At 11 p.m., I was in bed, awake. I suppose I was waiting for the ScentXplore awards announcement, though I might have denied it. Then a message came in on Instagram from one of my readers and perfume friends: “Hulya, I think you won.” She sent a screenshot of the stage. She was right. I had won Outstanding Written Contribution.

I couldn’t be in New York because of family commitments. I watched a TikTok recording later and got a glimpse of the stage and the other winners celebrating. I’m sorry I missed being there, but I was touched that a reader thought to tell me as soon as she saw the news.

Thank you to everyone who voted, read my work, shared it, or sent a message. I don’t write for recognition, but this is a real honor. I thought about Can People Smell Your Social Class?, the article that grew from a question about the perfumes associated with nineteenth-century courtesans and became an essay about the judgments we still make through scent. I’m grateful that readers spent time with it.

I also want to congratulate the other nominees and everyone recognized this year. ScentXplore brings together people who make, sell, study, write about, and wear perfume. Founded by Max Forti, the New York convention includes an exhibition, talks, masterclasses, and the awards. It grew from 600 attendees and 28 brands in 2019 to 4,500 attendees and 75 brands in 2024. This year’s three-day event sold out.

I’ve spent years reading writers who question consumer culture, from Roland Barthes to Herbert Marcuse and Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari. I used to believe a boycott could make a clear statement about a corporation. The more I study fragrance, the less useful I find the habit of sorting the industry into heroes and villains. It is a capitalist system, and most customers are not following the debates that occupy the small, visible group of perfume enthusiasts online.

I can be critical, sometimes grouchy. I also catch myself wondering if I sound elitist and dismissive at times. Those doubts are a reason to check my facts and listen more carefully. When the Amouage story was circulating, I didn’t rush to post an opinion. I went to the source to understand what had happened.

That is the work I want to keep doing: telling the truth about perfume as best I can. Not declaring every brand good or bad, but asking what is real: who made the fragrance, how it was developed, what we know about its materials and ownership, and what the perfume itself is like.

Thank you to ScentXplore, to everyone who voted, and to the reader who sent me the screenshot from the stage. I’m grateful for the recognition, and I’ll keep asking questions before I settle on an answer.