Can you believe that Escentric Molecules Escentric 01 and Molecule 01 are 15 years old this year? To celebrate, they’re planning to release a limited edition of these iconic fragrances, uniquely featuring YOUR stories printed on the bottles…
Over the years, Escentric Molecules have heard so many fantastic stories from people who fell in love because of the fragrances, or had a Sliding Doors moment of their lives utterly changing thanks to the fragrance they were wearing. Now, they’re looking to collect these stories, and want to hear ‘…about the adventures had while wearing Escentric 01 or Molecule 01 – how you met your partner – a wild night from a chance meeting on a train to Brighton – being chased down dark wet streets in Clerkenwell, London, by someone desperate to discover what fragrance you were wearing.’
Escentric Molecules say:
‘We are asking you to contribute to the history of both fragrances and send us your stories.
We will select the 25 best, funniest or most outrageous ones and feature them on bottles.
The “story editions” will launch this autumn and the 25 winners with our favourite #moleculestories will not only have their stories featured on the bottle but will also receive a pair of limited editions and an invite to an online Q&A with Escentric Molecules founder, Geza Schoen.
Each bottle will also feature a QR code that will link to a story edition page on escentric.com featuring the winning stories.
Geza will also pick his favourite story and the winner will receive a one of a kind neon wall piece created from their story.’
This incredible opportunity to share your scent stories closes on August 15th, so you need to be quick! Hurry up and submit your story using the link below…
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.
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
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
“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 onefor some precious moments of perfumed escapism.
Stories Parfums is a house filled with evocative, emotional story-telling through scent. And now you are invited to join a private VIP Scent Club, where you can ‘…receive samples of our fragrances and learn how to connect with your own story through the art of fragrance, live online with Tonya.’
Tonya Kidd-Beggs is the Founder and Creative Director of Stories Parfums, and right for the get-go, she knew she wanted to create a house where the fragrances were unashamedly emotionally driven – reaching into the depths of mislaid memories, childhood dreams and long-forgotten hope.
Stories Parfums say this is ‘a unique opportunity to experience STORIES Parfums first hand alongside our Founder and learn a little more about the art of fragrance and the development of our gender-inclusive brand, and invite you to join us LIVE online, from the comfort of your home.’
This intimate exploration of scent with fellow fragrance lovers is £5 per person and for that, you will be sent 4 x deluxe 2ml samples of STORIES No.01 and STORIES No.02.
‘Tonya will host a guided group discovery of each of the scents to experience together the unique notes and ingredients in each eau de parfum’.
Tonya will welcome your questions and scent stories in this one-off online group session via ZOOM on Friday 31 July at 4pm BST.
In addition, there will be a sneak preview of upcoming product launches and participant exclusive offers. But hurry! There are only 20 places in this very special session, and you will need to book your ticketin time for your samples to arrive!
‘We do things differently, here in London W3…’ Sarah McCartney, founder of independent perfume house 4160 Tuesdays, explains. ‘All our fragrances have a story. This year we want to bring out four new editions; eaux de parfum each with its own mystery story, inspired by the classic crime novels of the 1930s.’
Having successfully reached out to the fragrance community and many long-time fans of her distinctively quirky scents, last year saw the crowd-funded Crimes of Passion collection selling out and winning awards. Crowd-funding has become popular over several online platforms recently, with small companies and independent entrepreneurs reaching out for public support to give them a much-needed initial cash investment they then use to fulfill project they could otheriwse only dream of, with those initial investors receiving a number of bonuses or gifts in reward for their belief and support. Fragrance expert and vintage perfume aficionado Barbara Herman also used this technique to launch her Perfume X range of vintage-inspired fragrances, which were composed by Antoine Lie.
Last year, 4160 Tuesdays launched seven fragrances to evoke ‘unexpected acts of devotion’ and included Dirty Honey, which won the EauMG Best Indie Scent 2015; Maxed Out having been one of Lucky Scent’s Top 12 Perfumes of 2015 and currently in the running as one of the finalists for The Fragrance Foundation‘s 2016 award for Best New Independent Fragrance; along with yet another of the series – Midnight in the Palace Garden – also having made the final list of nominees.
This time the collection is entitled The Mystery of the Materials: Four Scented Stories, and each will be themed around specific 30s style mysterious tales that Sarah has written, with a specific perfume and specific ingredients in mind.
The scented stories are enticingly described as follows…
The Search for Flora Psychedelica
The story: ‘A tale of botany and skullduggery.’
The scent: ‘A blend of rare flowers with intoxicating spices and herbs.’
The Mystery of the Buddhawood Box
The story: ‘Horatio Kimble had sailed for Australia to seek his fortune. Twenty years later, his lawyers invite the relatives to a meeting.’
The scent: ‘Four distinctive woods, with a note of multicoloured opalescence.’
Up the Apples & Pears
The story: ‘Cissy and Dotty Shuttleworth defend their London pub from an unscrupulous property developer.’
The scent: ‘Autumn fruit in a tiny London orchard.’
Captured by Candlelight
The story: ‘When the lights go out at Dolderbury Hall a portrait goes missing, but which one was it?’
The scent: ‘Traditional plum pudding, covered in brandy and set alight, with a background of oak panels and oil paintings.’
Those who invest in the scheme can contribute from as little as £5, with a range of benefits and bonuses available varying from a signed, bound book of the stories, a specially reduced price of the perfume, and sample sets of the finished scents.
Talking about the sliding scale structure of investment in such schemes, Sarah said:
‘We’re starting with a very affordable dip of the financial toe, right down to a deep plunge of a bespoke service, story and scent. Perfume is an unusual thing to buy before trying, so we’re doing sample sets to reduce your risk, but there are great incentives to take a chance on buying before you try them.We’d love to invest in more amazing materials which you don’t find in big brand fragrances; we’re a tiny company so crowdfunding makes it possible. If some of these scents sound exciting to you, join in! We’d love your help to invest in interesting materials and to use them to create something marvellous…’
Sarah’s ‘wish list’ of ingredients:
Australian Buddhawood
Boronia flower absolute
Granny Smith apple creation
Colombian enfleurage lily and gardenia
Natural pear creation
Brandy CO2 extract
Absinthe essential oil
Artemisia essential oil
Davana essential oil
Hemlock essential oil
Broom absolute
Hazelnut CO2 extract
Oakwood CO2 extract
If you’re crossing your fingers and hoping it all goes ahead so your favourite-sounding scent gets made, never fear. Says Sarah: ‘We shall definitely be making the perfumes, no matter how many people join in; but the more supporters we have, the more of these lovely materials we can acquire, and the more beautiful our story books will be. We’re also planning a rather interesting launch event…’
We’re duly intrigued and shall be keeping an eye on further crowdfunding schemes in fragrance world – a fascinating way that fans of smaller, independent perfume houses can directly invest in the purveyors of their perfumed delights.
If you’d like to get involved or find out more, visit 4160 Tuesdays IndieGoGo page.
