Monday, March 23, 2015

Best-Sellers Feminine Fragrances: France 2015 (first quarter)

Last time we posted a perfume best-seller list on Perfume Shrine, a most interesting discussion sprang in the comments section. That's probably because French women and their fragrance is always a popular topic, France has a wide selection of both low-end, high-end and niche fragrances (plus distinctive classic style) and French women are characteristically non snobbish about them and because, well, discussing what people buy allows for feeling like we can probe into what makes people "click". Sort of "the knack" but in perfume terms.

via viacomit.net

For today's list I'm consulting the French Sephora site, who publish the top-30 of feminine best-seller perfumes in France for the first quarter of 2015. Some unsurprising "modern classics", some upstarts and some mind-boggling choices make the cut. Let's see them in order of sales.

1. La Vie Est Belle (Lancome)
2. Black Opium (YSL)
3. J'Adore eau de parfum (Dior)
4. La Petite Robe Noire eau de parfum (Guerlain)
5. La Petite Robe Noire Eau Fraiche, aka 'Petals' (Guerlain)
6. La Nuit Tresor eau de parfum (Lancome)
7. Si eau de parfum (Armani)
8. Miss Dior eau de parfum (Dior)
9. Hypnotic Poison eau de toilette (Dior)
10.Shalimar (Guerlain)
11.Lady Million (Paco Rabanne)
12.Lolita Lempicka le premier parfum (Lolita Lempicka)
13.Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet (Dior)
14.Flower by Kenzo (Kenzo)
15.Chloe eau de parfum (Chloe)
16.Narciso for Her eau de toilette (Narciso Rodriguez)
17.Flowerbomb (Viktor & Rolf)
18.Angel (Thierry Mugler)
19.Si eau de toilette (Armani)
20.Narciso for Her eau de parfum (Narciso Rodriguez)
21.Eau de Merveilles eau de toilette (Hermes)
22.La Petite Robe Noire eau de toilette (Guerlain)
23.Patchouli (Reminiscence)
24.The One (Dolce & Gabbana)
25.Very Irresistible (Givenchy)
26.Eau dynamisante (Clarins)
27.Nina (Nina Ricci)
28.Rogue (Rihanna)
29.Sweet (Lolita Lempicka)
30.Alien (Thierry Mugler)

It's interesting to note that Guerlain has 4 fragrances on the top-30 list, of which 3 are part of the La Petite Robe Noire stable and its ponies, with only one classic, the perennial Shalimar.


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19 comments:

  1. Hi, I think that your blog is great ...and I would like to invite you as a guest writer for my own :-)

    If you are interested then please visit the following post ...and leave a comment...

    http://myloveaffairwithperfumes.blogspot.de/2015/03/contributions-by-guest-writers.html?m=0

    Thanks...! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Surprised to see ma robe petales which is relatively new, and glad that Shalimar still keeps going. It's funny that the new Narciso isn't on the list, I'd imagine it does well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Alex,

      I think the marketing and promotion for LPRN is relentless (and has been ripe for the reaping of the results) so any flanker stands a good chance of "making it". I hear the Petales is also sweet, so not too far off the original.

      Narciso Rodriguez is a very confusing brand in what concerns names and packaging (it's all similar looking), so I suppose that accounts for some of the hesitation to try the new one? It certainly deserves recognition and sales. I believe it will see them soon!

      Delete
  3. Popping in to say hello E!
    Oddly I have been wearing Angel a lot recently. Hmmmmmm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello dearest Carol, how are you? So nice to see you here. :-)

      You've been wafting gorgeous waves of playful mischief! (Angel is so very nice!)

      Delete
  4. Are these best-selling perfumes in France or are they best-selling perfumes for Sephora in France - i.e. could there be other top selling perfumes in France that are not on this list because they aren't offered at Sephora?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Certainly! This is why Chanel and their Coco Mademoiselle, Chance and No.5 are lacking from the list.
      However, as shown in the more encompassing French best-sellers 2014 list (linked in the article above) the "niche" and more "rare" fragrances do not necessarily make the best-seller list in France either. We'd just like them to be so, but...

      Delete
  5. You know what Helg ..... everyone of those perfumes are highly advertised throughout the world!
    So .... flood the mags and ads on TV and you will have a winner! LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, but certainly that's the way to go! I had been interviewing a local representative who dabbles in perfumes and he confided that the things that get sold most are the brands that are advertised in the local market. For instance celebrity scents have no following because most celebrities are narrowly UK or US centered, very "American" brands such as Marc Jacobs etc have no great following compared to -say- Dolce & Gabbana (which is closer to the "look" of a neighboring country like ours) etc.

      Heavy promos is what solidified the sweeping success of LPRN by Guerlain in the first place!

      Delete
  6. annemariec03:45

    Surprised to see Reminiscence's Patchouli. I've not tried it, or the brand, but would like to one day. I thought Reminiscence was quite nichey, so not able to keep up wiht the promotional budgets that the other brands can command.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Indeed Reminiscence is quite "niche" in what concerns our perception, yet it's sold at Sephora (so is Lutens in France), so not *that* niche after all. ;-) They do have a cult following and their fragrances are great for the most part from what I have sampled. Patchouli, Rem and their Vanille (?) are big sellers.

      Delete
    2. annemariec10:18

      The brand is not distributed in Australia at all as far as I know, so that contributed to my surprise. I've seen divided opinion on Patchouli. It's been on my Surrender to Chance wishlist for ages but with a tight perfume budget, I hesitate ... :( Oh well, lots of other perfume to enjoy, and plenty else to try other than La Vie Est Belle!

      Delete
  7. WOW! the top 2 are so unexpected for me. Two fragrances that I am most uncomfortable wearing.
    Portia xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Can't say I'm crazy about them either, and honestly though I understand the appeal of LVEB, I cannot fathom why Black Opium sells the way it does. Probably because people have fond memories of at least the cachet of the original??

      Delete
  8. Although I own several hundred bottles of perfumes, most of which are niche and Classic but many are also new and/or NOT sold in department stores. However, I only own five bottles if the perfumes mentioned on this list. I have been into perfume more years than most if you probably have lived and I have so much that I could never use it up in my lifetime even if I bathed in them every day. So many perfumes to smell so little time to sniff them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I totally understand: who has time to wear everything? That's what I question myself every time I find myself looking at the collection and being somewhat stunned by the (still large, after purging) number.
      One needs to be selective and decisive at some point, good for you!

      Delete
  9. Miss Heliotrope02:10

    Is there a scent that covers having a rabbit on your head (& where are its ears)?

    The link between scent & style & advertising is always interesting: I am sure many of us say to ourselves o I dont follow the ads, I buy what I like bc I have taste & knowledge, and yet so often an ad - or the lack of one, for some (me included) - has secretly insinuated itself. Also, the ease of buying things is there in this list - I want something, o I remember hearing about that (you said there's been saturation advertising) & it smells nice, so why not.

    That US celebrity brands are less popular makes sense - while some you have promised are nice, not all are, and if someone (not a perfume addict, obviously) asks what is your lovely scent, some people would be uncomfortable to name a celeb one, yet if the brands with more status are providing an equivalent...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the bunny's ears are stretched backwards (they do that sometimes, don't they? they don't always stand up)

      I adore advertising! I find it can be high art sometimes (after all I have put my History of Arts degree to use in those Optical Scentsibilities articles linked on the right hand column,right??) And I like to quote Don Draper on this: "when it's successful you don't think you have been influenced".

      Suppose celebrity scent brand names sound a bit juvenile, like teens wanting to measure up to their idol. For that reason they have always seemed terra incognita to me, even since a teen (OK, that was when Pavarotti and Taylor and Sabatini had their ones out....)

      Delete

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