Fragrance sales have been down since 2006, the year in which celebrity-branded scents became full blown. Two news pieces over the past few weeks touch on what might happen to the fragrance industry: More of the celebrity trend and also an ad campaign targeted to get more of the public interested in wearing perfume or cologne. Although the recession has seen sales across all aspects of retail dip, fragrance sales have seen a sharp decrease, mainly because of its use as a luxury item and not a necessity like clothing. Nevertheless, possibilities for reviving the fragrance industry include more than waiting through the recession.

One option is an upcoming ad campaign by The Fragrance Foundation called “One Mighty Drop.” The website for One Mighty Drop is designed to make scents appeal to everyone, including features for designing you own perfume bottle to tips for wearing fragrances. One notable suggestion is waiting 10 minutes after spraying a fragrance. At this point, you’ll be able to smell all three parts to a scent, and you’ll be able to tell if you’ll enjoy wearing it or not. After all, some perfumes can even take up to 30 minutes for revealing the lowest layer.

Another option is choosing which celebrity will be branding the fragrance. While some celebrities with fragrances come and go, such as Hilary Duff or Ashanti, others, such as Beyonce, appear to have more staying power. Since her start in Destiny’s Child, Beyonce hasn’t really left the public eye, even when an album or single wasn’t entirely stellar. Her recent fragrance, Heat, has been selling fairly well and, according to the linked news item, the promotion for it at Macy’s Herald Square generated about $60,000 in one day, with customers purchasing $122 sets of Heat. Perhaps, in the near future, companies like Coty and Elizabeth Arden will be pickier about which fragrance they brand with a celebrity.

In recent news, two individuals, one on a local level and the other a celebrity, have designed handbags to raise money for specific causes. In one case, Scarlett Johansson, the actress best known for Lost in Translation and more ecently Vicky Cristina Barcelona, has designed a handbag to raise money for relief efforts in Haiti, while a teen in Greenville, NY, designs handbags to raise money for his school. In either instance, the handbags are for sale and the money is going directly to a cause, either locally or on a national level as one of many relief efforts.

In the case of the Greenville teen, Liam Manak, a 15-year-old boy who has a dream of becoming a designer, has some of his handbags for sale at a local event. Called Valentine’s Boutique Monday, the event is designed to support local vendors in the Greenville area and also to raise money for a local private school, Tuxedo Park School. Manak’s handbags are entirely handcrafted from knitting and, at the event, will be retailing from $150 to $250 dollars. From the looks of the picture included with the article, many of Manak’s colorful knitted handbags can be used as mid-size purses or clutches.

On the other end of handbag creation is Scarlett Johansson who, unlike most celebrities, has stuck to the realm of performing – acting and singing – until recently. According to this article, her contribution to raising money for relief efforts in Haiti has been through creating a handbag design which, retailing at $29.90, will be sold in Mango stores. The handbag design itself includes ancient Haitian scripts, and the money from its sales will go directly to Oxfam for clean water and similar causes in Haiti. Although Johannson has posed with handbags for Louis Vuitton, this is her first attempt at designing fashion. Maybe a fragrance will be in the works next.

Celebrity fragrances have been around for years, although this past decade saw a significant surge in their creation and popularity. So, how well can a celebrity’s name sell a particular fragrance? A recent list compiled by Stylist shows the best-selling celebrity fragrances. The top fragrance, of course is White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor, a floral perfume introduced in 1991. Other celebrity fragrances, such as those by P. Diddy, Antonio Banderas, and Britney Spears, are all part of fragrance lines associated with the particular celebrity and have some longevity on the market. Aside from the celebrity’s popularity, some scents like White Diamonds are simple enough to stand out without the celebrity association.

The main issue we’ve seen with celebrity fragrances is that the scent is too convoluted. Many perfumes, for example, combine floral, fruit, and dessert scents together, and the resulting product can’t be defined clearly enough. Is it sweet floral or a flowery fruit scent? Men’s colognes often suffer from a similar issue. Although fewer celebrity colognes are on the market, some of these, be it Paris Hilton’s or David Beckham’s brand, can’t decide on what it wants to be. Combining leather or tobacco notes with wood, patchouli, or grass notes doesn’t always work successfully. Neither does combining any fragrance to the classic amber-spice-lavender framework for many cologne formulas.

But celebrity fragrances aren’t going anywhere. Anyone on the A-list seems to be coming out with their own fragrances in the present, including Beyonce, with Heat. The perfume combines some light floral and fruit notes with vanilla. Beyonce isn’t the only one, however, and, as the linked article mentions, Rihanna and Kanye West both plan to come out with their respective fragrances. This means that consumers might be seeing an umbrella-shaped perfume bottle with a rain and floral scent in stores later in 2010.

Where do you look for designer knockoff handbags? Canal Street in New York’s Chinatown section has been the place to go for years. This week, however, the area experienced a crackdown, with the police confiscating counterfeit items like handbags and watches and shuttering businesses. Although Canal Street has this notoriety, knockoff goods can be found many other places, such as South Street in Philadelphia and the internet. With prices only a fraction of those sold at department stores, knockoff handbags almost sound like a deal. Appearances for such handbags are deceiving, however, and what appears to be a Chanel or Gucci handbag sold at $30 falls apart within a few days.

Some are luckier and swear by knockoff designer handbags. After all, they look like designer bags and, really, only the designers would be able to tell the difference. But finding a high-quality designer knockoff bag is far more likely in a department store. The fashion blog for About.com gives some hints to spot a fake handbag, but other telltale signs include examining the stitching, sewing, and name plate. If the name plate, for example, isn’t screwed on but, instead, appears glued, the bag is likely a knockoff. Similarly, if it looks poorly stitched from the inside or if the zipper gets jammed easily, the handbag isn’t authentic.

One option, as we’ve seen in the product selection for Best Handbag Wholesale, is to go the designer inspired route. The bags don’t claim to be by Coach, Chanel, or Gucci, but the patterns are based on the styles by these designers. At a distance, they even look like the real thing. Another option is to go on discounted designer websites. Often, products with damaged packaging or a slight scratch find their way onto such a website and are sold at less than full price, even at 70-percent less. Both Vision In Style and Kaufman Fragrance are such discount designer products websites.

No, Lindsay Lohan didn’t get her ears pierced in some bizarre rivet-head style. Instead, she was out seen with a studded leather handbag. As we’ve seen on here, many studded handbags from this past summer involved rounded or “bullet” studs. Lohan’s bag, a large black hobo one, is lined with pyramid studs. While pyramid or triangular studs have been reserved for the punk and Goth looks for a number of years, they’re now being seen on handbags. Lohan’s bag appears to have more of a messenger style than hobo, but the triangular studs line the sides and top of the bag in three rows.

Lohan’s look indicates that studded handbags are moving more in the rocker chic direction than western. Although studs fall under western styles, especially when seen on leather or denim jackets, this mostly applies to rounded or flat studs. As pyramid studs have been associated with the punk look since it first appeared on the scene – and haven’t been seen anywhere else, really – a bag such as the one that Lohan’s carrying has a distinct punk look, even if the three rows of pyramid studs are orderly.

But punk and grunge looks are coming back. Although the two styles are essentially ten years apart – more if you consider punk’s origins in the ‘70s – the rocker chic look is associated with both. From flannel to studded handbags, the hottest and most trendy clothing out now is something a groupie would’ve worn to a Nirvana show circa 1992 or a Sex Pistols concert in the late ‘70s. But, for an updated look, none of the clothing, such as Lohan’s handbag, looks like you did it yourself. Instead, you paid a large sum for some designer to stud your leather purse, rip your jeans, and throw a flannel shirt on a mannequin. While this might delve into the ridiculousness of grunge fashions sold at high end retailers 15 years ago, many who can’t spend the cash – we are in a recession, after all – might go back to the DIY grunge roots and create a look à la Rayanne Graff from My So Called Life.

The designer famous for its handbags and shoes is now adding scents to its line of products. Apparently, having a Jimmy Choo perfume has been in the works for over two years, but the fragrance is now set to appear by January 2010. The Jimmy Choo perfume is a women’s fragrance but, at this point, the scent hasn’t been revealed yet. Although considering the ostentatious nature of many of Jimmy Choo’s shoes and handbags, anything is possible, really. As the president behind Jimmy Choo wants to accessorize the whole woman, wouldn’t the perfume need to match the shoes and the handbag?

Jimmy Choo styles change with each season, and this past season, with studs on leather a popular theme, Jimmy Choo shoes and handbags have also received the stud treatment. But what sort of fragrance would match with this type of ensemble? Whether or not you consider studs to be western or rocker chic, a grass or an aqua fragrance definitely wouldn’t go with the rest of the accessories. Out of fruity, floral, and sweet (or dessert) smelling fragrances, the most likely would be a floral combination or a citrus perfume. But, with designers for perfumes sometimes combining two types of perfumes, such as grass and floral or citrus and floral, a Jimmy Choo perfume might smell completely different from everything else out there at the moment.

Or maybe not. A fragrance often completes a brand’s image. Adidas fragrances, for example, live up to the athletic image of the sneaker and clothing brand by having combinations of citrus and light floral notes – not too strong but not too subtle in either case. Jimmy Choo, on the other hand, is known for being high end, ostentatious, and synonymous with Sex and the City. In this case, anything is possible, although Jimmy Choo and general fragrance lovers should expect a complex, multi-level fragrance to complement the other accessories by the brand.

A clutch is, essentially, a cross between an oversized wallet and a purse. Generally, when a woman doesn’t want all of the bulk of a handbag, particularly the larger hobo bags seen on the market these days, she opts for a small clutch to hold the basics, and this includes money, cards, keys, and basic makeup. For going out to a club or bar, a clutch is often what a woman takes instead of a handbag, although now a wrist-clutch for holdings your basics has become common. Average people aren’t the only ones who use clutches and a celebrity is occasionally spotted sporting a clutch. Recently, Julia Roberts was seen on the set of a new film with a python clutch by designer LAI.

Python has been a hit this past year, so it’s no surprise that Roberts was spotted with a python print clutch. This particular python skin clutch isn’t in the typical bright colored or dyed styles by LAI. Rather, the light brown shade of the python is close to the natural appearance of snakeskin. Although the bag doesn’t retain the natural colors of python scales (none of the LAI bags appear to, apparently) but the light brown color gives this trend a low-key feel, instead of the ostentatious appearance of most python bags seen on celebrities and by affordable brands.

As far as finding a more affordable design, economical brands and wholesale handbag dealers often have their own versions of python clutches and handbags. A similar version can be found on watch and wallet website Time World USA. Their selection of products includes both faux alligator and python skin clutch style wallets, all of which are patent leather dyed in natural, low-key, or bright colors to match a variety of popular styles seen on celebrities like Julia Roberts and others sporting the python look.

Just as singers Mariah Carey and Britney Spears come out with their respective fragrances, the New York Daily News comes out with an article about how celebrity fragrances are bringing down perfume sales. With the exception of Britney Spears’ perfumes, other celebrity-branded fragrances aren’t successful. What’s the main reason? Various average consumers don’t want a celebrity-endorsed product, especially if it’s associated with an actress/singer/celebutante most people don’t care about. What self-respecting woman over 21 would wear Hillary Duff or Paris Hilton perfume? Or what man, for that matter, would find himself wearing Paris Hilton for Men or a David Beckham scent, especially when many classic colognes still smell better?

As mentioned in the article, blind tests of these fragrances showed that the subjects found the fragrances pleasing but, as soon as the celebrity-endorsed name was revealed, the testing subjects no longer liked the brand. Britney Spears perfume, as long as the pop star remains relevant, continues to sell well overseas. Then again, so did Michael Jackson albums after 1992. Once Spears’ career is officially over, her scents will probably do as well as MJ’s Invincible did on American shores in 2002. Other celebrity scents aren’t as lucky but, as long as the artists are selling albums or films, the fragrance aspect of their brand empire is somewhat insignificant.

Celebrity fragrances aren’t usually released independently but through larger names like Coty and Elizabeth Arden. Would these larger brands continue to thrive without the endorsements? Coty, for example, had a hit with Exclamation perfume (the bottle shaped like a black exclamation point, if you don’t remember) in the late ‘80s but over the past fifteen years, most of its products are celebrity related, with the exception of Adidas scents for men and women. Elizabeth Arden, on the other hand, has a plethora of scents and cosmetics to the brand, especially with classics like Red Door, so survival without celebrity perfumes for this particular brand is a given.

Many celebrities seem to release fragrances about the same time a new album or film comes out. Britney Spears is already on tour with her Circus Tour in 2009 and, at the same time, her perfume of the same name comes out. Essentially, releasing a celebrity fragrance and a movie/album/tour at the same time is like saying, “Buy my music… And my fragrance!” Too bad the two aren’t packaged together or even that the latest Britney Spears perfume isn’t sold on the merch table after the show. Spears already has two fragrances to her name, both released to the perfume market before her infamous meltdown and phoned-in Blackout album, and Circus makes a third. But how does it stack up against the others and will more than Britney fans want to buy it?

Reviews of this Britney Spears perfume are already on the internet, and, like many celebrity fragrances, Circus by Britney Spears is, really, just another hit-or-miss fruity perfume. To recap, Spears’ original scent was a floral concoction reminiscent of magnolias, while Curious was an overall-sweet perfume with cupcakes, white chocolate, and floral notes going all over the place. Like Britney Spears’ communication skills, Curious was unfocused. Both perfumes were geared toward teens and Britney Spears fans (hopefully they are one in the same), and have stayed around, so far, because of that market.

Spears has a large enough fan base that this perfume will probably sell well, although, according to reviews, Circus is primarily a milky and floral scent. But, as an improvement over the unfocused palette of scents for Curious, Circus refines this formula and sticks to milky and floral notes. The scent doesn’t seem too artificial but, overall, the perfume is still a fragrance geared toward teenage girls. Will it become a classic perfume? Probably not, but with Spears career not dying as of yet, her fragrances will last as long as people buy her albums.

Advertisements have appeared over the past few weeks for a new Mariah Carey scent called Forever. While some blogs, such as The Scented Salamander, have covered this fragrance, the scent actually appeared recently in September. Carey already has two scents to her name, M and Luscious Pink, and Forever, at the moment, coincides with an upcoming album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel and single “Obsessed” that was released over the past month. While “Obsessed” gives listeners a glimpse of what Mariah Carey sounds with Auto-Tune effects (and dressed as a guy), what does Forever give perfume wearers looking for something different?

Forever, as described in reviews on various perfume websites, has an overall floral scent, with a composition consisting of neroli, lotus blossom, dewy green apple, tuberose, gardenia, white musk and, woods. Many, in addition, cite that they like that the tuberose isn’t too overpowering in the overall body of the fragrance. Celebrity fragrances, generally, have been by company Coty, but, in the case of Forever, the scent was developed by perfumer Olivier Gillotin.

The scent itself seems fairly straight forward and innocuous, but, as with most fragrances, the question is, who will buy it? As seen on various perfume websites and message boards, those who seem to prefer this fragrance are, in fact, Mariah Carey fans who pre-order this fragrance, much like her upcoming album, to have everything Mariah Carey-related. Although following a particular artist is never a bad thing (unless, of course, you found Glitter enjoyable), this is essentially the strong market for any Mariah Carey perfume. The rest of us? Some have been trying the fragrance at department store counters and it appears hit or miss. Some, from various message board comments, find it smells like a cheap version of a Marc Jacobs perfume. So, when deciding if this is an Elizabeth Taylor Diamond (a classic) or a Debbie Gibson’s Electric Youth (a passing fad), what is the verdict? As with many celebrity perfumes, Forever will be the latter in a few years.