Incredibly, we are celebrating our TENTH BIRTHDAY this year! We simply cannot believe it’s been a decade of fragrant fun at The Perfume Society – how quickly it has flown by, and how much has changed in that time… But did you know our co-founders Lorna McKay and Jo Fairley chose the date of May 1st for a very particular reason?
For the French, May 1st traditionally represents the start of gifting bouquets of “muguet” to loved ones to signify the regard in which they’re held and as a token of prosperity for the year ahead. A tradition supposedly begun when King Charles IX was presented with a bunch of the delicate blooms, and decided to gift the ladies of his court, too. Lily of the valley has also made its way into countless bridal bouquets (including that of Kate Middleton for her wedding to Prince Willliam); and in many countries. Most of all, lily of the valley given on May 1st represents tenderness, love, faith, happiness, purity and a return of hope.
No wonder we chose this delightful, flower-filled date in the calendar to launch The Perfume Society when our team of helpers ran hither and thither all over London handing sprigs of lily of the valley to fragrant friends! Meanwhile, we were busy crafting what has become a multi-award-winning magazine: The Scented Letter – the first printed magazine in the world entirely dedicated to fragrance. And we must give a special mention to the amazing designer who has been with us from day one, and without whom the magazine couldn’t exist: Jenny Semple.
The Jasmine Awards for The Fragrance Foundation U.K. are the most prestigious in the perfume industry, and are considered the olfactory equivalent of the Oscars; while The Perfumed Plume Awards were for worldwide fragrance writing, so judged internationally. Of our many nominations for this most tricky of subjects to write about (literally communicating invisible smells, and with no specific words in the English language with which to describe them!) we simply couldn’t be more proud, or more deeply honoured, that we have won the following TWELVE awards…
2015:
Judges Special Recognition Award – The Scented Letter magazine team [entire issue]: Issue 1
2016:
Jasmine Independent Literary Award – Suzy Nightingale, The Scented Letter magazine: ‘What Does Wednesday Smell Like?’
Jasmine Independent Soundbite Award – Persolaise, The Scented Letter. magazine: ‘Closer to Heaven’
2018:
Jasmine Social Engagement Award – Carson Parkin-Fairley: #smellfie Campaign
2019:
Jasmine Practical Guide Award – The Scented Letter Magazine team [entire issue]: The Alphabet Issue – A-Z of Fragrance
2020:
The Perfumed Plume [International] Award – Jo Fairley, The Scented Letter magazine: Scents of Place: Venice
2021:
Jasmine Literary Award – Suzy Nightingale, The Scented Letter magazine: Note Perfect
Jasmine Short Piece Award – Suzy Nightingale, perfumesociety.org: Vellichor: Capturing the Scent Memories of Old Books
Jasmine Judges Special Recognition Award – The Scented Letter magazine team [entire issue]: A Life in Scents
Perfumed Plume [International] Award – Suzy Nightingale, The Scented Letter magazine: Modern Florals, Heavy Petalling
2022:
Jasmine Literary Award – Jo Fairley, The Scented Letter magazine: When Soap Equals Hope
2023:
Jasmine Practical Guide Award – Suzy Nightingale, The Scented Letter magazine: Time to Spray Your 5 a Day
You can sign up for your FREE digital copy of the magazine to be delivered to your inbox, or you may prefer to choose the option of the gloriously glossy print edition subscription. Whichever you plump for, it’s a year’s worth of fragrant reading beloved by industry insiders and the perfume-loving public, which we remain incredibly proud of the magazine team, (and our contributing writers) hard work on.
In this past perfumed decade, ever since the second year of The Perfume Society’s inception, we have been celebrating National Fragrance Day in the U.K. with our #smellfie campaign. This was an idea that sprang up during a team meeting at TPS Towers, when senior writer Suzy Nightingale came up with the idea of getting our followers on social media to take a selfie with their scent of the day, and tell us why they loved it, with the simple hashtag of #smellfie. Little did we know that fragrance fans across the world would take up the call, and we’ve had a joyous abundance – nearly 9,000 tags, and counting! – of perfumed photos, stories and videos from the likes of Katy Perry, Little Mix and Richard E Grant, no less, who’ve taken part in the fragrant fun for past years.
With sharing the love of scent at our very heart, let us not also forget that The Perfume Society Discovery Boxes were the first cross-brand curated selections of perfume samples (from luxury, designer and niche names to newly emerging indie houses) offered anywhere in the world. We’ve had so many thousands of you tell us you found your next new fragrant loves thanks to trying samples and minis in these boxes, and for being matched with your perfect perfumes to go and sniff out via our groundbreaking (way ahead of its time) Find a Fragrance Search Engine (originally developed by Lorna McKay).
With your help, we’ve achieved so much over these ten years. We wish we could come and give every single one of you a sprig of lily of the valley to show our heartfelt appreciation for all your support, but for now, accept this symbol of love and luck, from us to all of you…
