Superstars of Scent

After six weeks of intensive voting, winners of the Fragrance Awards 2009 were finally announced at the finale held recently in Kuala Lumpur. The winners were based on the number of votes received over the six-week campaigning period, which includes fragrance sampling activities and roadshow held to promote to the public.

Twenty-one shortlisted fragrances were in contention for this year's awards under six categories - Best Women's Fragrance, Best Men's Fragrance, Best Couple Fragrance, Best Celebrity Fragrance, Best Bottle Design and Packaging, and Fragrance of the Year 2009.

The winning fragrances were determined by the number of votes from the public, which comprised 40% of the total score. A panel of reputable judges, consisting of local celebrities and personalities from the fashion and beauty industry, had a 40% say in the total score. The final 20% of the score was tabulated based on Sa Sa's sales of the nominated fragrances during the campaign period.

Models showcasing the winners of Sa Sa Fragrance Fair & Awards 2009

As the Sa Sa Fragrance Fair & Awards 2009 comes to an end, we pay tribute to the industry's finest scents and winners of this year's fragrance awards.

And the winners are...

Best Women's Fragrance: DKNY Fresh Blossom from DKNY

Best Men's Fragrance: Boss Bottle No: 6 from P&G Prestige.

Best Couple Fragrance: Emporio Armani Diamonds for Women and Men from L'Oreal PCI.

Best Celebrity Fragrance: Jennifer Lopez Live Luxe from Luxasia.

Best Bottle Design and Packaging: Dsquared² She Wood from ITF.
Fragrance of the Year 2009: Gucci Flora by Gucci from P&G Prestige.

Sweet scent of success

Corina Loi, Senior Vice President and Country Head of Sa Sa Malaysia was spirit at the finale of the Sa Sa Fragrance Fair & Awards 2009. Loi has good reason to be joyous, as this year's event garnered tremendous response from the public, witnessing a 36% increase in sales for Sa Sa over a period of only 42 days.

Panel of Judges with Corina Loi, (from left) Siti Hasfizza (TV Host), Belinda Chee (TV Host), Corina Loi, Sazzy Falak (Actress), William Kee (Editor of Clove magazine, The Star)

Sa Sa, the leading specialty cosmetics and beauty retailer, organised the Fragrance Fair & Awards 2009 with the aim to create a platform for premium fragrance brand names to showcase their extensive offerings to the Malaysian public. The campaign was also aimed towards educating the public in appreciation of fragrances.

"A big thank you must go out to all our customers for the support and to our trade partners who have given us a very good selection of fragrances this year, not only with the latest collections but also with timeless classics. We must never forget those timeless classics." Loi said.

A duet performed by Dennis Lau and Syafinaz Selamat

Also present at the award ceremony were Senior Business Development Manager of Sa Sa Malaysia, Cheng Shea Li, along with regional and local fragrance distributors, local luminaries, other guests and members of the media. Also present at the event was Syafinaz Selamat, singer & judge of One In A Million, who performed a number together with Dennis Lau, violinist and songwriter.

Giving back to society

In conjunction with the campaign, Sa Sa took the opportunity to contribute to society by donating RM1 for every bottle of fragrance sold during the campaign period to the Breast Cancer Welfare Association. Loi presented a cheque amounting to RM10,070 to Ms. Ranjit Kaur, President of the Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia (BCWA) during the finale.

Corina Loi presenting the cheque to Ranjit Kaur, President of Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia (BCWA)

"We chose the BCWA because breast cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths amongst women in Malaysia. 50% of our consumers are women and we hope they will gain more awareness on this issue and enable themselves to take the necessary measures towards the prevention of breast cancer." Loi added.

Not forgetting their customers, prizes were also awarded to lucky shoppers who were entitled to participate in the lucky dip upon purchasing nominated fragrances during the campaign. At the finale, the grand prize winner took home a 1.31 carat GIA Certified Excellent Cut Diamond. Among the other prizes won by shoppers were bottles of fragrances from the Sa Sa Fragrance Fair & Awards 2009 and Sa Sa Gift Certificates.

Corina Loi, Senior Vice President and Country Head, Sa Sa Malaysia

"Looking at the tremendous response gained this year, we will definitely be bringing back this event next year." says Loi, ending on a positive note.