The Perfumer’s Apprentice

There was a one star rating from me on this company. They did however reach out to me and rectify the issue. The issue was with shipping and my package was gone and nobody from the company would return my calls or emails. They have since emailed me back and offered a solution I’m ok with.

I had my first issue with a shipping error for the first time in over a year. I was promptly contacted by the staff and taken care of immediately. An overall great company with great business standard. These guys really went up and above to take care of my situation and are raising the bar for customer service standards. An overall happy customer.

This is a review for the online store and the professional flavors. That is indeed that the flavors are — professional! Very strong, very distinct and true to their labels. Shipping is very fast and the prices are SOOO good! I use their pro flavors for ejuice and Perfumers Apprentice flavors are the cream of the crop for this purpose. The only bad thing is that whenever I order I spend too much and I want to try all of the flavors! A+++

Review for online store. I ordered perfume ingredients. I had questions and they were helpful. Prices were comparable to similar stores. Shipping arrived on time. Will repurchase from this store.

My review is based on an experience I had with Linda many years ago. Me and a friend took a short stay-​cation to Santa Cruz and came across her magical shop overlooking Pacific Avenue. The shop even had an open window upstairs reminiscent of a fairy tale cottage. After her very knowledgeable and educational crash course we wasted away an afternoon in her perfumery creating our own individual bottles of precious custom perfumes.
For $ 20/​person, we received a casual lesson in perfumery, a lovely tea service, cookies, a body mist, and a roller ball. More importantly, we walked away with a renewed appreciation for perfume and a stronger understanding of its development. I still currently utilize the information I obtained that day from Linda. I had high hopes of returning to her quaint shop before its closure for a new bottle of perfume. You can imagine my devastation when I heard it had closed down. I was relieved to hear she still hosts events in home, so I will be taking advantage of her services there!

This place was awesome. I had planned a girls outting 2 years ago for my Birthday when I came across this place. I spoke to the owner Linda at that time but ultimately did not end up celebrating my birthday there.
This year I wanted to attempt it again for a friend of mines Bday. I called the number listed on the website and discovered that the shop had sadly shut down but Linda had continued to operate out of her FABULOUS Felton home (5 min from Santa Cruz)
Me and 3 friends were greeted by the fabulous Linda and she gave us a fantastic description of all the senses she had (ranging from ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING from pizza to gardenia.
She set us up at a cute little table in her garden and treated us to tea and cookies. She let us experiment with all the different senses after giving us directions on what to do and then… she let us loose. She didn’t hover and left us to have our own little party.
She even looked up a Middle Eastern restaurants near by for us to eat at after we left! AMAZING!
DEFINITELY CHECK THIS PLACE OUT! Very very casual, but so much fun!
The only «Eh» I had was the drive out there, but other than that, GREAT!

I haven’t yet had Linda create a custom perfume for me but it’s on my list of things to do the next time I’m in Santa Cruz. I’m sad that her store closed before I got a chance to visit while she was there. It’s reassuring to know that she still creates custom perfumes from her home, which other reviewers have mentioned is amazing and fabulous.
Her website is pretty amazing. If Linda did not run Perfumer’s Apprentice, I don’t believe that amateur perfumers would be able to experiment with the same raw materials that real perfumers use. Thanks to her, the average layperson can learn about perfuming without having to move to Paris to attend perfume school. Linda is very kind to share her experience with the general public and I know that I’m grateful that enthusiasts like her still exist in this world.

So much fun! This place is a hidden gem and is one of the best value’s in town. The owner will even schedule private parties where she serves tea and crumpets for no extra charge! I went with a group of girlfriends and we brought some wine and made an evening out of it. She taught us about top notes, bottom notes, etc. and we each created our own unique blend. Best part is she saves your recipe in her computer in case you ever want to make more. Brilliant idea – I wish I had thought of it:)

Like many others who come here, my friend and I were intrigued by the small sign on Pacific. Make our own perfumes? Fun. We both decided to have a dress-​up day (why should 5-​year-​olds have all the fun) and check it out.
We went up the stairs and found any nine-year-old’s (or nineteen-year-old’s) perfect play place. It was so girlie and frilly. I immediately noticed all the gorgeous perfume bottles that lined the shelves. Too pricey for my poor tush, but beautiful nonetheless.
The owner was at the front and couldn’t have been nicer or more helpful. She sat us down at a table in the back (the store was empty) and gave us the lowdown on how to make a perfume. Who would have known there was so much to think about? She told us about the low, medium and high notes and the chording of scents. An activity we thought would take an half hour ended up taking closer to two.
While we smelled every one of the scents we were given tea and cookies. Where was this place when I was younger? All of my birthday parties would have been here. OK, maybe my mom wouldn’t want to drive me and a bunch of my friends from LA to Santa Cruz, but you get the idea.
At the end of the delightful session I decided on my scents. I remember I put sugar, vanilla, tiger’s blood in it and six others as well. It was my perfect scent. I was able to make both a spritz bottle and an oil out of it.
This was two years ago, and although the spritz bottle is long gone, I still have the oil. When I smell this oil I am brought back to the best summer of my life. I will always have a special place for the Perfumer’s Apprentice just because it gave me the gift of revisiting that time whenever I want.
If I remember correctly, you can also have them come to a party and they can do their thing there. This would be so much fun for a kids party, bridal shower, etc. Other than the perfume bottles (that you don’t need to buy if you’re making your own scent), the price is unbeatable. I think at that time it was about $ 15. I also gave a couple bucks for a tip as someone other than the owner ended helping us and worked really hard to ensure we had a great time.

What a fun place! The owner is very sweet and helpful. They sell some hard to find fragrances-​I went in looking for something by Mandy Aftel. There were only a few bottles left so I was a little disappointed, but my disappointment quickly turned to joy when Mr Q suggested sticking around and creating our own fragrances! We were able to choose from a huge selection of both natural and synthetic oils to create our custom blends and were served tea and cookies while we sniffed and created. What a wonderful experience! The cost of making our own custom blend? Only $ 20 each. We will be back!

I stumbled across this place and didn’t quite know what to expect. I saw their sign on the street and was intrigued… upstairs I found a quiet, elegant parfumerie perched above bustling Pacific Avenue. I ended up spending almost an hour «playing» and went home with a fragrance I had created just for myself.
The friendly, helpful owner will sit you at one of the perfume «organs,» which is a bank of little bottles of oils (oak moss, jasmine, musk, etc.) that can be combined into endless numbers of formulas. You get to pick out your base notes, middle notes, and top notes. Take your time. You can pick as many or as few as you’d like. I suppose you could do a simple blend of just musk and rose, for example. Mine was more complex… I fussed with the proportions until it was just right. (Oh, and the owner is serving you tea and cookies while you work!) When you’ve hit on the perfect potion, she will record your formula. You get to take home your oil blend plus a body spray in your signature scent. Choose a name for your new fragrance, and she’ll print out professional labels for your bottles.
The cost for all this? FIFTEEN DOLLARS. That’s all.