**As promised, here’s a new post! I’m back! <3 So happy to have time to write again!**
A couple of weeks back, I was so fortunate to be able to attend an event organised by The Butterfly Project where I, along with several other beauty bloggers, learned the basics of making perfume while indulging in oh-so good tea and desserts. Definitely my kind of party. 😉
I’m so, so happy to see Betjeman & Barton in Kuala Lumpur. Prior to being told the venue for this event, I was not aware that this French company was present in this part of the world.
But quite frankly, I’m not surprised to find a Betjeman & Barton branch thousands of miles away from Paris. After all, they’re one of the most trusted brands for tea and has been around since 1919. I’m happy that they’re here in KL as I just love their tea selection!
Which has a wide variety, by the way. 😉
See? I wasn’t kidding when I said there’s just so much variety. 😉 And of course, what’s a tea party without some sweet treats to enjoy your warm cup with?
If you’re a huge tea lover as well (yes, I love me a cuppa at least once a day), you can also purchase teapots and even tea sets here as well so you can host your own tea parties at home.
After doing our rounds at the shop, meeting the other participants of the event, and taking photos, we all settled down to listen to Shelby – the woman behind Bisou BonBon – to learn the steps on how to make our own, signature scent.
What’s great about the experience is how Shelby patiently guided each one of us on how we can make our own perfume based on the scents that we like. While we did get a cheat sheet containing the number of drops per ingredient we should use, it was all up to us to decide which particular scents to use.
We were given absolute freedom in choosing but we always had Shelby around to ask whether a certain mixture will be too overpowering or whether certain oils may end up smelling like Tom Yum soup. 😉
We were each given 2 bottles. One for mixing and curing the oils and another one to hold water which will be added to the perfume after it has cured (more on this later).
The first step: Measure two millilitres of oil and add pour it into your curing bottle.
Step two: Choose your base notes and put 15 drops of it into your curing bottle. You can have just one or mix up to a maximum of three scented oils.
Next, choose up to 3 middle notes and put in 9 drops into your curing bottle.
Finally, for the top note add 6 drops of up to 3 scents of your choice.
When choosing scents for your base, middle, and top note, always keep in mid that the top notes are the first scents you will be able to smell upon spritzing perfume on to your skin. As the scent settles in through the day, you’ll be able to smell your middle notes, and towards the end of the day (after wearing the perfume for hours) that’s when you’ll catch a whiff of your base notes.
So it’s nice to have scents that go together and do not overpower each other. Personally, I like clean-smelling powdery scents. I also like floral scented perfumes but nothing too sweet. So as you can see in my choices, I kinda stuck to the safer options. 😉
The perfume we made could be used after letting it cure (basically leaving it sealed and in a dry, not-so-hot environment) for at least two days. However, Shelby recommends to let our bottles cure for 6 weeks before using them.
After all our hard work (not really, it was all fun!), it was time for some tea and desserts and great conversations with our new found friends.
I believe the tea that they served was called Pouchkine and is Betjeman & Barton’s bestseller. Normally, I’m all for sweeter, fruity variants but I really loved this one. It’s smooth and a bit ‘Russian’ when it comes to its taste. It also has a calming aroma. I’m not gonna lie – I had about 3 cups of this baby that day. I told you guys I love me some good tea. 😉
I love, love, love this cheesecake. Definitely a classic. It’s light yet still very creamy. It’s not too sweet and there’s just tiny kick (barely noticeable) of sourness that I really love on cheesecakes. Plus, it’s got Oreos in it. What’s not to love?
The next plate was a collection of macarons, chocolates, and a slice of cake. I’m a fan of combining chocolates with orange and citrusy flavours so I guess it goes without saying that I loved that cake. The texture is also to die for.
The macarons, meanwhile, are bursting with flavour. I love macarons and make it to a point to have some the last time I was in Paris. The ones that Betjeman and Barton served tasted like they were straight out of a Parisian bakery bought on a warm, sunny day. They’re not too sweet (like other macarons I’ve tasted in Southeast Asia), making sure that the flavours are not the least bit overpowered by the sugary taste.
The chocolates are smooth and really creamy. It’s hard to stick to just one piece! I ate the white chocolate and my husband who came to the venue when the party was over (but of course I was still sitting, eating, and chatting with people because I eat so slow and talk too much) got the milk chocolate.
I basically popped it into his mouth as he was trying to get out of eating it due to his recent dieting but he liked it anyways. Haha! And normally, Alvin loves dark chocolate and would rather stay away from the milky ones. But he says the creaminess of it made him love it anyways. He said that it was too sweet for him though.
Betjeman & Barton is located at:
