Saturday 20 October 2007

Celebrity scents are big business

If someone were to ask you if you wanted to smell like Britney Spears, you might hesitate. But lots of young girls do what to smell like her - like her perfume, that is. The celebrity-fragrance market is huge. According to Forbes.com, sales last year for the top seven celebrity-endorsed scents topped $350 million. Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds, launched in 1991, is one of the best-sellers, making millions a year. Since then she has been joined by many other celebrities looking to take advantage of this cash cow.

Megastar Mariah Carey is the latest celebrity to throw her hat into the scent ring with her just-released fragrance M, but many celebrities, from Gwen Stefani to Usher, have created scents in the last several years. Shay Hunt, manager of fragrances at Macy's in Hyannis, says the bottom line is: Celebrity scents sell.

"What people buy often depends on their age," she says. "Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds is very popular with women in their 40s, 50s and older. It's a mature, classic scent that lasts all day. It's probably not a scent a younger woman would wear, though."

Younger men and women shouldn't feel left out, though. There's lots for them to choose from. "We have lots of young girls who come in and spend their baby-sitting money on the Britney Spears scents," she says. "Her scents (there are four - Curious, Fantasy, Midnight Fantasy and Believe) tend to be sweeter. The new one, Believe smells a little like Sweet Tarts."

Not everyone, though, is a tween who wants to smell like a piece of candy. "One of the hottest sellers is from Usher," Hunt says, noting that there is an Usher for men and one for women. "Also very popular are Gwen Stefani's perfume, L, which has a fresh, light tangerine base, and Sarah Jessica Parker's two scents, Lovely and Covet."

Hunt says that while it's not officially her own scent, singer Beyoncé is the spokeswoman for Armani's best-selling Emporio Diamond, a scent she says is popular with women from their 20s on up. She described the scent as a melding of rose, licorice and raspberry.

In the super-competitive world of cosmetic sales, having a popular celebrity's name attached to a product can translate to big sales, but what happens when a maelstrom of bad press, as in the case of Britney Spears, surrounds the celebrity?

"Sometimes there are moms who don't want their daughters to buy a scent from someone like Britney Spears; they want a more positive role model," Hunt says. "I've heard people say they didn't want to support Paris Hilton, but, bottom line, people are usually able to look past the person and, if they like the fragrance, purchase it. Interestingly, sales of Britney Spears' fragrances haven't been affected at all by all the negative press she's been getting."

(Cape Cod Times)



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