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."
TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 9.2*
Why: One woman says, "I have never fallen 'in love' with a fragrance before. I have now. I will even confess that I bought a bottle and put it under our Christmas tree from Santa to me. This is a light scent that not only smells wonderful, but somehow makes me feel wonderful. It's not too sweet and frankly the only scent that other women have asked me about. Definitely a 10 out of 10." One woman says it's "fresh and it stays with you all day long without having to reapply. This is just as good for a day at work as it is for a night on the town." Another woman gushes, "I instantly fell in love with how it smelled on me and [how it] complemented my body chemistry. I always get compliments. My husband really likes it!"
TotalBeauty.com average reader rating: 9.6*
Why: Readers say this is "shockingly nice" with a "maroon print and a wispy feather seemingly floating to the bottom of the box... The fragrance within embodies Paris' own personality: a vibrant, youthful show-stopper, a bit soft, a bit daring and wild, but also a bit elegant and ladylike." Another person admits she is "not a big Paris Hilton fan, but I could bathe in this." One person gushes, "I love it! It's sexy like...well think of the candy-like images of Miss Hilton herself, but just a little bit more grown up." Another woman says she "fell in love with this the first time I smelled it and have been wearing it ever since...it's a nice, light sweet smell, but well balanced so that it's not overpowering or overwhelming. Makes me feel pretty." One gushes, "I could drown myself in this perfume and still not get tired of it."
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."
