Famous and Fragrant

Regardless of the actual scent, it’s hard not to feel like buying a perfume that bears a celebrity’s name, especially when that celebrity is talented, sexy and probably smells pretty sweet. As such, many gals will happily part with their cash to smell ‘Lovely’ a la SJP, but how many of us really want to smell like Paris Hilton? (I imagine something that smells quite rich, yet somehow always hungry…)

So who in Celeb-ville can actual make sense of scents, and bring mere mortals like us the sweet smell of success in a bottle? Women around the world have been voting with their wallets, and the results just might surprise you

Elizabeth Taylor

It’s hard to imagine a time when every celebrity in Hollywood didn’t have a scent to call his or her own, but it is none other than Ms. Elizabeth Taylor who truly started the trend. The most popular perfume in the late star’s stable is ‘White Diamonds’; a fixture on perfume bestseller lists ever since it came to market way back in 1991. So great is Taylor’s legacy that there is an ‘Elizabeth Taylor Fragrance Celebrity of the Year’ award handed out at the annual perfume Oscars (aka The Fragrance Foundation awards). This year’s recipient? Believe it or not it’s… 

Justin Bieber

Not a joke. I repeat – Not A Joke. In fact, tweens and teens went SO mad for Bieber’s fragrance ‘Someday’ on it’s launch last year that it briefly kept Chanel No. 5 out of the top 5 sellers last year. Coco is still turning in her grave, while Beliebers are still thinking it gives them a better shot at nabbing their man. For the less starry-eyed pop fan, and anyone over the age of 14, there’s always a scent by…

Beyoncé

To be fair, who doesn’t want to be just like Beyoncé? She’s sexy, cool, funny, humble – and one of the most famous women on the planet. Plus she has one of the best behinds the world has even seen. So when she launched her debut fragrance ‘Heat’ in 2010, there were few who doubted it would be a success. Still, not many predicted just how big it would be; in fact she had the third highest sales of all celebrity scents in 2011. Heat was quickly followed up with Heat Rush and the citrus heavy Pulse. Her latest addition, Midnight Heat, will hit the shelves later this year. Now if she could just bottle up some of her awesomeness we’d gladly pay any price at all. 

Rihanna

A slightly more divisive pop figure, Rihanna took her rulebreaker persona to heart when creating her debut fragrance, ‘Reb’l Fleur’. Her mentor Jay Z set up the deal, but Barbadian Rihanna insists the scent is her baby. According to the ‘We Found love’ singer her grandmother used to call her a rebel flower, which of course inspired the name. The fragrance was released last year with the tag line ‘Bad feels so good’, and it seems women around the world agreed. 

Sarah Jessica Parker 

For millions of women she will always be Carrie, the character who lived the dream in the big apple. Hot men, great friends, and shoes you’d happily commit murder for – all enjoyed with a Cosmo in hand. SJP is so intertwined with the city that never sleeps that I couldn’t help but wonder… why she didn’t bring out her New York inspired scent sooner. ‘Lovely’ got Parker off the perfume starter’s block back in 2005, and other successful sellers including ‘Covet’ followed, but it is 2010 release ‘NYC’ that really hit the right note with fans.