Rihanna's Lovable Rogue

There once was a time where the relationship between celebrities and the world of perfumes was no different to yours or mine; they simply wore it. Rita Hayworth loved Fracas by Robert Piguet because it was inspired by her sultry performance in Gilda; Marilyn Monroe is famous for wearing Chanel No 5, and little else, to bed each night and Audrey Hepburn is said to have prevented Givenchy L’Interdit from being produced simply because she didn’t want other women to smell like her.

Fast forward more than fifty years and celebrity-created fragrances are everywhere. Today, it’s difficult to find a celebrity without one and it’s not hard to understand why. Fragrances are a lucrative business for stars, allowing fans to smell like them, while tapping into the lifestyle they represent in the process, and all at a cost that won’t break the bank.

Back in 2012, as many as seventy three celebrity fragrances were launched, compared to an average of nine a year more than a decade ago. The only problem is that with the market so crowded full of money-spinners, it’s hard to find ones that actually smell good. It’s part of the reason I was cynical when I first heard about Rihanna’s foray into the world of fragrances. I’m a Rihanna fan as much as the next person but the proliferation of celebrity fragrances has always turned me off. That was, of course, until I tried her latest one, Rogue.

The fourth in the range, she definitely seems to have got into her stride. While the bottle is simple, but the smell isn’t. In the past, her scents have veered more towards the mass, fruity, girlie scents that are already out there but this one is different. I’ve always been a huge fans of men’s fragrances and Rogue taps into that perfectly, but with a feminine twist. It has the deep, musky notes of a man’s cologne thanks to base notes like wood, amber, patchouli, musk and vanilla, which are beautifully balanced by notes like lemon blossom, cyclamen, bergamot and pink peppercorn, which are more commonly found in women’s fragrances.

Rogue by Rihanna, £33 (for 75ml) from Debenhams.

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