On The Scent… of NEWS: The Barnes Fragrance Fair is BACK! (And other breaking stories)
In the week that our capital sees an influx of the art world’s great, good and very well-dressed, thanks to Frieze London, we can report that fragrance continues to ‘lean in’ to the arty vibe. Our newshound Amanda Carr (@wewearperfume) also has dates for your diaries, awards to consider (if you are a niche perfume brand ) and some touchy-feely innovation for scent…
Save The Date! Barnes Fragrance Fair is back for 2027
A bit of blatant self-publicity from the News Desk this week, as the date has been announced for the next Barnes Fragrance Fair. It is Saturday 15th May 2027 – and this will be our fifth fair!
We have an even bigger line up of beautiful and interesting independent fragrance brands for 2027, with around 50 founders presenting their collections of fine fragrance, scented candles and other fragrant fabulousness. There will be around 10 new brands amongst the 50, thanks to securing additional new hall space, the Old Sorting Office, right next door to the Barnes Methodist Church space where the talks for 2026’s Barnes Fragrance Fair were held. And of course, copies of On The Scent magazine will be on sale too.
We had such incredible feedback on our talks, walks and workshops last year we’re going to extend the workshop offer, so more visitors can dive a bit deeper into fragrance making and ingredients. Our talks schedule will even feature a Scented Rave at the end of the day, to send visitors home dancing…
As AI continues to dominate our digital world, getting together in real life, with other lovely humans all celebrating fragrance in a hands–on way will hopefully be a moment of joy to look forward to.
Tickets for the talks, walks and workshops will go on sale in February 2027, while attending brands will be announced in December.
The beautiful trophy for The Institute of Olfaction’s Golden Pear Award
The 13th Art and Olfaction Awards is now open for submissions – are you entering…?
The New York Times declared the annual Art and Olfaction Awards the ‘Oscars of independent perfumery’, and the announcement of the Golden Pear winners – or even the creations that make the list of finalists – is a calendar highlight for us. Submissions for the 2027 awards are now open, with a deadline of November 20th 2026 at 11.59pm Pacific Time. The categories are Artisan, Independent and Experimental ( for the full details read here) and the awards ceremony will be held in Mexico City next May.
Run by The Institute for Art & Olfaction, this is an international award, judged completely blind, so competition is tough. But many British Indies have been recognised for their fantastic work, including last year’s Golden Pear for Artisan Category winner, Maya Njie, for her exquisite Aethi Opum. Other Brit winners include Beaufort London in 2017, where founder Leo Crabtree and perfumer Julie Marlow won the Independent Category for Fathom V, together with Pia Long from Olfiction, who won the Septimus Piesse Visionary Award in 2024 for her widespread contribution to indie scent education and creation.
In 2026 our friend Grant Osborne, founder of Basenotes, was recognised with a Golden Pear for his incredible 20 years spent at the coalface of Basenotes, the database and forums platform where many an indie brand found an enthusiastic audience. We can’t help but mention that Olfiction, Beaufort London and Maya Njie have all been Barnes Fragrance Fair brands (and Grant has always been a fabulous support, too).
Perhaps next year’s winners might also be BFF alumni?
Skin-friendlier scents: water-based fragrance innovation at IFF
Water-based fragrances are on the rise. Last year, Google Search saw a rise of 18% year-on-year for water based scent, with Gen Z particularly concerned about the use of ethanol. The trend for crossover products such as scented haircare and even skincare has also increased the need for a fragrance carrier that is more skin friendly.
The clever minds at the Science Performance Platform at IFF have developed and trademarked Aquascent for just this purpose: a water-based fragrance carrier that offers a biodegradeable, non alcoholic alternative that also scores sustainablility points; the water element can be added to a fragrance formula closer to the retail point, avoiding the need to ship full bottles around the globe.
Brands such as Officine Universelle Buly already have water-based scents collections, while DIOR J’Adore is available as a ‘parfum d’eau’ but there can be issues, since water and oil combines as a milky liquid that. (NB Both Buly and DIOR’s watery scent options come in opaque bottles.)
However the new Aquascent remains beautifully clear, while holding up to a 25% concentration – a chunky EDP or even parfum level. The skin-feel of the liquid is also smooth and silky and it even hydrates. We can see this catching on – fragrance that feels lovely, as well as smells good? Pass the atomiser.
Images courtesy of Juliette Has A Gun’s Instagram Account (PHOTOS: Matthieu Jehanno and SMASHH Agency
Pop-up fragrance gets arty with Juliette Has A Gun
French indie fragrance house Juliette Has A Gun has celebrated its 20th anniversary with ‘Audacity’, a pop–up retrospective exhibition of its fragrances, looking back over its body of work a little as an artist might. Held in the Palais de Tokyo, Europe’s largest space for contemporary art, JHAG founder Romano Ricci presented every perfume the brand has created, including the new Purple Trouble, using original artwork imagery from each launch alongside information on each of the perfume ‘artists’, such as Frances Kurkdjian (back in the day), Mylène Alran and Philippe Romano. The bottles were set on plinths, like tiny sculptures, and a limited-edition box of all 20 scents was available. (How we wish we’d been there to add that to our collection…)
In the same vein, we also loved Penhaligon’s recent Portraits exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts (read more about that here). As more successful niche fragrance brands hit big anniversaries, having a retrospective of their work seems a perfect way to celebrate a complete collection, as well as how the brand has evolved and grown.
Good Nature – now in paperback here
Finally… did you know?
…that inhaling the fragrance ingredient d-limonene – the essential oil found in the peel of most citrus fruits and in some pine trees – can inhibit the inflammation of breathing pathways to the lungs? We’re up to speed with forest walks being good for releasing stress, thanks to trees exuding monoterpenes (and that d-limonene), but a recent re-read of Kathy Willis’s excellent book Good Nature hints that in the future, mild respiratory tract inflammation may well treated with scent inhalations of citrus oils.
