Babalú Launches the Perfume Genie, the Coolest In-Store Fragrance Finder Ever

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Let's not sniff around the rosebush here– shopping for fragrances is HARD. It's enough that we have to decide whether or not we're into clean scents or florals, but when you start naming off notes like crystalline musk, heliotrope, and oak moss, things get a bit hazy. We wish it was as easy as asking a genie in a perfume bottle. But wait, it is.

Babalú, one of Miami's most creative and essential shopping experiences, has just launched the Perfume Genie, a new digital fragrance finder that demystifies the whole perfume shopping process. Step through Babalú's luxury bodega-style store inside the iconic Herzog and De Meuron garage and into its brand new Departures Lounge, a cozy extension of the store reserved for events and special installations like this one.

You'll instantly be greeted by this magical invention, which calls you to rub a fun little bottle, tell it how you're feeling today, and advise if you're shopping for men's or women's fragrances. Then it will prompt you to choose a family, from powdery to amber, and woody to musk. Each will have an accompanied snippet to best describe it. So, if you choose spicy, for example, it would go something like this, "Enter a bustling exotic market, incense burning in the temples."

A video posted by RackedMiami (@rackedmiami) on May 20, 2015 at 11:44am PDT

Once you've got that down, you'll select five notes, which vary amongst the scent families. So if you choose musk, described best as "an intimate embrace of a lover. Uniquely sweet yet naughty," you can add anything from violet to patchouli, and currant to sandalwood.

A few moments later the genie will calibrate a few selections for you, and a perfume butler will bring them out for you to try. The options will then be emailed to you in case you want to take a few days to think about it. Here it is in action.

Babalú doesn't carry your run-of-the-mill celebrity endorsed fragrances, nor does it carry the big names in cosmetics. This store specializes in carrying high-quality, exclusive brands you'd be hard pressed to find anywhere else in the city. But if you do want a few names you'll recognize, try Bond No.9, Maison Martin Margiela, Commes Des Garcons, and Malin + Goetz.

Buying fragrances is one of the most personal shopping experiences anyone could have, but with the help of Babalú's Perfume Genie, treating yourself or someone else to a new scent just became as easy as it is cool.