The London Refinery

The London Refinery is the easiest yes on this list. Two hours, £65, upstairs at The Elgin on Ladbroke Grove, and you leave with a 10ml oil-based perfume you blended yourself. Weekend slots at 11am or 2:30pm make it a plausible Saturday rather than a project.

Founder Lucy Heale is a Central Saint Martins product-design graduate, and the studio runs candle-making alongside fragrance, which tells you the honest shape of it: this is a well-run creative workshop business rather than a perfumer's atelier. That is not a criticism - it is exactly what most people want the first time. The pub setting is part of the appeal, and the format is built for groups, birthdays and a decent afternoon.

The oil base is worth understanding before you book. An oil-based perfume sits closer to the skin and behaves differently from the alcohol-based eau de parfum you buy in a shop - softer projection, longer quiet wear. It is a genuine format with its own following, but if you are expecting to walk out with something that performs like a spray from a department store, adjust.

For more depth there is a private one-to-one at £450, which is a different proposition entirely. The 16+ age limit and a health and allergy disclosure apply, as they should anywhere you are handling aromatic materials.

Book this one when you want to find out whether blending interests you at all. If it does, the serious end of this category is a short walk away.