The Perfume Industry - When Bad Names happen to Good Perfumes

 The world of perfume forms a multi-billion pound industry with consumers spending over $5.1 billion a year, actually five times more than is spent on bottled water. It is no surprise then that celebrities cunningly use their fame to cash in on this industry, offering consumers the chance to smell like them, or at least the more affordable high street version of them. The latest celebrity to waft into this market is the original girl-next-door Jennifer Aniston, who shot to fame in the 90s playing RachelGreen with ‘that hair’ in legendary sitcom Friends. In recent years Miss Aniston has become perhaps better known for being the girls’ girl with a 

series of failed public relationships under her belt, and Jen is rapidly becoming the single girl for our generation. This begs the question, why is she selling a perfume? Is she cashing in on this slightly unfair reputation, slightly mocking those and inspiring 

others to follow in her footsteps and smell like her? Seems odd, but then she is not the fruitiest cake in the bakery, they get farworse. The perfume was bizarrely named, ‘Lolavie’, but just before the launch the name was stripped and replaced with the to-the-point tag, ‘Jennifer Aniston’.

But what is the science behind naming a perfume? And how do some celebrities get it oh so wrong....

We all know that infamous saying – ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’ but sometimes it’s simply too hard not to, especially when that book is a perfume named ‘Mon Fluide’ which perhaps needs no translation...an item we would 

keep well away from our neck and wrists! There is undoubtedly something behind a name and one tends to judge a person if they have a ridiculous name. The same goes for perfume. 

Perfumes are unique items, with the chemicals reacting on different people’s skin in very distinctive ways. This is what makes perfumes such a personal taste, and why, generally speaking, a great deal of time and care goes into choosing a perfume, it is after all one of the first impressions people are given of you. Perfumes enable people to 

portray themselves in a certain way and are so distinctive and lasting that it is no surprise that every second person in the world wears them. This can lead to some scathing judgement on your choice, but then again if you choose to purchase Svetlana Stalin’s (that’s right, Stalin as in the infamously cruel dictator of Russia) fragrance, Svetlana’s Breath, then you are really bringing it upon yourself.

It does ask you to question what sort of statement celebrities want to make with their perfumes, is the name actually important, or is it more about the fragrance? Jennifer Aniston explained the inspiration behind her fragrance was the jasmine flowers and aromas she remembers from vacations to Greek islands, which sounds rather nice to be honest. Whilst publicising her fragrance Aniston recommended ‘wearing a fragrance that really represents you’ but surely with this theory only she should be able to wear her fragrance? However this aside, Aniston is the epitome of dignity and grace and so it comes as no surprise that Harrods online has already sold out of the fragrance and it is expected to do incredibly well. 

While some celebrities take the higher, classier road with perfumes, others seem to completely lose the plot, or indeed any shred of modesty, when it comes to naming their scents. Sarah Jessica Parker’s ‘Lovely’ sounds enchanting, even Miss Piggy gets it right with a fragrance simply named ‘Moi’. However the arrogance takes a step up as fragrances are simply givenfirst names with ‘Callum’ (Callum Best), 'Danielle' (Danielle Steele), and 'Luciano' by Pavarotti, which I cannot help thinking would equate to ‘eau de fat man’ when spritzed on. However how much does the name really matter to a consumer? As long as the fragrance is actually as good as they publicise it to be then what harm can be done? Maybe Kimora Lee Simmons’s ‘Baby Phat Goddess’ won’t be so bad after all...but then again, I don’t hold high hopes.

Why not head to Half Price Perfumes for a range of perfumes that are not only kind to the nose and eyes, but also to your pockets.