, designed for you to mix & match your way.
4 Sizes — Hanoi Carry-On Friendly
Available from 10ml to 50ml — all under TSA carry-on limit, perfect for flying out of Noi Bai or onward to Ha Long, Sapa, or Ninh Binh.
Customers since 2018
Over 8,000 people have turned their scent ideas into reality at our workshops.
Perfume Workshop Flow
Perfume Workshop Flow
Capture Hanoi in scent
From inspiration to creation, the perfume-making process is a journey of the senses. You will explore the world of fragrance, define your personal style, craft your own formula, and bring home a scent that is uniquely yours.
Highly recommended Hanoi fragrance workshop at Lotte Mall West Lake — our instructor was wonderful and knowledgeable, the products all top quality, and the fragrances suit both men and women. Nothing is rushed.
Curious to explore, create, and experience the art of fragrance
For Hanoi's Fragrance Enthusiasts & First-Time Visitors
An ideal Hanoi experience for DIY lovers and creatives — set inside Lotte Mall West Lake, where every scent carries a piece of the capital's slower, lake-side rhythm.
First Time at a Hanoi Perfume Workshop? Start Here.
Whether you have just arrived in Hanoi or you call the capital home, our Lotte Mall West Lake instructors guide every beginner from first sniff to finished bottle.
For Every Hanoi Visitor & Local Curious About Scent
Whether you are a seasoned scent lover or an amateur just beginning to explore the world of perfume.
Discover the passion and expertise behind every note as your guide leads you through the art of fragrance creation.
Phi Long
Instructor (Ho Chi Minh)
Hoang Yen
Instructor (Ho Chi Minh)
Tra Giang
Instructor (Hanoi)
Let’s take a look at the memorable moments at our Perfume Workshop in Hanoi.
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At NOTE Hanoi, fragrance carries the capital's quiet — West Lake mornings, Old Quarter lanes, autumn fog over the lake. Step into our Lotte Mall studio and craft a scent that holds your Hanoi trip in a single bottle.
Step away from Old Quarter buzz or West Lake breezes and into a quiet, soulful Hanoi hour — memory, art, and identity all bottled by your own hand.
Stories from Hanoi Workshop Guests
Hanoi moments that fragrance has transformed — West Lake mornings, Old Quarter strolls, and personal stories that linger long after the scent fades.
Did this workshop before in 2022 with family, and I enjoyed it a lot. Came back 3 years later and it only improved! It is a relaxing atmosphere, and our instructor explained the information in English really well. Highly recommend for visitors who want a hands-on creative break.
Flexible and unlimited access to a wide range of perfume ingredients
Flexible and unlimited access to a wide range of perfume ingredients
Suitable for customer wanting to make a long-lasting perfume product
Flexible and unlimited access to a wide range of perfume ingredients
Flexible and unlimited access to a wide range of perfume ingredients
Suitable for customer wanting to make a long-lasting perfume product
Include
Include
Our stories
Echo your Spirits
At NOTE, every fragrance is a story whispered in scent, reflecting your emotions and individuality.
New to Saigon? 15 top attractions from Notre-Dame to Ben Thanh — a first-time tourist map with one perfume lab locals love. Updated 2026.
First-time in Hanoi? 15 iconic landmarks from Hoan Kiem to West Lake — with a perfume lab Tay Ho locals love. Updated 2026 tourist map.
Can Tho tropical fruit at Cai Rang dawn — 8 Mekong scent notes from durian to Ben Tre coconut, bottled at NOTE workshop. Book today.
Can Tho to Saigon last day plan: sunrise floating market, 4-hour Mien Tay bus, then a 90-minute NOTE perfume workshop in District 1 before flight.
Can Tho Mekong Delta hidden gems beyond Cai Rang: Phong Dien canals, Binh Thuy 150-year house, fruit orchards. Bottle it at NOTE Saigon.
Cai Rang floating market sunrise guide 2026: 5am pickup, boat hire price, Phong Dien comparison, breakfast on boat. Pair with NOTE Saigon workshop.
Visit Phu Quoc pepper farm trio Khu Tuong, Suoi Da & Hai Duong in 2026 — red, green, black peppercorn tasting + scent palette tie at NOTE workshop.
Phu Quoc fish sauce factory tour 2026 — 4 island houses, 4 grades, EU PDO heritage. Scent-story of Vietnam's umami island, bottled at NOTE workshop.
Phu Quoc hidden gems beyond the resort — Khu Tuong pepper farms, Ham Ninh village, fish sauce barns, secret beaches. End the trip in Saigon at NOTE.
Cat Ba Island itinerary 2026 — 3-day Ha Long route, Cat Ba National Park trek, Lan Ha Bay kayak, Monkey Island, Hai Phong ferry. Pair with NOTE Hanoi.
Our stories
Echo your Spirits
At NOTE, every fragrance is a story whispered in scent, reflecting your emotions and individuality.
New to Saigon? 15 top attractions from Notre-Dame to Ben Thanh — a first-time tourist map with one perfume lab locals love. Updated 2026.
First-time in Hanoi? 15 iconic landmarks from Hoan Kiem to West Lake — with a perfume lab Tay Ho locals love. Updated 2026 tourist map.
Can Tho tropical fruit at Cai Rang dawn — 8 Mekong scent notes from durian to Ben Tre coconut, bottled at NOTE workshop. Book today.
Can Tho to Saigon last day plan: sunrise floating market, 4-hour Mien Tay bus, then a 90-minute NOTE perfume workshop in District 1 before flight.
New to Saigon? 15 top attractions from Notre-Dame to Ben Thanh — a first-time tourist map with one perfume lab locals love. Updated 2026.
First-time in Hanoi? 15 iconic landmarks from Hoan Kiem to West Lake — with a perfume lab Tay Ho locals love. Updated 2026 tourist map.
Can Tho tropical fruit at Cai Rang dawn — 8 Mekong scent notes from durian to Ben Tre coconut, bottled at NOTE workshop. Book today.
Can Tho to Saigon last day plan: sunrise floating market, 4-hour Mien Tay bus, then a 90-minute NOTE perfume workshop in District 1 before flight.
Located on the 4th floor of Lotte Mall Tay Ho, NOTE – The Scent Lab draws many visitors to stop by and enjoy its unique DIY perfume workshop. It serves both as an ideal rest spot during a shopping trip and as a space to explore the art of fragrance with passionate instructors.
Getting to NOTE Hanoi — Lotte Mall West Lake Transit Guide
NOTE - The Scent Lab Hanoi sits on the 4th floor of Lotte Mall West Lake (Lotte Mall Tay Ho), 685 Lac Long Quan, Phu Thuong ward, Tay Ho district. The mall opened in 2023 and is one of the largest in Northern Vietnam, anchoring the West Lake skyline next to the Sheraton and InterContinental hotels.
From Hoan Kiem Old Quarter (the 36-streets tourist core), expect a 15-20 minute Grab ride costing roughly 90,000-120,000 VND in normal traffic. Avoid 7:30-9:00 AM and 5:00-7:00 PM rush windows when the trip can stretch to 35 minutes via Yen Phu causeway. Coming from West Lake's southern shore (Trấn Quốc Pagoda area), it is a flat 10-12 minute ride along the lake's eastern edge.
From Noi Bai International Airport, the mall is a 35-45 minute Grab transfer costing 350,000-450,000 VND, depending on whether the driver takes the Nhat Tan Bridge or the older Thang Long Bridge route. The bridge is a worthwhile sight in itself — Nhat Tan's six-pylon cable-stayed span lights up gold at night.
From Train Street (Phung Hung) — the famous twice-daily train alley in the Old Quarter — Lotte Mall is a 20-minute ride. We suggest pairing the 3:20 PM Train Street viewing with a 5:00 PM Hanoi workshop slot.
Free parking is available in the Lotte Mall basement (3 hours validated with your workshop receipt). The mall has direct access via Lieu Giai Street and Đào Tấn Street; both have wide pedestrian crossings. Bus #58 stops at the Lieu Giai-Đào Tấn intersection — a 200 m walk from the mall's main entrance.
Plan to arrive 30 minutes before your booking. The mall has a quiet 4th-floor corridor leading to the studio, and Lotte's signature Korean-style cafés on the same floor are a fine pre-workshop wind-down.
What to Do Near NOTE Hanoi — A Local's Lotte Mall & West Lake Map
Lotte Mall West Lake itself rewards exploration. The 6th-floor observation deck (admission 200,000 VND) gives a 360° view of West Lake and the Red River — best at golden hour. The 5F-6F Korean BBQ floor is a strong dinner option after a workshop, with views across the lake to the Old Quarter skyline.
Trấn Quốc Pagoda — Vietnam's oldest Buddhist temple, founded in the 6th century — sits at the southern tip of West Lake, a 12-minute ride from the studio. Visit before the workshop for a quiet, incense-scented contrast to the mall environment. May to September is lotus season on West Lake; the lake's edge fills with pink Nelumbo nucifera blooms — Hanoi's signature flower and a key ingredient in traditional sen tea.
Tay Ho district itself has become Hanoi's coffee-and-design quarter. Đặng Thai Mai Street and Quảng An Street host vintage coffee shops, slow-roast specialty cafés, and fashion concept stores. Hanoi-Ho Tay Cafe Apartment (a smaller cousin of Saigon's icon) is a 6-minute ride from Lotte.
For Old Quarter exploration, plan a half-day before or after your workshop. Hàng Mã Street (lantern street) is liveliest before traditional festivals; Hàng Hương — historically the incense merchants' street — connects directly to NOTE's fragrance heritage. Hoan Kiem Lake with Ngọc Sơn Temple is a 25-minute ride; the surrounding 36-streets are walkable.
Hanoi's culinary geography is dense: Cafe Giảng (39 Nguyen Huu Huan, Old Quarter) is the disputed birthplace of egg coffee — a 25-minute ride from Lotte; Bún chả Hương Liên (24 Le Van Huu) is the spot Anthony Bourdain shared with Barack Obama; Phở Thìn (13 Lò Đúc) serves the city's most assertive beef phở.
Cultural anchors close to West Lake include the Vietnamese Women's Museum, the Hanoi Opera House (French Quarter), Văn Miếu (Temple of Literature, 1070 AD), and the Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum complex. All are 15-25 minutes by Grab from Lotte. If you have a full free afternoon, the West Lake 17 km circumference loop is rideable by bicycle in 90 minutes — Lotte rents day-use bikes.
Why Hanoi for Perfume — A Northern Vietnam Fragrance Story
Hanoi gives the perfumer something Saigon cannot: four distinct seasons. Spring drizzle (March-May), humid summer rain (June-August), dry autumn breezes (September-November), and cold-dry winter (December-February) each pull different notes forward on the skin. A Hanoi perfume can shift its character across a single calendar — and the city's residents have always tuned their scents to the season.
Northern Vietnam's aromatic ingredient list reads like a forager's atlas: ginger from the limestone slopes of Hà Giang, cinnamon bark from Yên Bái, star anise from Lạng Sơn forests, lavender cultivated on the Sapa highlands, persimmon from Hanoi's autumn orchards, and lotus seeds and leaves harvested each summer from West Lake itself. Many of these notes appear, in IFRA-certified form, in the workshop's 30+ ingredient palette.
The lotus connection is the most direct. West Lake — visible from our 4th-floor studio window — is the source of Hanoi's most prized aromatic tradition: trà sen (lotus tea), made by stuffing green tea leaves inside lotus blossoms overnight to absorb the flower's perfume. This thousand-year practice is fragrance work. Crafting a perfume on the lake's edge is, in a small way, joining that lineage.
Hanoi's Old Quarter holds another clue. The 36 streets are named for the trades once practiced on them — Hàng Đường (sugar street), Hàng Bạc (silver), Hàng Vải (cotton). Hàng Hương is Incense Street, the historic incense and aromatic-resin merchants' district, just 25 minutes from the studio. Imperial Thăng Long court records describe ceremonial perfumes blended for the Vietnamese throne. NOTE Hanoi's workshop sits at the modern end of that 1,000-year merchant line.
Hanoi's pace also shapes the workshop. The capital moves slower than Saigon. Visitors here come for reflection — Old Quarter morning fog, autumn lake walks, the quiet of Văn Miếu. Our Hanoi instructor encourages a meditative formula-building rhythm: smell, pause, decide. The 90-120 minute session is paced to the city, not to the clock.
Climate-aware advice from our Hanoi-based instructor: in spring drizzle (March-May), formulas with sandalwood and musk last best — moisture amplifies the base notes. In autumn dry (September-November), citrus and floral top notes shine for hours without fading. In winter cold-dry (December-February), oriental and woody profiles deepen on the skin. Tropical citrus that dominates Saigon's blends often disappears within an hour in Hanoi winter — Northern wear calls for heart and base depth.
The Hanoi versus Saigon scent profile is real and the workshop respects it. Hanoi guests tend toward woody, oriental, smoky, and softly floral compositions — the city's mist, lakes, and old wood whispering through the formula. Saigon guests gravitate to fresh, citrus, aquatic, and tropical-floral compositions matching the year-round warmth. Same 30+ notes, same instructor expertise, two distinct geographies of the nose.
Travel Guides for Your Vietnam Trip
Plan your visit with these handpicked guides from NOTE - The Scent Lab.