Looking for a perfume workshop in Hanoi? NOTE – The Scent Lab at Lotte Mall Tay Ho offers a 90-minute hands-on experience where you create your own signature fragrance from scratch — guided by a trained workshop instructor, using professional-grade ingredients. No experience needed. You leave with a bottled perfume that’s uniquely yours — and a formula saved permanently so you can reorder anytime. This perfume workshop Hanoi guide covers everything you need to know.
Hanoi’s creative scene has exploded in the last few years — but most visitors stick to the same Old Quarter loop. Meanwhile, the Tay Ho (West Lake) district has quietly become the city’s most interesting cultural corridor. And inside Lotte Mall Tay Ho, tucked on the second floor, is one of the most talked-about experiences among travelers: a perfume workshop where you bottle your Vietnam journey into a scent you’ll wear long after you fly home.
This guide covers everything about the perfume workshop in Hanoi: what happens, where to find it, what to expect, and why hundreds of travelers have rated it 5 stars.
Where Is the Perfume Workshop in Hanoi?
The workshop is at NOTE – The Scent Lab, Store 410, 2nd Floor, Lotte Mall Tay Ho, on Vo Chi Cong Street in Tay Ho District.
The Lotte Mall studio is different from our Saigon space — sleek white counters instead of exposed brick, the hum of the mall outside instead of motorbikes. But the bottles are the same, and so is the quiet that falls when someone starts blending.
Getting There
- From the Old Quarter: 20-25 minutes by Grab/taxi (about 60,000-80,000 VND)
- From West Lake area: 5-10 minutes — the mall sits right on the edge of Tay Ho
- By bus: Route 25 or 55 stops near Lotte Mall
- Address: Store 410, 4F, Lotte Mall Tay Ho, 272 Vo Chi Cong, Phu Thuong, Tay Ho, Hanoi
Lotte Mall Tay Ho is Hanoi’s newest premium shopping destination — opened in late 2023, it’s a massive complex with dining, entertainment, and retail. The mall itself is worth exploring before or after your workshop.
Pop-Up Locations
NOTE occasionally hosts pop-up workshops at other Hanoi venues — cultural events, hotel partnerships, and seasonal markets. Follow @notethescentlab on Instagram for announcements. The Lotte Mall location, however, is the permanent home base with the full ingredient library and dedicated studio space.
What Happens During the Workshop?
The perfume workshop follows a five-stage arc over 90 minutes. Every session is intimate — your workshop instructor works with you personal or in a small group, adapting the pace to your curiosity.
Stage 1: Scent Education (15 minutes)
Your workshop instructor introduces you to the building blocks of perfumery. You’ll learn about top notes (the first impression — citrus, herbs, light florals), heart notes (the character — richer florals, spices, aromatics), and base notes (the lasting memory — woods, resins, musks, vanilla). You smell raw ingredients one by one, discovering what draws you in and what you instinctively reach for.
This isn’t a lecture — it’s a conversation. The workshop instructor reads your reactions, asks questions, and starts building a mental map of your preferences before you’ve even thought about blending.
Stage 2: Concept Design (15 minutes)
What story do you want your perfume to tell? A memory of morning mist over West Lake? The warmth of a Hanoi egg coffee on a cold day? The buzz of the Old Quarter at night? Your workshop instructor helps you translate an abstract feeling into a concrete fragrance direction.
This is the creative heart of the workshop — and the moment where every perfume diverges. Two people sitting at the same table, using the same ingredients, will create completely different scents because they’re encoding different stories.
Stage 3: Blending (30 minutes)
Using professional-grade essential oils and aromatic compounds, you build your perfume drop by drop. Your workshop instructor guides proportions and suggests unexpected combinations — “try adding a drop of Vietnamese cinnamon here, it’ll give warmth without heaviness” — but every final decision is yours.
This is the meditative part. The room goes quiet. You lose yourself in the process of creating something that didn’t exist 30 minutes ago.
“This is a not-to-miss experience! We enjoyed every moment. Vy was so helpful and taught us so much about scent pairing. I will do this again when I’m in Hanoi!”
Stage 4: Naming and Labeling (15 minutes)
You name your creation and write the label by hand. Some people name it after a place — “West Lake Morning.” Some after a person. Some after a feeling that only makes sense to them. The name becomes part of the artifact — a title for a bottled memory.
Stage 5: Bottling and Packaging (15 minutes)
Your perfume is sealed, packaged, and ready to carry. The formula is saved permanently in NOTE’s system — you can reorder anytime you return to Vietnam, or contact the team to have it reproduced.
Why Hanoi Is Special for Perfume Making
Vietnam has a deep aromatic heritage, and Hanoi sits at the heart of it. The northern provinces supply some of the world’s finest perfumery ingredients:
- Vietnamese cinnamon (Saigon cinnamon) — from northern Vietnam, it has the highest cinnamaldehyde content of any cinnamon variety. In your perfume, it adds warmth that feels like a Hanoi winter evening.
- Lotus — Vietnam’s national flower. Harvested from ponds around West Lake and the Mekong Delta, lotus absolute is extraordinarily rare and expensive. A single drop adds an ethereal, watery quality that’s unmistakably Vietnamese.
- Agarwood (oud) — Vietnam’s Central Highlands produce some of the world’s finest. The resin forms when Aquilaria trees are infected by a specific mold — a natural alchemy that takes decades.
- Vetiver — earthy, smoky, from the Central Highlands. A grounding base note that anchors complex blends.
- Lemongrass — sharp, clean, the scent of Vietnamese street food and countryside air.
When you make a perfume in Hanoi, you’re working with ingredients that grew in the soil of northern Vietnam. The terroir — the sense of place — becomes part of your creation. Your perfume doesn’t just smell good. It smells like here.
Who Is the Workshop For?
Everyone. The workshop is designed for complete beginners — you don’t need to know anything about perfumery. But it’s equally rewarding for fragrance enthusiasts who want to explore raw ingredients at a deeper level.
Couples
The most popular couple format is creating perfumes for each other — which requires paying attention to what your partner likes, a form of active care that deepens connection. Many couples describe it as the most meaningful activity of their Hanoi trip.
“Such a fun experience — learned so much about perfume and the staff were so patient and knowledgeable, especially Sophia. Now have a great keepsake from our Hanoi trip!”
Solo Travelers
Solo travel in Hanoi can be exhilarating but also relentless — the noise, the motorbikes, the constant sensory input. The workshop offers a rare pause: a quiet, focused 90 minutes where you sit in one place, work with your hands, and create something personal. Your workshop instructor is a companion, not a crowd.
Groups and Families
Group dynamics shift beautifully during the workshop. The education phase is social — everyone’s smelling, reacting, laughing. The blending phase goes quiet as each person enters their creative zone. The final phase is social again — comparing results, sharing stories about ingredient choices. This rhythm works for friend groups, families, and corporate teams.
Last-Day Travelers
Here’s a pattern the team sees constantly: travelers with a free afternoon on their last day in Hanoi. The first few days were packed — Old Quarter, Hoan Kiem Lake, temple visits, day trips to Ha Long Bay or Ninh Binh. By the final day, the schedule is loose. The 90-minute workshop fits perfectly — and gives you a chance to bottle your entire Vietnam journey into a single scent before you fly home.
“The staff is very informative and patient. I’m so proud of coming up the scent I really like even though it’s my first time. A must try in Hanoi.”
The Science Behind Scent and Memory
There’s a neuroscience reason why a perfume workshop feels more meaningful than most travel activities. Smell is the only sense that bypasses the thalamus and connects directly to the limbic system — the brain’s emotion and memory center. Scent signals travel to the olfactory bulb, which feeds directly into the hippocampus (memory formation) and the amygdala (emotional processing).
This is why a single whiff of cinnamon can transport you to a specific Hanoi morning. Why the smell of lemongrass replays a street food stall. Why a perfume made during your trip will involuntarily replay your Vietnam memories — vividly, emotionally — every time you spray it.
No other souvenir works this way. A photo requires you to look at it. A perfume ambushes you with memory when you least expect it. When you create a fragrance during your trip, you’re essentially encoding your travel memories into a scent that will replay them for months, even years.
What Makes NOTE Different from Other Workshops?
| Factor | NOTE – The Scent Lab | Typical Workshop |
|---|---|---|
| Guidance | with trained workshop instructor | Group instruction, limited personal attention |
| Ingredients | 50-100+ professional-grade materials including Vietnamese specialties | 8-20 pre-selected fragrance oils |
| Duration | 90 minutes of focused creation | 30-60 minutes |
| Formula saved | Yes — permanently. Reorder anytime. | Rarely |
| Reviews | 4.9 stars from 500+ reviews | Variable |
| Education depth | You learn why scents work together | Surface-level, recipe-based |
| Result quality | Wearable, lasting, professional | Variable — often unbalanced |
The workshop instructors at NOTE have formal fragrance training. They don’t just guide you through a formula — they teach you the principles of composition, read your preferences in real time, and help you create something that genuinely reflects your taste. The difference shows in the reviews.
“We did a perfume workshop with Vy and it was lovely. She’s very knowledgeable, kind, and helpful. I’m so happy with how my perfume turned out!”
Practical Information
Duration
90 minutes. Arrive 5 minutes early so you can settle in.
Pricing
All materials included — no hidden costs. The experience typically costs less than a single bottle of niche perfume from a department store, and you leave with something no store can offer: a fragrance that’s entirely yours. Check current pricing here.
Booking
Book online at workshop.thescentnote.com/book. Pay online to secure your slot — walk-ins are welcome but availability depends on the day. Groups of 4+ should book at least 24 hours ahead.
What to Bring
Nothing. All materials, ingredients, bottles, and packaging are provided. Just bring yourself (and an open mind about what scents you might discover you love).
Languages
The workshop is conducted in English and Vietnamese. Scent is a universal language — the hands-on format makes communication easy regardless of your first language.
Opening Hours
NOTE at Lotte Mall Tay Ho follows mall hours. Sessions are available throughout the day — check the booking page for available time slots.
Combining the Workshop with Your Hanoi Itinerary
Lotte Mall Tay Ho sits in the Tay Ho (West Lake) district — one of Hanoi’s most beautiful and livable neighborhoods. Here’s how to build a half-day around the workshop:
Morning Combo
- 9:00 AM — Walk around West Lake. The morning light on the water is stunning, especially on misty days.
- 10:00 AM — Egg coffee at a lakeside cafe. Hanoi invented this drink — thick, sweet, almost dessert-like.
- 11:00 AM — Perfume workshop at Lotte Mall Tay Ho (90 minutes)
- 12:30 PM — Lunch at one of the restaurants inside Lotte Mall or in the Tay Ho neighborhood
Afternoon Combo
- 1:00 PM — Explore Tay Ho neighborhood — galleries, cafes, the expat food scene
- 2:30 PM — Perfume workshop at Lotte Mall Tay Ho
- 4:00 PM — Sunset over West Lake — one of Hanoi’s most peaceful moments
- 5:30 PM — Dinner in Tay Ho or head back to the Old Quarter
Last-Day Plan
- Loose morning — pack, check out, store luggage
- Early afternoon — 90-minute perfume workshop (bottle your Vietnam memories)
- Late afternoon — final meal, head to Noi Bai Airport
About Lotte Mall Tay Ho
Lotte Mall Tay Ho opened in late 2023 as Hanoi’s largest mall complex, covering over 350,000 square meters. It’s not just shopping — the complex includes an aquarium, observation deck, cinema, and dozens of dining options from Vietnamese street food to Japanese, Korean, and Western cuisine.
For travelers, Lotte Mall is a welcome contrast to the intensity of the Old Quarter. Air-conditioned, well-organized, and easy to navigate — it’s a chance to recharge between adventures. The perfume workshop at NOTE sits on the 2nd floor, in a dedicated studio space designed for creative focus.
NOTE’s Other Locations
If your Hanoi schedule doesn’t work out, NOTE has two additional locations in Ho Chi Minh City:
- Flagship Store — 34 Nguyen Duy Hieu, Thao Dien, District 2: The original location. Spacious studio with natural light, in the heart of Saigon’s creative district.
- Cafe Apartment — 42 Nguyen Hue, District 1: Inside Saigon’s iconic Cafe Apartment building. A favorite among travelers who discover it while exploring the building’s famous cafes.
Same quality, same trained workshop instructors, same formula-saving system. The experience is consistent across all locations.
Not traveling to Vietnam? Browse NOTE’s ready-made collection — crafted from the same Vietnamese ingredients used in the workshops.
What Travelers Say About the Hanoi Workshop
“Creating your own signature perfume is just such a nice and unique experience. Vy guided us through the process and was a very lovely person. I would recommend this to everyone who loves perfumes or needs a gift for a loved one.”
“Vy gave us a great experience. I learned so much about making perfume and how the notes work together. Now I have a signature scent.”
“What a cool class! I learned about what I like and don’t like as well as how to build a perfume. Making my own was really cool.”
“Das was very informative and intuitive. Vy too, who was very helpful. The range of scents and instruction was great for a first timer like me!”
“I wandered in — I was actually looking for a different store, but the ambiance was so nice I decided to just do the fragrance workshop. Vy and Sofia were very patient and helpful.”
Ready to create your signature scent in Hanoi?
90 minutes. Professional ingredients. A scent that’s uniquely yours. Store 410, Lotte Mall Tay Ho.
Lotte Mall Tay Ho · West Lake · 4.9★ from 500+ reviews
Find us: TripAdvisor · Instagram · Facebook
Related Reading
- What Is a Perfume Making Workshop? Everything You Need to Know
- Why a Custom Perfume Is the Best Vietnam Souvenir
- The 90-Minute Workshop Experience
- What 500+ Travelers Say About the Workshop
Further reading: International Fragrance Association (IFRA) | Wikipedia — Perfume
How to find us at Lotte Mall West Lake, Hanoi (4th floor):
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is the perfume workshop in Hanoi?
NOTE – The Scent Lab is at Store 410, 2nd Floor, Lotte Mall Tay Ho, 272 Vo Chi Cong, Tay Ho District, Hanoi. It’s about 20-25 minutes from the Old Quarter by Grab.
How long does the perfume workshop take?
90 minutes. The session includes scent education, concept design, blending, naming, and bottling.
Do I need to book in advance?
Booking online at workshop.thescentnote.com/book is recommended, especially on weekends. Walk-ins are welcome if slots are available.
Do I need any perfume experience?
No. The workshop is designed for complete beginners. Your workshop instructor teaches you everything from understanding fragrance notes to blending and bottling.
What language is the workshop in?
English and Vietnamese. The hands-on format makes communication easy — scent is a universal language.
Can I reorder my perfume later?
Yes. Your formula is saved permanently. You can reorder anytime you return to Vietnam or contact NOTE directly.
Is it suitable for couples?
Very much so. The most popular couple format is creating perfumes for each other. Many couples rate it as their favorite Hanoi activity.
How much does the perfume workshop cost?
All materials are included — no hidden costs. Check current pricing here. The experience costs less than a single bottle of niche perfume, and you leave with something no store can sell: a fragrance that’s entirely yours.
Is the workshop good for a group or team?
Yes. Groups of 4+ should book at least 24 hours ahead. It works well for friend groups, corporate teams, and family outings.
What do I take home?
A bottled perfume with a hand-written label and your chosen name. Your formula is saved permanently. All packaging is included.
