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.

The formula for celebrity fragrances is this: Attach the name of a celebrity to a bland or overly sweet fragrance and the bottle will sell quickly for a short period of time. Not all celebrity fragrances can be Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds, and most stay on the shelves for a few years and then disappear. But, although we mentioned that celebrity fragrance sales are down – and many won’t buy a perfume with a less-than-desirable celebrity name attached – fragrance companies still churn them out. Avon, for example, put out celebrity fragrances by Reese Witherspoon and Patrick Dempsey this past year, while 50 Cent, with an album that no one noticed, came out with his first fragrance.

The latest list of celebrity and non-celebrity fragrances can be read here.

With 50 Cent, when your album doesn’t do well, you create a fragrance to make up for the copies no one bought. While Before I Self Destruct has yet to even go gold, the fragrance released around the same time called Power has a combination of musk, spices, patchouli, and woods. Most men’s colognes focus on one of these fragrance types but, as we’ve seen with celebrity fragrances before, they attempt to smell like multiple types and don’t really go anywhere. While 50 Cent says this smells like “success,” the sales of the cologne have yet to live up to that notion.

Similarly, rapper Nelly has released a fragrance to accompany his Apple Bottoms clothing line. This scent, at least by the description, appears more focused as a women’s perfume. The main notes appear to be floral with some fruit hints. The good news is, while apple blossoms do appear in the mix, the perfume isn’t scented like apples, and the upper notes of citrus, peony, and rose and offset by sandalwood and musk.

Similarly, other B and C-list performers like Faith Hill, Jennifer Lopez, and Pamela Anderson have all released fragrances – debuts or new to their line – this past year.

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.

So far, in regards to fragrances, this blog has discussed which celebrities have scents to their names, but what about what the stars are actually wearing? Do the stars wear their own perfumes, if they have a brand to their name? IVillage published a list of some of the perfumes worn by various actresses and singers, and many of the scents are classic scents. While celebrity perfumes often take a backseat to handbags – can you always smell a perfume when someone wears it? – some of these stars aren’t wearing the latest fragrances but scents that have been around for years. While only a handful of prominent A and B-list celebrities were interviewed at the moment, all asked about what fragrances they wear pointed to timeless – or those lasting more than ten years – perfumes.

As seen on iVillage, some of the fragrances worn by stars include Angel by Thierry Mugler, Tuberose Indiana by Creed, Clinique Happy, Acqua di Gio, and Christian Dior Dolce Vita. Is there a trend among celebrities regarding fruit, water, or aqua scents? Out of this selection, Angel perfume is often described as an oriental and woody perfume, while Acqua di Gio, for both men and women, is essentially a high-end aqua perfume. Clinique Happy and Eau de Dolce Vita by Dior, on the other hand, are both flowery fragrances.

If you want to smell like some of your favorite celebrities, whether you prefer Gwen Stefani or Celine Dion, your best bet is to not wear their celebrity brand perfumes but, instead, find out what scents they’re wearing. More often than not, they’ll be wearing a classic fragrance or the latest perfume by a high-end designer like Armani or Dior. Madonna, for example, lists the Tuberose Indiana as a fragrance she wears but, if she ever came out with a perfume to her name a la Britney Spears or Celine Dion, would she wear her own perfume? Don’t bet on it.

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.