Last night my wife and I took my sister and her husband to Olfactory Scent Studio in Maple Grove, and I can honestly say it is one of the best date nights in the Twin Cities!
When you walk in, you are given a sheet of paper with instructions and a pencil, and are instructed to give a sniff to over 120 different scented candles on the wall. Personally, I love any scent that has to do with food, so I wrote down my favorites as "Baked Bread", and "Brown Sugar", but also fell in love with "Fresh Shave" and "Dads Den" (Smoky leather I think?) They have almost anything you can think of in scent form (Wasabi? Fresh Cut Grass? Bubble Bath? Cilantro? Yup, so many smells...)
After making a nice list of your favorites, you get to sit down at a table and work one-on-one with a scent specialist who asks you for your favorites. After working with them to find your personal mix of scents, they bring over the scented oils and let you mix them yourself, so you can get the perfect balance of scents that YOU want.
The good news is they have experts there to save the day in case you make a mistake. My sister was in the process of mixing her scents (Hot Cocoa, Whipped Cream & Nutmeg) when she thought she made the scent "too sweet". They came to the rescue and worked with her to save it, adding some Peppermint to make her a Hot Peppermint Mocha scent.
Then you mix in your scent with the wax in a jar that YOU choose! (we went for a classic white jar with a cork lid)
My wife and I created what we called "Christmas Kitchen" (Christmale Ale mixed with Baked Bread and Pear) and my brother in law created a Christmas Basement (Dads Den mixed with Mistletoe and Pine)
The best part is while you're waiting for the candle to set, they have amazing coupons to the local restaurants where you can grab a bite to eat, come back and then enjoy your candle at home for the rest of the night.
All of this for less than $25 per candle. Worth every penny!
Click here to see their website and to schedule your own experience!
Producer Brent