Eau de Celebrity: Waning, waning...?

In the last 10 years everyone who is recognised a bit more widely than their schoolmates, their own mother and possibly their hamster seems to have issued a fragrance bearing their name in gilt lettes on bottles produced by Parlux and Coty (mainly). The phenomenon nicknamed "celebrity fragrances" had accumulated epic proportions in the last couple of years when even reality game players had their own eponymous scent on the market (no disrespect to poor late Jane Goody), adding to a massive churn-out in the class of the hudnreds. Thankfully (to many, ourselves included) it seems that, despite Beyonce, Kim Kardashian and Peter Andre all having a scent in the works, the trend is on its waning phase.

"[...] it has recently been revealed by retailers that these products don't have the longevity of classic fragrances and that customers actually don't want to smell like someone off Big Brother after all. Jason Zemmel, founder of online discount store halfpriceperfumes, said: “It’s a fickle market with celebrity scandals and poor album sales having a direct effect on sales of celebrity scents. It used to be the biggest stars that brought out a scent but we now have all manner of C-listers churning out fragrances whenever they have something to promote.”

Adding that:

“Whilst some, like the Britney Spears range sells well, we’ve found many have shunned the scents of lesser known celebs. We’re now seeing resurgence for classic scents such as Christian Dior, Elizabeth Arden and Chanel, that have been around for years,” said Zemmel.

Parlux is on record for losing $4.3m last year and a reported $2.5m loss in the second quarter of this year. Whether the economic recession is having any relation to the buying patterns of consumers who would rather spend their money on something they really perceive as necessary (or as prestigious, when they do spend over budget)is not accounted for. It does seem that overexposure to specific names has created satiation and boredom and that only strong names are surviving, such as the Jennifer Lopez empire of scents or the Beckham duo.
Shall we all heave a collective sigh of "oh good!" and forget about the overexposed faces that greet us with their candid shots on the front pages of Hello magazine? Here's to hoping! Or at least that from the collective stink only the nice fumes (no matter how few) will surface victorious and sustain their life on the shelves.

Read the full article on Body Confidential.

Victoria Beckham pic courtesy of American Elle magazine.