Meet the winner of the Ajmal Young Perfumer Talent Hunt

Wow,” Jihad Badran shouts aloud as the master of ceremonies calls out his name. Shaking his head in disbelief, the 18-year-old Lebanese student from Amity University, Dubai, jumps up from his seat.

In a black suit, his hair neatly gelled, he looks dapper as he races to the stage. “Unbelievable,” he says. “I just cannot believe it.” It’s only when a trophy and a giant cheque for Dh25,000 are handed to him in front of a bank of photographers and media, that Jihad finally realises he’s beaten 19 fellow contestants to create a unique fragrance that wowed an elite panel of six judges and earned him the title of the world’s first ever Young Perfumer.

The glamorous ballroom of The Westin Mina Seyahi Beach Resort, Dubai, comes alive with thunderous applause as Jihad stands, his trophy held aloft, next to Hamad Bin Sougat, the chief guest at the event. Amiruddin Ajmal, CEO of Ajmal Group, also congratulated the winner. It was a befitting finale to the contest, run by UAE-based Ajmal Perfumes, that went through two stages of elimination and a day of training. It saw 2,527 students from 40 universities across the UAE participate. On the final day 20 contestants were given 60 minutes to create a fragrance representing a French mukhallat with 16 ingredients.

Besides the young perfumer title and the cheque, Jihad will get a three-month internship with Swiss perfume manufacturer and contest partner Firmenich, an additional Dh20,000 and the thrill of seeing his perfume concoction marketed by Ajmal.

So what was his winning formula? “I made four trials tonight and decided to submit the fourth one. It was a chypre-based fragrance with bergamonte and shamama, among other scents,” reveals Jihad.

The judges were unanimous in choosing Jihad’s creation as the winner. “It was a collective decision by all the judges about Jihad’s creation that closely represented the given theme,” says Abdulla A Ajmal, general manager of Ajmal Perfumes and one of the judges at the event.

Other jury members were Laila Suhail, CEO, Dubai Events and Promotions Establishment, film director Ali F Mostafa, Friday editor Karen Pasquali Jones, Saleh Al Braik, founder of Emirati organisation Think Up and Hamid Merati Kashani, perfumer, Firmenich.

“The competition was tough and I was surprised by the variety of fragrances the contestants had created,’’ says Saleh, who never steps out without wearing generous amounts of oud. “Each creation transported me to a different place. But clearly Jihad understood the Arabesque theme very well. Being part of this contest has made me view perfumes differently. I have thoroughly enjoyed this.”

Seventeen-year-old Sakina Sawan wins second prize and receives a cheque for Dh15,000 and third prize is won by 20-year-old Mohammad Al Hammadi, who walks away with Dh10,000. The fourth prize is awarded to Zaid Awwad, 20, and the fifth prize is won by Maitha Mohammad Salem. Both the fourth and the fifth winners receive Dh7,500.

The top three fragrances will be marketed by Ajmal Perfumes and the creators will receive an additional Dh20,000 each.

Suave and confident Jihad, a second-year hotel management student, also bags a Dh5,000 prize for the most votes on the Ajmal young perfumer page on Facebook with 573 votes. “I worked really hard for that,” laughs Jihad. “I campaigned all over my university, called family and friends in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia. I spent a few sleepless nights,” he says, surrounded by his university mates Wiksal D’Souza and Sakina. They joke around saying that Amity University seems to have the best noses in the UAE.

Sakina, a business administration student, is glowing with a new-found confidence after her win, a far cry from the confused look that she wore on the day of training. “I just made one trial, it was floral based and I was confident it would work,” she says, before excitedly answering congratulatory messages from her family on her phone.

On the evening of November 15, the event had begun in the ballroom as contestants sat before the specially created laboratory stations. Wearing gloves and glasses they went on to sniff and blend 16 ingredients to create what they believed was a typical French mukhallat. The contestants were allowed to create as many trials as they wanted. But they eventually had to pick the best perfume and hand it over.

While the judges smelled each fragrance and then rated them, the master of ceremonies entertained the audience with trivia questions based on scents and perfumes.

The mood is upbeat inside the room. No one is a loser today as all the contestants go home with Dh2,500 and an Ajmal goodie bag worth Dh1,000.

“I am not feeling bad. I am taking this whole event as a learning experience,” says 18-year-old Iranian High School student Tara Setayeshfar, one of the participants. Wiksal, 18, an aerospace engineering student says, “When I came here I didn’t know anything about perfumes, but now I know so much more, I can even blend and make my own fragrances at home.”

Spurred on by the success, organisers plan to make it an annual event. “When we started this event we knew we had a great idea, but we were amazed by the huge interest the contest generated among the youth in the UAE,” says Abdulla Ajmal. “This programme will continue; in 2014 it will be bigger and better.”