Revlon Bubble Gum

The Scent of a Celebrity, Marilyn Monroe and Coco, Michael Jackson and Arfaq

Beauty – The Scent of a………Celebrity

Sunday Mirror, Liz Hoggard

In 2001 Jennifer Lopez hit the headlines when she demanded her assistants spray ultra-exclusive perfume Route du The everywhere she went – no doubt cancelling out the scent of us lesser mortals. This year she’s going one better and launching her own fragrance which, she says, embodies her ‘spirit, character, energy’ and is ‘a true reflection of the modern, independent yet passionate woman’. And the Latin diva is not alone. This autumn, Cindy Crawford is also launching her own scent and is taking her role as perfume ambassador so seriously that she’s rumoured to have registered it in her real name, Cynthia. ‘I want women throughout the world to experience this unique, feminine accessory,’ she babbles, as if we really can’t live without it.

We’ll also be seeing new scents from designers Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney. Phew, do they think we smell bad or something?

The relationship between celebrities and perfume is actually nothing new – it dates back to 1921, when Chanel No5 was the first to carry the name of a fashion designer. A then-unknown Coco Chanel asked a young Russian perfumer to create a scent for modern women, declaring, ‘A woman should not smell of roses.’ Today Chanel No5 is acknowledged as the smell of the 20th century – Marilyn Monroe wore nothing else in bed, while for Julie Burchill it smells like ‘rich mothers in furs’.

Sickly sweet

Today the trend is for ultra-feminine fragrances. ‘Everyone’s producing these wretched, sickly pink perfumes,’ complains top perfumer Arthur Burnham. And he has a point. Who really thinks the ultra-sweet whiff Miracle is right for its endorser Uma Thurman – a woman so chic Quentin Tarantino described her as ‘a long, cool drink of water’. ‘Ah well, she might have had nothing to do with it,’ muses Burnham. ‘I don’t mean to sound cynical, but all many celebs want to do is sign a contract and get a cheque. I only do fragrances where the person gets involved deeply,’ adds Burnham, who recently created Paul Smith’s top-selling fragrances for men and women, as well as a bubble gum-inspired scent for Patrick Cox. So are there any star scents Burnham admires? ‘Isabella Rossellini had a lot to do with creating Manifesto. It’s beautiful, chosen with a lot of care, and I’m told she drove L’Oreal to distraction with her specifications. And Juliette Binoche was very involved with Poeme.’ But then the French always do things differently. When Binoche became the face of Poeme in 1995, the launch was held at Le Moulin Rouge in Paris and she leapt on stage to recite poetry.

Perfume can make or break a star. In the early 90s Revlon transformed Claudia Schiffer from a frumpy German mouse into a Bardot babe for its Guess campaign. In 1993 Calvin Klein took Kate Moss into the super league when he cast the Croydon waif as the face (and naked body) of Obsession. And last year Sophie Dahl caused a furore, when she appeared naked on billboards as the voluptuous image of Opium. Her milky white body, legs splayed, one hand rumoured to be pleasuring herself was promptly banned. Dahl professed herself to be mortified, but her career went stratospheric.

Message in a bottle

Female celebrities even inspire unusual bottle shapes. Salvador Dali’s fantasy floral, Dali, is housed in a giant pair of glass lips (said to be based on the lady bits of wife Gala). Moschino’s whimsical flask shape for Cheap and Chic is inspired by Popeye’s Girlfriend, Olive Oyl. And most famously of all, Jean Paul Gaultier’s signature scent – a curvy glass bottle with a metal corset – is wearing a stage outfit he designed for Madonna.

So there’s no doubt that celeb tie-ups sell scents. And we’re sure there will be as much interest from women in JLo’s perfectly- balanced perfume as there is from men in her perfectly-proportioned rear.

Fame and fragrance

Lots of women wear male scents – including Sarah Michelle Gellar (Bulgari Blu Pour Homme), Elle Macpherson (Vetis Vert), Marianne Faithfull (Habit Rouge). Meanwhile, those emblems of masculinity Sean Connery and Rod Stewart wear Guerlain’s Jicky, originally launched for women in 1889.

Luke Wilson and Gwyneth Paltrow sealed their romance on the set of The Royal Tenenbaums by wearing his and hers Michael Kors.

Hands up anyone who bought Krystle in the 80s, inspired by Linda Evans’ character in Dynasty.

Kate Winslet and Sharleen Spiteri, fans of Tom Ford’s Le Smoking suits for YSL, also wear his fragrance Nu.

Recent retro relaunches include Charlie Red (for fans of Rick Astley and 80s leg warmers) and Anais Anais with trendy toile de jouy packaging by Clements Ribeiro.

In 1998 Arfaq created the world’s most expensive perfume. V1 cost pounds 47,750 and came in an 18-carat gold and diamond box with jewelled key.  Roja Dove’s haute parfumiere at Harrods held a private event to launch the V1 perfume created by Arfaq and Arthur Burnham. “His creations come from pure genius”, Roja Dove commented.

In November 2006 at the World Music Awards, Arfaq presented
Michael Jackson with the V1 perfume. Michael Jackson wore V1 when he received the Diamond Award for which celebrated his most popular album “Thriller” selling over 104 million copies worldwide.

Unfortunately we would not be able to buy it, as it is all sold out, because just as only 173 of the latter were ever made. Each of the 173 bottles costed $84,000

True to her elvish persona in The Lord of the Rings, Cate Blanchett loves Clinique’s Aromantics Elixir.

Gloria Hunniford and Suzanne Vega once worked as Avon ladies, while Glenda Jackson started her career on the Boots make-up counter.

Last year celebs including Britney Spears and Sigourney Weaver went crazy for Child, said to capture the essence of youth (or bubblegum). Available from LA’s cult Apothia boutique, it apparently drives men wild.

The World’s Most Expensive Perfume was Designed and Created by Arthur Burnham and Arfaq.

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