A huge round of applause goes out to everyone who entered the contest, to the judges who helped pick the finalists, and to everyone who voted to help us pick the winner. And, of course, thank you to Aedes de Venustas for providing the prize, a $150 gift certificate, which goes to…
Essence Precedes Existence by Parfums Verité, submitted by prettykitty1. Congratulations prettykitty1!
The runner-up: Mote, submitted by Philadelphia.
And the authors of the other entries were:
La Plus Que Lente Sensuel EPONYMOUS YOU, submitted by Ann S.
Rhapsody by United Airlines, submitted by MFfan310.
Scent Spectrum The Bad Seed, submitted by juicejones.
Fairleigh Fanged by Fairleigh Lowd, submitted by Philadelphia.
Marie Curie by Parfums des Chimistes, submitted by 50_ Roses.
Saloud! by Parfums de Fotherwill, submitted by Lil.
Please note: if you entered the contest but your entry did not make it to the finals, and if you would like your entry posted so others can read it, please either email me or leave a comment here...I am going to post those entries this coming Saturday, April 28th.
Congrats to the winners, and thanks to all for giving me such a good laugh!
These were so much fun to read. It was really hard to choose, but in the end I voted for prettykitty1. The entire highfalutin’ conception was hilarious, but it was that closing line “fruity floral with a vanilla drydown” where I actually guffawed. Great work, everybody, and congratulations, prettykitty1.
Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to all concerned (including the judges!). I so admire this kind of creativtiy. It eludes me completely. I had a hard time choosing between Marie Curie and Mote, but I went for Marie Curie in the end because it was the one that produced a guffaw-out-loud of recognition. Well done 50_Roses!
Congratulations prettykitty1! Please, let us know what will be your prize bought with your gift certificate.
50_roses, so Marie Curie was yours! Hat tip to you, you had my vote
Hello, all! I’m a frequent poster on MUA’s fragrance board and a long-time reader of NST. It’s such an honor to be this year’s contest winner.
I just wanted to de-lurk in order to say how much I enjoyed reading other people’s entries this year, including the entries that were belatedly posted in the comments thread the other day, like BODyRAIN and Watermelancholy. Every one of them was fabulously funny, and I loved how they poked fun at so many different aspects of fragrance copywriting and marketing, such as the pretentious claims to greatness, the vapidity of celebrity culture, the thinly veiled cynicism of corporate America, or the sweetly earnest but bumbling attempts to translate copy into another language.
The other thing that amused me greatly–and which confirmed by belief that there’s a collective unconscious out there–is the striking overlap in themes among the entries. My fictional fragrance, Essence Precedes Existence, could just as easily have been named Fairleigh Lowde, on account of the terrifying air horn. And Mr. Fotherwill, mortician to the stars, knows all too well about the the brevity of existence, a concern shared not only by the brooding Antoine Meerschaum but by anyone who measures a perfume’s quality by its radioactive half life in a beaker. And for those of us who will never be lucky enough to become celebrities like Ms. Lowde with an eponymously named scent, we, too, can feel special if we simply fork over enough cash to purchase Eponymous You. (Or, as the consumer might like to think of it, Eponymous Me.)
For anyone who’s ever been torn between the polar opposites of attraction and repulsion or hope and fear, this is precisely the romantic drama enacted by The Bad Seed and Fairleigh Fanged.
Concerned about the environment? What could be more politically correct than taking a bath al fresco, using rainwater harvested directly into a tub? Surely Al Gore would approve and absolve the Japanese gentleman of his unspecified sins. And speaking of water, I bet you that persnickety guy from Mote bathes a million times a day because heaven forbid he should have any trace of natural body odor! I would love to sit next to him on my next United flight and make him ill by spritzing generous clouds of Rhapsody on my person. (Does a man like that even fly on a commercial airline anymore, or does he insist on a private jet? I don’t think he could handle the smells aboard a commercial plane, although maybe he would secretly enjoy the diminishment of in-flight amenities that were once considered standard: “Finally, we have achieved flight without the frills, motion without emotion, service without the superfluous smile.”)
Again, it was fun to read all the awesome entries and identify so many universal themes in our fragrant, fictional worlds. I can’t wait for Saturday when Robin uploads even more for us to enjoy.
You guys rock!
Congrats PrettyKitty1; I hope you are letting out a sweet purr of happy contentment!
And congrats also to Philadelphia, for making it twice into the finals (deservedly), and being first runner up.
Congratulations prettykitty1! I hope you have fun picking out something nice with your gift certificate. I have to say I both laughed and recoiled in horror at your line about “improve upon the sillage of Angel and Giorgio”–I’m not even sure that it can be done, but I sincerely hope not!
Thanks, Lucasai and Annemarie–I am glad you enjoyed my entry. I had a lot of fun writing it. Robin–is there any chance this could become a yearly event instead of every other year? I find I’m already starting to think of ideas for entries for the next contest.
Same here! Let’s start writing them already, by the time new edition for next year will pop up, we’ll have like +20 entries for a competition.
I am thinking about it! We actually got less response this time than in 2010, although only a little less.
brava, brava. A les Nez!
Congratulations to prettykitty1! And, thank you,Robin,for creating this contest. I am a newcomer to these blogs and am amazed by how smart and passionate you all are. I am learning so much and appreciate your knowledge, enthusiasm and humor.
Congrats Prettykitty1!!! They were all so funny this year. And while of course I was hoping I’d win that juicy gift cert, I was just so astonished that mine made it to the final cut that I could hardly believe my eyes. It made me delightfully surprised to see it listed in the finals. Can I say it’s an honor just to be nominated?
Believe me, it was a very big bright spot during a hellish work year that is not over yet. EPONYMOUS YOU is all of us – ha! I am glad that it made everyone laugh just a little bit. My fav was Mote.
Your franglish epitomizes, eponymizes, Plus que Lentness. I love it.
Ha, ha, thanks – I kind of stumbled across “plus que lente” in the french-english translator and couldn’t resist the chance to use it in such a way. I am happy to see that someone picked up on it.
Thanks!!
You had my vote prettykitty1! Yay for you and thanks for the laughs! Great read!
Congratulations prettykitty1! I was honored just to be included among such august submissions. It was fun writing my blurb but even better was reading all the other finalists’ entries. ‘Til next year, then…
Congratulations! You were my pick, prettykitty1. If you ever happen to visit Madrid, I´ll be glad to buy you a cocktail in exchange of the good time I had reading your entry!!
Congratulations, prettykitty1! I enjoyed reading your entry. Have fun shopping with your prize!
Congrats to the winner and runners-up! They are all great! I laughed out loud at most of them.
I would not mind at all if you posted my entry, that is if it’s not at the bottom of the barrel – I made the finals once, but competition is getting fierce!