No Party Smells Better Than the 'Marie Claire' Fragrance Awards

My last few weeks smelled a little different than usual. One Monday in August, you may have mistaken my scent for a corporate, contemporary, well-dressed man. Another Wednesday, I was a walking bakery—albeit a highly elevated one. On the weekends, you would smell the spicy, sexy hints of musk and cardamom an entire minute before I entered the room.

Wearing this cocktail of scents was necessary to properly select the 40 winners for Marie Claire’s inaugural Fragrance Awards. With over 400 applicants across fragrance families, new launches, home, designer creations, and luxury classics, the final crop comprised the most exceptional scents the industry has to offer.

So, on Tuesday, Sept. 17, Marie Claire assembled everyone responsible for these award-winning fragrances on New York City’s Somewhere Nowhere rooftop. Noses, executives, and creatives came from Paris, Los Angeles, and, of course, Manhattan to celebrate the power of perfume.

The night kicked off at sunset. But rather than glancing at the usual city skyline, you’d see hands propping lucite trophies and glass fragrance bottles in front of the Empire State Building. (It’s quite the photo backdrop.)

Fragrance CEOs, including Francisco Costa, from Costa Brazil, Edgar Huber, from Nest, and Courtney Somer, from Lake and Skye, mingled with celebrity facialist Cynthia Rivas, fragrance expert and influencer Professor Perfume, and skincare founder and content creator Ella McFadin.

I did interrupt the chit-chatting for a short and sweet toast and to introduce our phenomenal entertainment for the evening.

Susanna Merrick, the founder of AuraWear, took up residence in a cozy corner to match guests’ auras to their ideal fragrance. With nearly an hour-long wait for an enlightening reading, I was lucky enough to learn that my type-A red aura would be calmed by a spray of Parfums de Marley’s sweety and tingly Perseus Eau de Parfum.

If guests weren’t lucky enough to sneak in a reading (some lingered until 10 P.M. to grab some time with Susanna), they were able to enjoy DJ Alex Cooper’s excellent setlist (podcast host and influencer Ian Crumm brought his moves to our makeshift dance floor), get their photo snapped in front of Marie Claire’s step and repeat by photographer Daniel Square, or, quite literally, stop and smell the roses from Plant Shed NYC.

Once an exorbitant amount of cocktails, arancini, and cannolis had been consumed, trophies were hand-delivered to our Special Recognition Winners: Acne Studios X Frederic Malle, Bvlgari, Cartier, Oscar de la Renta, Dolce & Gabbana, Costa Brazil, Diptyque, Killian Paris, and YSL.

With the sun down and city lights on, guests nestled onto couches—drinks clinking—to discuss their favorite fragrance trends and crack open their gift bags, which included over $2,000 worth of products.

Because yes, when you put the biggest names in fragrance on a rooftop, they’re going celebrate scent.