Unique Fragrance lets you design your own perfume

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Unique Fragrance, a website that allows you to design and blend your own custom fragrance online. Well, I tried it out.

I won't go into all the how-to's, although they are very simple, because they are documented here. Suffice it to say, once you go to the website, you choose "Design your Own Now." From there, it walks you through several questions and you have to make a few decisions. The process takes just a few minutes.

For instance, the first question asks you to describe your style of scent. The choices are:

1. Casual - You like natural freshness with lemon accents.
2. Feminine - You prefer warm notes, a powdery and aromatic fragrance with floral highlights.
3. Glamorous - You like scents with timeless natural essences, fruity notes mixed with exotic; a sweet floral scent.
4. Sensual - You enjoy nights out; oriental notes; a combination of floral and fruity.
5. Natural - You prefer an everyday perfume with aromatic natural notes and fresh accents; warm and energetic.

While I like all of these, depending on the situation, I had to choose one, so I went with Casual.

Copyright Unique Fragrance

Next, it asks what type of scents you prefer:

• Fruity - raspberry mango and coconut, perfect for summer.
• Natural - mint meets tart; think of sweet green tea
• Fresh - fruity and tart notes like apple blossom and cedar; perfect for daytime or a refreshment after sports
• Citrus - pineapple and orange blossom; perfect for every day
• Mediterranean - oranges to roses 
• Extravagant - green tea and iris, sweet-tart bouquets

Copyright Unique Fragrance

Again, they all are scents I enjoy (I secretly really want to know what "Extravagant" smells like), but I narrowed down my choice to Natural.

Then, you get to choose up to six different ingredients. The website recommends 11 based on the answers you provided to the previous questions, but it really gives you 50 scents to choose from. I stuck to the 11 they recommended to avoid combining scents that should never be combined and from those, I chose five:

• Sicily Lemon
• Bourbon Vanilla
• Tangerine
• White Musk
• White Jasmine

That's it!

Now, you get to choose your bottle shape and size. Prices start at $69.90 for 1.7 fl. oz. in short or tall bottles in a variety of shapes. I chose the Falcon Bordeau with a snazzy red cap. The most expensive option is $189.90.

Copyright Unique Fragrance

Lastly, you get to name your perfume. You get two lines for your text and a maximum of 18 characters. You also have the option to upload a photo or choose from three illustrated designs if you want more than text on your bottle. You also get a choice of six different fonts for the copy.

My unique fragrance arrived in just two weeks. It came in a shipping box with crinkle cut black shredded paper, making an attractive presentation.

The perfume bottle was packaged in a black gift bag, suitable for giving.

Inside the bag, the bottle is wrapped in black tissue paper and tied with a black fabric ribbon.

I love my finished fragrance. It has a unique scent, unlike anything else in my perfume collection, and I think I'll be enjoying it very much for years to come.

Bottom Line: It may be rather hard to answer these questions if you were doing it for someone else. It was hard enough answering some of the questions for me because all the choices were something I'd gravitate to; choosing just one, wasn't easy. That said, I would definitely try it again and if I knew the person I wanted to gift a fragrance to well enough, it might be easy to narrow down the choices. If nothing else, it is a pretty unique gift that anyone would be sure to appreciate.

To read more about Unique Fragrance, click here.