Paris. Shania. The Donald. J.Lo. Antonio. DERRIK J. LANG sniffs 10 fragrances from the famous and finds out who's fresh and who's 'Froot Loops with a little booze.'
She'll always have Paris, the perfume. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Smells like Shania. (AP Photo/Adrian Wyld)
Sarah Jessica Parker smells Lovely. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Try my new fragrance, y'all. (AP Photo/HO/Elizabeth Arden/Kevin Mazur)
White Diamonds have brought Elizabeth Taylor luck. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Eau de Piggy: Miss Piggy's perfume. (AP Photo/Donald King)
Slather yourself in Sarah Jessica Parker. Douse yourself with Donald Trump. Bathe in Britney Spears.
The choice is yours because celebrity scents are the fastest-growing segment of the $2.9 billion perfume market, according to market researcher NPD Group.
But this business model is beginning to reek of saturation. Celebrity and celebrity-endorsed brands represented 23 percent of the top 100 women's fragrances in the U.S. in 2005. And there's more on the way. Soon consumers will be able to moisten their skin with Mariah Carey or Marilyn Manson.
Which of the currently available celebrity fragrances smells first-class? And who simply stinks? asap sniffed 10 celebrity scents and asked three nosy perfume bloggers to take a whiff.
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Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton
Company Line: "Paris Hilton is a concert of frozen apple, peach, muguet with a beautiful heart of freesia, mimosa, jasmine, tuberose and finishing off with musk, sandalwood, ylang ylang and oakmoss. Share a bit of the magic that is Paris Hilton. Find out what it smells like to be a star."
Looks Like: A giant tube of lipstick.
Perfume Blogger Says: "It's got the wildly popular fruity floral accord, a very girly scent that distinguishes itself by being more or less indistinguishable from its peers," describes March Dodge of Perfume Posse. "I couldn't pick it out of a lineup. That said, it smells OK. ... Imagine Froot Loops with a little booze kick."
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Shania by Stetson, Shania Twain
Company Line: "Shania by Stetson is a bright and beautiful fragrance with an original 'Western Heart Accord' of wild prairie rose, vivid freesia and country honeysuckle with a hunt of vine-ripe raspberries and fresh pomegranate."
Looks Like: A remote control.
Perfume Blogger Says: "You know how when you go to the dentist's office, and while waiting you pick up a magazine to leaf through from the coffee table?" wonders Katrina Voll-Taylor of Scentzilla. "And how inevitably folks have already pulled open all of the adhesive scent strips? That's Shania. It smells like a stale two-week-old magazine. ... Shania won't offend anyone by virtue of the fact that no one will remember what you wore."
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Lovely, Sarah Jessica Parker
Company Line: "Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker is inspired by her love for layering fragrances. A scent that captures her love for fashion and style, Lovely blends silky white amber with exotic patchouli oil and crisp apple martini. A fragrance for the sophisticated, romantic and flirty woman."
Looks Like: A pink tear drop.
Perfume Blogger Says: "It's probably the only one on your list I would buy with a straight face to give someone," says Dodge of Perfume Posse. "I don't own it or wear it, but only because it's not to my personal taste. I think it's a lovely scent, subtly nuanced -- and that right there would be something missing from your basic celebrity scent -- and a soft, musk skin scent rather than an overtly sweet fruity-floral."
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Spirit, Antonio Banderas
Company Line: "A modern Oriental with citrus and plum top notes, a fresh floral heart and a woody Oriental polish."
Looks Like: Another pink tear drop.
Perfume Blogger Says: "It wouldn't be anywhere in my Top 20 Fragrances," says Dodge. "But for something from the CVS it smells pretty nice -- musky, sexy, not as achingly sweet as most of the current crop of crap, which I'm attributing to the fact that Antonio's probably a sex magnet for women over the age of ... what? 35? 40? If this were Spirit by Ashton Kutcher, it'd smell like Jell-O shots."
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In Control Curious, Britney Spears
Company Line: "In Control Curious Britney Spears encourages every woman to push her boundaries and test the limits of her power with the scent of sexy vanilla-infused musk."
Looks Like: The home of "I Dream of Jeanie."
Perfume Blogger Says: "One of the highlights of going to the circus is eating pink beehive hairdos of cotton candy," says Katrina Voll-Taylor of Scentzilla. "It melts in your mouth, but you inevitably realize too late that you've eaten too much and wind up sugar-sick. In Control is the smell of that nausea. With all those corners sticking out, the bottle looks and feels like a plastic toy that should transform into an awesome robot or something. But it doesn't, which is weirdly the most disappointing thing about In Control."
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White Diamonds, Elizabeth Taylor
Company Line: "A soft blend of florals including narcisse, gardenia and lilies with refreshingly crisp green notes produce this dazzling, glamorous fragrance created especially for Elizabeth Taylor."
Looks Like: A wedding ring.
Perfume Blogger Says: "All the Elizabeth Taylor fragrances are overpoweringly strong to me," says Dodge. "The smells seem like a perfect reflection of their packaging -- assertive, blingy, a little cheesy, more ornate and decorative than, say, streamlined. There is nothing subtle about them. They make me a bit nervous that it's really true that as we age, we can smell less and less, so the perfume gets stronger and stronger. I mean, will I be killing everyone around me with my perfume when I'm 70?"
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With Love, Hilary Duff
Company Line: "With Love is an expression of love in all its forms and dimensions: the unconditional love of family, the generosity of friendship and the breathtaking excitement of romance."
Looks Like: A misshapen disco ball.
Perfume Blogger Says: "There's nothing wrong with this scent, it smells perfectly nice -- another Stepford perfume fruity floral," says Patty Geissler of Perfume Posse. "On its own, it smells fine, wearable, but in the monotonous mass market perfume landscape, it doesn't even register in my mind as something different or worth seeking out. It seems to be made for young girls who want to take on a persona of a celebrity and not for someone who actually knows who she is."
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Live, J.Lo
Company Line: "Designed for the woman who is driven to fulfill her dreams, but never misses out on the fun, Live is a vivacious blend of sparkling fruits, sensual flowers and soft, sexy musk, serene vanilla and warm woods."
Looks Like: A garden in a bottle.
Perfume Blogger Says: "Once you get past the name and J.Lo's extended line of Happy Meal-inspired bottles, there's a rather pleasant fragrance inside," remarks Voll-Taylor of Scentzilla. "This scent's resemblance to a can of fruit cocktail with diced pineapple is offset by a light floral bouquet and soft musk. Live maintains a bit of tastefulness and restraint that Mrs. Lopez herself hasn't always displayed. It's not a great fragrance, however, it is rather pretty."
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Moi, Miss Piggy
Company Line: "A bouquet of seductive flowers warmed with 'come-hither' notes of warm blonde woods."
Looks Like: A pearl.
Perfume Blogger Says: "It has a little tartness in the notes and at least is different from so many others," says Geissler of Perfume Posse. "Geared toward young girls, it is sweet and fresh and yet interesting with a couple of notes that aren't so sweet. The packaging is really cute, and the target audience, I would think, would like this. It's not heavy and seems perfect for young girls."
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Intimately Beckham, Victoria Beckham
Company Line: "The first feminine fragrance bearing the Beckham monogram conveys the essence of the Victoria known only to the people closest to her. An opulent bouquet of white flowers opens with the pure fresh notes of bergamot and rose petals that linger on the skin. All woman, all self-assurance, multifaceted and all-inspiring."
Looks like: A bottle of nail polish.
Perfume Blogger Says: "Intimately Beckham is the ideal fragrance for those wanting to smell how Posh usually looks -- like an aging European porn star attempting to class it up with excessive tanning and Botox," pans Voll-Taylor of Scentzilla. "The perfumey notes of florals, vanilla, sandalwood and musk are commonplace and perfunctory. If this represents her essence distilled, her inner life must be a small dusty broom closet."
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asap reporter Derrik J. Lang wants to smell like Jake Gyllenhaal.
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