The Most Memorable Fragrances From Celebrities Including Jay-Z, Travis Scott, Rihanna, and Beyoncé

Image via Complex Original

Number of fragrances: 1

Travis Scott has attached his name to a lot of things over the past few years. There are his more than a dozen highly coveted Nike and Air Jordan sneaker collabs. There are his hundreds, if not thousands, of merch items that his fanbase cannot seem to get enough of. There was a McDonald’s combo meal. For his 21+ fans, there’s even a spiked seltzer beverage, Cacti. In November 2020, La Flame added yet another item to his laundry list of collaborations, a fragrance. Dubbed Space Rage, the scent was released in a limited run with Sweden’s Byredo. Along with 3.4-ounce bottles of the unisex fragrance, the brand also released a scented candle. Each was packaged in a gradient blue and purple glass bottle with “Byredo Space Rage Travx” ‘ etched in the rapper’s crude, white handwriting. The fragrance retailed for $290, while the candle was a cheaper alternative, priced at $95. As can be expected with any limited edition item that Travis Scott drops, the initial release and subsequent restock this past January each sold out easily. The first took just three hours. 

The scent itself is described as having top notes of cosmic dust and antimatter particles, a heart of starlight and the scent of supernova, and a base of atmospheric vapor and dark nebulae. What that means exactly is anybody’s guess, but it certainly keeps with the overall space theme. It’s supposed to smell, “literally like space,” Byredo’s Ben Gorham told WWD in November. “We just wanted to create something tangible and accessible from the idea of space travel and space.” Having smelled it myself, I can say that it has a very fruity smell to it that isn’t too overpowering. It’s much more pleasant than the jet fuel smell my brain associates with outer space. When you think about it, a fragrance is the perfect item for Travis Scott to put his name on. It’s the perfect way for all of the sweat-covered ragers to hide their stench with something a bit more pleasant to the senses after they exit the mosh pit at his concerts.—Mike DeStefano

Number of fragrances: 12

Before Rihanna became the makeup and skincare mogul as we know her today and released a Fenty fragrance under her own brand, her first beauty venture was Reb’l Fleur, a musky scent that blends patchouli, vanilla, and amber, but also incorporates opulent floral notes. The singer is known for smelling exceptionally well—there are dozens of articles that detail celebrities’ encounters with her and their comments on her fragrance—so it’s no surprise that her legion of perfumes was a great success. Reb’l Fleur was officially released in the US on Jan. 25, 2011 as a Macy’s exclusive release and was received positively by critics. The name was meant to highlight the singer’s rebellious and feminine sides: “My grandmother in Barbados used to call me her Rebel Flower,” she told People back in 2011. “Over the years I layered many different scents to get something that was truly my own, but I wanted something that said ‘Rihanna was here.’ Something delicious and special, a fragrance with subtle hints that linger and leave a sexy memory.” Its uniquely designed bottle was meant to resemble a stiletto heel, one of Rihanna’s fashion staples, and features a matte black ribonning around the body. Rihanna followed up with other scents including Rebelle, Nude, Nude 777 (special edition), Reb’l Fleur Love Always, Rogue, Rogue Love, Rogue Men, Crush, Kiss, and RiRi. Reb’l Fleur was a smash hit and has grossed $1.4 billion as of 2016.—Scarlett Newman

Number of fragrances: 13

The Sean John brand currently consists of 13 scents including Sean John, 3AM, I Am King, Empress, and Unforgivable. The first fragrance, Sean John’s Unforgivable, a men’s scent that launched in 2006, brought in $150 million globally according to WWD. He followed that up with an Unforgivable women’s scent. In 2016 they released a signature fragrance (Sean John), that was produced by master perfumer Harry Fremont. It’s been described as more “mature” and sophisticated than the brand’s previous fragrance releases. Its top notes include bergamot, black pepper, and water mint. The heart of the fragrance is composed of spicier notes of nutmeg, angelica, violet leaf, and cardamom. It is rounded out by amber musk, vanilla, sandalwood, amber wood, and coumarin. Diddy told WWD, “It has a sophistication that gives the vibe of a great men’s fragrance. It’s not too strong. It’s soft and clean, but it’s a memorable scent for when you are around a young lady or just trying to smell good.” It had been 15 years since the success of his first fragrance, Unforgivable, and as sales weren’t up to par with his most recent release, 3AM, Diddy’s intentions with Sean John were a more timeless take on a scent that he could see lasting generations. The packaging reflects those sentiments as the bottle is stripped down, sans gimmicks or complicated design. It’s a cylindrical black bottle with the words “Sean John” embossed on the front in a clear, easy to distinguish font. In simple terms, Combs has grown up and so has his fragrance. “His franchise is always going to be cool, aspirational, and sexy,” said Diana Espino, global vice president of marketing and brand development at Parlux. “That’s never going to change. But he has changed. Unforgivable was him in bed with two girls, and I Am King was about all men being kings. 3AM was a departure from the other Sean John pillars, but, we think, right now, with Sean John, it’s about him looking forward to this next phase of his life. At the end of the day, when the fashion show is over, when the party stops and the girls go home, he’s still Sean John.”—Scarlett Newman

Number of fragrances: 14

Before introducing her own perfume, Beyoncé had dabbled in the industry, working with Tommy Hilfiger on a True Star fragrance in 2004, and fronting campaigns for Giorgio Armani’s Diamonds fragrance in 2007. But by 2010 she was ready to create her own perfume from scratch and she worked with Coty to produce Heat, a fragrance that was named after her live shows. “A lot of my performances have had fire involved, so we thought ‘Heat.’ Also, red is one of my favorite colors, as is gold,” she told WWD. Heat came in a red and gold bottle that was inspired by antique bottles her mother, Miss Tina Knowles-Lawson used to collect, and smelled of red vanilla orchid, magnolia, neroli and blush peach; a heart of honeysuckle nectar, almond macaroon and crème de musk, and a drydown of giant sequoia milkwood, tonka bean and amber. The fragrance was a commercial success, breaking a Macy’s sales record with $75,000 in sales in one day and by 2004, following the launch of Rise and Pulse, Beyoncé’s perfumes generated $400 million in retail sales. —Aria Hughes

Number of fragrances: 9

In September 2012 the self-proclaimed “Queen of Rap” expanded her empire to the world of fragrance with her debut eau de parfum, Pink Friday. Since the success of Pink Friday, the rapper has released eight additional fragrances that she produces with Give Back Brands, Elizabeth Arden, and most recently Luxe Brands. The offerings included: Pink Friday, Pink Friday Special Edition (April 2013) with notes of apple, grapefruit, and honeysuckle; Minajesty (September 2013) a powerful, more confident scent; Pink Friday Deluxe Edition (November 2013); Minajesty Exotic (July 2014) fruity and more summer; Onika (September 2014); The Pinkprint (September 2015); Trini Girl (October 2016) and Queen (February 2019). The Original Pink Friday fragrance has a bottle designed by Lance McGregor of Paul Meyer and Friends that is a bust of the rap star herself rocking her signature vibrant pink asymmetrical bob hairstyle, a reference to how she appears on her debut album of the same title. Each fragrance in her repertoire features the same bust design, but they differ in wigs, colors, and outfits, as well as UK releases featuring different outfits to dress up the bottles. Her line is described as “juicy” and “playfully fruity” containing scents of vanilla, blueberry, lotus flower, musk, and Italian mandarin. She told Rap-Up, “Pink Friday is a reflection of my life at this moment; it is a reflection of me as a creator, and an expression of me as a woman. I know my Barbz will connect with and appreciate each aspect—from the name, to the outrageous bottle design, to the vibrant colors.” —Scarlett Newman

Number of fragrances: 12

If you go up to a random person on the street, they will probably be able to identify a photograph of Michael Jordan. Most people are familiar with the NBA legend, his six championships, and his various sneakers displaying the iconic Jumpman logo. The shoes have had the biggest lasting legacy on pop culture, but given his popularity in the ‘90s, they were far from the only thing the superstar athlete’s name was on. He had endorsement deals with brands like Gatorade and McDonald’s. His face was on wristwatches. He starred in a movie alongside Bugs Bunny. But did you remember he also had his own fragrance?

Jordan’s eponymous cologne, which was launched by Bijan Pakzad, first hit the market back in October 1996 to the tune of a $20 million marketing campaign. It was even revealed to the public in ceremonious fashion a month prior during Jay Leno’s late night show. The scent was made up of descriptors that don’t actually help you decipher what it is supposed to smell like, “Cool,” “Rare Air,” “Sensual, “Pebble Beach,” and “Home Run.” Leno approved on air. But anyone who knows about Michael Jordan cologne, which initially sold for $12-$35 a bottle, knows that even His Airness’ stamp of approval couldn’t make it a go-to scent for very long. The Michael Jordan cologne brand and its bald-headed logo lingered on store shelves for years after its debut in various iterations, eventually becoming a budget-friendly option you could stumble upon at a store like Kohl’s or TJ Maxx. But as to be expected, it initially had Jordan fans flocking to department stores in the ‘90s to get a bottle of their own. It raked in $40 million in sales in just seven weeks and was the best selling fragrance of 1996. Jordan could have sold kids coal in the ‘90s though. As it turns out, not many people were too fond of its actual smell once the hype died down. It seems to have had staying power solely for the legacy of the name attached to it. Celebrity chef Eddie Huang may have given the most honest thoughts about it when speaking to SB Nation: “It smelled like aged butt cheese in a baseball glove.” Not exactly a glowing review. At least Jordan got the sneaker thing right.—Mike DeStefano

Number of fragrances: 1

In 2013 Jay-Z and Barneys announced that they would be collaborating together on a store activation, called “A New York Holiday,” that ran from Black Friday to the top of January. It featured limited edition product from Rick Owens, Moncler, Balenciaga, and Proenza Schouler that were created with Jay-Z. At this point Jay Z was in his “Magna Carta Holy Grail” era and sharing his interest in art with the world—even performing for six hours at New York’s Pace Gallery to promote the album. So it made sense that Jay Z and Barneys named their space the BNY SCC Gallery (an abbreviation for Barneys New York and Shawn Corey Carter), and it made even more sense that the aligned this space with the launch of his first fragrance, which was called Gold, which according to WWD retailed for $39 for the 30-millimeter bottle, $55 for 50-millimeter bottle, and $70 for 90-millimeter bottle. 

The Gold fragrance was exclusively released at Barneys on November 20, 2013 and  produced by Parlux, a brand that  manufactured and produced fragrances for stars ranging from Rihanna to Andy Roddick. It was positioned as an elevated cologne made by Firmenich perfumer Ilias Ermenidis, who concocted fragrances for brands like Gucci, Calvin Klein and Givenchy. The fragrance was a white fougere scent with top notes of yellow ginger, white cardamom, and grapefruit sprinkled with a touch of blueberry, lavender, pink pepper, along with bottom notes of golden amber, patchouli, teak and bourbon vanilla. It came in a sleek white bottle inscribed with “Gold,” and a matte gold box with a gold leaf effect. The launch included an extensive rollout plan that started at Barneys and then was distributed to retailers including Sephora, Nordstrom, Dillard’s, Belk, Bon-Ton, Ulta, and Macy’s, which covered its Herald Square flagship with an interactive window display that transformed your reflection into a gold avatar. Industry sources told WWD the fragrance was projected to generate $20 million in retail sales for the last couple months of 2013 and $35 million in 2014. Whether it generated that is unclear. In 2018 Parlux sued Jay Z for failing to promote the fragrance—they say he didn’t post it on his social media and avoided TV appearances to push the product, therefore they sought out more than $20 million in damages. Jay Z and his team appealed, citing touring obligations and “an unprecedented attempt to perform a full-scale audit on every aspect of Mr. Carter’s business and personal life…a tactical pressure point to seek personal information about a well-known celebrity.” The case still seems to be open, but you can purchase bottles of Gold on Walmart.com for $262, along with a deodorant that retails for $9.99. That was Jay Z’s first and last fragrance.—Aria Hughes

Number of fragrances: 31

Britney Spears has one of the biggest celebrity fragrance empires. The pop star introduced Curious, her first perfume, in 2004. Elizabeth Arden produced it and according to The Hollywood Reporter, they paid the singer $52 million dollars for the deal. It worked out for both parties. Curious, which smells of vanilla and musk along with fresh lotus, pear, and magnolia, retailed for $39.95 and broke Elizabeth Taylor’s record for first week gross perfume sales. Curious brought in $100 million in sales in 2004, and Spears made young women care about perfume in a way they hadn’t before. Sue Phillips, president and CEO of Scenterprises, a fragrance branding and marketing company told Racked: “At the time, young women did not really like fragrances because they reminded them of their grandmothers.” She went on to say, “Suddenly [with Curious], there was this luscious, floral fragrance with a youthful feel that didn’t seem old or mature.”  Spears would launch more fragrances that all stemmed from her love of floral scents including Fantasy, her second scent that came out in 2005 and brought in $30 million in sales in its first three weeks, and most recently, Fantasy Intense, which was released in 2021. While the demand for celebrity fragrances hit a lull in 2016, Spears and Elizabeth Arden have continued to release fragrances together, which has resulted in Spear’s billion dollar perfume empire.  There was even an uptick in sales this year post the release of the Framing Britney Spears documentary.—Aria Hughes

Number of fragrances: 1

If there’s a person whose personal care routine you should trust, it’s Pharrell’s. “Exfoliating like a mad man” has allowed his skin to maintain a youthful glow at the age of 48. He even launched his own skincare line, Humanrace, in 2020. But it isn’t just about skincare. Pharrell also briefly dabbled in the fragrance world back in 2014 with the release of Girl. The unisex fragrance shared a name with his solo album that dropped the same year and was released in collaboration with Comme des Garçons Parfum. It marked the first time that the Japanese fashion house partnered with a musician for their own fragrance. The bottle was a collectible all on its own, featuring artwork by Pharrell’s good friend Kaws. The contemporary artist’s colorful artwork wrapped the bottle, while his signature double “X” eyes were featured on the cap. One-hundred-milliliter bottles of Girl sold for $135 apiece, while a travel-sized version was $30. The scent itself features top notes of neroli, lavender, and white pepper, middle notes of iris, styrax, and violet, and a base of vetiver, patchouli, cedarwood, and sandalwood.

When speaking with WWD back in 2014 to promote Girl, Pharrell said he wore Polo Ralph Lauren and Christian Dior’s Fahrenheit when he was younger, before he took a 15-year hiatus from wearing any sort of fragrance at all. Colette founder Sarah Andelman, at least partially, can be thanked for Pharrell’s reignited interest. He became obsessed with CdG’s Wonderwood scent after smelling it on her. “When I do a collaboration with brands, I do them with notable masters, so that I can experience the true purpose of collaboration, which is to learn. So I only work with masters,” he told WWD. “We had the best nose in Paris, I was working with the best brand—Comme des Garçons is your favorite designer’s favorite brand—so there was not much of a struggle, because I was working with the masters of the artistic universe.”

Girl remains Pharrell’s lone venture in the fragrance world, but we would happily welcome it if he chose to expand his Humanrace offerings in the future.—Mike DeStefano

Number of fragrances: 7

Kim Kardashian is no stranger to the perfume game. It’s been over 10 years since she launched her first fragrance, Kim Kardashian by Kim Kardashian, in 2009 under Lighthouse Beauty, and has since built a fragrance empire under the name KKW Fragrance. The first Kim Kardashian fragrance is described as “amber floral” and has notes of honeysuckle, African orange flower, jasmine, musk, and sandalwood. From 2009 to 2014, Kardashian launched seven perfumes including Gold (2011), Love (2011), Glam (2012), True Reflection (2012), Pure Honey (2013), and Fleur Fatale (2014). In November 2017, the social media mogul launched KKW Fragrance, her own company where she has complete oversight, but works in collaboration with perfumers Nicole Mancini, John Gamba, and the company Givaudan. To tease the launch, she began to post throwback photos from her first fragrance’s development along with sharing photos of the initial launch. She introduced KKW Fragrance with three scents that centered around the Gardenia: Crystal Gardenia, Crystal Gardenia Oud, and Crystal Gardenia Citrus—all 300,000 units sold out within days. “I love white floral, so that’s where I took it,” Kardashian told Vogue of the three-fragrance collection. Each perfume is built around a “creamy” gardenia––her preferred bloom. “Gardenia evokes so many memories,” she said. “It’s my dad’s favorite flower, and it reminds me of when he’d take us to Hawaii—of that time in my life.” After the Gardenia series, Kardashian rolled out Kimoji perfumes, Kimoji Hearts, The Body Collection, The Lips Collaboration with her younger sister Kylie, Metallic Hearts, KKW Diamonds 1 and 2 (collaborations with Kourtney and Khloé Kardashian), extensions of the Crystal perfumes, KKW X Kris (Jenner), Jeff Leatham by KKW Fragrance, and a KKW Fragrance collaboration with sister Kendall Jenner. Kardashian has a passion for smelling good, and her fragrance empire doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon.—Scarlett Newman

Number of fragrances: 1

If you know about 50 Cent’s business ventures, the fact that he has his own cologne comes as no surprise. He has G-Unit Records, his deal with Vitamin Water, his G-Unit clothing line, book publishing imprint, and film production company, his collaborations with Effen Vodka, Street King energy shots, and the cologne called Power. To clarify, it was not inspired or named after the popular television series that 50 Cent executive produced. Instead, Power was a cologne with notes of lemon leaves, black pepper, and artemisia. It also included a heart of dark woods, which was inspired by the wood panels used in Bentleys, a dash of coriander and nutmeg, and a drydown of patchouli, musk and oakmoss. According to an interview with the SFGate, 50 Cent has long been an enthusiast of cologne. “My first experience with cologne was out of my grandfather’s closet, and it was Polo, with the green bottle and the gold top,” 50 Cent told the paper. He also mentioned that he only began wearing fragrances in 2003, when a girlfriend of his gave him a bottle of Imperial Creed. In a filmed interview, 50 Cent said he wanted the fragrance to be soft like flowers while also being masculine. Today, you can still find Power cologne in stores inside the same bottle with a cap inspired by a fly set of car rims.—Lei Takanashi

Number of fragrances: 7

In 2011 for his fragrance debut, Someday, Justin Bieber partnered with Give Back Brands and set out to raise money for Make-A-Wish Foundation and Pencils of Promise, a charity that builds schools. The floral-forward eau de parfum features fruity top notes such as mandarin and wild berries, middle notes of jasmine, and base notes of vanilla and soft musk coming together to replicate the smell of a fresh bouquet. The bottle, designed by Lance McGregor, features an ultra-feminine layering of flower petals as it’s stopper. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m more concerned with how girls smell, cause I’m a guy,” he said at the Macy’s launch for the perfume. “I know it smells good and I know what I like so I think that’s what girls should know. If he likes it, then other guys are gonna like it.” In spring 2013, Someday special edition was launched and offered as a lighter, summery alternative to the original scent. The additional notes in the special edition included magnolia blossom, strawberry, and “mimosa.” The pop star’s debut fragrance racked in $3 million in its first three weeks at Macy’s, making it one of the top sellers of 2011 as well as breaking Beyoncé’s Heat record in February 2010.—Scarlett Newman

Number of fragrances: 1

Nelly, alongside Yomi Martin, Nick Loftis, and Ian Kelly, launched Apple Bottoms, a women’s fashion brand, in 2003. What was originally a denim focused brand eventually expanded into juniors clothing, accessories, and perfume. The Apple Bottoms perfume launched in 2009 in partnership with Romane Fragrances and was created to complement the lifestyle of the “Apple Bottoms Woman.” The scent consists of citrus aromas, pink peony, rose, and coconut; mixed with accords of sandalwood, amber musk, and apple scent. Its bottle features a large apple medallion on the center, encrusted with red rhinestones. “It has a fresh scent and that was the goal, to have a fresher scent, not too oily, not too strong—not overpowering! I kind of hate that when the smell comes into the room before… whoever” he said of the perfume. —Scarlett Newman

Number of fragrances: 6

A celebrity endorsed fragrance or perfume was not a common business venture for stars until the 1980s. This was when celebs such as Cher, Elvis Presley, Jaclyn Smith, Joan Collins, Debbie Gibson, Julio Iglesias, and Elizabeth Taylor were some of the first famous names to throw their hat into the fragrance game. Michael Jackson was one of the biggest names at the time to make his own scents and released several of them between 1986 and 1999. There was Magic Beat: Unwind, Magic Beat: Heartbeat, Magic Beat: Wildfire, Légende, Mystique, and MJ King of Pop. Jackson’s Magic Beat was originally released in fall of 1986 and was supposed to coincide with the release of his album Bad. The company behind the fragrance, Max Factor, invested $18 million. Although the perfume initially sold out upon its debut, and even included a special collectors’ edition with a rare necklace, the fragrance venture flopped. This was largely due to the delayed release of Bad, which came out in the fall of 1987 rather than 1986 as Max Factor hoped for. The delayed release of Bad led to Jackson losing a lot of money. A $20 million venture that involved a clothing line and doll collection also fizzled and Pepsi canceled a $10 million ad campaign because the album didn’t come in time for the 1987 Grammy Awards. But these hiccups did not stop MJ from releasing more fragrances later in his career. In 1992, he released Légende and Mystique bottles for $30 a pop. Each bottle had a special holographic sticker that showed a picture of Jackson flashing a smile. However, shortly after Jackson’s first child molestation accusation surfacedCam’Ron in 1993, 200,000 bottles of his perfume were promptly destroyed by the manufacturer. Later on, to coincide with the release of his album HIStory, the King of Pop tried to push another brand called Mystery that included energy drinks, perfume, and magazines. Since all of his fragrance ventures fizzled, they have become hardcore collectors’ items for die-hard fans of the late pop star.—Lei Takanashi

Number of fragrances: 1

When it comes to rappers making their own fragrances, who could ever forget about Cam’ron’s Oh Boy cologne? This blue bottle of magic was of course tied to the famous Cam’ron single of the same name and was marketed well throughout the song’s music video. How could anyone resist buying this after watching Cam’ron, Jim Jones, and Juelz Santana ride Lambos and ball out in Harlem over a top-tier Just Blaze beat? Although the cologne was encased in glass display cases and clothing stores throughout the video, it was surprisingly only supposed to be a movie prop. Jim Jones was the one who directed the iconic Dipset music video and came up with centering the video’s story around a bottle of Oh Boy cologne. “We was like, ‘We should do it for real,’ Cam’ron told MTV News. “When you see the video you’re going to be like, ‘Where can I get the cologne from?’ It’s crazy. The video has partying, girls, Burberry car covers, Gucci car covers. There’s lots of hundreds of thousands on the screens.” In an interview with Vice, Killa Cam revealed that he eventually sold off his cologne brand along with his pornography company Dipsex. Although you won’t find bottles of Oh Boy cologne on store shelves anymore, you can still pick up some unused bottles on eBay for around $100 today. But be warned––according to Reddit, it just smells like Old Spice.—Lei Takanashi