In France, May 1st is celebrated with a public holiday – officially called La Fête du Travail (National Labour Day) but also known as La Fête du Muguet (Lily of the Valley Day). It comes from a tradition that supposedly dates back to the reign of King Charles IX, when in 1561, the King was presented with a bunch of muguet (lil of the valley) flowers as a token of luck for the coming year. Courtiers were so charmed by the token, they began gifting each other sprigs of the flowers, and so the tradition grew, remaining to this day a way of wishing loved ones a properous and joyful year ahead.
Incredibly, for 110 years now, Guerlain have presented their own fragrant token, in the form of an exquisite (and highly collectible!) limited edition bottle of Muguet – a practice initiated by Jacques Guerlain in 1908.
For 2018, Guerlain have decorated the emblematic ‘bee bottle’ design with a kiss of frost (how fitting, for our currently freezing weather), and as Guerlain explain, ‘…the Bee Bottle contains in its heart the Muguet note, reinterpreted by Thierry Wasser, whose bergamot, jasmine and rose accents announce Spring.
Top notes: green notes Heart notes: note of lily of the valley, lilac Base notes: rose, jasmine
To magnify this exceptional piece, Guerlain has called on Maison Guillemette, one of the reference addresses in Paris for jewels and head accessories. Guillemette, founder and creator, celebrates the Muguet with a floral ethereal finery.
A lucky charm of exception that celebrates with refinement Lily of the Valley and the beginning of Spring.
Each year the Muguet eau de toilette is magnified in a bottle sublimated by the know-how of a craftsman to become an exceptional piece.
This year, Maison Guillemette, a Parisian creator of accessories, has imagined a voluptuous and delicate floral finery. It is adorned with a bunch of organza petals cut and sewed by hand; a true prowess of meticulousness and creativity.’
Collectors, Guerlain-a-holics and lily of the valley lovers, form an orderly queue – we’re right behind you, and desperately hoping this heralds the proper start of Spring…
Guerlain Millésime Muguet 2018 £370 for 125ml eau de toilette
Available at Harrods and Selfridges
When we received emails beginning, ‘Congratulations, you are a finalist!’ we’re pretty sure you must have been able to hear us squealing from the moon…
The Jasmine Awards are often referred to as ‘the Oscars of the Fragrance Industry’ – an annual event in which The Fragrance Foundation celebrates those who write about and discuss fragrance in engaging and innovative ways. We are utterly thrilled to have made the final line-up, with several nominations, and to be sharing that space with so many talented individuals.
The awards will be announced on April 19th, so until then we’ll be sharing some of the nominated features from The Scented Letter Magazine with you right here – content that’s usually exclusively for our subscribers (in print and online) – because as it’s a very special occasion, we wanted to give everyone the opportunity to have a gander!
Below, you’ll find the complete list of finalists in all the categories, but firstly we’d like to share with you an episode of Thomas & Nick‘s always informative (and often hilarious) podcast, Fume Chat, which features none other than our Co-Founder Jo Fairley as a guest, and has been nominated for the Innovation Award.
Have a listen to Fume Chat: The War of the Roses, and do catch-up on any others you may have missed. We’re sure you’ll join the growing legion of listeners who tune in for a regular dose of the duo…
CREATIVE VISUAL AWARD
Can You Feel The Love
Look Magazine
Lydia Thompson & Ian Oliver Walsh
Crowning Glories
Harrods Magazine
Jan Masters & Ashleigh Houlton
Scents & Sensibility
Men’s Health UK
Eric Down, Luke Kirwan & Zena May
The Big Splash
Stylist Magazine
Shannon Peter, Mitch Payne & Kyle Bean
The Craft
Stylist Magazine
Nikita Gill & Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini
The Rise of “Marmite” Perfumes
Stella Magazine
Alice du Parcq & Josh Caudwell
INNOVATION AWARD
Can a Perfume Change Your Life?
ELLE Magazine
Sophie Beresiner & Joely Walker
Crowning Glories
Harrods Magazine
Jan Masters & Ashleigh Houlton
Episode 16:Molecule Mania
Fumechat
Nick Gilbert & Thomas Dunckley
Episode 18: The War of the Roses
Fumechat
Nick Gilbert & Thomas Dunckley
Scents & Sensibility
Men’s Health UK
Eric Down, Luke Kirwan & Zena May
The Sweet Smell of a Bargain
Cosmopolitan
Lucy Partington
LITERARY PIECE AWARD
Mimosa: Let The Sunshine In
The Scented Letter
Jo Fairley
Oranges Are Not The Only (Fragrant) Fruit
The Scented Letter
Suzy Nightingale
The Rise of “Marmite” Perfumes
Stella Magazine
Alice du Parcq
This is a Journey into Skank
Basenotes.net
Louise Woollam
Transcending Scent
Stylist Magazine
Anita Bhagwandas
Vanilla Wards & Ghosted Olfaction
REEKperfume
Alex Musgrave
PRACTICAL GUIDE AWARD
Heal Thyself
Cent Magazine
Suzy Nightingale
Live, Love, Spritz
Red Magazine
Alexandra Friend
One Scent Good, Seven Scents Better?
The Scented Letter
Thomas Dunckley
Scents of Calm
GRAZIA
Alice du Parcq
Scents of Place
The Scented Letter
Carson Parkin-Fairley
Summer Fragrances for People Who Hate Summer & also Summer Fragrances
Basenotes.net
Claire Vukcevic
RISING STAR AWARD
Best Fragrance Discoveries 2017 Tommelise
Yana Lysenko
Christmas Trilogy
Harry Sherwood
Parterre Fragrances – a New Concept in Perfumery
Maria Angelidou
Scents & Sensibility
Sara Sheridan
Smells Familiar
Grace Cook
The Juice – A Sensual Story of a Most Singular Smell
Richard O’Mahony
SHORT PIECE AWARD
A Scent To Swear By
Financial Times – Life & Arts
Kathleen Baird-Murray
Dear Bleu – A Letter of Apology to Bleu de Chanel
The Candy Perfume Boy
Thomas Dunckley
Falling Through The Chypre Portal
I Scent You a Day
Samantha Scriven
Free Florals
Harper’s Bazaar
Hannah Betts
Revisiting Three Modern Perfume Classics
How To Spend It
Victoria Frolova
Scented Androgyny
Harper’s Bazaar
Hannah Betts
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT AWARD
#AdPSmellogram
Alice du Parcq
Black Friday
The Perfume Shop
Love at First Scent
Persolaise
Mixed Gems
Rose Gallagher
#Smelfie Campaign
Carson Parkin-Fairley
We Wear Perfume
Amanda Carr & Tamara Fulton
We would like to congratulate every single person who made the finals, we’re such admirers of all their work, already, and will be biting our fingernails alongside them until the winners are announced!
It’s offical: flowers are back in the fragrance world. Perhaps you thought they never went away (indeed, they’re the backbone of practically all fragrance formulas) but we can assure you that Spring 2018’s launches point the way to fully embracing petal power in exciting and conemporary compositions – from bohemiams frolicking in wild flower meadows, to vampish vixens smouldering beguilingly: these flowers certainly aren’t granny’s knicker-draw anymore…
Probably the most easily identifiable notes in perfumery, you may recognise some florals at first-sniff – rather reassuring in these days of sometimes confusing contemporary scents – and they are perfect to indulge in wearing on days the sky’s the same colour as the pavement. But floral scents have several sub-categories, now – from the fruity to the so-called ‘floriental’ – so where does one category end and another begin, and which ones should you explore first depending on your personal preferences?
– Rose has long been considered the ‘Queen’ of perfume, the two main varieties being rosa centifolia, found in the South of France, and rosa damascena (known as Damask rose) primarily from the Middle East, with a dozen exclusively grown May roses from Grasse famously within every bottle of Chanel No.5.
James Craven – the fragrance archivist of niche perfumery Les Senteurs, tells us that many customers (particularly women) come in confidently declaring they ‘hate rose fragrances,’ and he breathes deeply while subtly showing them some scents that beautifully harmonise the rose with other complimentary material. As they inevitably adore one of these, James then charmingly admits it’s simply swathed in the stuff – a strong case for always being led by your nose and not your preconceptions, we feel!
– Jasmine is the second most-used, entwining its heady white blossoms within virtually every floral fragrance you care to mention – tiny though the flowers are, their scent is animalic, often called ‘indolic’ (referring to indoles also found within gardenia, honeysuckle, lilac, and tuberose), and utterly addictive. One ounce of fragrance, such as the classic Jean Patou’s Joy, can lavishly contain 10,600 jasmine flowers!
– For less va-va-voom in a scent, look for the powdered green of violet, delicacy of lily of the valley, suede-like softness in iris, waxy freshness of magnolia, and cashmere-like fluffiness of mimosa. Sprinkled with hot spices and exotic extractions (crossing into ‘Floriental’), juiced-up with fruit (becoming ‘Fruity Floral’) or buried within deeper, more mysterious creations – there truly is a floral fragrance for every one of us, with many men now delving into fragrances where floral notes are centre-stage.
Ready to get petal-powered? Discover some of the specially curated Brand Discovery Boxes we’ve chosen, in which the characters of florals have been fully explored – from the vampish divas to more softly swooning – there truly is a bouquet for everyone to adore…
Cochine is Vietnam’s first luxury fragrance brand – and one that we are totally obsessed with! Created to inspire you, Cochine’s collection captures the romance of a sun-warmed exotic garden as its enchanting florals unfold into the evening air. Specially selected from their portfolio of unique botanical scents, you’ll find yourself enraptured by roses, jasmine, gardenia and the newest fragrance – Tuberose & Wild Fig. Cochine Floral Collection £35
Discover Molton Brown‘s interpretation of some of perfumery’s most precious ingredients with this colourful selection of their best-selling scents, from delicate floral Blossoming Honeysuckle & White Tea to dreaming of dozing beneath fragrant canopies of flowers with the exotic Ylang Ylang, and many floral facets in-between… Molton Brown’s Art of Fragrance £12.50
Hand-crafted in England, created from the essences of real flowers, fruit and spices, Shay & Blue‘s invite you to explore their most-loved scents. Pocket-sized and beautifully presented in their signature blue and white stripes, the set also boasts Framboise Noire – a mesmerising floriental of cassis berries, jasmine and patchouli. Shay & Blue Precious Miniatures£65
This limited edition collectible box has been designed especially to showcase Les Infusions de Prada in six of the most adorable and desirable 8ml miniature eau de parfum bottles… Featuring notes of iris, orange blossom, heliotrope and the often overlooked carnation (think spicy and hot yet dry and fascinating) it’s a perfectly refined way to get your nose around floral ingredients. Prada Parfums Les Infusions de Prada £36
We’re rather thrilled the Art and Olfaction Awards are coming to London in April 2018! The awards (aka ‘The Golden Pears’) are a program of The Institute for Art and Olfaction, a non-profit organisation based in Los Angeles, USA.
An annual event showcasing the very best niche and artisan perfumes from around the world, independent perfumers and small-scale brands are invited to submit their fragranced wares (closing date is November 1st though, folks, so you need to get a wriggle on!) by filling in the online form, and then sending a 20ml bottle of the perfume for judging.
The rules are as follows…
‘For the 5th annual awards, we accept submissions from independent and artisan perfumers, and experimental practitioners with scent from all countries. Brands must be independently owned, or owned by a parent company with no more than four fine fragrance holdings in its brand portfolio. In the independent and artisan categories, we accept perfumes first released to market between January 1 and December 31, 2017. In the Sadakichi Award, we accept projects that had or will have their public début between December 1, 2016 and December 31, 2017.’
The Institute for Art and Olfaction say: ‘Awarded to just four perfumes and one experimental project a year, The Golden Pears is designed to raise interest and awareness for independent and artisan perfumers – and experimental practitioners with scent – from all countries. By shining a spotlight on perfumery’s most outstanding creators, we hope to help generate support for independent practices in perfumery as a whole.’
Submissions close: November 1st, 11:59pm PST
Physical submissions must be received on or before November 14th, 2017
Round one judging : November 14, 2017 – January 15, 2018
Round two judging: January 15 – March 1, 2018
Finalists Announcement at Esxence: April 5, 2018
5th annual Art and Olfaction Awards at The Tabernacle in London: April 21, 2018
Niche perfumery was once viewed somewhat sneeringly, but the larger brands have had to sit up and take notice in the last few years (indeed, acquiring a few of them along the way to add to their existing portfolios), because those brands have ploughed the way for new trends to emerge, a fresher breath of air that provides a barometer for the rest of the industry. Whether perfume-lovers are directly seeking out more unusual and under-the-radar brands because they ‘don’t want to smell like everyone else’, or perhaps we’re all just getting a little braver in our fragrance choices; it’s become clear that niche is the new black.
And we can’t wait to see what the awards uncover next…
Written by Suzy Nightingale