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Beauty 411:
Battle of the pop divas…
Have you strolled by the perfume counter lately? Did you happen to notice the exorbitant amount of pop stars on display? There’s so many packaged pop divas you’d think you were watching “American Idol.” Okay, that was cheesy. My bad!Celebs are attaching their name to everything nowadays – from clothing lines, to vitamin water, to perfume. They know that they can seriously cash in by branding their name and selling items to an already built-in audience. Yes, the rich get richer!
Pop singers like Hilary Duff, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez and even country star Shania Twain are among the barrage of celebs building their empire by adding perfume designer to their already long list of accomplishments. Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani are the latest pop divas to jump on the perfume bandwagon and capture their scent in a pretty little bottle.
Although celebrities choose to diversify their talents wherever possible, I must say that the celebrity perfume has generally not been well received (psst…with the exception of Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds. It’s still a very popular perfume). Celeb perfumes are seen as a novelty and quickly lose their appeal. Seriously, who really wants to smell like Paris Hilton?
For this issue of Beauty 411, I wanted to see who would reign supreme if two pop divas were to battle it out at the perfume counter.
The contenders for this smack down are: M by Mariah Carey and L by L.A.M.B from Gwen Stefani.
These superstars are already successful in the music world, but is it is possible for them to become powerful perfume moguls too? I’ll let you know which fragrance would be a nice addition to your collection and which one will end up in the bargain bin! ¤ Michelle
M by Mariah Carey
There are only a handful of perfumes that are distinctive, have character and standout among others. They embody great taste, class and elegance. Okay, this ain’t one of them.Ms. Carey is a talented singer and songwriter, but she’s not the first person that I think of when it comes to fashion and beauty. She’s an entertainer, not a fashion icon. If anything, she’s known for parading around half nekkid showing off her assets, rather than creating the newest fashion craze. So I was somewhat taken aback to find out that she was launching a perfume.
I happened to visit the perfume counter on the exact weekend that her perfume made its debut in Canadian stores. Her complete library of music was blaring in the background while salespeople were pushing the perfume…hard! I accepted a sample and planned to start my “perfume battle.”
Her fragrance is comprised of Tahitian Tiare flower, marshmallow, and Moroccan Incense Amber Accord. Mariah drew inspiration from the many exotic places that she has travelled and from the special moments of her childhood (psst…she included a slight marshmallow scent in her perfume because it reminds her of moments in the kitchen with her dad).
M by Mariah Carey is an undeniably sweet smelling perfume, which under normal circumstances would discourage me from ever wearing it again. But even though it was quite sugary, the other sensual fragrant notes came through. As I wore it more and more, I came to like it.
What I liked about the perfume was that it has a concentrated fragrance, which means that the scent is strong enough that there is no need to reapply it during the day. I also liked the femininity of the smell. It’s appropriate for work and for a date.
L by L.A.M.B.
Gwen is an extremely creative individual. Her fashion designs are colourful and fun and her videos are innovatively entertaining. She is teeming with an abundance of imagination – so much so that the next logical thing for her to do was to pour her creativity into a fragrance.She’s definitely has the edge over Mariah. She’s artistic and she has marketed her fashion savvy to females over the years.
I returned to the perfume counter to see how Gwen’s perfume would fare against Mariah’s. I casually spritzed some of her fragrance in the air. I wasn’t really feeling it, but I sprayed some on my wrists to get a real sense of the scent. The perfume counter lady saw that I wasn’t immediately impressed so she happily gave me a few samples so that I could judge the perfume away from the other strong scents.
I wore the perfume for a couple of weeks and I’ll be brutally honest, I totally hate the smell. It’s incredibly floral (the perfume notes include Hyacinth, Violet leaves, White Freesia, and Rose among a host of other flowers). Basically, it smells like a gigantic garden party.
Gwen exudes fashion and youthfulness and I thought that she’d be able to capture it in her perfume. Unfortunately, the more I wore this perfume, the more I hated it.
The winner in this round of perfume battles: M by Mariah Carey.
Be sure to check back next month when Usher and P. Diddy battle it out.
