The following list of essential tools and equipment will help you get started. We discuss this subject in detail during our perfumery courses and we’ll send you more information and recommendations when you sign up to one of our courses.

Fragrance blotters: Fragrance blotters, also called scent strips, smelling strips or mouillettes, are used for sampling odours and fragrances.

Digital scales: Scales that measure down to 0.01 g are essential for accurate measuring and to achieve professional results when blending perfume and reproducing blends (0.001 g is ideal but can be expensive and it’s not essential).

Glass beakers: Always use glass, ideally borosilicate glass. You’ll need a few 25-50 ml beakers; a couple of larger ones will also be useful.

Stirring rods: They should be made of glass so they can be washed and reused.

Pipettes: You’ll need pipettes to transfer liquids and raw materials from their bottles. Disposable ones are cheap (please recycle!); glass is more expensive but can be reused.

Bottles: To store dilutions, blends, trials and accords, and to package your final perfumes.

Plain caps and eye-droppers: To close the bottles in which you store your accords, trials, blends, etc., and for the dilutions you’ll be using as part of your course.

Small adhesive labels: To write and identify the contents of what’s inside the bottles! You wouldn’t believe how easy it is to forget this step.

Lab-quality filter paper and funnel: You’ll need both to filter perfumes and tinctures, and a funnel is very useful for pouring liquid from large containers into smaller ones without it spilling everywhere... We’ve all done this!

Protective clothing: Protective gloves, safety glasses, masks, etc. Some materials can permanently mark surfaces and clothes so you may also need some form of protective cover.

Metal spatulas and other tools: To work with powdered, hard, solid and waxy ingredients.

Magnetic stirrer and magnet bars: To help stubborn materials dissolve and mix well.

Of course, don’t forget the all-important pen and notebook to record everything you do!