Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, or Lady Gaga as she is more commonly known, is undeniably one of the more interesting pop stars around today. Forget Britney, Christina, Miley and all those other pretenders, Gaga is a true visionary and a real star. Oozing with talent and more than her fair share of batshit-craziness, Gaga is like the rebellious love child spawned from the spliced DNA of David Bowie and Madonna.

OK you get it, I’m a fan and whilst I refuse to class myself as a ‘little monster’ I must admit that I was genuinely excited about Fame, I mean if anyone was going to do an interesting fragrance then it would be Gaga.

Apparently cooked up in a laboratory deep within the bowels of the Haus of Gaga (Lady Gaga’s fashion collective) Fame is described as an “opulent, crushed floral” [1] that, with it’s black coloured juice that is invisible once air born, represents the black soul of fame. Crazy huh? – Not really because Fame is all style and no substance…

Fame had the makings of a truly great celebrity fragrance; great bottle? Yep! massive gimick (the black liquid)? Yep again! and amazing ad campaign? Hell to the yep! But the one area that Fame disappoints is most definitely the most crucial, that’s right folks I’m talking about the smell and as much as it pains me to say it one cannot hide the fact that in terms of scent, Fame is a complete dud.

The best fragrance ad ever, no?

The Notes

Tears of Belladonna, Crushed Heart of Tiger Orchidea, Black Veil of Incense, Pulverised Apricots, The Combinative Essences of Saffron and Honey Drops

How Does it Smell?

Fame opens with a very strong and sickly stew of crushed apricots. It has the strange quality of something syrupy yet sheer and it is altogether rather unpleasant. Picture the sticky fruity opening of almost every other celebuscent but watered down slightly and you’re on the right track.

What comes next is a 12 hour onslaught of vanilla that fails to relent. There is something vaguely floral lurking in the background but it never quite manages to summon the strength to overthrow the vanilla which represses it. As for the incense and saffron? Well they are as absent as Gaga must have been during the creative process that culminated in the creation of Fame.

Fame isn’t disgusting and I don’t hate it, but it bores me and in my opinion that is the worst sin of all. Gaga has mentioned that it smells like an “expensive hooker” and recently made the following proclamation: “I have an interesting mind but I want to smell like a slut to be totally honest.” [2] Well, there’s nothing wrong with smelling like a floozy, in fact it is one of my favourite past times but Fame is most definitely a sad, tired hooker rather than a high class call girl. Sorry Gaga.

So, there you have it, Fame is a dud and it’s a great shame purely because of the potential it had to be something truly dark and wonderful. Perhaps I’ve got it all wrong and Fame is meant to be some sort of olfactory comment on the nature of celebrity and how the rich and famous are happy to put their name to any old crap that will make them a quick buck. Perhaps it is a visceral representation of the black soul of celebrity fragrances?

Nah, it’s just crap…

Availability

Fame is available in 30ml, 50ml and 100ml Eau de Parfum with prices ranging from £24.50-£54.50. Matching body products are also available.

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A little note re the frequency of posts:

The last month has been a complete whirlwind. Having started a new job that has been a massive shock to the system (albeit a rather positive one) and having lost a little bit of my creative spirit, writing hasn’t come easy and for my sanity I have had to take a step back from The Candy Perfume Boy.

Thankfully my time away has come to an end and I feel in a good position to start posting again. I aim to schedule about four posts a week along with the Saturday Poll but this might not always be possible. Quality over quantity is best right?

Finally, a big thank you for continuing to read this blog, I really do appreciate every single person who clicks on my page and supports it. You people rock.

Disclaimer

Image 1 coloribus.com. Image 2 oystermag.com. Video via Haus Laboratories on YouTube. [1] escentual.com. [2] nstperfume.com.