The Nose Knows: New Perfumery Opening in La Jolla

Surf lessons—check. Cooking class—done it. Art and music lesson—working on it. And now—make your own perfume in La Jolla.

Tijon, a perfumery retail store and classroom, opens this weekend at 7853 Herschel Ave. near Herringbone.

The storefront is fragrant and full of perfumes for him and her, body lotions, sun care products, lip balms and gifts. The shop has 18 signature fragrances that range from sweet to spice, and floral to musky. Tijon’s products combine oils distilled from locally cultivated flowers such as jasmine, gardenia, and frangipani and botanical extracts such as aloe vera, polypodium papaya, and rosemary with perfume oils. 

Just beyond the retail space is a full laboratory. Guests can participate in a class to make their own fragrance from 300 oils. Tijon boasts one of the largest collections of oils to handcraft your own signature fragrance. 

In the 1-hour Mix & Match class, where reservations are preferred, participants choose from 12 premixed oils and add up to three additional oils to create a perfume. Class participants take home their creation and a gift bag.

In the 2- to 3-hour Perfume Class 101, where reservations are required, participants create a perfume from 300 oils. Guests will learn all about the differences of essential oils and fragrance oils, top note, middle note and base notes. Class participants take home their personally created fragrance and a gift bag.

Patch had the opportunity to create its own fragrance at Tijon earlier this month before the store opened. Owner John Berglund lead our class where we donned neatly pressed lab coats and formulated three fragrances using our noses, pipettes and glass beakers. After making three small tester batches from the oils that smelled the most appealing to us, we tried two of the raw fragrances on each wrist. And after those two fragrances set in, we selected one fragrance to take home. Guests even get to name their new scent—we named ours "Patch"—and save the description on Tijon's online shop for others to buy or to reorder. Our scent is light and beachy.

Headquartered in St. Martin, Tijon on Herschel is owner Berglund's first U.S. location and second store. The shop wil be run by his daughter Rachelle Crumrine, president of Tijon USA.

Berglund, who is also an author, has a background in law and chemistry. He built a perfumery in his house for 10 years before opening the first location in St. Martin in 2007.

He is passionate about his business and patient and edcuational in the fragrance lab. He is equally passionate about opening in La Jolla.

“For years, our customers from our flagship store in St. Martin asked us to open an American store in an equally beautiful seaside community,” said Berglund in an announcement. “I knew of La Jolla from my days at USD, and we felt La Jolla was the ideal location for Tijon.” 

Berglund also noted he hopes to build up sales through Tijon's website with the opening of the La Jolla location.

Tijon

• Address: 7853 Herschel Ave., La Jolla, CA 92037
• Phone: 619-821-8219
• Web: tijon.com
• Hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to close and by appointment
• Payment: Cash, American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
• Classes: 1-hour class is $69 to $79, 2- to 3-hour class is $119 to $129
• Reservations: Recommended for the 1-hour class and required for the 2- to 3-hour class
• Parking: Street
• Handicap Accessible: Street level