Kim Kardashian Kim Kardashian

Do not confuse the juice with the pretty lady.



Creating a perfume has become a rite of passage for pop stars extending their sell-by date, movie stars cashing in on their mystique, and reality stars classing up their trashy personas.

The PR bumf on a celeb fume is the olfactory equivalent of an airbrushed headshot: all the perfume ingredients are supposed to evoke aspects of the star’s air-quotes character end-air-quotes.

Case in point: Sephora’s online page for Kim Kardashian’s debut perfume breathlessly informs us that
“Gorgeous, voluptuous florals reflect her allure, while soft jasmine, tuberose, and gardenia mirror her femininity. Tonka bean, jacaranda wood, and sandalwood add a warm, sensual base.”

Quite a portrait in smell, right? Let’s parse! Since we’re talking about Kim Kardashian, we know that “allure” is a reference to her reality TV/tabloid mag ubiquity, and “femininity” is code for “trotting out one’s lady bits in a carefully lighted-and-edited sex tape”.

Well hush my mouth, it turns out that being an eager-beaver telly slapper results in a romantic springtime bouquet of white florals. I’m smelling Diane Kruger in this portrait (loved her in Inglourious Basterds), but I obviously need my nose tested, 'cuz the bottle clearly reads "Kim Kardashian".

Waggishness aside, Kim Kardashian-the-fragrance is a fine mainstream tuberose for younger noses -- and for those who like their white florals sweeter and lighter than Fracas’ creamy contralto.

Sephora is doing a great job with their celebrity perfumes. Like their Saint and Sinner offerings for Kat Von D, Kim Kardashian en liquide is plenty more sophisticated and nuanced than its flesh and blood inspiration.

Kim Kardashian is available from Amazon and Sephora, starting at $35 for 1 oz.

4 comments:

  1. You see this is the epitome of timing because I'm on an absolute tuberose kick at the moment.(Today it's Fracas, the day before was Beyond Love...got some Carnal Flower on order) I noticed yesterday that KK had tuberose in it but thought "well that won't be any good".
    Duh.

    Now can I just get over my snobbery regarding celeb scents to try it?

    I'm also surprised it isn't skankier, think I'd rather enjoy a skanky tuberose...

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  2. Yep, they really "tiptoed round the tulips" with the tuberose in KK, Sarah. In terms of skank, that is. It's a kind of a middle-of-the-road tuberose, not too "grandma" or "skank" or "teenage" or "pulsating noir femme fatale". KK will not live up to the others you mentioned in terms of depth and complexity, but it does smell pretty!

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  3. I don't mind "pretty tuberose". La Prairie Life Threads Silver, with its soft, green, slightly musky interpretation of tuberose comes to mind. Nothing eye-opening and certainly no undergarment undertones floating around. Like Sarah, I'm on a tuberose binge, with Carnal Flower at the very top of my list, but maybe I'll give this one a sniff, just for kicks.

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  4. melisand61 - as Paul Revere & the Raiders once so urgently sang, "kicks just keep getting harder to find", so yeah, sniff that Kimmie K. And you just reminded me of that La Prairie one - agreed - that's a pretty one.

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