With the passing of Elizabeth Taylor last week, I took my miniature bottles of her perfumes out of storage to give them their moment in the spotlight, on my dresser.
Perfume is an art form, one that lives on past the creator of the fragrance and the face of the brand. Elizabeth Taylor was the first to have a successful "celebrity fragrance" release, when she put her name on Passion in 1987. I find it inspiring to think that she can live on through her brand and never truly be gone.
Passion is the purple bottle here:
Passion is an 80's "powerhouse" fragrance: bold, strong and will waft around long after you have left the room. It is musky, masculine, and at my age, reminds me of teachers and grandparents. Passion is very inexpensive, partly because the ingredients are synthetic, and because it has been mass produced for a very long time, lowering manufacturing costs. Regardless of the low cost to the consumer, Elizabeth Taylor still made a fortune on this release, due to its popularity.
I also have a miniature of White Diamonds, which is the more popular of the two fragrances. Here's the bottle in focus:
You can see the trademark 'diamond' on the front of the bottle there. Larger bottles have more elaborate toppers, but this one is just a mini. White Diamonds was a 1991 release and remains both widely available and a fan favourite. It is a powdery floral that many will recognize, probably from the older ladies in their lives. Again, it is a strong 80's fragrance that will linger long after you do.
Elizabeth Taylor was not the last celebrity to put her name on a perfume, nor the last success story. Celebrity fragrances have become a definite staple in the perfume industry, and are a lucrative business worth a lot of money. Within the perfume hobby community, though, celebrity fragrances are extremely unpopular, with few exceptions. Enthusiasts of the art of perfumery see celebrity releases as cheap, poor examples of the art with inexpensive, repetitive and synthetic ingredients. Perhaps I might make the comparison with how lovers of fine paintings feel about mass produced cartoon postcards.
I can't bring myself to hate celebrity fragrances, but I also enjoy things at the opposite end of the spectrum. Celebrity frags are designed for mass popularity and sale, and some people feel there is no art in that. Elizabeth Taylor certainly showed us that art or no, there is good business in this design, and as long as people go on enjoying her line, I'm sure she'll go on living in those bottles.
There are a few articles on this subject you might want to check out for some more information:
Boorstin, J. (2005). THE SCENT OF CELEBRITY: Eau de J. Lo? Beckham in a bottle? Star-powered fragrances are hotter than ever, and Coty has mastered the formula. . Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2005/11/14/8360679/index.htm
Gross, M. (1987). ELIZABETH TAYLOR'S PASSION, A PERFUME. Retrieved from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE7DB1230F936A25752C0A961948260
Nakashima, R. (2011). Taylor endorsed a lucrative line of fragrances expected to live on long after her death. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5j3sQbiwbawpc8bGVR7lPFT2wvGIg?docId=6376901
Respers, L. (2011). Obsessions: Elizabeth Taylor, queen of cologne. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/03/25/taylor.celebrity.scents/index.html
Another gorgeous and talented actress leaves us but at least you will always have her perfume and bottles to keep her memory going on your dressing table. Our sense of smell is such a powerful thing -- and the scent of perfume always takes me to another place. I whif of Kouros and I've been transported back to 1985 and the Greek Islands; Channel 5 to my school formal and more. Love your blog topic - look forward to reading more!
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