Wednesday 29 July 2015

Fab Lab Invent-A-Scent Perfume Kit - Review & Giveaway


If like me, you're looking for a fun activity to keep the kids busy on a rainy day - AKA the school summer holidays - then I can thoroughly recommend the Fab Lab Invent-a-Scent Perfume set from Interplay.

Not only did it capture my daughters imagination for a good few hours, but we also managed to sneak in a bit of stealth learning which is always a bonus when there's 6 weeks off school stretching ahead of us.

I really liked the packaging and appearance of this set. Not too overtly pink, it shows a young girl in a white coat on the box, any efforts to encourage more young girls into science is a great thing in my opinion.

Inside the box, you'll find a selection of pipettes, a pair of rubber laboratory gloves, 5 different scents, gift bottles, self-adhesive labels, tester strips and an activity guide and instructions.



The booklet was full of interesting facts - Ruby was delighted to hear about the ancient art of perfume blending and that perfume bottles have been discovered by archaeologists thought to be over 4,000 years old in Cyprus - this piqued her interest since we're off on holiday to Cyprus soon.

We read the safety instructions and information about allergens before starting on the kit.

Ruby learnt about blending different scents to make perfume, she learnt about base notes, top notes and heart notes and we talked about the perfume I wear and how it smells after different lengths of time.

There's a helpful sheet inside the booklet where you can jot down your perfume blends, useful to refer back to if you want to make up more of a particular favourite.




We had a maths lesson discussing proportions and ratios, and I found this easiest to explain it like a cake recipe which you scale up to make more, or mixing a paint colour.

Once she'd blended her first perfume, we spent a while, eyes closed smelling it and thinking about what it reminded her of and how she could best describe it. Her first blend consisted of musk base note and pink flowers and green top notes. This she said reminded her of forests and waterfalls in Wales and she named and labelled her bottle 'Woodland Waterfall'.  She came up with some great adjectives for her other perfumes and named some 'Tropical Island', 'English Country Garden', 'Fruity Fantasy' and 'Luxurious Lemon Tart'.



We had a lovely afternoon playing with scents and coming up with individual perfumes.  After mixing them on the tray, you can transfer your blend with the pipette into a gift bottle and label it up ready to give to friends.  Ruby preferred to make small amounts, experimenting with different ratios, so she'd have preferred to have more bottles included in the kit, and also some spare labels - there's only 4 for the 4 bottles so no room for errors with your writing.

I also noted that the scents were very foamy, making lots of bubbles which at times made it difficult to get back into the bottle.  This may have been partly due to inexperienced use of the pipette, but they were prone to foaming, even after I explained about suction and vacuums and how pipettes worked.


There's lots of discussion in the booklet about matching fragrances to different personalities but Ruby was less interested in this part of the kit, preferring to mix her own and experiment. 

Overall. we though this was a lovely set with good quality ingredients.  The scents were all long lasting and highly fragranced and Ruby loved using the little strips to test her perfumes (there were plenty of these included).  More gift bottles (of smaller sizes) and labels would have been useful and perhaps the plastic insert which is used as your blending palate could have been a little sturdier.  This set is aimed at age 8+ and Ruby is 7.  She struggled a little with the concept of scaling up for large quantities, and I also noted I had to help remove the plastic stoppers to open the bottles, but these quite rightly have to be tight to prevent any spillage in transit.  We spent a good few hours with this kit and there's plenty left to use it again and make up more perfumes.


So from this one activity, we had a little bit of History, lots of Science, plenty of Maths and some English and vocabulary practise - her teachers will be pleased!

The set retails at £12.99 which I think is good value for money and would make a great gift.

If you'd like to win one of these kits for yourself, simple complete the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions:

UK entrants over the age of 18 only. 
Entrants will be submitted to the random draw. 
Incomplete or Duplicate entries will be deleted. 
All times are in GMT. 
The giveaway ends at midnight on 6th August 2015
Blog Owner not responsible for non-delivery of prize. 
Entrants must leave a means of contact: either twitter handle or email address. 
Prizes must be claimed within 2 days, otherwise another winner will be selected to replace the non-claimant. 
The prize is the item featured in the post, and there is no cash alternative. 
Please allow 14 days for delivery.

I received this kit for the purpose of this review, all images and opinions are my own.  The prize will be fulfilled by Interplay.


92 comments:

  1. Lynsey Buchanan30 July, 2015 00:00

    I would like to win to gift to my daughter

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  2. I think my youngest stepdaughter would love this, so I'd give it to her!

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  3. I would love to win this for my daughter.

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  4. I'd love to win this amazing prize for my niece.x

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  5. My little girls would love it, they looooove perfume ;-)

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  6. Elizabeth Hinds30 July, 2015 10:03

    I would give it to my eldest daughter Evie, she would love this! :)

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  7. I would give it to my daughter as she loves her smellies and this would be fun for her

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  8. for my friends daughter she would just love it

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  9. I help run a Guide unit and this would make a wonderful patrol activity. Thanks for the review!

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  10. My daughter would absolutely love this so I would give it to her

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  11. My daughter would love this

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  12. My daughter, she would love it

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  13. This looks a really good present for a girl, my daughter would love it. Thanks for the review.

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  14. How fabulous! I've been looking for ways to introduce 'stealth learning' with my neighbour's child, this is great inspiration. Obviously I would be - ahem - helping; not at all creating a scent for myself.

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  15. I would love to win this set for my two girls - then they may not be tempted to spray my Marc Jacobs perfume!

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  16. i would give it to my daughter, she loves things like this x

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  17. My Niece would love this as she always steals my perfume!!

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  18. I would love to give this to my niece

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  19. I would love this for my daughter, she loves make up, perfume and is very creative so this is the perfect gift for her.

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  20. (Penni)

    My SON would love this. Perfume isn't a 'girls only' affair :)

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  21. Id give this as a gift to one of my nieces!

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  22. My daughter would like to try thanks

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  23. My lovely daughters would love this!

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  24. I would love to gift it to my niece

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  25. my daughter she loves making potions in the bath.

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  26. for my daughter! - leanne w

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  27. I know it is aimed at girls but I would give it to my son. He has been making "air frenshers" this week my mixing things from his various science kits and would absolutely love something like this

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  28. I would give it to my daughter who loves perfume and all things girly

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  29. Jodie Holyoake30 July, 2015 21:59

    I would give this to my little cousin, I know she'd love doing this!

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  30. I would love to win for my little girl Heidi, I know she would have great fun inventing her very own perfume she is very creative :)

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  31. would love to win for my daughter

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  32. Philippa Turner31 July, 2015 08:00

    Never seen this before such a great gift idea.

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  33. Wow, this is perfect for my elder niece, who is just that age to enjoy discovering scents and mixtures!

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  34. would give it to my daughter as she loves making perfume out of the rose petals

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  35. I love perfume and making my own scents would be great

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  36. I'd give it to my friend's little girl. :)

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  37. I'd love this for me & my daughter to do together :-)

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  38. This would be a great xmas gift for one of my nieces.

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  39. Looks fun for my sisters child.

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  40. I would love to win for my daughter

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  41. My daughter would love this

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  42. i think this would be something my teenage niece would like :)

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  43. Id give it to my niece for xmas.

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  44. My daughter would love this

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  45. I would love to win this for my niece,she loves admiring my perfumes when she comes to visit so this would be a great gift for her!

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  46. I would love to win this for my daughter <3

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  47. My daughter would love experimenting with this set :)

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  48. I'd give it to my step daughter who I know would love this and we would have so much fun doing this together

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  49. I would love to give this to my God daughter Freya who sadly is spending the summer holidays with a broken arm

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  50. I would give this to my daughter so she can make real perfume instead of using rose petals in water!

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  51. The little people in my family all love girly stuff like perfume and cosmetics so we'd have to toss a coin to see who gets it.

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  52. I'd love to win this for my niece

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  53. I'd give this to my daughter who would really enjoy making the perfume

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  54. Natasha Edwards05 August, 2015 12:53

    For my beautiful little princess who is 7 and loves her perfumes �� xx

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  55. Id give it to my niece as long as I could do it with her! Shes always spraying on my perfumes when she comes over

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  56. i would love to give this to my neice as she would love making her own perfumes

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  57. my grandaughter would love this

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  58. I'd give it to my daughter, she loves anything creative

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  59. This is an awesome prize! i would love to win and use it as an activity for us girls to start off my hen do :)

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  60. I'd give it to my daughter - she would really enjoy it

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  61. I would give it to my nieces Orlaith and Niamh. They would have hours of fun creating new perfumes together to give to their mom and for themselves

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  62. my daughter, she would love tihis :)

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  63. I would love to win this for my niece she would love it!!

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  64. I would love to win this for my daughter and put it away for christmas for her!

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  65. Would love to win this for my niece, she would love it

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  66. My daughter would absolutely love this.

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  67. I'd like to give this to my friend's daughter as I think she would really enjoy it.

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  68. id love to give it to my sons best friend ! shes amazing !

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  69. I would like to have a go at making perfume with my granddaughter. When I was little I used to try and make perfume with rose petals but I just ended up producing a pungent scent.

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  70. I'd love to win this for my niece who would love to make her own perfume!

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  71. Would love to win this for my daughter :-) she is always wanting to use my perfume so this would be perfect for her to make her own :-)

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  72. I'd give it to my little sister - she would love this

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  73. I think my granddaughter would enjoy this

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  74. My niece would have a lot of fun with this.

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  75. zoe somerfield06 August, 2015 07:42

    I'd give it to my niece

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  76. for my daughter

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  77. I'd love to win this for my youngest cousin. This is just up her street and I know she'd love it :)

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  78. My little niece would adore this!

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  79. I would save it for my daughter for christmas x

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  80. My niece is growing up. Birthday and Christmas gifts are getting more difficult. This would be great.

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  81. I would give this to my niece because years ago me and her dad used to make some rose petal perfume in our garden and I think she would enjoy it as much as we used to.

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  82. my niece, will keep her busy in the holidays :D

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  83. I think my daughter would really enjoy this

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  84. I'd give it to my niece :)

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  85. Love this perfume kit. I have one and will be buying another one to give my daughter.

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  86. Vera Wang perfumes are extremely popular, not only do they smell fantastic but they are affordable too. You will often see a bottle of this perfume, on a ladies dresser. Parfum Floris


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