Well, here’s some good news! Last night The Fragrance Foundation UK held the annual Fragrance Foundation Awards and they announced the winners of the Jasmine Awards (the Oscars of fragrance writing). I was nominated in three categories and was thrilled to be awarded the Jasmine for Best Practical Guide for my article Material Focus: Cashmeran. This is my sixth (!!!) Jasmine Award and it’s still a complete surprise that anything I write is worthy. Thanks to all that continue to read this blog and for those who have supported me along the way.
I am so thrilled to be a finalist in this year’s Fragrance Foundation UK Jasmine Awards (the Oscar’s of perfume writing), with two of my articles nominated across three categories, and an episode of Fume Chat (the fragrance podcast I co-host with Nick Gilbert) in another. I’m especially pleased to see my article ‘Trapped in a Scent Memory’ nominated for the Literary Award. This was an intensely personal (and deeply emotional) piece about how I have come to terms with a difficult scent memory (or maybe, how I’m still coming to terms with it). Congrats to all of the finalists! Such wonderful company to be in.
Yesterday The Fragrance Foundation announced the winners of the Jasmine Awards 2018 and I am so thrilled to tell you that Fume Chat, the fragrance podcast that I host with my good friend (and perfume genius, let’s face it) Nick Gilbert, picked up an award in the Innovation Category for Episode 18 – The War of the Roses ft. Josephine Fairley. We put a huge amount of work in to making Fume Chat so it’s so wonderful to receive such recognition in the form of our very first award.
This is now my fifth Jasmine Award – I simply cannot believe it! Writing, or in this case talking about perfume, is my passion and to be recognised by the industry body so many times is hugely mind-blowing. Thank you to Nick for being my scented partner in crime and for bringing wit & wisdom to Fume Chat – Fume Chat would not be Fume Chat without you! Thank you to Jo Fairley for being the perfect podcast guess on our winning episode, and for sharing your expert knowledge. Finally, thank you too my husband Nigel for the unbending support – for each encouraging word, cup of tea when I’m struggling with a deadline or writer’s block, and for being there every step of the way.
Well, well, well, yesterday was quite the day! As you may have read the Jasmine Awards were held yesterday at BAFTA and I am completely thrilled to tell you that I picked up not only one, but two awards at the ceremony. I was lucky enough to walk away with the Best Digital Experience award for my piece ‘Six Scents to Put Hairs on Your Chest’ and the Independent Soundbite Aware for my article ‘Eau so Masc’. I am still in shock, if I’m being entirely honest, but I am so thankful to all of the judges for celebraating my work and incredibly grateful to have been nominated amongst some of the best perfume writers in the business, many of which I am lucky enough to call my friends.
Yesterday at a ceremony held at BAFTA in London the winners of the 2016 Jasmine Awards were announced. As the longest standing awards within the fragrance industry, the Jasmines, hosted by The Fragrance Foundation, celebrate excellence in fragrance writing for pieces both in mainstream press or independent titles. This year’s winners were an eclectic group and are as follows:
The shortlist for the Jasmine Awards 2016 is out and I am very pleased to announce that The Candy Perfume Boy has been nominated for four articles across three categories this year for work on this blog and Escentual.com. When I first started this blog in 2011, I never imagined that anyone would read it, let alone the fact that it would go on to be nominated for and win awards. Five years on and I’m completely stunned to have been nominated for the Jasmine Awards (the awards offered by the Fragrance Foundation to celebrate excellent in fragrance journalism) for the third year in a row. What’s more, it’s absolutely wonderful to see such a huge collection of talent amongst the shortlist, with an array of fabulous writers (many of whom I’m lucky enough to call my friends) receiving nominations. It’s enough to make this boy’s heart burst.
I must say a massive congratulations to all who have been nominated this year, especially Chelsea Edmunds and Ceryn Lawless at Escentual, who have both been shortlisted for their amazing work in the Rising Star category. Go Team Escentual!
I absolutely cannot believe my luck! After receiving four nominations (for five articles) in the 2014 Jasmine Awards, I am completely extremely excited to announce that at the ceremony yesterday, I was lucky enough to win the ‘Digital Award’ for the second year in a row. I took the award home for my Escentual article ‘M is for Mugler‘ – an instalment in my Escentual A-Z of fragrance that was dedicated entirely to my favourite perfume brand, Thierry Mugler. To say I’m chuffed, would be an understatement and I absolutely must send a massive thank you to the team at Escentual, especially Emma, for all of their support and hard work.
I wasn’t the only one to pick up an award though and congratulations must also go out to Persolaise, who took home the ‘Blogger Award’ for his Basenotes piece, ‘Guardians Of The Past – A Trip To The Osmotheque‘. I’d also like to congratulate Lee Kynaston, who won the ‘Digital Experience’ award for his article, ‘How to Get the Most Out of Your Fragrance’ for fashionbeans.com, and I mustn’t also forget Liam Moore of ODOU Magazine and Dana El Masri for taking home the ‘Literary Award’ for the piece, ‘Reflection Eterna’l. This is the second year in a row that ODOU has won the much-coveted Literary Award, so massive congrats are due!
The Jasmine Awards shortlist is out and I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I have been shortlisted in not one, not two, but four categories, with a total of five articles from this blog, Escentual and ODOU magazine making their way into the nominations! To say that I’m over the moon is a massive and dramatic understatement, and it truly is an honour to see recognition for my writing, especially amongst so many of my very talented peers.
Hosted by The Fragrance Foundation, the Jasmine Awards “recognise and reward the talents of journalists and visualisers whose difficult task it is to translate the complex art of perfumery into words and pictures”, awarding ten prizes across a variety of fragrant mediums, including digital and print. The awards, set to be held at BAFTA on 18 March 2015, are a celebration of fragrance journalists, their excellent writing and passion for the world of olfaction.
Click below the jump to see which categories I’ve been shortlisted in. A full list of all the categories can be found here. I’d like to say a massive and heartfelt congratulations to all who are nominated – I am in exceptional Company and it’s truly wonderful to see so many talented writers and more importantly, friends receiving the hard earned recognition that they well and truly deserve.
I am absolutely thrilled to announce that the wonderful Lila Das Gupta of the equally awesome Perfume Lovers London, has invited me back for the third time to host an event in October. In a departure from my two previous summer-themed talks, this year I will be taking my Jasmine Award winning Guide to Violet on the road for an interactive look at some of the world’s most beautiful and fascinating violet perfumes.
‘The Candy Perfume Boy’s Guide to Violets’ will be held at the October Gallery in London on 23 October 2014. Tickets are £16.50 and can be found, along with further event details, on the Perfume Lovers London Meet Up page. I do hope that you can join me, as the event promises an entertaining evening of sniffing along with refreshments, and where possible a sample of your choice.
Perfume Pic of the Week No. 17: Judging for the Fragrance Foundation Awards
A few weeks ago, following my recent Jasmine Award win (I promise to stop banging on about it eventually, honestly), I was afforded the luxury of being able to judge in not one, but two categories for this year’s Fragrance Awards, which are set to be hosted by The Fragrance Foundation on May 15th 2014. All-in-all this was an incredibly fun process that I found interesting and challenging in equal measure, but it also afforded me the luxury of thinking about how a perfume can be approached in so many different ways.
The first category that my fellow Jasmine Award winners and I were asked to judge was ‘Perfume Extraordinaire’. The perfumes in this selection are submitted blind by the big fragrance houses and the judges are required to test these without knowing the name, brand, perfumer or any details in fact, making for a completely impartial landscape where all that matters is the smell. Personally, I found approaching these perfumes without the knowledge of any bells, whistles or marketing guff, rather refreshing and it made the whole task of selecting the more creative and well-executed perfumes in the pack really quite easy. It’s so easy to get distracted by all of the ‘noise’ surrounding a perfume, but when relying simply on one’s nose the task becomes almost effortless.
Following the Perfume Extraordinaire blind-sniff, the judges were invited to test and score the fragrances selected for the category of ‘Best New Independent Fragrance’, which sees perfumes launched by the smaller, more bespoke houses. Unlike the other category, this one wasn’t a blind sniff and the judges had the opportunity to appreciate the perfumes, some of which were familiar and others that were first-time sniffs, in their entirety with a lively discussion from all sides. Whether blind-sniffing or just simple straightforward-sniffing, this blogger has to admit that the whole process was eyeopening, great fun and an absolute honour to be involved with.
The Candy Perfume Boy 