Why Tourists Love Local Experiences
In the rise of tourism, as travel is more accessible than ever, a powerful trend has emerged: a deep, passionate pursuit of local experiences. This shift is driven by the desire to move beyond passive sightseeing and forge a genuine, memorable connection with the destination. Modern travelers, especially millennials and Gen Z, are increasingly dissatisfied with the superficiality of simply ticking major landmarks off a bucket list. They seek what feels “real.” This means eating at a family-run restaurant where the recipe is passed from one generation to another, rather than at an international hotel; buying handmade souvenirs from a village artisan instead of mass-produced souvenirs from an airport shop; and joining a custom perfume workshop to learn a traditional craft that reveals the essence of local culture.
This is the new motto for the Age of travelling: People now value experiences over possessions. A local experience isn’t just something you do, it’s a story you collect and a skill you gain. In the age of social media, travelers crave unique content and stories to share. A generic photo in front of a monument is nice enough; however, a picture of one crafting a lantern in Hoi An or learning to cook banh xeo in a local’s home is unique, engaging, and sparks conversation. It transforms a tourist from a passive observer into an active participant within the new environment and culture. Travel is now seen as a form of self-development and cultural exchange. Tourists want to understand the “soul” of a place, from its people, their rhythms, their traditions, and their daily lives. Within this need to experience the very essence of a place, NOTE – The Scent Lab is a perfect option: an interactive, educational memory that is deeply personal and tied to the place that the foreigners visited.
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Capture the Essence of Your Journey - A local gift from Vietnam
Let’s move beyond generic souvenirs and discover the most evocative keepsake of all: scent. Instead of purchasing a mass-produced perfume, you can craft a custom fragrance that uniquely captures your memory of Vietnam: a wearable, lasting reminder of your journey. For the traveler seeking a truly unique keepsake, NOTE – The Scent Lab is the must-go destination to capture the essence of your Vietnamese adventure. Move beyond typical souvenirs and immerse yourself in a custom perfume workshop, where you’ll transform your most cherished memories into a personal, wearable fragrance, all bottled for you to take home.
Why Scent is the Ultimate Travel Souvenir
Scent is the most powerful trigger of memory because it is uniquely hardwired to our brains. Unlike our other senses, the olfactory nerve connects directly to the limbic system: the core center for emotion and memory. This is why a single, fleeting fragrance can instantly transport you back to a specific moment in time, evoking emotions more vividly than any picture or sound ever could.
A custom perfume is not just sharing the same standard to collect as souvenirs like keychains, postcards, but also brings a deeper connection to one’s experience. A scent is intangible, personal, and used daily, constantly transporting you back. Move beyond typical trinkets like keychains and postcards that sit on a shelf for the sake of decoration. A custom perfume is the intangible, personal souvenir you don’t just display, but you wear it – daily, weekly, occasionally. Unlike a forgotten magnet, this evocative scent becomes a part of your daily ritual, offering a fleeting yet powerful escape back to the vibrant streets and serene landscapes of Vietnam with every single spray.
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NOTE – The Scent Lab offers more than a workshop to tourists and travellers. As you explore your own scent with personalized perfume, the process itself becomes a memory, creating a strong connection between the product and the customer. This is more than a workshop, it’s a journey of olfactory self-discovery where you create a personalized perfume that is uniquely yours. The intimate, hands-on process of blending scents becomes a cherished memory in itself, transforming the final product from a mere souvenir into a tangible story: a beautiful, wearable reminder of the moment you crafted it.
At NOTE – The Scent Lab’s custom perfume workshop, you can have the opportunity to “paint” a sensory painting. Imagine a fragrance that does more than just smell pleasant: it captures the rich, dark intensity of Vietnamese coffee brewing at a bustling Hanoi café, the petrichor of a warm rain cooling ancient stone streets in Hue, the crisp, salty breeze sweeping over the shores of Da Nang, and the serene, smoky sandalwood lingering within a quiet pagoda. This is the power of a scent souvenir, it doesn’t just remind you of a place, it instantly transports you back to its most defining moments.
The beauty of this hand-made perfume does not lie only in its scent but in its value to the one who receives. This is not only for you, but your friends and family as a meaningful gift from Vietnam. Don’t just bring home a souvenir for yourself, but bring a piece of your journey home for your loved ones. A custom-crafted perfume is the ultimate meaningful gift from Vietnam, it’s far more personal than a typical trinket. It’s a thoughtful, luxurious present that tells a story they can wear, offering a beautiful and lasting reminder of your adventure.
This custom perfume workshop is also more than just an exploratory experience, elevating your celebration beyond the ordinary! Whether it’s a milestone birthday or an unforgettable bachelor or bachelorette party, NOTE’s custom perfume workshop offers a uniquely creative and interactive experience. It’s the perfect way to create lasting memories, bond with your closest friends, to not only learn more about yourself but also your loved ones: What are their favourite scents? How does the ingredient reflect their personality? At the end of this exciting event, everyone will bring home a luxurious, personalized signature scent, along with a memorable bonding moment between friends and families: a far more meaningful memento than a typical night out.
Meet Your Guide: NOTE - The Scent Lab
Let’s get to know more about this local business with the ambition to ensure every tourist’s satisfaction. In order to fulfill your experiences in the custom perfume workshop: NOTE – The Scent Lab honors to introduce their passionate and professional staff with their philosophy of a better pursuit for the world of fragrance. NOTE is a contemporary fragrance brand established in 2019 in Saigon by a team of art-science enthusiasts. NOTE offers unique workshops, scents, and products to enhance every aspect of your life: personal scent experiences, B2B services such as customized products and gifting, or choosing from a wide range of beautiful scented products. NOTE believes beautiful scents can create a joyful living.
Learn more about NOTE’s philosophy
At their heart, NOTE’s philosophy is built on a simple but powerful belief: every individual deserves a scent that is utterly and uniquely their own. The business passion is to move beyond mass-produced perfumes to guide every visitor in discovering and crafting a personal fragrance that resonates with one’s identity, memories, and essence, because your signature scent should be as one-of-a-kind as you are.
To get a closer look, NOTE’s knowledgeable Scent Consultants are more than just instructors: they are young and ambitious expert guides on every customer’s olfactory journey. With deep training and a passion for fragrance, they ensure a professional and educational experience, helping you navigate the world of scent to craft a perfume that is uniquely and authentically yours.
Learn more about NOTE’s staffs
What to Expect at Your Custom Perfume Workshop
Moving on to the whole process of NOTE’s workshop, the customer will surely enjoy such a mediation and interesting journey with a careful guide from the staff. Coming to the custom perfume workshop at NOTE – The Scent Lab, the customer will enjoy a warm welcome from the staff within the cozy space for creativity and meditation.
Step 1: A warm welcome – the staff will professionally introduce the diverse resources of perfume making scent, more than 30 scent essences that promise to fulfill the need to explore the fragrance world of the customer. This step is a get-to-know-you about the aim and a glimpse of the whole workshop, creating an intimate atmosphere between you and your scent guide.
Step 2: The Scent Journey: Through the detailed consultation process, the staff will guide you to discover your scent preferences that match the most with your interests through a personality test and introduce the four main groups of scent within the Fragnant Wheel. This is a journey of self-discovery, during which you have the chance to learn more about how perfume highlights your personality and interests.
Step 3: The Creation. Explain the hands-on fun: from learning the perfume pyramid (Top, Middle, Base notes) to using lab tools (beakers, pipettes), you will enjoy the process of carefully blending drops to create a harmonious formula, experimenting with the blended scent, and adjusting the formula for yourself.
Step 4: Bottling Your Memory. The final, satisfying step is pouring your creation into a beautiful, personalized bottle, naming it (e.g., “Hanoi Sunset,” “Mekong Mist”), and bringing it back to your home country. This is not only projecting your own dedication to the work but also reflects your unique “Self” from all the scent that is embedded in your own perfume bottle.
Capture Vietnam in a Bottle: Scent Inspiration for Your Formula
A notable fact about NOTE – The Scent Lab’s custom perfume workshop is that every bottle of essence is “freshly” prepared for the customer. In the traditional process of perfume making, after mixing the ingredients (essential oils, fixatives, alcohol…), the perfume mixture is left in a dark, sealed container for a period of time (which can range from several weeks to several months). But in this notable workshop, each bottle of perfume is hand-crafted, with fresh ingredients, and can be sold immediately after being mixed. In addition, they are at their best after maceration for a few weeks. This provides creative inspiration tailored to a traveler’s experience within a short period of time, so that you can fly back to your home with a freshly made perfume bottle.
If you are still searching for your idea of your memory in Vietnam, NOTE – The Scent Lab’s diverse set of scent essences can provide a scent that fully captures the very ‘soul’ of Vietnam
- The Bustling Energy of Saigon: evoked through the elegant Sen, warm Pink Peppercorn, and energetic Begarmot.
- The Timeless Nostalgia of Hanoi: Sweet and gentle Tuberose with the warm and religious scent of Amber, gentleness of Sandalwood.
- The Coastal Breeze of Nha Trang or Da Nang: can be evoked through the salty and fresh scent of Fig Tree, fresh Green note, and the mysterious Wet Amber.
Stories From Customer
alk enough about scent and workshop itself, to gain better trust from the potential customer, the story from the experienced visitors will be the best evidence as the measure of r service lies in the stories of customers shared. Time and again, travelers remember their time at NOTE – The Scent Lab as an unexpected highlight of their Vietnamese adventure. Reviews consistently praise the “incredibly knowledgeable and patient guides” who demystify the art of perfumery, making the creative process both accessible and deeply engaging. Many are astonished by how a custom perfume workshop could feel so immersive, noting it was “far more than a simple class—it was a moment of genuine connection and self-expression.” The greatest compliment that this local business receive, however, is when guests telling that the personalized fragrance they created has become their most treasured souvenir: a scent that doesn’t just remind them of Vietnam, but truly feels like a part of their own story, evoking memories more powerfully than any photograph ever could.
Receiving love and trust from a large community of scent lovers, NOTE – The Scent Lab are proud with their diverse collection of stories and memories from their customers. From a visitor came to create a perfume that signifies the feelings of a slight rain with moistured soil after the clouds faded away as a present for his loved one, to the couple who came to revoke the scent of their wedding days with sweet vanilla and fresh Fruity Murguet. This custom perfume workshop strongly promises to bring their customer not only a personal product but also a meaningful time to reflect on their experiences to make the most out of their feelings and interests.
In terms of recognition, it is proud and trust-worthy for you to know that NOTE – The Scent Lab have been recognized with a prestigious award from Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards 2025 as a testament to their commitment to providing exceptional experiences. This honor is especially meaningful as it is directly fueled by the positive feedback and heartfelt reviews from valued customers across various platforms. This contributes a lot not only to the reputation of the local business itself but also a reflection of all the love and trust from the customer to the business.
Find NOTE on TripAdvisor here
Ideal Spaces For Your Creativity
If you are already in love with making-perfume workshops, come to NOTE – The Scent Lab now! You can choose from multiple branches in the very heart of Vietnam’s two most vibrant cities: Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. Each location offers a uniquely curated atmosphere to match your style and make your day!
📍 34 Nguyen Duy Hieu, An Khanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh: Immerse yourself in a professional and dynamic lab room to organize your workshop with a friend group or your family. R Space provides a creative room with ingredients fully prepared for you and your friends. After the workshop, you can have a look at the R Parfums showroom’s collection of niche perfumes with elegant decoration and luxury setting or let’s have a refreshing drink from the R Cafe!
📍 42 Nguyen Hue Apartment, Sai Gon Ward, Ho Chi Minh: within the space of GOM Nicotine – a vintage creative coffee shop nestled within a classic apartment, where you can craft your scent with a cup of coffee and a stunning balcony view of the iconic Nguyen Hue walking street.
📍 Unit 410, 4th Floor, Lotte Mall Tay Ho, Hanoi: an exciting and modern space in the capital’s largest shopping center where you can have a shopping window session with friends and family or enjoy the view from this marverlous skyscraper.
No matter which you choose, each venue places you in the thrilling pulse of the city, making it the perfect creative escape for any traveler looking to capture the essence of Vietnam.
Duration And Flexibility For Custom Perfume Workshop
Worry that the workshop cannot fit into your full-of-plan schedule? The custom perfume workshop by NOTE is designed to fit seamlessly into your travel schedule, lasting approximately 1 to 2 hours. For those who wish to dive deep, the staff can provide a fascinating overview of the perfume-making art, ensuring the customers gain a true appreciation for the craft. However, if you’re short on time, it is ensure that the staff will happily streamline the experience and proceed directly to the hands-on fun of creating your unique scent.
Remember, traveller, this is your personalized takeaway: The best souvenir is one you create yourself. The workshop from NOTE – The Scent Lab will let you satisfied walk away with:
- A beautiful bottle of your custom-made signature perfume.
- Expert knowledge of the fragrance notes you selected and the formula to refill your own scent
- Your work is elegantly packaged, ready to be gifted or cherished as the perfect wearable memory of your time in Vietnam.
Your Scented Story Awaits
In essence, NOTE’s custom perfume workshop is far more than just a workshop, it is your opportunity to distill the energy, beauty, and emotion of Vietnam into a personal, wearable memory. Long after your trip ends, a single spray will bring back the vivid sensations of your journey with stunning clarity.
So, what will your memory of Vietnam smell like?
Explore your signature
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