Ivanka Trump’s perfume, first released in 2012, has seen a resurgence in sales.
It hit No. 1 on Amazon’s list of Best Sellers in Women’s Fragrances earlier this year (it’s currently No. 8), but … is it any good?
Amazon reviews are all over the map. Some one-star reviews called it “bland” or “too spicy,” while a five-star review described the scent as “expensive,” “feminine” and like “triple milled soap from Italy.” And of course, there are plenty of reviews by people admitting they bought it just to show support for the first daughter and her father.
To test it out for ourselves, we took a blind smell test of Ivanka Trump’s fragrance and other celebrity perfumes, by Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Justin Bieber.
Smell tests are subjective. “It really comes back to memories for people,” Anne-Marie Guarnieri, deputy beauty director for Harpers Bazaar, told us in an interview. “Everyone’s going to respond to how something smells differently.”
This is what we thought:
Paris Hilton by Paris Hilton
Kate Bennett: “It’s very floral”
Hunter Schwarz:“It smells like something maybe my mom would wear”
Curious by Britney Spears
Kate Bennett: “It smells like baby powder but also, like diaper”
Hunter Schwarz: “This is very flowery”
Ivanka Trump Eau de Parfum Spray For Women
Kate Bennett: “This literally smells like Pledge … I feel like I’m huffing”
Hunter Schwarz: “This one’s strong … It smells like alcohol”
Someday by Justin Bieber
Kate Bennett: “It’s a little bit, supposed to be musky and sexy”
Hunter Schwarz: “It’s like if you’re in junior high and it’s your first perfume”
Reflections:
Celebrity fragrances “hit their peak in the early- to mid-’00s,” Guarnieri, the Harpers Bazaar deputy beauty editor said, but have “fallen off” since.”I think the rise of niche fragrances has a lot to do with it,” she said. Today, consumers want a scent “not everyone and their mom has.”
But Ivanka Trump’s perfume is proving to be an exception, the rare perfume that’s selling not just because of celebrity, but because of politics too.
But, it’s our official COVER/LINE opinion that for the best fragrance selection experience, buy one you’ve actually smelled in person and buy for your nose and not a celebrity name. There might be Trump super-fans who find that Ivanka Trump Eau de Parfum Spray For Women is not for them, and Hillary Clinton voters might find it’s just the scent they’ve been looking for.
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