Perfume Shrine: best selling perfumes in France

Last time we posted a perfume best-seller list on Perfume Shrine, a most interesting discussion sprang in the comments section. That's probably because French women and their fragrance is always a popular topic, France has a wide selection of both low-end, high-end and niche fragrances (plus distinctive classic style) and French women are characteristically non snobbish about them and because, well, discussing what people buy allows for feeling like we can probe into what makes people "click". Sort of "the knack" but in perfume terms.

via viacomit.net

For today's list I'm consulting the French Sephora site, who publish the top-30 of feminine best-seller perfumes in France for the first quarter of 2015. Some unsurprising "modern classics", some upstarts and some mind-boggling choices make the cut. Let's see them in order of sales.

1. La Vie Est Belle (Lancome)
2. Black Opium (YSL)
3. J'Adore eau de parfum (Dior)
4. La Petite Robe Noire eau de parfum (Guerlain)
5. La Petite Robe Noire Eau Fraiche, aka 'Petals' (Guerlain)
6. La Nuit Tresor eau de parfum (Lancome)
7. Si eau de parfum (Armani)
8. Miss Dior eau de parfum (Dior)
9. Hypnotic Poison eau de toilette (Dior)
10.Shalimar (Guerlain)
11.Lady Million (Paco Rabanne)
12.Lolita Lempicka le premier parfum (Lolita Lempicka)
13.Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet (Dior)
14.Flower by Kenzo (Kenzo)
15.Chloe eau de parfum (Chloe)
16.Narciso for Her eau de toilette (Narciso Rodriguez)
17.Flowerbomb (Viktor & Rolf)
18.Angel (Thierry Mugler)
19.Si eau de toilette (Armani)
20.Narciso for Her eau de parfum (Narciso Rodriguez)
21.Eau de Merveilles eau de toilette (Hermes)
22.La Petite Robe Noire eau de toilette (Guerlain)
23.Patchouli (Reminiscence)
24.The One (Dolce & Gabbana)
25.Very Irresistible (Givenchy)
26.Eau dynamisante (Clarins)
27.Nina (Nina Ricci)
28.Rogue (Rihanna)
29.Sweet (Lolita Lempicka)
30.Alien (Thierry Mugler)

It's interesting to note that Guerlain has 4 fragrances on the top-30 list, of which 3 are part of the La Petite Robe Noire stable and its ponies, with only one classic, the perennial Shalimar.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine:

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Top 3 Best-Selling Fragrances for 2011 (France)

Perusing the best-selling fragrances of any country presents its own interest to the careful watcher of the market; not only a measure of successful top-to-bottom design, but also a shaper of the trends to come, the best-selling status (and back& forth) of perfumes indicates the changing of the zeitgeist.

France is traditionally considered the birthplace of modern perfume fashions (I'm not saying birthplace of perfume in general, as that honor belongs to Egypt and Cyprus) and often foreigners view the French public as inherently more sophisticated than anyone else. Recent data from the acclaimed, specialized NPD group, a monitor of market shares of popular fragrances, presents interesting data:
Dior's J'Adore tops the list of feminine fragrances sales for 2011, surpassing for the second year sales of classic Chanel No.5. J'Adore by Dior has shown a 17% rise in its sales, thus taking a 4% share of the total fragrance sales in France. Chanel No.5 itself has shows a rise of 1.8% in the past year (taking the total 3.6% of the market), leaving this time behind Angel by Thierry Mugler (who had surpassed No.5 numerous times in the past) with 3.2% of the market share.
The total fragrance sales market in France has risen at 3.5%.

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Top Selling Fragrances for Men 2011 (USA), Top 10 Best-selling Masculine Fragrances in France , Past ascribed gender: Best masculine fragrances for women, best feminine fragrances for men