Stinky Stars: The Best and Worst Celebrity Perfumes

It seems once a star experiences the smell of success, then it’s time to create his or her signature fragrance. Many celebrities have their own scents, but which ones are the sweetest? Well, it depends on who you ask. There are a few stars who have hit home runs with their fragrances, and those include Halle Berry, Sarah Jessica Parker and Jessica Simpson. Berry has three scents – Halle, Halle Pure Orchid and Reveal, the newest. All of them get rave reviews from various perfume blogs and style magazines. Halle is a musky, woody scent; Pure Orchid adds more floral and citrus notes; and Reveal is glamorous, floral and fruity. Simpson was one of the first celebs to start a fragrance line with her almost-forgotten Dessert line. Now she’s tickling more fancies with her Fancy, Fancy Love and Fancy Nights. BellaSugar.com reviewed Fancy and described it as a “pleasant and long-lasting” smell with lots of vanilla, apricot and other sweet scents. The site didn’t, however, love Fancy Love, describing it as “metallic” and “synthetic.” Fancy Nights is more complex – patchouli and oriental notes dominate the scent. Parker has had lots of luck with Lovely, Covet and SJP NYC, a fragrance tie-in with Sex and the City 2. Lovely seems to be just that – it’s soft, amber-scented and not overtly sweet. Covet is darker, with lemon, lavender and aggressive woodsy notes, and SJP NYC deviates wildly from the first two – many reviewers say it’s too sweet and strawberry-smelling. The stars who tend to miss the mark with their fragrances include Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani. The heiress has a few scents out, and critics agree they’re about as substantial as her personality, with fruity or beachy scents that fade pretty fast. Spears cranks out perfumes like she used to crank out hits – she has put out at least one fragrance a year since 2004, but they all seem to appeal to the tween set. And Stefani’s Harajuku Lovers quintet – Love, Angel, Music, Baby and G – have adorable bottles, but that’s about the highest compliment they get. BellaSugar.com notes the alcohol smell that they all have, plus the superficial floral and fruity notes that are barely noticeable. Perfume is highly personal, so embark on your own smell test before committing.