Alexandre Vire, Francesco Vidili i María Gil winners of the 2022 Silver Mouillette Perfumery competition award.
During the week May 20-27 Ainea Perfums together with Teià Town Council and Beauty Cluster held the 5th Wedding of the Senses and International Perfumery competition. For a week Teià took centre stage in the perfumery and olfactory world. At the “rose boulevard” exhibition of the independent perfume fair of natural cosmetics and flowers, top of the range fragrances with rose notes could be sampled. We also organized a round table where Yolanda Bustos, expert in biodynamic cookery, and Zep Torrens presented their new books and spoke about perfume, flowers, and gastronomy. In the Unió Hall visitors had the opportunity to meet the 11 finalists of the international perfumery competition and vote for the audience award. During the week the new Aroma Teià project was presented, and a “dinner of the senses” was held.
On Thursday, May 26 the International Perfumery Competition awards ceremony took place where the winning perfumes of this the 5th edition were made known. The gala was held in Ca l’Antiga, a wonderful setting in Teià that transported us into the heart of Tuscany. We held this 5th edition with the sadness of recently losing our president of the jury, Rosendo Mateu, who from the very beginning, gave his unflagging support to the competition, and with his backing enabled the competition to achieve the status it now enjoys. Rosendo Mateu is a pivotal influence and essential component in the history of Spanish perfumery.
By way of tribute to someone much loved by all of us, the organization presented each participant with a porcelain dispenser containing his perfume Sweet Rose, a perfume from his collection with the olfactic note of this edition. In addition, clips depicting many endearing moments with him in previous competition editions were projected.
The gala was led by the journalist Edu Pascual with the participation of Andreu Bosch the mayor of Teià, the director general of Beauty Cluster and our perfumer Irene Gisbert. Also taking part were Mariàngels Perez, proprietor of Ca l’Antiga and Céline Guivarch, member of the jury and responsible for presenting the new olfactic note of bergamot, for the 2023 edition.
This year the panel, which had been presided over by Rosendo Mateu, consisted of:
Yasuyuki Shinohara, winner of the jury’s award, general category in 2021; Max Rossa, winner of the jury’s award for the best independent perfume, 2021; Céline Guivarch, winner of the 2021 audience award; Ramon Monegal, Master Perfumer; Jessica Mingot, chief editor of the magazine Nez; Susanna Cots, mentor of slow design and invisible architecture; Charo Moreno, director of the magazine Beautyprof; César Cánovas, one of the top 10 sommeliers in the world; Oriol Artigas, wine producer and Irene Gisbert, creator of Ainea Perfums.
Initially, 85 perfumers from 25 countries around the world enrolled though, in the end, 51 perfume samples were received and of these the jury selected a dozen. The public in Ca l’Antiga were able to watch on a big screen the finalists talking about their formulations and the inspiration behind their creations.
Jury Award General Category:
Alexandre Vire, A Touch of Rose
Jury Award Independent Category:
Francesco Vidilli, At 7:00 AM
Audience Award:
María Gil Villaescusa, Nuit Envoûtante
Also at the gala, we were able to see the new collection of perfumes already in production, corresponding to the 2020 (pepper notes) edition. The perfume packaging was designed by art and design schools in Catalonia through the programmes Talent Creatiu I Empresa promoted by the Departament d’Educcació.
The organizers of the competition commended the work of the designers from Massana art school who were responsible for designing the packaging of the winning perfumes in the 2021 edition- Mireia Alvareda. Meritxell Romano and Marina Pulgar. Following this, official presentations of the perfumes were made with their authors: Júlia Rodríguez, as winner of the jury’s award with Pepper & Pear and Sandra Luca as recipient of the audience award with Agartha.
Having a winning perfume out on the shelves of the major perfumes stores in the country is a massive achievement, and perhaps the one which our perfumers most appreciate; their dream come true.
Just before 8pm the moment finally arrived when the decision of the jury and result of the audience vote would be announced. The Silver Mouillette,, general category award went to A Touch of Rose by the French perfumer Alexandre Vire. The jury described it as “the most complete of all the entries, elegant, classical, and highly developed…. The rose, like a floral bouquet or freshly cut rose, is well defined with a fruity and spicy backdrop”.
The jury award for the best independent perfume went to At 7am, by the Italian perfumer Francesco Vidili. Comments from the jury included:” Subtle, suggestive, smooth, and clean…. working well on the skin”, possessing an “aqueous aspect for an awakening on white linen sheets”. And the audience prize was awarded to Nuit Envoûtante, by the Spanish perfumer Maria Gil Villaescusa. All participants received the applause of the audience who were presented with a sample of Sweet Rose. The winners received a silver trophy designed for the occasion by Majoral jewellers.
We at Ainea Perfums feel proud to be the driving force behind this project and together with Teià town council and Beauty Clusters to have made it a reality. We are passionate about creating complicity and building a community of people sensitive to and excited about the world of perfumery.
