Thursday, May 26, 2016

Best-selling Fragrances in France & Worldwide: First Half of 2016

"Familiarity breeds contempt" goes an old saying, but in what has to do with fragrance it looks like what people are choosing to wear (and buy for gifts) depends quite a bit on familiarity, both in terms of known and well-liked accords, as well as compositions which have received positive feedback. This is the real reason behind perfume best-sellers, I'm sure, and this is why I have dedicated a specific corner of the Perfume Shrine project to these best-selling perfumes lists (more of which you can see per country and per year on the right hand column of this blog).


For the first half of 2016 the situation is without great ripples, cementing the thought that the mainstream division is going ahead on what is essentially the cajoling of a sweet tooth and of a steady, somewhat sterile, notion of masculinity. Without further ado, here are the results.

For women:
La Vie Est Belle by Lancome is the top best-selling perfume in Europe, as well as the third best-selling globally, behind Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel and J'Adore by Christian Dior. [Compare and contrast with perfume best-sellers in France for 2015 on this link].

It's interesting to note that according to the social media barometer NetBase the French are especially responsive to the brands of Christian Dior, Adidas and Chanel, so this result accounts for more than bargained for.

For men:
Bleu de Chanel is the best-selling global performer in masculine fragrances, behind Acqua di Gio by Armani (surely a case study for its sheer duration) and One Million by Paco Rabanne. [For French results of previous years, please see this list]

The results are officially based on data publicized by L'Oreal and LVMH, first and second respectively in placement for sheer volume of luxe feminine fragrance products. (L'Oreal still holds the first place in masculine scented products volume globally).

Still the big conglomerate companies are the first to admit that without the spectacular rise in niche fragrances, many of which they're acquiring, the perfume sector would be doomed to a decline that mainstream sales wouldn't quite make up for it.


12 comments:

  1. Mimi G16:28

    Hi Elena
    This is very sad for me to see. No sign of Chanel No .5 in the top 10 ? Everyone wants sweet sweet sweet. Except me. LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can count two of use in the "not in the sugar" camp. ;) :D

      Chanel is there, but I think No.5 is too much of a French totem to be actually worn by the actual French. Unless one wants to smell like their nana or something.

      Delete
  2. Hi Elena,
    I guess everyone just wants to smell like everyone else :) There must be something comforting in all this familiarity.
    Azar

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True, Azar, very true. Safety in numbers, elevate a notch to include perfume choices! ;)

      Delete
  3. Miss Heliotrope08:33

    I wonder, holding in mind that the French can be more traditional than some other markets, whether also scent being so intimate, that people can be less adventurous. It's one thing be interesting in your hair or clothes, but if you smell what others may view as odd, it's somehow weirder - the so-called old lady thing or smelling what others might receive as more sweaty or skanky or something - we dont want people to think us unclean. (Says someone wearing ELdO's Rein today, which smells like the most amazingly beautiful burnt rubber - but I dont get out much).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Definitely! They're a conservative market and a very traditionalist one. (We are too in our own way)
      I also think that they want to exude a bourgeois, upscale, "polished" facade, evident on what one sees in the everyday style one sees on the streets.

      Delete
  4. I cringe every time a SA says, "THIS one is our most popular!" UGH...I do NOT want to smell like everyone else!! Today I am wearing a bright yellow and red flowered dress and Andy Tauer's "Orange Star". No one looks like me and definitely NO ONE smells as divinely wonderful as I do either! 😇

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can't quite get my head wrapped around that line either. Possibly catering to generic people looking for generic stuff to wear so as not to stand out at all.

      Orange Star is lovely. So sad Tauer stopped shipping to my country due to Swiss mail regulations.

      Delete
  5. I see your Sherlock poster, and think of my favourite film, Gigi. The scene with Louis Jourdan and Maurice Chevalier, "It's a Bore".
    Love the whole movie! Here is a clip from youtube of the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbE9N6LRpG0
    :) jean

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yup, that's a classic and so very well made! (Chevalier made everything seem so nonchalant, no?)
      I love the whole movie myself as well. Especially the eating those tiny birdies scene, so hilarious, as well as the applying neck cream with those tap-tap-tap motions as shown by her nana.

      Delete
  6. So the French are influenced by Huge advertising too and not by their chic noses !
    I notice all of those scents are advertised in papers, magazines etc. ad nauseam !!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Of course they are!! Why would anyone think otherwise. They also wear a lot of drugstore stuff (and they do have lovely drugstore stuff too)

      Delete

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