Have Hollywood Celebs Taken Over the Perfume Industry?

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Thus questions Sarah Reiney in an interesting (if not totally accurate in its finer points*) article in the Telegraph. "Forget bottling Hollywood glamour; this is capitalism in a bottle". So true, Sarah! She goes on to highlight why there is a change in the scenery with more "haute" launches or endorsements by more A-listers than previously. Plus a darling quote by Vanessa Musson. Good going!

If you want to check out some celebrity fragrances history (so as to realize that the phenomenon isn't that recent), please refer to my article linked.

*Fact checking: Fracas wasn't inspired by "Gilda" but by Edwige Feuillère, to whom the (dykey) perfumer Germaine Cellier dedicated it as a love plea. L'interdit was reserved for Audrey's use for only one year (plus her prime favorite was reportedly Le De by Givenchy, also created for and inspired by her.) And last but not least, and we're splitting hairs here, the first "celebrity" perfume has to be the Guerlain Eau de Cologne Impériale for empress Eugenie, the fashion plate of her times.

Why Are Celebrity Perfumes Still Popular?

Back a while ago I really thought the trend for celebrity scents (i.e.scents coat-tailing on the success of a celebrity brand name to which they're designed as an accessory) was dying. Boy, was I wrong! There are more celebrity scents coming out each season and it stands to reason people must be actually buying all this stuff for the companies to keep churning out more and more. (The latest, Nicole, comes from Nicole Richie who credits her mother's layering of a hundred scented products as its inspiration, which is scary sounding enough). But WHY are they?

"Like their wearers, these fragrances are not sophisticated, nor are they complicated. In fact they are scented with the same formulae used in shampoos and deodorant body sprays, according to perfume evaluator Erica Moore of Michael Edwards Fragrances of the World. ''They're immensely popular and very successful,'' she says. ''They're affordable. They've brought fine fragrance to a market that is not sophisticated.'' Moore says young women find their fragrance style by experimenting with these types of perfumes. But they also want a bargain.

 ''Parallel market'' fragrances are flourishing, according to beauty market analyst Jo-Anne Mason. ''It's dumped stock and coming in really cheap,'' she says. ''It's a grey market. It is legal. They're buying it out of Dubai. It could have been sitting there in a hot, unairconditioned warehouse for a year. (Cosumers) don't know; they don't think about it - they just look at the price.''

 Quotes from a longer article on the Sydney Morning Herald

And on to YOU to discuss in the comments:
 Do you find that you had been attracted by these scents when you were younger and have moved on? Do you find that there are exceptions to every rule and you have found a celebrity scent to claim your own? Does associating a perfume composition which sounds intriguing with a celebrity name crush your hopes for interesting juice? Or not?

 Hearing you out in the comment section!