I’m a Fragrance Snob, But These Celebrity Perfumes Are Surprisingly Good

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a perfume obsessive. However, when I call myself a perfume snob, it’s less about the price that I’m willing to pay for a decent perfume—I’ve got expensive scents and affordable ones in my collection, designer and high-street—and more about the artistry and expert noses that have gone into creating a fragrance. One thing that I’ve learned from amassing such a considerable perfume collection is that you can really tell when a genuine expert has had a hand in creating a scent. For instance, & Other Stories and Zara both stock an array of innovative yet purse-friendly fragrances that smell decidedly expensive. Their secret? The high-street shops teamed up with Byredo’s Ben Gorham and Jo Malone CBE respectively to ensure that their high-street scent offerings smelt incredible. 

But when it comes to celebrity perfumes, I’m downright dubious about the time, effort and expertise that have gone into creating them—especially in 2021 when celebrities are popping out new beauty brands by the bucketload. However, when Britney Spears’s perfumes had a huge resurgence this year, I did a little digging and was surprised at just how many celebrity scents remain in the lists of most popular perfumes—some nearly two decades after they first launched. And if they’re still selling at that rate, then at the very least, some of them must smell good, right?  

Ahead, I spritzed my way through many, many fragrances to come up with a list of the nine best celebrity perfumes, from J.Lo’s to Jennifer Aniston’s, that not only smell great but that I’d be genuinely happy to wear. Keep scrolling to see them all.