Rare Beauty and Tom Ford win top honors at fragrance awards

When fragrance choice starts to feel impossible, an award can do the filtering for you. At the 2026 Fragrance Foundation Awards, held June 11 at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center in New York City, Rare Beauty Eau de Parfum took the Popular crown and Tom Ford Oud Voyager won in Ultra Luxury, giving gift shoppers two very different but very clear cues. The Foundation said more than 1,000 people attended, which says something about how much the category still matters.

For the woman who wants something polished but not intimidating, Rare Beauty Eau de Parfum is the easiest yes. At about $75, it sits in the sweet spot for birthdays, thank-yous, and promotion gifts because it feels generous without drifting into extravagant. The brand’s Rare Beauty Fragrance Layering Balm, which won Innovative Fragrance Product of the Year, is the smart companion piece at about $18, especially for someone who likes to play with scent or prefers a softer, more personal fragrance ritual.

Tom Ford Oud Voyager is the opposite kind of present, and that is exactly why it works. At about $295, it is the one you buy for the woman who already has the safe everyday bottle and wants something richer, darker, and more finished for nights out, anniversaries, or a major work milestone. The Ultra Luxury win matters here because it tells you this is not just a fancy name on a bottle; it is a fragrance meant to justify its place on a vanity.

The rest of the night sharpened the picture of where the industry is headed. Nordstrom, Inc. received the Hall of Fame honor in its 125th anniversary year, while Honorine Blanc of dsm-firmenich took the Lifetime Achievement Perfumer award. Earlier, on April 16, the Foundation named finalists across 19 categories at a luncheon at Cipriani 42 in New York City and gave Michael Edwards the Game Changer Award for his decades of fragrance taxonomy and history work.

The program also paid tribute to Giorgio Armani and Valentino Garavani and unveiled artwork created with illustrator Melissa Koby. For anyone trying to buy fragrance without drowning in options, these winners do the hard part: they narrow the field to scents with both status and a real shot at being loved.