Mother-daughter diffuser and car scent class in Bukchon: Muhwawon

I went to Bukchon with just my mom for the first time in a long while, and we spent a special afternoon making scents together at Muhwawon Bukchon Perfume Workshop (무화원 북촌향수공방). Slowly smelling lots of fragrances and finishing a scent that matched each of our tastes was a lovely memory in itself. Here is the full story of our mother-daughter date at Muhwawon's one-day class.

Where is Muhwawon Perfume Workshop and how do you get there?

Muhwawon Bukchon Perfume Workshop is a one-day perfume class studio on the 3rd floor of a building at 23 Yulgok-ro 6-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul. It is an easy walk from Anguk Station, so it also fits nicely before or after wandering around Bukchon or Ikseon-dong.

The studio is on the 3rd floor, so you have to get through the building's shared front door at the entrance. Once you finish booking, they text you how to get in and how to find the place, so check it before you arrive and you won't have any trouble.

• Location: 23 Yulgok-ro 6-gil, 3rd floor, Jongno-gu, Seoul
• Hours: daily 12:00–22:00

The class runs at set times, so if you have a particular date and time in mind, I recommend booking ahead. You can stroll the Bukchon alleys before or after, and grab a meal or coffee nearby, so it was great for planning a Bukchon date route.

What is the atmosphere inside Muhwawon?

Step inside and you find a calm space with all kinds of fragrance materials and perfumery tools neatly arranged.

Finished products like perfumes and diffusers are on display too, so even before the class started we could enjoy a faint scent and that special workshop mood.

The whole space is cozy and quiet, and it felt cut off from the busy outside world. It was a great atmosphere for focusing fully on smelling scents one by one and making your own.

Perfumery tools set up at every seat

Each seat was neatly prepared with scent strips, droppers, beakers, a scale, a blending notebook and various fragrance materials. There were a lot of tools I had never seen, which could feel intimidating, but they were arranged in the order of the class, so it wasn't overwhelming even for a first visit.

The seats are side by side, so my mom and I could talk about which scents we liked and compare our blends as they came together. Unlike an ordinary date at a café or restaurant, you get to learn each other's tastes in the same space and even leave with something to keep, which made it a great spot for a special mother-daughter date.

How do you book a Muhwawon one-day class?

For Muhwawon's one-day class, you pick the date and time you want and book in advance. After booking, they send a message with the studio's location and how to get through the shared front door. You need the front-door password at the building entrance, so check the message before you arrive and it will go much more smoothly.

Naver booking vs. the official website: the price difference

You can also book on Muhwawon's official website, but when I checked, the Naver booking price was cheaper. Prices and perks may differ by booking channel, so I recommend comparing before you pay.

Premium car freshener and diffuser classes, about 1 hour 30 minutes

We booked a premium car freshener class and a premium diffuser class separately, and the whole experience took about 1 hour 30 minutes. At Muhwawon you can make not only perfume but also car fresheners and diffusers: you smell the fragrance materials yourself, then adjust the blend ratios to finish a scent that is truly yours. It isn't just picking a ready-made scent, since you combine and revise it yourself, which made it feel even more special. With the perfumer guiding us, we made products that reflected our own tastes along with a great memory with my mom, so it was a very satisfying one-day class.

What are the steps of the Muhwawon perfume-making class?

1. Fill out a survey

The class begins with a short survey at your assigned seat. It asks whether you have done a perfume workshop before and how much help you want from the staff as you go. They also thoughtfully ask in advance whether you'd like photos taken of you during the class, so the class can run the way you prefer, which I liked.

2. Watch a theory video with headsets

After the survey, you first watch a short video explaining perfume basics. Every seat has a headset, so we could focus on the video without disturbing anyone else. After learning the basic structure of perfume and the features of top, middle and base notes from the video, you choose the scents you usually like and the mood of the scent you want to make in your blending notebook.

3. Smell the materials and write in the blending notebook

Next, you smell the prepared fragrance materials one by one and pick the ones you like. Each scent has a name and description, so it wasn't hard to find ones close to my taste, and we each recorded our choices in the blending notebook.

4. Choose top, middle and base notes with the perfumer

Once you've picked your scents, you go over the combination with the perfumer. Considering the mood you want and the balance of the scent, the perfumer helped finalize which materials to use for the top, middle and base.

After choosing, you find the scents you need on the display at one side of the studio and bring them back to your seat. It felt a bit like shopping for fragrance materials, and picking out the ones I wanted was fun.

5. Blend, smell, and revise

Now you mix the chosen materials to make your first scent. The same material feels different smelled alone versus blended with others, so comparing them was especially fun. After smelling the result, you talk with the perfumer about whether to make it a bit sweeter or fresher, and adjust the types and ratios of materials. You don't have to get it perfect on the first try, since you can revise and compare the blend several times, so making scent wasn't hard even as a beginner.

6. Measure by the final ratio and finish

Once you settle on the combination you like best, the perfumer calculates the final ratios. Following those numbers, you weigh the materials on the scale and add them one by one with a dropper, and a scent with your own taste in it is complete.

7. Name it and get it packaged

Finally, you get to name the finished product yourself, which made it feel even more special. They pack it neatly in a pretty dedicated package, so it looked good for using yourself and also for giving to someone you care about.

How was making scent with Mom at Muhwawon?

At first I was a little curious how my mom would feel about making scent. She enjoyed smelling all sorts of fragrances and combining them to her taste far more than I expected. Comparing the scents we each chose and chatting, I found out tastes of hers I never knew, and the time we spent making scent together became a lovely memory.

You take your finished product home, so you can keep the memory of the day as a scent even after the class ends. You don't need any expert knowledge of scent, since you're guided step by step, so it's a class beginners can join without pressure. Whether for an unusual date with a partner or, like us, a special time with your mom, Muhwawon is a Seoul perfume workshop I'd happily recommend.