Hmm, Madame Glamour by Lidl or Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel? {Fragrance News}
A media report has it that a fragrance smell-alike of Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel called Suddenly Madame Glamour (you just need a spritz and you are suddenly glamorous) unconventionally distributed by the Soviet-store-of-yesteryear-inspired German supermarket Lidl is experiencing a smashing success. Why? Because blind test panels have all voted for the Lidl expression of Coco Mademoiselle, available for a fraction of the price...
Smell-alikes are a frequent occurrence in the fragrance industry and the mass-market sector can be particularly welcoming to those although it also can harbor hidden gems which were clearly created to be pillar perfumes for the masses, in the best sense possible. Knowing the scale of its reach, a perfumer will be particularly attentive and serious about the endeavor.
Can a classic be improved upon by a mass-market rendition of it is the intriguing question the reported success of Suddenly Madame Glamour poses. One would need to experience the scent in actuality in order to understand the aesthetic choices that may tip the scale in favor of a smell-alike. It could be, for instance, that it is softer, more skin-like and thus will be evaluated more positively for that reason. Or it could be that it is more tenacious.
Meanwhile here is what we can read,
"Two independent consumer panel blind tests carried out by the prestigious Perfumer's Guild on the Lidl Suddenly Madame Glamour £3.99 for 50ml EDP (Eau de Parfum) against Chanel's £61 for 50ml EDP Coco Mademoiselle yielded amazing results. 50 women in the first test voted tremendously for the Lidl brand with 89% saying they would prefer to wear it over the Chanel's brand and a staggering 90% of the 100 women who blind tested the perfumes in the second round said they also preferred the Lidl's brand."
The Perfumer's Guild is apparently the name of a niche perfumery rather than that a guild per se. It was founded by John Bailey in 1981, who is quoted in the article.
Lidl Beats Chanel in the Battle of the Perfumes
Well, the results doesn`t surprise me at all. Fragrance is becoming a body care product, not a personal experience anymore. It`s sold like a commoditie and few stores care to develop the compreehension of the consumer regarding quality of the materials, identity and the dynamics of a good perfume. If the average consumer isn`t able to pick the differences and see why one is better than the other, only being able to appreciate the superficial aspect of perfume, he/she will prefer the easier to understand. The curious thing about it is that i believe with time that most of those fragrances will stop to sell at one time, cause the repetitive use of the same ingredients in several fragrances under different names will make the consumer loose the habilitie to smell then due to the olfactory accommodation. And at that point maybe people will stop to use fragrance and only use deodorant, body lotion, shampoo, because there will be no difference between those products and a fragrance. But i don`t know, maybe this is necessary to happen to lead to renewal towards fragrance appreciation and construction. I just don`t know if I will be alive to see it happen...
Henrique , I don't want to be alive in that kind of future . I want future generations to have the experience of fragrance as true art , afforable and portable.
I love suddenly Madame Glamour, it is the best