Last Friday I took advantage of my 3pm finish and headed to Somerset House to meet my mum. We had tickets to the perfume exhibition: A Sensory Journey through Contemporary Scent.

 

somerset house perfume exhibition

 

I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but I found the whole exhibition really interesting.

The exhibition starts with a room of modern perfumes displayed on a big table. There was some information about each one and a bit about the history of perfume.

 

perfume exhibition somerset house

 

perfume bottle

 

You are then handed a piece of paper and pencil for the rest of your visit. Each room is designed around a scent and in each room you have to write down what the smell reminds you of.

The way the room is laid out gives you a bit of a clue as to what inspired the scent, but it was actually really hard to pinpoint the exact ingredients.

 

somerset house perfume

 

perfume exhibition London

 

somerset house exhibition

 

At the end of each section was an area that told you about the perfume related to each room and what inspired and made it.

 

perfumes at somerset house

 

Some of the perfumes had quite unusual elements that made it up, and I actually didn’t like all of them. One of them I couldn’t even smell anything, which my mum found strange as she could smell an obvious scent. In the end it was revealed that not everyone can smell that ingredient.

I won’t give any more away about the exhibition and different perfumes but I recommend a visit.

It was quite different to any exhibition I have been to before, and the way the rooms are laid out are quite quirky. There isn’t that much reading to do and I enjoyed how interactive it was, while at the same time learning a bit about the history of perfume and how the industry has changed over time.

 

mum at somerset house

 

At the end you have the chance to speak to some perfumers about how perfumes are made and the individual ingredients used in different scents.

The exhibition costs £11 and is on until the 23rd September 2017. Let me know if you’ve been and what you thought of it in the comments below!

 

 

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