Three stages of blind judging. No brand name, no packaging, no origin story. An international panel. One criterion: what the fragrance does on paper.
2 min
Nuit Élastique by Première Peau is a finalist in the Independent category of the 12th Art and Olfaction Awards. The ceremony takes place on June 11, 2026 at the Gazarte Cultural Center in Athens, Greece.
What the Art and Olfaction Awards recognize
The Art and Olfaction Awards have run since 2014, organized by the Institute for Art and Olfaction (IAO). The press calls them "the Oscars of independent perfumery." Four categories: Independent, Artisan, Newcomer, and the Sadakichi Award for experimental work with scent.
An international panel of perfumers, critics, and industry professionals evaluates each submission across three rounds. Fully anonymized. No names. No packaging. No price points. Artistic and technical merit only.
The Independent category is for compositions created by a brand working with a composition house. Ten finalists from worldwide submissions.
2026 Independent finalists alongside Nuit Élastique: Chinese Calligraphy and Japanese Whiskey (d'Annam), Crème de Menthe Café (Statik Olfactive), Deity (Ataraxia), Grounded Hills (DAN LO), Ici le pas s'arrête (TERRA·T), Laban Arruz and Torreja Sacra (NBITOR).
The composition
Ugo Charron composed Nuit Élastique at MANE.
The first second stings. Upcycled lemon from Italy, still sharp enough to cut through a closed room. Cypress from France follows, wet and resinous. Black tea from India dries the air behind it. Red algae from Brittany and Curry Neo (a MANE Jungle Essence™ captive) linger underneath like salt on a dock at night.
Not a jasmine soliflore. Charron stacks six florals and lets them fight. Jasmine sambac from India opens the heart, dense and almost sweet. Egyptian jasmine grandiflorum pushes against it from the other side, greener, louder. Turkish rose holds the center. Chinese magnolia, red champaca from India, ylang-ylang first from Bourbon, carnation: each one pulls in a different direction. Then olive accord, green and black, and latex drag the whole structure down toward the skin. That downward pull is the "elastic." The fragrance does not hover. It clings.
Three hours later, the base. Virginia cedar and Karnataka sandalwood (sourced through MANE's controlled supply chain) anchor everything in wood. Hay from Grasse and Honduran styrax thread smoke through it. Siamese benzoin, Spanish cistus, Indian cypriol. Orcanox (upcycled MANE molecule) and Rum Jungle Essence™ close it, warm and tight on the collar. The next morning, the pillow still smells.
About Première Peau
Première Peau is a French fragrance house. Founded by Pierre Mergui. Seven compositions across three composition houses: Takasago (Claire Liégent), dsm-Firmenich (Florian Gallo, Grégoire Balleydier), and MANE (Ugo Charron). Four perfumers. No house perfumer. Each composition belongs to the nose who built it.
20% extrait de parfum. Hand-blown borosilicate glass, master glassblower from Lot. Recycled zamak cap, N52 neodymium magnet. Composed in Paris. Made in France.
The judging was blind. The fragrance spoke without a name.
Your skin will do the same.
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