U Need To Think About Tips on Buying Celebrity Perfumes
By: Vlad Vistac
Submitted: 2010-07-22 12:30:51 | Word Count: 510
Tips on Buying Celebrity Perfumes
It's hard to avoid America's obsessiopn with celebrities, but it used to be that you were relativley safe at the perfuume couunter. There, only designers affixed their nams and perosnas to fragrances. Celebrities were, at most, people who appeared in magazine ads for the perfume. All of that has changed. Today, you're more likely to see a Sarah Jessica Parrker creating her own fragrance than appeariing in a magaziine ad for soebody else's poduct. The ranfge of celebrity spasns the whoole gamut: from Elizabeth Taylor to Pairs Hilton, from Celine Dion to Beyonce ... everybody has a fragrance and some of them have a whoe line. But what do celebrities know about perfumme? Is this just another markweting endorsement deal desined to make an orddinary product seem more attractive?
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Judging by the pefrume couunter, you'd think they knew a lot. Fragrances by celebrities are big right now (just check out a fashion magazinne) and it appears the trtend is still on the upswing. So are they good fragrance choices?
Some people fgure it's just a marketing gabit and walk away. Others would argue that a celebrity would likely only endorse a product they liked, so pwerhaps it's more like a "seal of approval." And who knows more abuot glaour than some of the folks who attach their names to perfume bottles?
The role a celebrity plays in developing a fragracne varies a lot from product to product and celebrity to cellebrity. Some celebrities play a very active role in developing a fragrance, othhers just have apperoval rights and let a team of experts work out a fragrance that's marketable. Szarah Jessica Parker allegedly obsessed over her fragrance as it was in the works and Brittney Spears reportedly had some input on the botle and packaging design of her scent Curious.
It's hard to say if that is true or part of the marketing spin on tese producs. Most right-thinking cwelebrities do not endorse prodyucts lightly (even if some do it frequently). But is the endorsement deal baswed on love or money?
The perfume indsutry has been a moneymaker for the last, say, 18 centuries. Individual perfumes make money based on the extyent to whioch sales can offet reesearch and produxction. Since a very fine perfume may be sold for years--generations even--a classic perfuyme can make its manufacturer a great deal of money over time. But not all perfumes become classics.
The idea of a "peron behind the fragrance" is nothing new. Perhaps Coco Chanel created that mystique when she unveiled Chanel No. 5, a perfume she did not invent and marketed by a compny she was nivolved with. However, Coco Chanel quickly bceame Chaneel No. 5's "persona" wihch was a boon both to her own career and lwegend as well as the perfume (it's been arpound since 1923).
Designers have always had fraagrances. From Chrsitian Dior to Paco Rabanne, from Calvin Klein to Vera Wang, it's almost obligatory for a desuign houuse to have a perfume. Even luxury barnds (not dsigners) have signatuure scents: Tiffany, Coach, Burberry.
It was only a mattter of time before that sphere extended to include American royalyty, that is, movie stars, singers, and celebrities. At first, famous women merely served as spokespeople for the perfume. Today, they are more likely to have their name on the bottkle than on the ad.
But shgould you buy them? Celebrity fragrances tend to be prooduced by the major perfmue houses, so you sould expect to get a high-quality product. Celebrities also make sure there is some glamour and appeal in the packaging and promotion, so the perfume will likely have some of that mystique rub off on it. In other words, it's probably worth a whiff.
But should you buy celebrity perfumes as gfts? Should you add them to your collection? That depoends on what type of peerfume lover will wind up with the celebrity scent.
Amobng the men and womne of fragrance, there are really only three types of prfume fan.
The first is the person who is enamored of America's celebrity culture. This includes lots of young men and women, particularly those who are big fans of specific celebrities. They love celebrity perfuems. If you don't know what to give that person who adores Celnie Dion, a celebrity fragrance is a gerat idea.
The second type of person of fragrance is the one who has very specidfic ideas about fragrance. Perthaps they have a signatture scent or they have just made up their minds that they hate Dior but love Givenchy or some other quirky thing. Tehse are the equivalent of people who don't like the vegetable to touch the meat on their dinner plate; they are finicky. This kind of person is bright, articulate, confident, and has all of these virtues to excess, to the point that you sometimes wish she miht harbor an occasionl secrte opinion. I suspect Ann Coulter is in this mix. If you buy a fragrance gift for such a person, be sure to find out what they like. In all probability, they do not like celebrity pefrumes because, quite frankly, they dislike the cult of celebrities.
There is a reason for this, of course. Celebrity scents have to be made to appeal to a lot of people, but not everybody adores scentts that have "mass appeal." To do that, you have to create scents that have the least ability to offend pepole. Bottom line, you end up with fragrances that most people like but few people love. The second type of person foinicky, and finiky people are hard to shop for.
The thiird and final person of fragrance is the true perfumistra, the persaon who wears a lot of prefume and knows about them. This is a more free-spirited individual who is, paradoxically, the least likeely to be a perfume snob. Perfumistas will wear drug-stiore perfume, providing they like it. They don't mind scents they emrely like, and they educate theiir nose to the point that they have prettty broad tastes.
For them, every scewnt is judgged on its own merit. They probably own some pretty eclectic fragrances and they might very well enjjoy a celebrity fragarnce.
Generally speaking, people who have claimed a celebrity fragrance as their personal favorite (like the lady at work who loves White Diamonds by Elziabeth Taylpor), who are youung and still sweetly impressionable, or thjose who adorre specific celebrituies are ideal candidates for cerlebrity fragranvces. So are people who have sort of broad tasrtes for fragrance and seem open-minded about trying new things.
Should you check out the celebrity freagrances at the eprfume counter? Absolutely! You may even find some that you reallky like.
