Anguk, Seoul perfume workshop: two-bottle sea pine course at Muhwawon

Wanting to make the most of a Friday evening before a long weekend, we'd booked a date course in advance — we wanted to make a perfume for autumn, so we went to a perfume workshop to blend our own.

Where is Muhwawon Bukchon Perfume Workshop and what do the classes cost?

Muhwawon Perfume Workshop is a 5-minute walk from Anguk Station Exit 4 on Line 3. The experience classes start at ₩49,000 for a Premium Perfume 50ml.

• Location: 5-minute walk from Anguk Station Exit 4, Line 3
• Premium Perfume 50ml (₩49,000)
• Premium Car Diffuser 120ml (₩59,000)
• Premium Diffuser 230ml (₩69,000)
• Premium Perfume + Perfume (₩79,000)
• Premium Perfume + Car Diffuser (₩89,000)
• Premium Perfume + Diffuser (₩99,000)
• Premium Diffuser + Car Diffuser (₩109,000)
• Duration: about 1 hour 30 minutes allotted
• Reservation: Naver Reservation

We chose the Premium Perfume + Perfume (₩79,000) course.

What the Muhwawon studio looks like inside and out

Walking through the quiet streets near Anguk Station, you'll spot the Muhwawon sign like this.

Step inside and you find a space that's both Korean and clean-lined like this.

I was in awe from the moment we walked in. The space itself was so sensory that we got to enjoy the whole hour-plus of perfuming in a fragrant, clean-feeling mood. It blended so well with Bukchon's particular vibe — great for photos and a really nice mood for a date. It felt like a showroom, so I took a ton of pictures hahaha.

Looking around, there were couples, groups of friends, all sorts of people in their 20s and 30s — you could really feel it's a popular spot both as a date course and as a unique outing with friends.

How the Muhwawon perfume-making course runs, step by step

Muhwawon's perfume-making goes: pre-visit questionnaire → video lesson on perfuming → sniffing around 40 ingredients → 1st, 2nd, and 3rd rounds of blending. I was a little worried since it was my first time making perfume, but the systematic order made it not difficult at all. Let me walk through it in order.

1. Filling in the scent preference questionnaire

Before starting, you fill out a questionnaire — what scents you like, what mood you're going for, that kind of thing. What I found funny was there was even an option like "I want to make it entirely on my own without help." So if you want to fully focus and create without the perfumer's help, coming solo and diving in deep sounds really good too. I want to try that next time!

2. Learning perfume basics from a short video

Instead of jumping straight into picking scents, you first learn the basics of perfuming through a video — the types of perfume, basic perfuming knowledge, and so on, and it was way more interesting than I expected. Rather than just mixing scents blindly, knowing the background made it so much more immersive and easy to understand!!! Genuinely useful.

While we were learning, the perfumer took a lot of photos for us, so it was great for capturing our date — there's even a spot in the pre-questionnaire asking if you'd like photos taken.

3. Smelling 40 ingredients and the Korean scent series

Now you get to actually smell a variety of scents and choose. This part is especially recommended for people who think "I don't really know what scent I like, they all kind of smell the same." That was exactly me, but sniffing each one and going "oh, so I like this kind of scent" was such a fun and surprising discovery. Sniff sniff, sniiiiiff — we worked hard smelling through around 40 ingredients hahaha.

What especially sets this Muhwawon perfume workshop apart is the Korean scent series — hanji (traditional paper), haesong (pine), green tangerine, and more, scents I don't usually come across in perfume. They were so refreshingly different and I loved them. My partner likes deep versions of woody, forest, mossy scents, and once we added the haesong scent to the perfume, it was exactly his taste haha.

Once you've checked off your ingredients, the perfumer comes over and suggests scent combinations or compositions based on your taste and picks. She was so thorough and kind about it — she really made the whole course more enjoyable haha.

4. Blending rounds one, two and three

You go back to the display shelf you saw earlier and bring over the ingredients you picked. Then you blend the chosen scents to finish your own perfume.

Doesn't this photo look like a lab haha. How to do it is all in the video, so you can follow along easily. Across rounds 1, 2, and 3, you add and remove ingredients, adjusting the ratios each time. The perfumer kept coming back to smell along with us, help adjust ratios, and give suggestions, so even someone like me who doesn't know much about scent could make it without any trouble.

💡 The course is generously scheduled for about 1 hour 30 minutes, but we moved quickly and it took us about 1 hour 10 minutes. I'd recommend giving yourself plenty of time!

The finished perfumes and their name stickers

Ta-da!! The perfume is finally done. And they don't just hand it to you — they make a sticker right there with the name you picked so you can stick it on your bottle. Such a nice touch, and it would make a great gift too.

They also told us that as long as you keep your perfumer's note, you can recreate the exact same scent as a perfume or diffuser anytime — great tip!

Is Muhwawon worth it as a Bukchon date course?

It was such a satisfying date. Above all, the space is so sensory and fragrant that I felt good the whole time. And the perfumer was especially kind, which was the best part — even someone like me who doesn't know much about scent could make one easily. It's a great spot for a couple's date, with friends, or even solo. Next time I come back, I want to try making a diffuser.