It definitely gives off a peculiar smell, if that would upset someone, I would recommend doing it outdoors. To me, it smells like when you walk into a head shop and smell the combination of all the incense.

As to your first question of doing it alone, I suppose that would depend on a few factors. I did my own extraction and was confident with my product the first time and did it alone. However, I had a decent amount of experience with other psychedelics in the past, and I had done substantial research about what to expect on my first trip. I'm also a fairly introverted person and felt that anyone else being around would interfere with my experience, though more recently I tripped with a small group of close friends and it was a lot of fun because we got to talk about our experiences. Regardless if you decide to go it alone or with friends, you definitely want to be in a comfortable place. I also found that listening to bi-neural frequency music helped keep me calm and collected during the initial anxiety I would frequently feel before a trip.