I thought it would be interesting to see which perfumes managed to capture the attention of consumers in 2005, given the almost staggering number of new releases this year. Here is a sampling of the biggest sellers at some of the online fragrance stores:
At Aedes de Venustas, Serge Lutens takes top billing with Chergui, a fragrance which was only added to the export range fairly recently:
1. Chergui by Serge Lutens
2. Costes by Hotel Costes
3. La Chasse aux Papillons by L'Artisan Parfumeur
4. Daim Blond by Serge Lutens
5. Fiori di Capri by Carthusia
B-glowing's best selling perfume was the celebrity favorite Kai:
1. Kai by Kai
2. Vanille Fleuri de Tahiti by La Maison de la Vanille
3. Clean Eau De Toilette by Clean
4. Cocoa Tamarind by Voluspa
5. Jasmine Brown Sugar by Voluspa
At Beautycafe, the Norwegian fragrance Geir by Geir Ness heads the list:
1. Geir for men by Geir Ness
2. Vanille Extreme by Comptoir Sud Pacifique
3. Vanille Peach by Comptoir Sud Pacifique
4. Chinatown by Bond no. 9
5. Ocean by Eadward
Beautyhabit's top seller was another celebrity perfume favorite, Child by Susan Owens:
1. Child Perfume by Susan Owens
2. Kai by Kai
3. Vanille Fleurie de Tahiti by La Maison de la Vanille
4. Vanille Parfum by Ligne St Barth
5. Luctor et Emergo Parfum by the People of the Labyrinths
Across the pond in Germany, Lorenzo Villoresi's powdery Teint de Neige is the best seller at First-in-Fragrance:
1. Teint de Neige by Lorenzo Villoresi
2. Peau de Peche by Keiko Mecheri
3. Mandorlo by Acqua di Parma Blu Mediterraneo
4. Amour de Cacao by Comptoir Sud Pacifique
5. Rose de Feu by Parfums de Rosine
Luckyscent's biggest seller this year was Susanne Lang's Ultimate Vanilla Collection:
1. Ultimate Vanilla Collection by Susanne Lang
2. Serendipitous by Serendipity 3
3. Vanille Fleurie de Tahiti by La Maison de la Vanille
4. Monyette Paris
5. Kyoto by Comme des Garcons
Another Lorenzo Villoresi favorite, Donna, is a big seller at Luscious Cargo. This list shows the top five selling perfumes but not in order of sales:
1. Donna by Lorenzo Villoresi
2. tie: La Chasse aux Papillons by L'Artisan Parfumeur and Loukhoum by Keiko Mecheri
3. Philosykos by Diptyque
4. Luctor et Emergo by the People of the Labyrinths
5. Teint de Neige by Lorenzo Villoresi
The top selling perfume for women at Perfumebay was Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker (Armani Black Code, by the way, was the top seller for men):
1. Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker
2. Angel by Thierry Mugler
3. Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana
4. Be Delicious by DKNY
5. Paris Hilton by Paris Hilton
The popular Dolce & Gabbana fragrance Light Blue is the top selling fragrance at Perfume.com:
1. Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana
2. Dolce & Gabbana for men by Dolce & Gabbana
3. White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor
4. L'Eau d'Issey for women by Issey Miyake
5. Design for women by Paul Sebastian
And Hanae Mori, sometimes referred to as Hanae Mori Butterfly, heads the list at Scentiments:
1. Hanae Mori by Hanae Mori
2. Lolita Lempicka by Lolita Lempicka
3. Angel by Thierry Mugler
4. Prada by Prada
5. Light Blue by Dolce & Gabbana
At The Perfume Shoppe in Canada, Attar by Montale is the most popular fragrance:
1. Attar by Montale
2. Aoud Damascus Rose by Montale
3. Fleur d'Oranger by Serge Lutens
4. Daim Blond by Serge Lutens
5. La Chasse aux Papillons by L'Artisan Parfumeur
I will not be able to post tomorrow, but will be back on Wednesday with a new perfume review.
Wow, these lists were very interesting – not things I would have imagined to be top sellers, which is actually quite heartening.
A number of fragrances I like turned up on these lists, along with several I'd like to try. I'm surprised to see D&G's Light Blue so many times – I didn't think it was that popular, though it is a very pleasant inoffensive perfume.
Were you surprised by your findings?
P.S. I see in a previous post that you have a sample of Rance's Josephine. I'm dying of curiousity about this one & would love to see a review sometime in the future.
Absolutely fascinating! Couple of my favorites are featured, but also a couple of scents I very much dislike.
Merry Christmas, R, I hope your holidays are very happy!
SO interesting to read these top sellers among the boutique/on line crowd! Quite the scoop, Ms NST! The ONLY one I own is Fiori di Capri and I haven't worn it in 2 years! Hope you're having a lovely week.
What an interesting list. It's funny to compare with what I see going like hotcakes in the big dept. stores. Nordstroms seemed to have hordes swarming their displays for Narcisco where I live. Prada seemed to be one that the tester was always in use for there whenever I went. And then at Meier and Frank's it seemed like I saw a ton of ladies hovering over the Chanel stuff, with a lot of Allure and Chance all being emptied from the shelves. And YSL Shanghai Fleur, which was nigh on impossible to locate due to it selling out everywhere around here. It's funny to compare it to the niche boutique lists and the etailer lists, such a contrast!
Interesting – I am seeing the Serge Lutens name a lot these days. In fact I just purchased one today – Datura Noir. This perfume smells precisely like my night garden of nicotiana, Marvel of Peru and other evening bloomers, and nothing else I have ever smelled even comes close. It was difficult to choose, as the entire line is exceptional. For Spring I plan to get Un Lys, possibly Fleur d' Oranger (which is orange blossom, not peel, and is heavenly).
I have sent away for samples of some of the others on the lists, before I decide on any more. Lots of good things coming onto the market this year!
Cheezwiz, I smelled Rance's Josephine for the first time today. This resulted in my purchasing the larger size and considering cornering the market by buying it ALL up. It is a euphoric floral, a transporting kind of fragrance, and one of the Greats. No one floral note can be isolated, so perfect is the composition. But if by “floral”' you think of sweet – oh, no. It has just enough woods and greens to make it well-rounded. I can't compare it to any other fragrance I know save one which is no longer available, so I will just say that this one is for the kind of woman who wears the classics, because this IS one. And it's for WOMEN not teenagers.
I was surprised by all of them…I wouldn't have guessed the correct top seller at any of these stores! And like you, had no idea Light Blue was so popular.
Will get to Josephine as soon as I can, but am really drowning in samples at the moment 🙂
M, hope your holiday was wonderful too! I was surprised at how many of my favorites were on there, but yes, lots of fragrances I don't like are big sellers.
L, Oh dear, poor Fiori di Capri — ignored for 2 long years! I'm afraid I have a few lonely bottles in my closet too. But very surprised that is the only one you own. No La Chasse? No Philosykos?
K, Yes, it would be a completely different list if it included the department stores, where I'm sure we'd see all the ones you mentioned plus J Lo Live & CK Euphoria & BS Fantasy. And Pink Sugar is still at the top of the list at Sephora, believe it or not 😉
Congrats on your new bottle of Datura Noir! I like Un Lys too. Fleur d'Oranger is gorgeous but just not me. Hoping we'll get several new SLs in 2006, besides the Gris Clair.
I am also crazy about Josephine. It is a lovely floral, that later turns a bit woody, and then dries into a lovely soft vanilla spice (must be the bourbon vanilla).
La Chasse is too tuberosey but I like Philosykos and should probably have it. I've only just rediscovered it recently. I didn't like it a couple of years ago when I first tried it.
Have to agree L, everyone should own Philosykos. I hated it when I first tried it too.
Oooh now I REALLY want to try it! Love the bottle too. Thanks for the description!
I'm rather surprised about the Luckyscent top 5 – the Suzanne Lang Vanilla collection was not even released AFAIK until December, so they must have received a case of it and shipped the whole lot out in the last 2 weeks of the year. Pretty amazing!
T, I thought the same about Chergui at Aedes…people must have bought these in droves!
I liked the “Light Blue”, and wore that for a little while. Flowery sweet, but with a satisfying drywood undertone. I think the bluebell sweetness got to me, though, and I fazed out using it.
It is certainly a very wearable scent, which I think accounts for its popularity.
I really liked this scent but 2 me it had 2 much of an alcohol smell & not enough apple & bluebell. could anyone recommend a similar fragrance or at least something else w/bluebell in it?
Perhaps try Penhaligons Bluebell?