TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 5.7*
Why: One reader exclaims, "Ew!" Another says it is "the nastiest, cheapest smelling perfume you have ever smelled." One woman says, "This is the worst smelling perfume ever! When I smelled it, I literally gagged! This is a horrible perfume and smells worse than the old lady perfume I call Ralph Lauren." One reader says, "I am a huge Mariah fan, so I had high hopes for this one. When I tried it, it smelled overwhelmingly sweet, but not in a good way. It is a strong burnt marshmallow-smelling fragrance."
TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 8*
Why: Readers say, "first off, I love the fake ring on the bottle. Secondly, I was not looking for this perfume — it found me. I love the scent because it suits me and I don't get the perfume headache with the scent. It lasts all day on me." Another says, "This smells soooo good! I think I've found a new favorite scent." One person tried a sample and liked it so much "I went and bought it. Definitely a keeper. Lasted all day and worth the money. Love the bottle too." One woman couldn't be more ecstatic saying, "I am in absolute love with this scent! It's so girly and sweet. Baby Phat did a good job with this one."
TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 8.7*
Why: One reader admits, "I wear this almost every day now. My husband bought it for me last Valentine's Day and I honestly laughed. I'm a bit of a fragrance snob and I mistakenly figured this would be something I'd rarely use. What a great surprise! It's so feminine with a twist. It's florally and [has] a hint of spice all at the same time." A reviewer recounts, "a friend of mine was wearing this fragrance and I noticed it right away. Normally I can't stand perfumes — they always seem too strong, too flowery, or just unpleasant, but I LOVED this one." Another reader says, "My husband can't stay away when I wear this and to me that's the real measure of any fragrance." Readers say it's "difficult to describe" and "must be experienced."
TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 9*
Why: One reader says "it smells good enough to justify admitting in public that I wear a Britney Spears scent." She describes it to have a "sweet smell with top notes of vanilla-ish, sugar cookies or cake (but not in a cloyingly sweet Warm Vanilla Sugar way)." One woman says it's "one of the best things I've ever bought. This perfume smells so unbelievable. I get compliments whenever I wear it. The scent stays all day/night and the bottle is pretty! I was a little nervous to buy something with Britney's name on it, but it was well worth the money."
TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 9*
Why: Readers call it "intoxicating," saying "I sampled this fragrance and loved it right away! When I went up to the counter, the woman told me it was brand new and was already popular. I wear it every day, and this is my new scent from now on. Not to mention, my boyfriend tells me how sexy it is." Another agrees saying, "My boyfriend (and just about every man that gets close enough) is intoxicated by this smell. P Diddy did a great job capturing what an 'unforgivable woman' would smell like." Another says this product is now "my scent, and I wear it daily. It is subtle and not overpowering and sexy."
Perfume pop quiz: Who created the celebrity fragrance model? (Cue the "Jeopardy" theme song.) Give up? Answer: Elizabeth Taylor in 1988 (source). Yup. Nowadays, literally everyone and their mother has their own perfume (or line of beauty products), and you can't pick up a magazine or drive down Sunset Blvd. without seeing a scantily clad starlet, spooning or straddling her life-size, eponymous fragrance. So the question is then, do all of these celeb perfumes stink or are some shockingly wearable?
We'll spare you the trouble and headache of trying on 47 different fragrances — because our readers already did the nose work for you. While some women "only bought this because it was Gwen Stefani's" (or one of their other favorite celebrity's) other reviewers were "a little nervous to buy something with Britney Spears' name on it" (or felt skeptical about a tween star's perfume), but were pleasantly surprised to discover that "it smells good enough to justify admitting in public that I wear a Britney Spears scent." One woman confesses that she is "not a big Paris Hilton fan, but I could bathe in" her perfume. Another reviewer gushes about Hilton's scent saying, "I could drown myself in this perfume and still not get tired of it." Bathe and drown? Wow, that's some pretty hyperbolic language there, ladies. As for the worst ones, a reviewer who is "a huge Mariah Carey fan... had high hopes for this one" but it "smelled overwhelmingly sweet, but not in a good way." And other readers found some of the stars' fragrances to be "BOOOOORING!" or "like granny perfume that has been sitting on the dresser for 40 years." Ouch.
But of course, the true litmus test for an overwhelming amount of our reviewers is this: Does the boyfriend/finance/husband/significant other think it smells good? If so, readers dab it on twice a day; and if not, it pretty much gets thrown to the dogs. And not to take two steps back in the feminist movement, but one woman sums up the overall sentiment of most reviewers by saying, "my husband can't stay away when I wear this, and to me that's the real measure of any fragrance."
