You’ve got to hand it to actress Jennifer Lopez. Not content with regularly topping the charts with her infectious brand of Latino pop and R&B, she has been credited with revitalizing the entire fragrance industry with the 2002 launch of the scent Glow. J Lo was one of the first celebrities to
capitalize on her star status to sell a perfume, and Glow became the second most successful launch ever— beaten only by Calvin Klein’s cK one—as soon as it hit the shelves.
Fast-forward a few years and the celebrity fragrance sector is the fastest growing in the multi-billion-dollar perfume market. But who is buying into the phenomenon? Not just the young fans of J Lo, Britney, Beyoncé and Paris, it seems. Of course, if you love a celebrity, you’re likely to have bought into their
fragrance, too. But what their critics miss is that these stars are putting their names and reputations on the bottle, so their signature scents are as painstakingly thought-out as their image. This explains why the quality of famous fragrances is so high. If you were a celebrity, would you want your name attached to a perfume that was simply average?
The stakes are too high. So Paris Hilton’s eponymous fragrance turns out to be a
sophisticated, slick affair, created by the highly trained nose of Steve DeMercado, the man behind Marc Jacobs’ extremely fashionable first fragrance.
Similarly, J Lo’s fourth smash-hit scent, Live, was devised by one of the most esteemed perfume designers in the world, Dominique Ropion. While all credit is due to J Lo, it was the French actress Catherine Deneuve, one of the most
iconic faces in movie history, who was the first star to create a perfume bearing her name. Launched back in 1986, the fragrance—like her films—was a
critical success.
But in Elle magazine in the early 1990s she was quoted as saying: “I’ve liked working on this fragrance, but actors and perfumes are an impossible match.”
Shortly after, production of the scent ceased. Fellow actress Elizabeth Taylor did not share Deneuve’s disillusionment, however, and launched White Diamonds in 1991, which proved to be a huge success. Despite certain scaremongerers in the
industry claiming that the lifespan of a celebrity fragrance is far shorter than that of a regular one, Taylor has proved them wrong—White Diamonds remains successful and an absolute classic.
It’s not just pop princesses and A-list actresses who have been getting in on the act—even sports stars are cashing in on their credentials and launching their
own fragrances. Tennis ace Maria Sharapova launched one in 2005, hot on the heels of her Wimbledon win in 2004. Cleverly, the fragrance incorporates English rose petals and Wimbledon grass alongside less unusual notes, a true homage to one of the hottest tennis talents around. Of all the recent celebrity scents, one captured the imagination of every Sex and the City addict from Buenos Aires to Berlin—Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely, which launched in 2005. No fashionistas worth their Fendi handbags were going to miss the opportunity to buy into SJP’s
eclectic style, and the fragrance didn’t disappoint.
Surprisingly feminine, it proved itself to be hip yet wearable, unlike some of her more outrageous outfits from the hit TV series. In July, she followed up with
Covet, well worth sniffing out for its unusual blend of Sicilian lemon and chocolate with bois de cashmere and amber.
So what can we expect next in the fast-moving world of famous fragrances?Will we get bored with yet more celebrities selling bottled essence-de-moi?With a new launch from singing sensation Mariah Carey just around the corner and a rumored scent from Madonna, along with shimmering limited-edition bottles of Glow and Glow After Dark this winter, I doubt it.