Competing for Sandalwood: Global contest invites perfumers to reimagine the ancient botanical

02 Nov 2021 --- Indian sandalwood producer Quintis Sandalwood, in partnership with the American Society of Perfumers, is launching a global competition for perfumers of all experience levels to reimagine the ancient botanical of Indian sandalwood – also known as Santalum album – within a fragrance.

Perfumers will need to create an eau de toilette supplied as a base, featuring a minimum of 1% Quintis plantation-grown Indian sandalwood oil. Along with the perfume creation, all entries need to be accompanied by a Statement of Creative Intent, providing an outline of the nature and ingredients of the base formulated.

“With this competition, perfumers have the chance to be recognized as a world leader in fragrance creation. We encourage entrants to have a spirit of curiosity, unbound by constraints, to reimagine the future of this precious botanical,” details Danae Christensen, market innovation manager at Quintis Sandalwood.

“Each entry should be sustainable, visionary and artfully crafted, just like Quintis’ Indian sandalwood.”

An independent panel of fragrance masters chosen by the American Society of Perfumers, who have collectively worked with fragrance companies like Givaudan, Firmenich, IFF, Mane, Symrise and Takasago, will decide the top ten finalists by evaluating blind, judging creations on blotters and skin.

The winners will be announced at the World Perfumery Congress in Miami in 2022.Indian sandalwood oil is an endangered fragrance material and is now available through sustainable cultivation in Australia.

This fragrance competition is part of Q-Lab, Quintis’ new center of education and creativity for sandalwood, which has also recently launched and is open to fragrance masters and junior perfumers.

Tapping into Indian sandalwood oil
The “Sandalwood Reimagined” competition aims to elevate the role of the perfumer, celebrating the creative perfumery process.

Indian sandalwood oil is an endangered fragrance material in the wild that is now readily available through sustainable cultivation in Australia, which has helped to see its resurgence in perfume formulations in recent years.

“When creating this competition, we removed the normal parameters of a commercial fragrance brief, like consumer profile and budget, and instead are encouraging participants to use Indian sandalwood as their muse,” continues Christensen.

“The American Society of Perfumers’ mission is to uphold and promote high standards of perfumery, so we are glad to partner with Quintis Sandalwood on this competition,” says Sherri Sebastian, vice president at American Society of Perfumers.

“Indian sandalwood has played an important part in the history of perfume, serving as a signature note in some of the most iconic and desired fragrances over the past century. Quintis’ initiatives to promote the availability of sandalwood sustainably gives us peace of mind knowing this ingredient is back and here to stay.”

“We value technique, craftsmanship, and the ability to transform artistic ideas into masterful fragrances, so for this competition, our independent judges will be looking for submissions that demonstrate these skills along with a unique expression of sandalwood,” Sebastian continues.

The fragrance competition
Two prizes will be awarded – the Global Winner will receive AUD $10,000 (US$7,000), and the Emerging Talent award for a perfumery student or junior perfumer will receive AUD $2,000 (US$1,500).During the competition, perfumers will need to create an Eau de Toilette supplied as a base, featuring a minimum of 1% Quintis’ Indian sandalwood oil.

“Quintis’ fragrance competition is the first initiative to be launched as part of Q-Lab, which will become a center of excellence for sandalwood within a range of different industries such as fragrance, cosmetics and aromatherapy,” details Vanessa Ligovich, chief marketing officer at Quintis Sandalwood.

“As we continue to roll out initiatives, it will become a hub where brands, formulators and educators can go to access information about sandalwood and how best to maximize its capabilities in the development of products.”

Tracking fragrance NPD
Industry players have shown interest in formulating new fragrances. Last week, Wellfounded Botanicals partnered with Scent Beauty to launch a luxury CBD Eau de Parfum. Meanwhile, Symrise and Van Aroma expanded their sustainable program for the fragrance ingredient patchouli into Sumatra.

Symrise has also updated its perfumers’ compendium to easily incorporate symbols to pinpoint fragrance ingredients from renewable raw materials.

Edited by Nicole Kerr