I love fragrance and smelling it on other people. The bummer is that I have a very sensitive sniffer and have to be careful about the scents I wear and when I wear them or else I'll be a headache-ridden, sneezing mess. I avoid wearing fragrance to the office because I'm surrounded by various products and fragrances all day, but I miss having a lovely scent on my skin. Such a quandary.

With this in mind, I visited Melange Apothecary in Sherman Oaks, Calif., to see what they had to offer. They have a full custom-blending fragrance bar and carry various bath lines that are sometimes hard to find, but always amazing. I met the owner, Denise Estrada, who is the friendliest and really knows her stuff. She asked me to select the fragrance notes I liked out of a vast variety she had to offer. From there, she started looking at my selections and asking questions. When I mentioned my sensitivity to scents and the fact that I wanted to create something non-irritating that I could wear to work, her eyes lit up. She knew exactly what to do with some of my favorite notes.

I left the store with two roller ball fragrances (a great delivery system for traveling or touching up fragrance throughout the day). The first was a blend of white tea and gardenia, and the second, of fig and sweet pea (which reminded me of Benefit Bathina actually). Both are subtle enough to wear during the day and neither have given me a headache. I think the white tea and gardenia is my fave though. The white tea really tones down the fragrant gardenia, but it's still floral enough for a girly girl like me. I never quite knew why people enjoyed creating their own custom scents until I finally had my main fragrance issue addressed in one -- it was very empowering.

Have you ever created your own scent? Did you like the outcome?