Perfume Blog

Paris Hilton never met a camera lens she didn’t like. But this time the lens isn’t for a reality television show, the paparazzi, or even a jail mugshot — it’s that of New York-based startup For Your Imagination, which is debuting a new, branded web series tomorrow featuring Paris, her mom Kathy and her sister, Nicky.

The six-part series A Day With the Hiltons will follow a mother-daughter duo that won an all expenses-paid trip to L.A. to spend the day with Paris, Kathy and Nicky “while they visit a salon, attend an intimate brunch and spend the afternoon shopping.” Not exactly my thing, but an interesting example of a new media distribution partnership nonetheless.

The idea and execution all took place over a period of several weeks. The people behind Kathy Hilton’s My Secret fragrance, friends of FYI CEO Paul Kontonis, came up with the idea for a contest, and Kontonis suggested a web series. FYI brought on TV Guide for digital distribution and was soon in L.A., shooting. “No one else was willing to handle it in a three-week turnaround,” Kontonis said of TV Guide in a phone interview. “It came down to the wire and we were very impressed.”

TV Guide Broadband, which delivered 8.7 million plays in March, has 30-day exclusive distribution rights for the web series, after which it will enter wider distribution. According to Kontonis, rather than a rev share, TV Guide paid an upfront fee for the rights. The series will be promoted tonight on Extra, which owns exclusive rights to video of the brunch; People has exclusive rights to the photos, which it will run in its May 18th issue. “It was interesting for us because we do distribution. We struck a deal with [TV Guide] because we knew we could get much higher traffic through them.”

TV Guide Broadband will syndicate the series through their existing partnerships with Hulu, YouTube, Veoh and other TV Guide Broadband affiliates with which they have existing advertising deals.

Hanging out with Paris has its moments. “The best thing about it was the pure insanity of the paparazzi once we hit the streets,” Kontonis said. But he also said he liked experimenting with what he called “the future of advertising.” As he put it :”It’s a series built for a brand, but it won’t feel like a brand.”

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It seems like everyone and their Chihuahua has got a fragrance these days. It used to be that Elizabeth Taylor ruled the roost when it came to celebrities offering consumers their unique bouquet in a bottle, but nowadays, it’s officially a trend. A big one.

Perfume profits
So why are so many celebs jumping on the perfume bandwagon? Well, who wouldn’t want to secure a toehold in the billion-dollar-a-year fragrance industry? Jennifer Lopez really kicked things off with the launch of her debut fragrance Glow in 2002. The fragrance launch by the sexy, sultry songbird became the second most successful perfume launch ever, falling just behind Calvin Klein’s 1994 launch of CK. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, stroll through the fragrance and cosmetics aisles at any major department store and you’ll see the names and faces of your favourite celebrities, plastered all over jars and bottles — their images gazing at you from slick marketing materials, urging you to smell just like they do.

Perfume as a brand extension
Kirk Brierley, education and communications manager for Elizabeth Arden Canada says that celebrities view fragrance launches as an opportunity to extend their brand name. “Many are timing fragrance launches to coincide with other pursuits such as album launches and they reinforce each other,” he explains. “As well, if they are a creative personality, which many celebrities are, it gives them one more outlet to express themselves. Celebrities such as Mariah Carey really do get involved in the juice and the packaging.”

2007 alone saw the launch of a plethora of new celebrity fragrance launches: Shania Twain, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kate Moss, the Beckhams, Britney Spears, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, even Antonio Banderas have attached their names to perfumes and colognes.

Style in a bottle
“I think that celebrities are being celebrated more than ever for their sense of style and personality, which are two elements in choosing a fragrance,” says Brierley. “Does it fit your sense of style or the personality that you wish to convey? Many consumers relate to certain celebrities and their fragrance is simply an extension of that. Wearing it brings them closer.”

Well, they must be doing something right. As you may or may not have guessed, Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds is the most enduring celebrity scent on the market. “It completely captures that glamour that is Miss Taylor … from the packaging to the juice, and it is now a classic,” says Brierley. “Typically, it’s the (celebrity’s) first fragrance launched that does the best and is the most enduring, but in this case it is Miss Taylor’s second, after Black Pearls.”

With Miss Taylor’s incomparable career and contribution to the world of film, it’s not all that surprising that one of her fragrances sets the gold standard. But she’s not alone. Famed Canadian designer Alfred Sung experienced similar success with the launch of his first fragrance, Sung, which is celebrating 20 years on the market this fall. “This still holds a place in the hearts of Canadian consumers,” says Brierley. “Ultimately, it is the quality of the juice that will endure.”

Longevity and fragrance trends
Which of the new up-and-comers will secure a spot as a consumer favourite and earn the kind of longevity Miss Taylor achieved? As Brierley says, ultimately, it’s the quality of the fragrance that counts.

So what kinds of fragrances can we expect to see from celebrities this year? According to Brierley, pretty feminine florals are back but, he says, we can’t ignore the gourmand influences. “Two of our biggest successes have come from incorporating “edible” qualities to the fragrance. For example, M by Mariah Carey has a unique marshmallow accord that runs throughout the fragrance. Fantasy by Britney Spears has a cupcake accord that gives it a very special tone.”

6 favourite fragrances:

1. Covet by Sarah Jessica Parker
2. Enchanting by Celine Dion
3. Starlight by Shania Twain
4. M by Mariah Carey
5. Believe by Britney Spears
6. L.A.M.B. by Gwen Stefani

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Find out what’s hot in summer perfumes and get great advice on how to wear your favourite fragrances without falling prey to overpowering scents

Pack up your scarves, cableknits and mukluks, summer’s coming! Oh, and pack up your perfume, too.

Yes, just as it’s time to trade in your heavy winter gear for airy dresses and strappy sandals, it’s time to switch to a lighter summer scent. “We reflect our surroundings through what we wear,” says Sixth Scents’ Marian Bendeth, an internationally known Toronto-based consultant who uses her formidable fragrance expertise to help clients build fragrance wardrobes that fit their personalities and lifestyles.

Bendeth points out that winter is all about dark colours and rich, cosy textures, and that summer is about fresh air, green grass, hot sun, cottage getaways and glowing sunsets. “We have appropriate clothing for those things; it makes sense to have appropriate scents, too.” Here are her tips for smelling scent-sational this summer.

1. Lighten up

Heavier fragrances work better in cold weather than in warm — heat activates the perfume oil to release more scent,” Bendeth explains. As the air warms up, heavy perfume can become overpowering, so consider switching to something lighter.

If you can’t bear to break from those heavier notes, don’t worry: Fragrance lines often include companion products such as shower gels and body lotions, so you can hydrate and scent your skin with your favourites without the intensity of the actual eau de parfum or eau de toilette.

2. Look for summer versions of your faves

“Fragrance companies know you have your favourites and they want to keep you as their customer,” says Bendeth. “Many, like Stella McCartney, Issey Miyake and Jean Paul Gaultier, offer summer editions of their best-sellers, lighter versions that pump up the softer notes and knock back the intensity of others. Some, like Calvin Klein with Eternity, release entirely new scents designed to appeal to a brand’s established consumer.”

3. Let seasonal activities inspire you
Summer is about sipping cool beverages, lounging in the garden, relaxing at the cottage and frolicking at waterfront picnics. “Hold off on incense-inspired, intense vanilla, very sweet florals and sweet fruity fragrances,” advises Bendeth. “Think energizing citrus, fresh white flowers, crisp green, woody or aquatic scents.”

In the citrus family, try Fresh Sugar Lemon or Elizabeth Arden Pure White Linen Light Breeze. If white flowers appeal, try Vera Wang Sheer Veil. Demeter Grass hits the green notes, and Miss Boucheron is a sophisticated woody scent. In the aquatic arena, go for Davidoff Cool Water Woman Freeze Me and L’Eau d’Issey Summer Eau de Toilette.

4. Give up the alcohol
Alcohol in your fragrance isn’t a problem in winter but in the summer, sun exposure plus alcohol can irritate the skin and make the scent smell funny. “Summer scents usually substitute water for the alcohol, so the fragrance will sit lightly on the skin,” says Bendeth. “Because these formulas are so light, you can spritz on a little more — in fact, you can spritz them all over your body.”

5. Avoid extended sun exposure
Yes, this tip is about sun damage — but not as related to SPF. “The sun can react with fragrance to discolour the skin and turn the scent bitter,” Bendeth cautions. “As well, it can attract insects.”

6. Try something a little headier for evening
Sexy and a little naughty certainly works for hot summer nights — Jean Paul Gaultier Classique Summer Fragrance or Ed Hardy Tattoo would turn up the temperature on a dinner date.

Bendeth suggests Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Figue Iris for an indoor rendevouz, and Givenchy Harvest 2007 Organza Jasmine for an evening under the stars. “Just be careful if you’re going to a night-time barbeque,” says Bendeth. “You don’t want to attract bees and mosquitoes!”

7. Um… are there year-round fragrances?
“Of course,” says Bendeth. “Soft florals are always in season, and they’re appropriate for most situations, including work.

Rose is another all-year-long scent, but those tend to be more romantic, more heady, so save those for non-work environments.” If you like soft floral scents, try Celine Dion Sensational or India Hicks Island Living Spider Lily. If you like rose fragrances, try Jo Malone Red Roses, Demeter Bulgarian Rose, Lacoste Dream of Pink or Valentino Rock ‘n Rose Pret a Porter.

Whatever your “scentsibility” (sorry, couldn’t resist), breezy summer scents round out your wardrobe of floaty frocks and kicking-back gear. More than that, they banish the last wretched threads of a most bitter winter — and who doesn’t love that?

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By CHANDLER BURR

Western perfume makers have been selling their scents in China for roughly a decade. But in a few months, Parfums Benetton will introduce two of the first perfumes that have been created especially for Chinese tastes.

United Colors of Benetton and its perfume licensee, Selective Beauty — the company that conceives and produces perfumes under Benetton’s name — signed with a Chinese perfume importer and distributor called Eternal. It was Eternal that suggested that Benetton create scents for the Chinese consumer.

The creative team at Selective Beauty decided on the names Energy Games Man and Woman to play off the strengths of the existing brands — Energy Man and Energy Woman, created last year — and to refer to this year’s Olympic Games in Beijing.

On the bottle, Selective Beauty used the yellow and red colors of the Chinese flag. For the perfumes, it chose two veteran perfumers from a scent maker called Quest (purchased a year ago by Quest’s competitor Givaudan): Christophe Raynaud for the feminine perfume, Olivier Pescheux for the masculine. To guide them, Quest’s marketing team began a major study of scent and the Chinese consumer.

Quest found that Chinese women above all want harmonious perfumes — those avoiding a single strong, identifiable raw material but rather using smooth blends of elements. They liked youthful fruit scents and, even more, flower-petal scents. Brand influenced them hugely. Quest marketers concluded they liked Chanel No. 5 and Paris by Yves Saint Laurent less for their smells than for their brands. And the women decisively rejected powerful, strong-signatured perfumes.

Chinese men liked fresh, airy, fruity scents (above all, apple). Like the women, they rejected scents with one big, strong note.

And so the Benetton team created as its feminine scent a fruity floral perfume with mandarin, lychee, cranberry, peach and — for its pure clean scent — osmanthus. They added synthetic musks, since those molecules are often used in laundry detergent and read as clean notes.

Benetton’s masculine scent was based on a mixture the creative team called frosted lavender, which combines a traditional male classic scent with the big freshness of yuzu (a Japanese citrus), mandarin and a little bit of pineapple. This was reinforced with fresh ginger and, in the base, soft amber and cedar and sandalwood.

Benetton will introduce Energy Games Man and Energy Games Woman two months before the Games begin.

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By CHANDLER BURR

One of China’s hottest sellers is a nonessential Western luxury product that the Chinese have historically never bought and that has virtually no Chinese cultural roots: perfume.

With perfume sales in much of the rest of the world slowing or declining, the industry, primarily based in Paris and New York, hopes for significant growth in China. The market there remains small, though sales are rising exponentially. Nobody knows the exact growth rate, but Patrick de Lambilly, the vice president for Asia for Coty, says, “You can see 20, 30, and 40 percent a year.”

Alexandre de Chaudenay, Asia-Pacific managing director of the perfume licensee Beauté Prestige International, said, “I’d say 20 to 40 percent seems correct, but the figures are extremely difficult, and people tell you anything.”

Still, even if the Chinese market is potentially hugely lucrative, doing business there is far from easy. The regulatory system is uncertain. The complexity of its bureaucracy is daunting. The department stores are of varying quality, and because Chinese tastes are changing rapidly, a store that attracts crowds one day can be deserted the next.

To add to the uncertainty, many in the business say the concept of perfume is so new that a lot of Chinese consumers are, in fact, not buying a perfume but rather the brand to which a bottle of perfume happens to be attached. “China is about brand, brand, brand,” Mr. de Chaudenay said.

And the importance of brand raises the question of the market’s future stability. Although many in the industry talk about the strength of the luxury brands in China, “Are those brands’ perfumes selling well?” Mr. de Chaudenay asked. “I think so. Are the consumers coming back? We don’t know.”

For that reason, Mr. de Lambilly says his perfume company and others are tempering their enthusiasm for the Chinese market with realism. “We’re learning as we go,” he said. “Particularly in fragrances. All of us here are doing the same thing: getting data from the marketing sources, comparing it to other sources, trying to figure it out.”

Hans Wohmann, head of Procter & Gamble’s Asian operations for scent, said sales in China of what are known as “prestige fragrances” — perfumes made by designers and luxury houses like Chanel, Estée Lauder and Dior — were around $120 million versus the $9 billion European market or the $4 billion American market. Even the Japanese market, the largest in Asia, was $500 million in 2006.

As Mr. Wohmann put it, “So 20 percent of the world’s population has only 1 percent of the global fine fragrance market.”

Perfume is a relatively recent phenomenon in China. Mr. de Lambilly said the Chinese started using scented shower products only in the early 20th century. But they were light and simple, he said. “They were for freshening the body and also to avoid mosquitoes.”

Western-type perfumes have been produced in China only since the mid-1980s, said Bill Jin, manager at the PearlChem Corporation in Parsippany, N.J., an importer and distributor of perfume raw materials.

Ralf Ritter, a consultant to the scent maker Takasago, said he would be “surprised if even 50 percent of the perfume bought in China was actually used.” And that, he said, is largely because in China fragrances serve multiple purposes. “They’re fragrances, but they also repel mosquitoes, they have moisturizing properties, and they are used in the summer to freshen up,” he said. “Chinese consumers care that the product does more than just fragrance the body.”

Mr. Jin says there are a just a few local perfume brands. Pearlscent, the sister company of Mr. Jin’s company, based in Guangzhou, is one. “The fragrance concentrates are mainly created by our customers in the U.S. or France and imported from the U.S.A. or Europe.” They are then mixed with alcohol, bottled and sold in China.

Mr. Jin adds that there is virtually universal agreement that Chinese brands will not pose serious competition to Western brands until well in the future. “High-end brands like Dior and Chanel will be for the prestige consumer, which is completely different from the local brand market,” he said. “One bottle of Chanel perfume will cost almost a half month pay for a fresh-out-of-college student.”

Coty entered China, via its Chinese distributor, ADE China, in 2000, immediately establishing Davidoff and its flagship scent, Cool Water, which, Mr. de Lambilly said, is a strong seller. Coty introduced Calvin Klein perfumes in 2006, and that brand is now Coty’s leader. “CK One is obviously very strong,” he said, “and N2U did very well because it fits very well with the young high-tech mentality of the Chinese.”

Jennifer Lopez, which Coty introduced in 2002, is doing well, and the company has introduced Sarah Jessica Parker’s perfume brand, though Mr. de Lambilly said, “Celebrity brands are not doing that well in Asia.”

Kenzo has been in China for more than a decade and, having developed a stable department store business in the main cities, is now moving into secondary cities. B.P.I. introduced its Issey Miyake and Jean-Paul Gaultier brands in China two years ago.

“We began in Beijing and Shanghai with limited distribution,” Mr. de Chaudenay said, “building up our counters and our visibility with a flagship strategy: we invest more in the point of sale than in media.” In the next three years, B.P.I. plans to start selling its brands in 160 department stores in China’s 20 biggest cities.

Inefficiencies, bureaucratic complexities and the major capital investments needed for setting up a subsidiary have made partnerships with Chinese distributors the norm.

“For regulation concerns, China is still one of the most difficult countries to register your product,” says Sung Kim, regional director for the Asia Pacific Region for Kenzo Parfums. “You need to register for both sales and hygiene. It takes about two months per product, and there is no guarantee that approval will be granted by the authorities.”

Luciano Bertinelli, managing director of Salvatore Ferragamo Perfums, said his company also relied on its Chinese partner to distribute its products. He added, “It is today almost impossible to negotiate China by yourself.” Like Coty, Ferragamo also chose ADE, a 10-year-old company owned and led by May Zhang that works principally on perfume.

The question of which perfumes to offer the Chinese consumer is perhaps the trickiest one. Kenzo, with two huge successes in the Chinese market — Flower by Kenzo and Kenzo Amour — plans to develop perfumes specifically for Chinese tastes. “The Chinese cannot accept strong fragrances,” Mr. Kim of Kenzo said. “They prefer the scent to be more floral for women and more fresh for men.” He said the Chinese also preferred the less concentrated eaux de toilette.

When Prada introduced its original Prada perfume — a powerful, rich patchouli amber — to the Japanese, South Korean and Hong Kong markets, those consumers found it too strong, the company said. So in China, Prada chose instead to introduce Prada Tendre, a much lighter, cleaner version, in March 2007. Prada said the scent was doing well.

Because the brand’s new clean citrus-tinted Infusion d’Iris perfume is proving to be even bigger in Asian markets outside of China than Tendre, the company is hoping for a big hit on the mainland, where Infusion will be introduced this summer.

Mr. de Chaudenay says that companies are not only investing huge sums in getting into the Chinese market, they have accepted huge losses for a long time.

“Your store is good, and the next day a new store opens next door and you lose all your traffic,” Mr. de Chaudenay said. “You’ve invested in your counter, and now your counter is dead. You have to be aware where the market is moving, and it’s moving fast. Very few brands are making money in China, and I mean in all categories.”

But, he added: “We are buying market share. We will get the profits tomorrow.”

Some major Western brands are treading cautiously. Parfums Givenchy, a major perfume brand of the European luxury giant LVMH, is not yet a presence in China. “The Chinese perfume market is tiny,” said Alain Lorenzo, president of Givenchy Parfums. He said Givenchy was concentrating on the much larger markets for makeup and skin care. “Once we hold a big position in these segments, we will start looking at how to develop perfume as well.”

Mr. Ritter said China was also maturing quickly in regulatory terms, rising toward international standards on allergens and toxicity.

That only means that international brands will try harder to reach Chinese consumers. “I strongly believe that perfume will become more and more attractive to them,” Mr. de Chaudenay said. “China is going to be so big that no one will be able to avoid being in China. We are going there for the long term. We have very ambitious plans.”

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It’s all about the bottle

Most moms love a gift of fragrance - and even if yours doesn’t have a favorite perfume, she’ll love to display these great bottles.

The new Gucci by Gucci comes in a striking bottle with a pink-gold-toned horsebit, the company’s signature; $65 and $85 at Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue and Sephora.

Missoni Acqua’s new collector’s bottle was inspired by a Missoni scarf; the 15ml perfume is $300 at Nordstrom.

Two new DKNY Delicious scents come in apple-juice-inspired bottles with removable apple charms, $55 at major department stores.

Polish sculptor Bronislaw Krzysztof worked with Sisley to create this unique bottle for its Soir de Lune fragrance, $120-$240 at select Bloomingdale’s.

Badgley Mischka’s signature fragrance evokes the glamour of the ’40s with a cut-glass bottle and silver-bezeled cap; $45-$90 at major department stores.

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Pop star Christina Aguilera has announced plans to launch another addition to her perfume range later this year.

The singer has taken time off from her music career since she gave birth to her first child, Max, in January - and has instead spent her time as a new mother working on her third scent.

Aguilera’s two previous fragrances, Xpose and Simply Christina, have both garnered international success and the new scent, Inspire, is due to hit shops in the autumn.

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Mother’s Day is this Sunday, but we’re guessing there are more than a few of you still scrambling for a gift. British perfumery Jo Malone’s limited edition Lotus Blossom & Water Lily scent gives last-minute buyers an alternative to typical department store fragrances. A blend of mandarin, lotus blossom, bamboo and aloeswood, this light, summery perfume will please the most discerning of noses.

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Paris Hilton is coming to London where she will meet her fans in person.
The hotel heiress - currently starring in a reality TV show in which she is looking for a new best friend - will sign autographs and give out goodie bags to purchasers of her new perfume Can Can at Selfridges on Thursday May 15.

But it seems meeting the blonde socialite is not going to be an easy task.

Paris fans must first buy a 100ml bottle of her new fragrance from Selfridges the day before her personal appearance (Wednesday May 14.)

They will queue for the scent and they will then be offered a special pass - of which there are a limited number - to be able to meet the party-loving star. The passes will be given out on a first come, first served basis.

The lucky Paris fans who secure a pass are then invited to come back again the next day and queue up again from 12.30pm to meet her. Paris will sign a personalised photograph and present fans with a complimentary goodie bag.

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