The Fragrance Foundation’s Jasmine Awards are often called the ‘Oscars’ of the fragrance-writing world – held at BAFTA in Piccadilly, with Lalique statuettes polished and gleaming, Wednesday 16th March saw the gathering of excitedly chattering nominees shortlisted for 2016’s crop of awards. We have to say, the whole Perfume Society team was thrilled to be honoured with nominations this year – not merely for features we’d written online or published in our magazine The Scented Letter, but with fellow journalists also nominated for features they’d written about The Perfume Society.
What happened next? Well read on as we veritably squeal with excitement…
Presiding over the event were Chairman of The Fragrance Foundation – Annalise Fard, and Cecile Budge – Managing Director P&G Prestige & Chairman of The Jasmine Awards, said:
‘Congratulations to all the winners today. As always, the quality of the entries from both the finalists and the winners was very high. We saw great creativity throughout and pieces that truly inspire consumers to try and then buy fragrances. We had entries from a wider range of publications and individuals this year, which is really encouraging to see. We also saw increased participation from retailers this year.’
The judging panel this year were industry expert Joanna Norman ‑ Chairman of the Judging panel, alongside Paula Hawkins – Author, Gill Hudson – Editor, Millie Mackintosh – Fashion Designer & Blogger, Natasha Kaplinsky – TV Presenter, Sanjay Vadera – CEO The Fragrance Shop, & Daphne Wright – Author.
Best Article in a Customer Magazine: The judges chose Deborah Bee & Jan Masters for ‘Birth of a Fragrance’ in Harrods Magazine.
Best Digital Article on Fragrance: The Perfume Society co-founder Josephine Fairley (hoorah!) was chosen to receive this prize – for ‘Perfume Notes: Smoke and Fire Fragrances’ published on the telegraph.co.uk.
Best Digital Fragrance Experience: went to Anna Hunter for ‘The Niche, Lesser Known Fragrance Brands You’re About to Fall in Love With’ on getthegloss.com.
Jasmine Independent Literary Award: This year went to our very own Suzy Nightingale for ‘What Does Wednesday Smell Like?’ in The Scented Letter.
Jasmine Independent Soundbite Award: A new category for this year was awarded to Persolaise for his article ‘Closer to Heaven’ in (yay!) The Scented Letter.
Jasmine Soundbite (news press): Journalist Edwina Ings‑Chambers was awarded the prize for her piece ‘A Better Bottle’ in The Sunday Times Style.
Jasmine Soundbite (magazines): The judges agreed the prize should go to Sali Hughes for ‘It’s Backbone in a Bottle’ in Stylist.
Best Practical Guide to Fragrance: The judges decided that the Award should go to ‘How I Learned to Think Through My Nose’ (about our How To Improve Your Sense of Smell Workshops – huzzah!) by Kim Parker from Red.
Jasmine Visual Award: This category had some stunning visuals were original and eye-catching; the prize went to ‘Birth of a Fragrance’ from Harrods Magazine, Words by Jan Masters, Creative by Deborah Bee.
Most Creative Visual Award: This is for a stand‑alone piece with minimal words which stood the test of inspiring the reader by its visual impact. The judges found this a tough decision due to the high quality of entries, but it was decided that the prize should go to ‘The Forever Fragrances’ from marksandspencer.com, by Emma Robertson with the creative by Karen Davidson.
Jasmine Literary Award: Lucy Pavia for ‘What Does Pleasure Smell Like?’ from InStyle.
Jasmine Rising Star Award: Shannon Peterʹs ‘A Perfumer’s Business Card’ – Stylist Magazine.
Winners of the ‘Junior Jasmines’ – the Mighty Nose Awards – were utterly adorable, and their poems incredibly creative! This section of the awards was set up to challenge and inspire primary school children to write poems specifically about the sense of smell. The judging panel comprised of Richard E. Grant – Actor, Director & Chairman of the Judging Panel, Nicky Cox MBE – Editor of First News & Josh Lacey – Children’s Author.
Years 3 and 4 – First prize went to Isaac Littlewood from St Mary’s CE Primary School Edwinstowe, for his brilliantly funny poem – ‘The Smells Inside my Brother’s Room’. Runner up was Emily Wates for her poem ‘In My Dreams’ from Cranleigh Preparatory School.
Years 5 and 6 – First prize went to Tess Garrett for her excellent poem ‘The Smell Olympics’ from Bedford Girls School. Runner up was Anya Hemingway for her poem ‘Smells of a Summer Walk’ from Sheffield High School.
Truly, we have to keep pinching ourselves and aren’t quite sure it’s sunk in yet! Many, many sincere congratulations to ALL nominees – we were proud to be among you, and in a room full of such talent.
The winning articles are available to view on www.thejasmineawards.co.uk. The Mighty nose winning poems are available to view on http://www.martythemightynose.org
