Once upon a time the relationship between celebrities and the world of perfumes was quite straight forward…….Rita Hayworth loved Fracas by Robert Piguet because it was inspired by her sultry performance in Gilda; Marilyn Monroe is famous for wearing Chanel No 5 to bed each night and Audrey Hepburn is said to have prevented Givenchy L’Interdit from being produced simply because she didn’t want other women to smell like her!
Fast forward more than fifty years and celebrity-created fragrances are everywhere. Today, it’s difficult to find a celebrity without one and it’s not hard to understand why. Fragrances are a lucrative business for stars, allowing fans to smell like them, while tapping into the lifestyle they represent in the process, and all at a cost that won’t break the bank.
Back in 2012, as many as seventy three celebrity fragrances were launched, compared to an average of nine a year more than a decade ago. The only problem is that with the market so crowded full of money-spinners, it’s hard to find ones that actually smell good!!
The latest addition is Rihanna, Rouge. It has the deep, musky notes of a man’s cologne thanks to base notes like wood, amber, patchouli, musk and vanilla, which are beautifully balanced by notes like lemon blossom, cyclamen, bergamot and pink peppercorn, which are more commonly found in women’s fragrances.