Win Fragrance Prizes While Supporting Ukraine’s Young Talent

Since 2024, I’ve spent about six months in Ukraine, much of it traveling along the eastern and southern border. Sometimes, when I share photos of markets, sunlit streets, or old facades still standing proud, I get the question: Where’s the war?

We’re used to the stock images: bombed-out buildings, women crying before rubble, soldiers caked in mud. But war doesn’t always look like that.

War is the grinding exhaustion of nights spent listening for air raid sirens. It’s planning your day around the threat of missiles. It’s the constant worry for your family’s safety. It’s losing your home and scrambling to pay rent somewhere else.

And sometimes, war is a photograph of a talented teenager who will never get to grow up.

Veronika Kozhushko—Nika—was only 18 when a Russian missile struck Kharkiv in August 2024. She was already recognized as a gifted young artist—writing poetry, painting, exploring graphic design. Friends called her fiercely intelligent, endlessly curious, deeply woven into the city’s literary and art scene. She had plans. She had promise. She had so much life ahead of her.

After her death, Nika’s family, together with the Kharkiv Literature Museum, established the Nika Generation Foundation in her memory. They created an annual prize for young Ukrainian writers and artists—a refusal to let war silence other voices. It’s a promise that art, memory, and human connection will survive even amid destruction.

You’ve helped me before—like when we collected paints and brushes for the Kyiv Children’s Art School so kids could keep learning and creating during war. Now I’m asking for your support again.

We’re raising $6,000 for this year’s Nika Generation Prize. I’ve met Nika’s father, Ihor Kozhushko, during my recent stay in Kharkiv and he explained that the money will cover the event honoring new talent, travel costs for the artists, and their monetary prize. If we raise extra, we can publish an almanac showcasing their writing and art—a lasting testament to their creativity and courage.

This creativity is what keeps drawing me back to Ukraine, despite the war. Supporting the Generatsia Nika Foundation is one way to help ensure it endures.

If you’d like to learn more or contribute, please visit https://nikageneration.com/. Click on EN to read the page in English.

For my part, I want to thank you in a special way:

✨ For every donation of any amount, you’ll be entered into a raffle to win an exclusive set of niche perfume samples, including hard-to-find Ukrainian indie fragrances, artisanal European creations, and special Bois de Jasmin vintage picks from my own collection.

✨ For every donation over $50, you’ll receive a complimentary pass to any of my upcoming online perfume seminars. As a thank you, you’ll also get priority access to new class topics and time slots before they’re released to the public.

Just send me a screenshot of your donation confirmation to be added to a private email list.

DONATE HERE

If the link does not work for you, you can donate by making a bank transfer.
USA: Account 890-0085-754
SWIFT Code IRVT US 3N
The Bank of New York Mellon, New York, USA

Europe: IBAN DE39503303005184099710
SWIFT Code IRVTDEFX
THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, FRANKFURT AM MAIN

Thank you for helping keep these young artists’ voices alive.

Images: Nika Kozhushko from the Nika Generation Foundation, Nika’s artworks in Kharkiv.