Celebrity Fragrances — Jennifer Aniston to SJP
From the looks of it a lot of Taylor Swift (who's latest release Taylor is a dead ringer for Fresh's Memoir of a Geisha) and Nicki Minaj is under the tree or hanging in stockings this year. Gaga... not so much judging by all the dust covered boxes. While celebrity scents are not exactly my forte (mostly because they're notorious for having no testers) I do love smelling any and everything new and have a few to offer up here:
Jennifer Aniston: I always thought this fragrance was named Jennifer Aniston although it was actually called Lolavie at one time. A little confusing but if you find a bottle with Lolavie on it, both are indeed the same scent. Housed in a modernist perfume bottle, Aniston's inspiration was said to be the beach waves of her California hometown along with the architecture of Frank Gehry. Or was it?
When I first spritzed some on my immediate thoughts were a slightly powdery burst of ubiquitous white floral with some clean sandalwood peeking through as the perfume wore on a bit. Rather linear. Beachy did not exactly come to mind but this did smell somewhat familiar. That's when I learned by chance what Jennifer Aniston's signature perfume was before she had her own fragrance created. Cacharel's Anais Anais. The powdery classic white floral from the late 70's. Take a look and compare the notes of Jennifer Aniston's namesake scent with those of Anais Anais.
Jennifer Aniston: Top: citrus groves and rose water Middle: jasmine, violet and lily Base: musk, sandalwood and amber.
Anais Anais: Top: orange blossom, lemon, bergamot with hyacinth Middle: jasmine, water lily and rose Base: incense, sandalwood and amber.
Hummmm..... In this case I wouldn't be surprised if she really dose wear her own perfume. Definitely a slightly less spicy and more updated bit of unexpected seventies nostalgia. Sadly not for me personally, despite being rather fond of a good white floral.
Katy Perry: Her bottles are so kitsch that it's kinda a who cares if the perfume is not so good free pass but surprisingly both Purr here and the milky pink Meow are both very wearable. Downright nice even with a bit of depth and nuance to them. They're still the same sweet, fruity gourmand that many other celebrity scents are (most notably Taylor Swift's first two scents which also manage to be both wearable and interesting) but I personally really like the juicy apple mixed with coconut, very fresh peach and buttery gardenia in Purr over all others.
Britney Spears: It's kind of hard to believe these have been out 8 or 9 years now but I'm including them here mainly because they're actually created by Elizabeth Arden. The same house behind both Jennifer Aniston above and Juicy Couture's cult classics. The quality, with Fantasy at least, is really superior to any of the other celebrity scents I have ever experienced, likely because of Arden itself. Curious was really disappointing when I tried a little bottle ages ago before getting the full sized squeeze bulb and tasseled version. Super sweet and linear toothache pixie sticks mixed with high pitched jasmine and what seemed like heavy doses of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid). This is coming from a jasmine lover. After that experience I probably would have never bought Fantasy or any other celebrity scent if it were not for the insanely lovely Laura of Buy Now Blog Later and a surprising number of other uber-classy women who felt confident about coming forward and singing its praises as a cult favorite.
A blend of kiwi, which always translates as strawberry candy to me, quince which comes off as a little grapefruity, jasmine and butter cream vanilla in the form of white chocolate, never in my life have I ever received so many genuine compliments about a fragrance. The response is addicting. A sweet, gourmand white floral cut with an acidic is actually still pretty hard to find let alone for so cheap. There are an insane number of flankers too. Surprisingly, Cleopatra by Tocca is very similar to the original Fantasy and one of the main reasons I no longer own both.
Sarah Jessica Parker: How could we talk about celebrity scents without SJP? That just would be so wrong although it's not Lovely that I have here but her later creation Covet. Remember all the commercials for it? Probably some of the most memorable for me, SJP stealing a huge bottle through broken glass of a Madison Ave.-esk window. The bottle here was actually purchased when it first debuted at the department store... look at how much has been used.
Wanting to be different and not smell like everyone and their mother who was wearing Lovely at the time I purchased Covet instead. While it's very warm and unique (for 2007), it's also slightly odd. The more I look at the notes, the more I ask myself what I was thinking when I bought this. Chocolate, teak wood, lavender, lemon, vetiver. Underneath it all is this pervasive oiliness. Definitely wish I had purchased Lovely instead and been smart like everyone else and their mum (as ♪♫ Que Sera Sera ♪♫ plays off in the distance). Kate Walsh's Boyfriend (now discontinued!) is actually along the same lines of blurring feminine /masculine perceptions of scent as Covet tries to but was much easier to fall in love with and wear.Covet on a guy, now that might be a game changer.
Buying and giving perfumes can be tricky, a few tips gleaned over the years can be found previously posted here and other favorite's in the Beauty & Scents section of the blog here.
Do you have a favorite celebrity scent or found one that truly surprised you?
Image: mam for Gave That
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