Local mom creates 'scent'illating business

ALPHARETTA, Ga. - They say necessity is the mother of all invention.  And for mother of three Carrie Hadley, the necessity was finding the right perfume.

“It was overwhelming,” says Hadley.  “I didn’t know what questions to ask.”

Those overwhelming experiences led her to create Indiehouse Modern Fragrance Bar, a first-of-its-kind beauty business in Alpharetta. Hadley says her idea was to bring Metro Atlanta consumers a new kind of fragrance shopping experience — one neatly organized by price and basic scent categories.

“We’ve got modern romantic, which is going to be a little softer, some floral, some musk,” explains Hadley.  “We’ve got sophisticated, which is going to be woody…kind of like a walk through the park on a fresh spring morning.  Urban Bohemian is going to be a little spicy, a little sexy.”

Along with stocking more than 40 unique, ready-to-wear brands from around the world, Hadley also helps customers handcraft their own.

“We do have a blending bar where you can just walk in, we have six different house scents that we’ve curated, and you just decide which ones you like the best, put it together, and we’ll blend it for you,” she says.  “For the more committed, and organized, there’s the workshop.”

Hadley says workshops at Indiehouse last about two hours, starting with some interesting tidbits about the history of the fragrance industry, and continuing with the introduction of thirty ingredients, from which participants can mix their own masterpiece.  Hadley says the experience of watching people discover new fragrances is immensely satisfying.

“You get excited about something and you just can’t wait to share it with whoever it is sitting next to you.  Fragrance is something that fit everyone.”

And about that search for the perfect perfume?  Carrie Hadley says she’s learned an important lesson along the way — there isn’t one.

“I tell people all the time, you don’t have just one pair of shoes.  You wouldn’t wear your sneakers to a black tie event, you wouldn’t wear your heels to the gym,” she says.  “Your fragrance really can fit the occasion, and should.”

For more information on shopping at Indiehouse or booking a workshop, click over to the shop’s website here.  And click the video player in this article to check out our morning exploring this unique and “scent”-illating Metro Atlanta business.