Tag: Awards

The Fragrance Foundation Jasmine Award Finalists 2024 are…

We could not be more thrilled (or humbled) at the announcement of the Jasmine Awards 2024 finalists! Read on to discover the full fragrant list…

The Fragrance Foundation U.K. says: ‘Launched in the UK in 1990 the Jasmine Awards are recognised as the most prestigious journalistic awards in the beauty industry. They recognise and reward the talents of journalists & visualisers whose difficult task it is to translate the complex art of perfumery into words and pictures.

A new panel of judges is recruited annually and includes experts from the worlds of journalism, literature, fashion, lifestyle, PR and fragrance consultancy. The panel is chaired by an expert in the fragrance industry.’

 

Jasmine Awards 2021

 

This year, the panel was again chaired by Catherine Mitchell, and The Fragrance Foundation U.K. explains that ‘…There are two reasons Catherine Mitchell has been our Head Judge for the past six years – she is committed to raising the bar for quality and creativity and exudes more passion than anyone we know. In a career spanning three decades with International Flavours and Fragrances (IFF), a global leader in the creation of fragrance, biosciences and sensorial experiences, Catherine worked across all elements of the business, across multiple continents. She is an ardent advocate of education and communication to inspire today’s creators, consultants and consumers and ultimately unleash the next generation of talent.’

You can read all about the other esteemed judges for the 2024 panel, here. But meanwhile, we can contain our excitement no longer – here are the shortlisted finalists for each category of the awards this year (squeal!) and we’ll have to TRY be patient to discover the ultimate winners, until the glamor and scent-filled ceremony at The Fragrance Foundation Awards on May 9th!

HUGE congratulations to all the finalists, who spend months of work researching and finalising these ways of talking about fragrance and sharing the storytelling magic of scent. It truly makes us jump for joy to be amidst such company as this…

 

 

The Jasmine Awards 2021

LITERARY FINALISTS:

Substack, Forest School by Alice du Parcq

The Scented Letter magazine, When Your Back Garden is a Tuberose Field by Jo Fairley

The Scented Letter magazine, Up in Smoke: Fragrances Flagrantly Defying the Smoking Ban by Suzy Nightingale

 

The Jasmine Awards 2021

 

SHORT PIECE FINALISTS:

Cosmopolitan UK, Good enough to eat: food-inspired perfumes are hot right now by Charlotte Bitmead

GLAMOUR, When did it become anti-feminist for women to want to smell sexy? by Fiona Embleton

perfumesociety.org, Green with En Vie by Suzy Nightingale

 

The Jasmine Awards 2021

 

CREATIVITY FINALISTS:

IFRA Fragrance Forum 2023, Smell & Tell by Peter ‘Art’ Lewry

Instagram, A Scented Story by Suzy Nightingale & Nicola Bonn @onthescentpodcast

Instagram, Desert Island Spritz: My Chanel Love-List for Autumn-Winter by Alice du Parcq

 

The Jasmine Awards 2021

 

PRACTICAL GUIDE FINALISTS:

The Scented Letter magazine, The Wash Gets Posh by Jo Fairley

The Scented Letter magazine, Gelat-Eaux How to Wear ‘Ice Cream Scents’ Without Smelling Like Mr. Whippy by Suzy Nightingale

We Wear Perfume, Who Am I? New Ways To Make Your Perfume Personal by Amanda Carr & Tamara Fulton

 

The Jasmine Awards 2021

 

RISING STAR FINALISTS:

Cosmopolitan UK, Eau de sex: Have fragrances lost their sex appeal? by Charlotte Bitmead

Harper’s Bazaar UK, Green & Pleasant by Medina Azaldin

Highsnobitey, Fragrance, Unfiltered: What Shoppers Want Perfume Brands to Know by Alexandra Pauly

The Scented Letter magazine, It takes them right back by Scott McGlashan

The Fragrance Foundation & Jasmine Awards 2023!

We are still absolutely BUZZING with excitement from The Fragrance Foundation U.K. Awards 2023, where over 500 guests and nominees gathered at The Brewery in the City of London, to celebrate the fragrance industry and our passion for perfume…

Having begun in 1992, and known as ‘the Oscars of the fragrance industry’, the Awards recognise ‘excellence within the fragrance arena, from Packaging, Advertising through to Best New Fragrance and Ultimate Launch’. With sequins and scent a-go-go it was surely the most glamorous (and definitely the best smelling) location in London!

Part of The Fragrance Foundation award ceremony now also includes The Jasmine Awards, which were launched in the UK in 1990, and are recognised as:

‘…the most prestigious journalistic awards in the beauty industry. They recognise and reward the talents of journalists & visualisers whose difficult task it is to translate the complex art of perfumery into words and pictures.’

Before we get in to the Jasmines (scroll down to see the winners… including the award WE WON!) let’s take a breath and raise our glasses to the incredible fragrance awards winners – many of which are fragrant friends of The Perfume Society, and all of which we whooped with joy for…

 

 

We were ecstatic to see the talents of Ruth Mastenbroek on stage collecting the Perfume Extraordinaire award for Zephyr – a gorgeously luminescent and crisply shimmering breeze of a scent we adore. And you can try a sample of the award-winning scent in our Platinum Discovery Box!

 

 

And the loudest whoop of the evening was surely from the team at the Versace, when Eros Parfum won the People’s Choice Award!

 

 

Versace Eros Parfum is a flamboyantly jubilant modern fougere that exudes confidence via mint, lemon, apple and a unique smooch of tonka, geranium and ambroxan in the heart before woody notes, oakmoss and vanilla swirl the base. And you can try this award-winner as part of our Men’s Must-Have Discovery Box!

 

 

Audrey Semeraro, founder of Edeniste, was absolutely glowing with joy to win the Newcomer award for her fabulously mood-enhancing fragrance house…

 

…as were we, having taken the decision to stock the entire Edeniste collection in our shop as soon as we smelled them, plus putting the Edeniste Vétiver Imaginaire as part of our curated Feel Good Fragrances Discovery Box.

 

 

With the announcement of every award, the room lit up with cheers – it’s such a mood of celebration for all, and for fragrance itself! Here are the other proud Fragrance Foundation Award winners who were also whooping it up during the evening…

 

Media Campaign: Prada, Paradoxe

 

 

Design & Packaging: Dries Van Noten, Soie Malaquais

 

 

Independent Fragrance: Angela Flanders, Leather Rosa

 

 

Interior Fragrance: Diptyque, Roses

 

 

Readers’ Choice: CHANEL, Paris-Paris

 

 

Newcomer: By Far

 

 

Innovation: Launch of Jo Malone London ‘Shining a Light on Mental Health Foundation’

 

 

Retailer of the Year: Harrods

 

 

Limited Distribution: Diptyque, Opsis Eau de Parfum

 

 

National Distribution: Gucci, Flora Gorgeous Jasmine EDP

 

Online Retailer of the Year: The Perfume Shop

 

Best New Fragrance: Prada, Paradoxe

 

 

Best New Fragrance Collection: Tom Ford, Enigmatic Woods Collection

 

 

Ultimate Launch: Frédéric Malle, Uncut Gem

 

 

Ultimate Launch: Prada, Paradoxe

 

 

We were also so pleased to see the previous Chair of the Fragrance Foundation, the hard-working and supportive Annalise Fard welcomed into the Circle of Champions (the Fragrance Foundation’s equivalent of the Hall of Fame) – such a well-deserved tribute for this incredible woman.

 

 

 

And it is always especially heart-warming to see the importance of brilliant consultants recognised, with Kenneth Green Associates’ Nathan Macpherson La Maire receiving the award for Consultant of the Year Award for 2023. Bravo!

 

 

 

And now, let us take a moment to celebrate the Jasmine Awards section of the evening – a highly anticipated and incredibly prestigious collection of awards which receive hundreds of entries from the biggest names in publishing.

 

 

At The Perfume Society, we were so excited to be finalists with FIVE nominations this year, for articles published in our magazine, The Scented Letter (sign up to get your FREE digital copy, here, if you’ve not done so already), and for our blog. It was a genuine THRILL to see The Perfume Society celebrated on the huge screens at the venue, among such talented company as the other incredible nominees and all the fragrance houses. And well, we only went and WON!

 

Practical Guide: The Scented Letter Magazine, Time to Spray Your 5 a Day – Suzy Nightingale

 

 

Creativity: Instagram, All The Perfumes I Wore Last Week – Sali Hughes

 

 

Literary: Glamour Magazine, It’s time to stop treating affordable perfumes like dirt and champion the must-smell-now scents for under £30 – Alice du Parcq

 

 

Short Piece: Country & Town House, The Green, Green Grasse – Jan Masters

 

 

Rising Star: Fabulous, How to smell expensive (without breaking the bank) – Tara Ledden [NB: We couldn’t find this piece online, but you can read Tara’s other work for Fabulous here]

 

The prestigious judging panel had to read so many submissions, and we were full to the fragrant brim with gratitude for this recognition, and send huge congratulations to ALL the finalists, and to the winners, which we were over the moon to be among.

Until next year, fragrant friends, we’ll be wafting on a scented cloud!

 

Written by Suzy Nightingale

 

 

Jasmine Awards 2023 Finalists (and why we’re squealing with joy!)

The Fragrance Foundation Jasmine Awards 2023 finalists have just been announced, so if you heard a high-pitched sound and dashed to check your fire alarm batteries didn’t need changing – worry not: it was merely the sound of The Perfume Society team squealing with joy!

The Fragrance Foundation says: ‘Launched in the UK in 1990 the Jasmine Awards are recognised as the most prestigious journalistic awards in the beauty industry. They recognise and reward the talents of journalists & visualisers whose difficult task it is to translate the complex art of perfumery into words and pictures.’

We are thrilled to have FIVE nominations this year, for articles published in our magazine, The Scented Letter (sign up to get your FREE digital copy, here, if you’ve not done so already), and for our blog. Amidst such talented company as the other incredible nominees, and with so many submissions the prestigious judging panel had to work their way through, we are full to the fragrant brim with gratitude for this recognition, and send huge congratulations to ALL of the finalists…

 

Jasmine Awards 2021

Practical Guide:

The Scented Letter magazine – 50 Perfume Icons, by Suzy Nightingale

The Scented Letter magazine – Any Colour, So Long As It’s Green, by Jo Fairley

The Scented Letter magazine – Time to Spray your 5 a Day, by Suzy Nightingale

@Fabulousmag – How to Smell Expensive (Without Breaking the Bank), by Tara Ledden

 

 

The Jasmine Awards 2021

 

Short Piece:

Perfume Society blog – Chapter & Verse: fragrances inspired by literature, by Suzy Nightingale

The Scented Letter magazine – It Takes Me Right Back (To the Hardware Store), by Jan Masters

@CountryandTownHouse – The Green, Green, Grasse, by Jan Masters

@BeautyMatterofficial – Safety in Numbers: The Henry Rose Team on a New Era of Ingredient Transparency, by Carla Seipp

How to Spend it (Financial Times) – Help, I’ve Been Discontinued… by Mark C O’Flaherty

 

 

The Jasmine Awards 2021

 

Creativity:

Instagram, All The Perfumes I Wore Last Week – Sali Hughes

Instagram, Desert Island (little) Spritz with Poppy du Parcq – Alice du Parcq

Instagram, Desert Island Spritz, My Top 10 Guerlain Favourites – Alice du Parcq

Instagram, Slutty Perfumes – Sali Hughes

@OnTheScentPodcast, Scented Story Time & Perfume Prescriptions (Episode 56) – Suzy Nightingale & Nicola Bonn

 

 

The Jasmine Awards 2021

 

 

Rising Star:

@Fabulousmag – How to Smell Expensive (Without Breaking the Bank), by Tara Ledden

Harrods (Instagram Stories) – Trending Oud Scents to Try Immediately, by Shannan Sterne

Harrods Magazine – What’s the Hype?, by Nateisha Scott

 

 

Meanwhile, we are also excited to share with you the HOT OFF THE PRESS just-launched edition of The Scented Letter magazine, which you can have sent straight to your inbox by signing up here, and purchase gorgeous glossy print copies of, here!

The Fragrance Foundation UK Awards 2021 – one, two, THREE reasons we’re celebrating!

We’re still reeling from the dreamlike evening that was The Fragrance Foundation UK Awards 2021. Quite apart from the overwhelming emotion of seeing everyone (in the flesh!) again, and celebrating the continued success of fragrance – at a time it became more important to our everyday lives than some could ever have imagined; at The Perfume Society, we had not one, not two, but THREE very particular reasons to pop the Champagne corks…

The Fragrance Foundation say: ‘Known as the ‘Oscars’ of the fragrance industry, the 29th annual Fragrance Foundation UK Awards 2021 took place at The Brewery in the City of London. With a room full of fragrance lovers, it was a wonderful celebration after the unprecedented of times of the last 18 months.

 

 

The event was hosted by TV Presenter Natasha Kaplinsky, Chairman of The Fragrance Foundation UK Annalise Fard, and its CEO Linda Key Jackson. During the evening recognitions were given for the astounding support given during the global pandemic, from producing hand sanitisers, face masks, or donating to charities. With quick thinking and acts of kindness we have all come together.’

And come together we did, dressed in our finery (and footwear other than slippers or trainers), many seeing colleagues and friends for the first time outside of a Zoom call since the start of the pandemic. It’s difficult to express the outpouring of emotion, the buzz of energy and pure joy that coursed through the venue. A glow that grew stronger still when the entertainment began and internationally acclaimed act Björn Again had people up and dancing, whole tables standing together and swaying, arms in the air, smiling and singing.

 

 

Emotions bubbled to the fore again when Chairman Annalise Fard gave a heartfelt speech to the memory of Jim Jackson, who sadly died earlier this year. Jim founded Aspects Beauty with his wife, Jill, and Annalise spoke fondly of his wit, hard work and commitment to the industry. As the entire room raised a glass in his tribute, there wasn’t a dry eye (or wine glass, which he would have approved of) to be found.

The event now encompasses The Jasmine Awards – often likened to the Oscars, but perhaps more accurately ‘The Pulitzer Prize of perfume writing.’ We’d already been thrilled to be finalists with six pieces shortlisted in four categories. Imagine the WHOOPS that went up, then, on discovering we’d won two of those four categories, AND a Special Recognition Award for an entire issue of The Scented Letter Magazine – A Life in Scents!

This was a really important issue of the magazine for us, which we dedicated to everyone who’s lucky enough to work in fragrance – or who dreams of doing so. There’s so much that goes into taking a perfume from the spark of an idea, into the bottle and beyond. So for this edition we interviewed everyone from perfumers to distributors to the sales consultants  who slip our purchase into a carrier bag for us to enjoy. We were extremely moved by Head Judge, Catherine Mitchell, saying how vital The Scented Letter Magazine is for industry in siders and perfume-lovers alike, and how she wanted every career’s advisor in the land to read it. We agree! So, we’re making it available for you to read in full.

Click the link or picture, below, to read the entire issue for free, and then click the pictures to read each of the other award-winning pieces…

 

 

HUGE congratulations, too, for our friends and colleagues who are the creatives behind the scenes in these incredible fragrance houses: perfumers, designers, marketing teams and retailers who went home clutching statuettes (Lalique, darling!) too. We raise a glass to each and every one of them, and urge you to seek out the scents behind their well-deserved wins…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loudest whoops of the evening (apart from our own) we think were on the Floral Street table, and no wonder – the continued blooming of this innovative and, so importantly, eco-conscious independent British fragrance house is wonderful to see (and smell!) We were so proud, too, for Thomas Dunckley‘s sixth (!) award, and of Nafia Guljar, whose beautiful piece she wrote for The Scented Letter magazine on the scent of night blooming jasmine, and the precious memories it holds of her late father, was also shortlisted.

The Champagne may no longer be fizzing, but you can be sure our joy – and that of all the winners and worthy finalists – will be bubbling over for some time…

Perfumed Plume Awards 2021 – Winners announced!

The Perfumed Plume Awards 2021 have just been announced, and we’re popping the fizz on a school night!

These awards are an independent, annual showcase of international journalism that gives ‘an inside view of the cultural, historic, scientific and personal approaches to fragrance design and what it takes to create an evocative scent.’

The organisers said: ‘Considering the ongoing challenges even now, we applaud each and every finalist (not to forget all the writers who submitted) for their masterful writing. It is always an honor to receive so many entries.’

‘We look forward to celebrating the winners this year, whether virtually or in person, and we are happy to kick off the award festivities by announcing the finalists as below,’ comment award Co-Founders Lyn Leigh and Mary Ellen Lapsansky.

‘The creativity in both the descriptive word and the visualisation of scent in all its glory is on full display this year and is nothing short of stupendous,’ added Miranda Gordon, Vice President Fine Fragrances Marketing & Evaluation, MANE. ‘Deserving of much recognition and admiration for their talent and commitment to the art of fragrance. Please read their stories. You will be rewarded!’

We were, once again, thrilled to be shortlised as finalists – especially with regular writer for The Scented Letter Magazine, Persolaise, being our fellow finalist in the first category, below. Given the number of extremely talented entrants from around the world, we’re even prouder to say… we won an award!

Many congratulations to all finalists, and winners, whom we’ve highlighted in bold type. We so hope we can all meet in person next year! Meanwhile, please do go and read these stories, linked below: you’re in for a fragrant treat…

 

 

PERFUME STORIES IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA – PRINT – MAGAZINES & NEWSPAPERS

The criteria for judging: quality of editorial content; originality & creativity; accuracy & depth of information:

Modern Florals (Heavy Petalling)
WINNER: Suzy Nightingale – The Scented Letter
The Changing Face of Fragrance
Persolaise – The Scented Letter 

PERFUME STORIES IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA – DIGITAL – MAGAZINES, NEWSPAPERS, BLOG POSTINGS, WEBZINES

The criteria for judging: quality of editorial content; originality & creativity; accuracy & depth of information:

 

 

SHORT ‘N SWEET PERFUME STORIES – PRINT OR DIGITAL

The criteria for judging: quality of editorial content; originality & creativity; accuracy & depth of information:

 

 

VISUALISATION OF PERFUME STORIES – PRINT & DIGITAL

The criteria for judging: design concept; how design relates to content:

 

 

INSTApost – PERFUME STORIES ON INSTAGRAM

The criteria for judging: originality/creativity of visual element(s); quality of the post content:

FRAGRANCE BOOK OF THE YEAR

Winner determined by the Perfumed Plume Consulting Committee:

Zaza’s Scent-sational Super Power
SPECIAL AWARD: Alexis Wintrob and Illustrator Shera Serrulha

Jasmine Awards 2021 – The finalists are announced (and we’re overjoyed!)

The Jasmine Awards 2021 finalists have been announced, and we’ve news of all those shortlisted… (including *blush* *squeal* *scream* The Perfume Society!)

These annual awards ‘recognised as the most prestigious journalistic awards in the beauty industry,’ were begun in the UK by The Fragrance Foundation in 1990. They present the Jasmines in order to ‘…recognise and reward the talents of journalists & visualisers whose difficult task it is to translate the complex art of perfumery into words and pictures.’

With a new panel of judges recruited each year, for 2021 the mammoth task of reading all the entries fell to Catherine Mitchell, (also acting as Chairman of the Judging Panel) of IFF; Beth Horn – Facebook’s Head of Industry for Retail & Ecommerce; Brix Smith – songwriter and guitarist best known for her work with The Fall (and an avid fragrance lover); Sali Hughes – author, journalist and broadcaster (and a previous Jasmine Award winner, whose fragrance collection rivals our own) and Sarah Jossel – the award-winning journalist, writer and TV presenter.

 

The Jasmine Awards 2021

LITERARY

Cosmopolitan – Kate Pasola – When did we all start smelling the same

Financial Times – How to Spend It – Nicola Moulton – Which scents made sense in the year of no scent?

thegloss.ie – Sarah Halliwell – Where the Wild Roses Grow

The Scented Letter Magazine – Suzy Nightingale – Don’t Stand So Close To Me

The Scented Letter Magazine – Suzy Nightingale – Note Perfect

The Candy Perfume Boy – Thomas Dunckley – Trapped in a Scent Memory

 

CREATIVITY

YouTube – Luca Turin – The Secret of Scent Lectures

instagram.com/RoseGallagher – Rose Gallagher – Various submission

Stylist Magazine – Shannon Peter – Good Clean Fun

The Perfume Society Instgram – The Perfume Society Team – Smelfie Campaign 2020

Fume Chat (Podcast) – Thomas Dunckley & Nick Gilbert – Fume Chat S3 EP06 Bon Anniversaire, Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle!

The Candy Perfume Boy – Thomas Dunkley – Material Focus: Cashmeran

 

PRACTICAL GUIDE

Glamour Magazine – Alice du Parcq – The 5:2 Fragrance Plan

We Wear Perfume – Amanda Carr & Tamara Fulton – The Long Read: why the future of buying fragrance is online

The Scented Letter Magazine – Suzy Nightingale – Modern Florals

The Scented Letter Magazine – Suzy Nightingale – Straight to the (Pulse) Point

The Candy Perfume Boy – Thomas Dunckley – Material Focus: Cashmeran

 

SHORT PIECE

marieclaire.co.uk – Fiona Embleton – Perfume became the soundtrack to my lockdown

marieclaire.co.uk – Fiona Embleton – Where are all the black perfumers…?

The Scented Letter – Nafia Guljar – It takes me right back – Night blooming jasmine

How To Spend It, The Financial Times – Rosanna Dodds – It’s a real headturner

The Scented Letter – Suzy Nightingale – Petrichor & Pluviophiles

The Scented Letter – Suzy Nightingale – Vellichor: Capturing the Scent Memories of Old Books

 

The Jasmine Awards 2021 shortlist announcement is now part of the seven-day scent-fest of The Fragrance Foundation National Fragrance Week celebrations. You can join in the fragrant fun and see the other olfactory events occuring by cheking out their website, here.

The award ceremony itself is due to be held in September, with all winners being announced during the glam-filled affair, when the scent of success (and oodles of perfume, obvs) fills the air.

Until then, we raise a glass to ALL the worthy finalists, in what must have been very difficult decisions for the judges to make. We’re utterly thrilled to have SO many nominations, and are especially honoured to be among such great names. Cheers!

 

Art & Olfaction Awards: register to watch for free!

The Art & Olfaction Awards 2020 are to be live-streamed online this year (as with so many other scented events we’re sadly missing in person), but the good news is, this means they have flung open the virtual fragrant doors, and you can register to watch as a guest…

The scented award season really is in full swing – we’ve just had the Fragrance Foundation and Jasmine Awards, the Perfumed Plume Awards, and now: The Art & Olfaction Awards sashay forth to the spotlight.

Far more than an exercise in self-congratulation, The Art & Olfaction Awards are open to any independent perfumer who wishes to enter a submission, and the results are blind-sniffed by a panel of judges around the world. As well as the indie brands, they celebrate artisanal fragrance and installation artists who work with fragrance as a creative medium as part of their work.

Some of the names you may have heard of, but we guarantee there will be many you don’t (and need to get to know!)

These houses and artists represent some of the most interesting movements in perfumery right now, and it’s always fascinating to keep an eye (and, indeed, nose) on them by way of glimpsing to future trends for the fragrance industry as a whole…

 

 

The organisers of The Art & Olfaction Awards say: ‘Grab a bottle of bubbly, wear your fanciest outfit, and join us to celebrate this very strange year’s most excellent finalists in the artisan, independent and experimental categories. The ceremony will take place on September 17, 2020, from 2pm to 3:30pm PDT. Join us!’

To watch the event, you need to register for free tickets first.

Meanwhile, check out the list of 2020 finalists (always names worth knowing, as these awards are hotly contested…)

By Suzy Nightingale

Perfumed Plume Awards 2020: the winners are…

The Perfumed Plume Awards are an annual celebration of international fragrance journalism, to showcase writing that gives ‘an inside view of the cultural, historic, scientific and personal approaches to fragrance design and what it takes to create an evocative scent.’

‘While we would normally gather at MANE Gallery to celebrate with a glass of bubbly, this year is obviously a different time,” said Co-Founders Mary Ellen Lapsansky and Lyn Leigh.

‘In these very unusual times, we’re grateful to have the technology to share this occasion with you.’ Lyn continued.

The ceremony was held virtually on Zoom, and so we were excited to tune in and celebrate the winners, who were…

 

Perfume Stories – Print – Magazines & Newspapers
The criteria for judging: quality of editorial content; originality & creativity; accuracy & depth of information.

A tie!

Holiday O.G. – Why frankincense – the original Christmas present – is suddenly so smoking hot – Town & Country

Scents of Place – Venice — The Scented Letter, Jo Fairley, The Perfume Society

Perfume Stories in Mainstream Media – Digital – Magazines, Newspapers, Blog Postings, Webzines
The criteria for judging: quality of editorial content; originality & creativity; accuracy & depth of information

Guerlain Mitsouko Centennial 1919-2019: The Scented Skein — ÇaFleureBon

Short ‘n Sweet Perfume Stories – Print or Digital
The criteria for judging: quality of editorial content; originality & creativity; accuracy & depth of information

Vision Quest – NewBeauty

INSTApost — Perfume Stories on Instagram
The criteria for judging: originality/creativity of visual element(s); quality of the post content

Cooper Hewitt – Resurrecting the Sublime – Futureofsmell

Visualization of Perfume Stories — Print & Digital
The criteria for judging: design concept; how design relates to content

In Bauhaus we trust – the smell of minimalism — Scentury.com

Fragrance Book of the Year

“Perfume Legends II: French Feminine Fragrances” – Michael Edwards

This was the first year we’d submitted entries, so we were particularly delighted to discover we were finalists with FOUR nominations (and of course, even more delighted that we won one!)

The Perfumed Plume judges commented that:

‘…these marvelous writers deserve recognition and congratulations for their perfume stories. All are factual. All are creative. All are fascinating.” It’s true to say that all the submissions were just wonderful and the results a close call. These fabulous stories are a must-read so please take a few minutes to appreciate the talents of these writers.’

The full list of entires can be found on The Perfumed Plume website, with links to each of the finalists’ work, and we urge you to grab a cuppa, put your feet up and peruse every single one for some precious moments of perfumed escapism.

By Suzy Nightingale

Fragrant escapism… read each of our Jasmine-Award nominated pieces!

In the flurry of everything that’s happened over the last few weeks with a global pandemic, though we shouted our happiness on our social media channels at the time, we must admit this had escaped our minds to post about. But as we’re clinging on to every good news piece we can, right now, we hope you’ll forgive us for re-living the joy we felt because of the news…

For this year’s Fragrance Foundation Jasmine Awards – the ‘Oscars’ of the fragrance world – we have an incredible SIX nominations!

We wanted to give you a chance to take a look over each of the pieces we’re nominated for – a form of fragrant escapism, if you wish, amidst the worry that’s all around. So sit back and take some time to unwind, and read about something nice for a change…

Finalist: Literary Award – Perfuming a Part, by Suzy Nightingale

Finalist: Literary Award – Scents of India, by Amanda Carr

Finalist: Practical Guide – Scents of Place: Venice, by Jo Fairley

Finalist: Practical Guide – The Future of Fragrance, by The Perfume Society Scented Letter Magazine team

Finalist: Short Piece – Orange Blossom, How to Bottle Sunshine, by Suzy Nightingale

Finalist: Short Piece – Scented Inks & Inky Scents, by Suzy Nightingale

Do make time to have a look at the full list of finalists and their work – we are thrilled to among such a pool of perfumed talent, of names we know well as friends, and those new to our noses. We’re crossing our fingers for even more good news when the winners are announced (a lot of fingers to be crossed, with our nominations for Perfumed Plume Awards this year, too!)

Until then, we hope that you’ll enjoy this list of lovely things to read, and wish you all sunshine, health and happiness…

mNPA – China’s first niche perfumery awards

The passion for niche perfumes is growing worldwide, and fragrance houses have been telling us for some time that the Chinese market has been expanding. Once written off as only liking quiet or subdued scents, or outsiders assuming the majority of consumers don’t feel comfortable wearing personal scent at all, it’s fascinating to see that China have just held their first ever awards for niche perfumery: the mNPA…

Set to become an annual event, the mNPA – Minorité Niche Perfumery Awards – is a collaboration between the niche Chinese fine fragrance and distribution company Minorité and Firmenich, the largest privately-owned fragrance and flavour company.

Minorité founder Song Yuan said ‘This is the first time we have held the awards for niche perfumes in China… We hope these awards will help Chinese consumers learn more about our local niche brands and inspire domestic perfumes.’ Paul Andersson, Firmenich China President, explained why China was the perfect setting for these awards. ‘Following the opening of our first Fine Fragrance Atelier in China in September last year, Firmenich’s participation in mNPA demonstrates our commitment to developing the fine fragrance industry in China. Firmenich is honored to support worldwide exposure for the outstanding fine fragrance players in China by leveraging our global network and our understanding of the local Chinese consumers and market.’

‘The awards encourage the creation of innovative fragrances with an artistic touch, based on a unique approach. The nomination jury included leading perfumers, senior fragrance critics and Key Opinion Leaders who were responsible for nominating the candidates and shortlisting the finalists for each award category. Winners were then chosen by public vote.’

And the winners were…

  • Best Independent Niche Perfumes 2019: Fig-Tea by Nicolaï; Hermann A Mes Cotes Me Paraissait Une Ombre by Etat Libre d`Orange; The Orchid Man by Frapin.
  • Best Niche Perfumes Affiliated with a Group 2019: Oolang Infini by Atelier Cologne; L`Ombre Dans L`Eau (EDT) by diptyque; Florabellio by diptyque.
  • Best Chinese Niche Perfume 2019: Insects Awaken by KONG BAI; Wind by UTTORI; Rosmanthus by O D’HORA.

 

 

These awards work both ways: showing the fragrances that are making significant scent waves in China while also showcasing home-grown Chinese niche houses that perhaps aren’t widely known about even in their own country. We applaud this initiative and would love to explore more truly niche fragrances from around the world, wouldn’t you? Anything that helps diversify our olfactive palate, and the voices and memories creating their own unique stories in scent, can only be a good thing.

Written by Suzy Nightingale