The online submissions form has closed and here at the #AOAwards we're deep in the hard work of processing the physical submissions, as they come in. We thought that it would be a good time to write a post about exactly what happens when we receive your samples in the mail.

When we receive your package from our (very curious) postman, the first thing we do is hop on the computer to send you an alert, using the email you put into the online submission form.

We then look up the tracking number that we assigned to your entry when you submitted. We mark the submission as complete in our master database, and we write the tracking number on the sheet of paper you sent with your physical submission.

With this paper in hand, and your sample bottle nearby, we print out your tracking number on a set of labels. We affix one of these to your sample bottle, and the others we affix to the anonymous judging vials.

The next step is the most fun!

We decant the scent sample into the vials, taking a moment to enjoy the amazing selection of perfumes being sent in from around the world. This is a true pleasure, as we have a chance to smell everything that comes in, in all the categories.

Once the scent is decanted, we pop the vials into a little bag, and place them in our submissions 'holding pen', arranged by tracking number in the appropriate judging  category.

From this point onwards, the submission is referred to only by its tracking number - and nobody knows the name of the perfume (or perfume brand) except Saskia Wilson-Brown and Minetta Rogers, who - together - oversee this fairly labor-intensive process.

The original physical sample bottle we pop into another box. We will bring it out if the judges need more of the scent to assess, or - of course - if it makes it to the finals round. At that stage, we will decant more of the scent into a separate set of finalist vials (again, labeled only with the tracking number) which we will send to the second round judges.

And that's about it!

We'll post another update when we begin judging. Our first shorlisting judging session - in fact - is on December 16, so we'll update soon.

- The Art and Olfaction Awards team

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Any questions? As always, we're here to answer them at [email protected]