Top 20 Best-Selling fragrances for women in France (2011)

The difference between what's sold as connoting "French" and what actual French people prefer is a rather wide one. Despite the usual glamouralisation of French culture (not without its own marketing reasons, I suppose), the reality is French people are not widely different or widely more sophisticated than the rest of the world: They don't as a rule have a penchant for classic chypres, elegant aldehydics or byzantine orientals as the average perfumista in the USA imagines (though fashions in the past did create a "type" of perfume defined as "French style perfume"). Instead the French mostly buy what is contemporary and familiar, as does any normal human being to the degree that they don't have an obsessive interest in perfume. (The French do learn to use perfume from a young age onwards and not be too sparing with it, nevertheless, which is a huge difference compared with some other cultures). The globalisation as well as the agressive marketing of the fragrance industy bears interesting fruits in those regards.

Fanny Ardant and Emmanuelle Béart in Nathalie

So let's discover the top 20 best-sellers in feminine fragrances in France for the year 2011:

Dior J'Adore
Dior Miss Dior Chérie
Thierry Mugler Angel
L'Eau d'Issey by Issey Miyake
Dior Hypnotic Poison
Guerlain Shalimar
Lolita Lempicka by Lolita Lempicka
Viktor& Rolf Flowerbomb
YSL Parisienne 
Rochas Eau de Rochas 
Rem by Reminiscence
Givenchy Ange ou Démon
Guerlain Idylle
Paco Rabanne Black XS pour elle
Narciso Rodriguez Narciso For Her
Jimmy Choo by Jimmy Choo
Paco Rabanne Lady Million
Nina Ricci Nina (apple bottle)
Lancome Trésor
Kenzo Flower

List thanks to notrefamille.com, a French webzine, in no particular order.

Another list (top 7) from a French source, meuilleur-top.com, runs thus (again in order of presentation, not necessarily bulk of sales):

Lolita Lempicka by Lolita Lempica
Kenzo Flower Le Parfum
Nina Ricci Ricci Ricci
YSL Parisienne
Dior J'Adore
Thierry Mugler Angel
Chanel No.5

The exact order, as per the prestigious NPD Group, of the top 3 perfumes in France for 2011 can be seen here.

Additional observations, courtesy of yours truly, are captured in my short memoir "Snapshots of Phantasmagoria" about a Paris trip in winter.

Perhaps more fittingly, nonetheless, since this is a fumehead blog with more sophisticated interests & tastes than the average person in the street, what we consider that should be popular in France is more a propos. So in that spirit, if you hadn't caught it when I first posted it back in 2009, please read Drapeau Tricolore: 12 Quintessentially French Fragrances.

But more importantly and I'm interested in opinions, rather than hard facts:  
What do YOU consider French-smelling? And why?

Related reading on Perfume Shrine: Definition: French Type/French Style perfume,  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

Snapshots of Phantasmagoria

Sights and sounds of an impending Christmas, ghost-like and semi-transparent in the most bitter cold, still flicker before my eyes as I write these lines; the sweet nostalgia of meeting with gregarious people with a wicked sense of (dark) humour mingling with the sense of bygones and the desire for new beginnings the New Year brings upon us.

The stall market alongside the big arch at Champs, a couple of blocks before Place de la Concorde, filled with kiosks yielding under the weight of small gifts and unexpected delicacies. The lights on the trees directed upwards, forming what looks like giant chalices. Children's eyes (lots of them) filled with awe and anticipation at the sight of the big carousel and the Wheel at the square. The delectable and oh-so-sinful chocolates by Patrick Roger at Bld St.Germain in the shape of bumblebees as well as the crunchier nougatine; everything the child in all of us marvels at with unbridled glee! (If you can't get the chocolate, at least get the books). A quiet morning at Société de Géographie, its doors flanked by classical caryatids, peering over shadowy maps which delineated in their own way ~and my own interest~ the decline of the Ottomans; chased by a demi-tasse lounging and studying on the red sofas of Café Mezzanine for hours on end. The phantasmagorical shop windows on Haussman Avenue and in full contrast the sketches of a couple of clochards looking for a haven from the bitter cold under the bridges.


And what perfumes do the French wear, you might ask? The top sellers according to the info I gleaned at Sephora, Marionnaud and Galeries Lafayette (the latter comprising a lot of tourists sales as well) are Chanel No.5, J'Adore, Angel, Coco Mlle, Kenzo Flower for women and 1 Million, Eau Sauvage, Le Mâle, Boss and Terre d'Hermès for men. I suppose some of it falls under the "if it smells good and enough people buy it all the time" adage...My own nose accounted quite a bit of Lolita Lempicka, Hypnotic Poison and Guerlain's Vétiver.
Interesting all the same, all these best-selling lists, no?

Black & White photo Les Amoureux de la Bastille by Willy Ronis, painting L'Arc de Triomphe, Paris, Winter by Edouard Léon Cortès.