BOP News - Blog on Perfume News

A small group of students at California State University are taking the unusual step into looking to ban perfume and bodyspray to be worn around campus areas.

It’s not just for fun though, a number of students suffer from illnesses associated with synthetic fragrances found in a lot of common perfumes. The Daily Titan - from where this story comes from - leads with this:

“Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a condition in which various symptoms reportedly appear after a person has been exposed to any of a wide range of chemicals. Symptoms include headaches, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, difficulty concentrating, and breathing problems.”

We Say: A lot of popular perfumes have synthetic chemicals in them, a lot of the less popular ones don’t, but alas, they don’t come cheap.

In further proof that some people have more money than sense, R&B Diva Mariah Carey reportedly bought 12 bottles of Lalique perfume worth $13,200.

From Top News:

A spokesperson for the singer said “Mariah is crazy about butterflies, so she just had to have them. She thinks the scent will make her smell like a butterfly,”

We Say: Is it a good thing to smell like a butterfly?

Kelly Brook becomes the latest celebrity to launch her own perfume last week.

On the release, she said the following:

“I’ve been involved in every step of the development of my fragrance to ensure that everything about it is perfect, from the intriguing scent to the beautiful bottle.”

Will be interesting to see if it gains a share of the market, or whether the trend for celebrity produced perfumes is fading out.

Source: Digital Spy

Bespoke Fragrances, often sold by smaller perfumers, are known to be rather expensive, but even big perfumers are pushing up the cost of perfume. Estee Lauder’s new range - called Tuberose Gardenia - costs $400 for 30ml.

In Vogue, Aerin Lauder justifies the price:

“When my grandmother launched the first Private Collection scent in 1973, it was all about quiet, personal luxury and I think that’s something there’s a really strong market for today. The modern consumer wants something fast and easy and cheap, then she’s mixing that with something very high-end and luxurious. That’s where this scent comes in.”

From PSFK.

Surprisingly, not all Big Brother contestants fade into obscurity quickly. Chanelle, from Big Brother 8, recently launched her new fragrance (from Digital Spy):

“The perfume, called Simply Chanelle, will be available to buy in shops from next month.

Although the Big Brother contestant claimed that her scent isn’t an imitation of Victoria Beckham’s Intimately Beckham collection, she believes that the Spice Girl’s husband would probably prefer her smell.”

We Say: Interestingly, they said there has been trademark issues with the company “Chanel”. Should be interesting to see how long in the limelight Chanelle remains.

In the Women’s Section of The Times, Sarah Vine gives her thoughts on “Celebrity Perfumes”:

“As to the scents, there is not much to say about them. They are mostly without merit, by and large synthetic and barely preferable to the can of Haze in your loo. Some are marginally less revolting than others.”

We Say: It’s amazes us that all because people can sing, dance or have other talents, it suddenly makes them expert perfumers. Perfumers is quite a difficult chemical process, and I’m not sure if I want to smell like some of these people.

L’Oreal, the popular perfume manufacturer, has lost a case against Dubai Based firm Scion International, who markets the Scion’s Creation Lamis range.

The case was brought to court after L’Oreal claimed that Scion’s perfumes smell like L’Oreal’s products Tresor, Miracle and Noa, and retail for less than £5.

In ruling however, the judges said “It is not suggested that anyone ever thinks a ‘replica’ product of the kind with which we are concerned is the original.”

“Nor is it suggested that anyone thinks a replica is anything other than a cheap imitation of the original or is likely to be of the same quality as the original, even though it may smell somewhat the same.”

L’Oreal is now expected to take it’s case to the European Courts, after infringement of it’s trademarks when Scion market their products.

Source: Yahoo! 

A new service has been launched called “The Call Senteur” - a service that claims to know what perfume you should wear just by speaking to you. Daisy Garnett in the Daily Mail tried it out:

“I love all five scents that James sends me. In fact he slips an extra one—Molinard de Molinard (“The joker! Attracts very few takers. So precariously made that it coarsens if you leave the lid off for a few days, but so wonderful and feminine and silky”) into the package, and I love that one almost the most. Except that a little bottle of magic called Carnal Flower beats it, which, surprise surprise is indeed one of the two scents James thought of while still talking to me. (I made him tell me what they were before telling him my favourite).”

The service is called The Call Senteur at London-based Les Senteurs, and it costs £20 for the half hour consultation and up to five samples.

There are a number of celebrity perfumes on the market, but what about one named after a TV show? This Christmas The Fragrance Shop are releasing a perfume based on the hit TV show “The X Factor”, and will sell in 30ml bottles at £12.99. Unreality TV Writes:

a spokeswoman for the [Fragrance Shop] store said: “Since the talent show phenomenon first launched there has been massive debate about just what constitutes the X factor and more importantly who has it, and now it’s been bottled for everyone.”

We Say: Whats next? One for Survivor that smells like sea-washed underpants? One for Jamie’s School Dinners that smells like a chip shop? Or one for Top Gear that smells like the exhaust pipe of the Bughatti Veyron. The mind boggles!