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A fearless woman

Posted by Robin on 15 April 2010 35 Comments

I didn't want it to be so cutesy. I wanted it to be strong and empowering, something that represents me as a whole woman, a fearless woman.

— Singer Fergie talks about her upcoming fragrance, Outspoken, which will launch in September with Avon. Read more at Fergie's Outspoken Scent at Contact Music.

Filed Under: perfume in the news
Tagged With: avon, celebrity perfumes, fergie

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35 Comments

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  1. mals86 says:
    15 April 2010 at 11:07 am

    “The scent mixes notes of starfruit, tuberose, jasmine, and passion flower with base notes like black leather and smoky vetiver…” (quote from the article).

    I’m not sure what I think. Starfruit is at least a tart fruit. And white florals + leather and vetiver might be interesting. But it’s Avon, so I’m guessing it won’t have a lot of natural materials in it, so who knows how it’ll turn out?

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    • Robin says:
      15 April 2010 at 11:09 am

      No idea…and no idea if she’s a really big name (peeking out from under my rock as usual).

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      • Shelley says:
        15 April 2010 at 11:48 am

        She is kinda big now. She’s part of Black Eyed Peas. (of “Where is the Love?” Fame)

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        • Robin says:
          15 April 2010 at 12:30 pm

          LOL…sadly, that means nada to me.

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    • Minnie says:
      15 April 2010 at 11:49 am

      I like Fergie, and I would be happy if she had a nice scent . . . I’ve never smelled an Avon frag but I get the impression they are kind of lower-tier? Like Kohl’s fragrances?

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      • Robin says:
        15 April 2010 at 3:32 pm

        Usually, but they’ve tried to do a few upscale scents recently.

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  2. Chanterais says:
    15 April 2010 at 11:36 am

    I’m tentatively exploring the wonderful world of leathery scents (some I love, like today’s Cuir de Russie, but last week’s spanking by Bandit nearly sent me to a vegan nunnery), so forgive me if this is a really obvious and unoriginal question: what’s the difference between a black leather accord and, well, any other? Is it exactly like it intuitively suggests, a leather scent combined with notes of dark hide dyes? Or is the term “black leather” referring to a specific olfactory idea beyond the obvious?

    Either way, I’m kind of pleased that they’re not marketing this perfume for pale, wan, pretty teenagers. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with pale, wan teenagers, of course, but it’s nice to see a different approach to populist perfume marketing. Well, incrementally different, at any rate. Eh, I’ll take what I can get, right?

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    • moon_grrl says:
      15 April 2010 at 12:10 pm

      I’d say that it won’t be as harsh as the classic leathers, which are smoky and bitter. Maybe more like a new leather coat?

      It’s all marketing copy in the end.

      Have you tried Estee Lauder Azuree yet? It’s a leather that seems between the velvety Cuir de Russie and harsh Bandit to me.

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      • annemarie says:
        15 April 2010 at 5:07 pm

        Yes, I was thinking of Azuree too, which for me is challenging but fascinating too. In the category of ‘strong and empowering’ but not ‘cutsey’, and in this price range, I think of EL’s Azuree and Youth Dew, and Clinqique’s Aromatics Elixir. Let not Fergie think she’s the first to come up with this concept. Her grandmother’s generation had it wrapped up years ago.

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        • annemarie says:
          15 April 2010 at 6:20 pm

          Not to mention her grandmother’s grandmother’s generation … insert name of your favourite early c.20 strong woman’s perfume here …

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    • Robin says:
      15 April 2010 at 12:31 pm

      Leather accords do not really derive from leather, but from other notes which are meant to mimic leather. When they say black, they’re presumably describing how they think it smells — so you’d presume it would be a dark leather accord, but of course it might not turn out to be any such thing, in fact, I’ll be very surprised if this turns out to be heavily leather at all.

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    • zara says:
      15 April 2010 at 3:08 pm

      what about cuir ottoman of parfume d’empire? that’s a very refined leather (in advertising terms, somewhere between ‘black’ and ‘white’ leather, think a nice brown sofa 🙂 or lancome cuir, even more refined then cuir ottoman…

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      • mals86 says:
        16 April 2010 at 1:15 pm

        Leathers can often frighten me, but I love Cuir de Lancome. And Jolie Madame.

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  3. peter says:
    15 April 2010 at 11:56 am

    The “cutesy” coment sounds like a dig to Gwen Stefani!

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    • Robin says:
      15 April 2010 at 12:32 pm

      Could be! But if so, GS will have the last laugh.

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      • Julia says:
        16 April 2010 at 9:54 am

        No kidding. I can’t resist Harajuku cute. If somebody started producing a real fragrance under the Hello Kitty/Sanrio name I would have every product in the line. Say, Kimora Simmons has done high-end, diamond encrusted Hello Kitty jewelry AND her own celeb fragrance, why isn’t she cashing in on this goldmine?

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        • Robin says:
          16 April 2010 at 11:05 am

          There have definitely been Sanrio/HK perfumes, and I understand Demeter has a line of them coming too.

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  4. Lisa3011 says:
    15 April 2010 at 12:15 pm

    The leathery note interests me….Avon used to have one called Pink Suede that I loved (and of course got axed). I will definitely check this one out.

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    • Robin says:
      15 April 2010 at 12:32 pm

      Hope you’ll like it then!

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  5. allabouteve says:
    15 April 2010 at 1:28 pm

    Oh,well..at least she didn’t say something like “was tired of mainstream-am allergic to every perfume out there-blablabla” just to end up making one more fruity floral. It could actually be interesting,but…Avon/Fergie is not something I’d kill for….but..anyhow..the
    big question is…will Roja Dove be reeeeaaaal mad when he finds out they copied his name?? 😉

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    • Robin says:
      15 April 2010 at 3:32 pm

      Maybe he never trademarked it.

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      • allabouteve says:
        15 April 2010 at 5:07 pm

        Well,have no fear,fearless woman…Roja won’t call his lawyers,,Just figured out the RD is UNspoken..not outspoken…ermmmm..whatever!! 😉

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        • Robin says:
          15 April 2010 at 8:59 pm

          Aha, thanks! I never would have remembered that.

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  6. AnnS says:
    15 April 2010 at 3:08 pm

    I don’t really follow Fergie too much. I was really impressed by her live version of the Heart song, Barracuda, on TV a few years ago. She can actually sing! I doubt I will go out of my way to smell her fragrance though as I have a lot to sniff as it is.

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    • Robin says:
      15 April 2010 at 3:33 pm

      Ditto — plenty to smell!

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    • SmokeyToes says:
      16 April 2010 at 1:03 am

      I hope to try this as I tend to like leather scents. Azuree and Bandit are two of my favorites, Bandit is difficult to wear though.. I thought star fruit really didn’t have much flavor-it was more watery to me than anything else.

      ps-Ann, I was just thinking about that video. She totally kicked butt on that song…. She really does have pipes (even if I’m not too familiar with the Black Eyed Peas).

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    • RusticDove says:
      16 April 2010 at 9:21 am

      Not only were her vocals strong, she did one-armed cartwheels [she was holding her mic in her other hand]. My jaw hit the floor and I had a whole new regard for Fergie when I saw that!

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  7. Perfume Sniffer says:
    15 April 2010 at 3:44 pm

    “My humps, my humps, my lovely lady lumps”

    Fergie should name her perfume: Lady Lumps.

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    • Robin says:
      15 April 2010 at 8:59 pm

      Over my head.

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  8. alotofscents says:
    15 April 2010 at 4:11 pm

    Hahahahaha! I actually do like Fergie though, even though I’m generally against celebrity scents, I hope this does well.
    Ma Sucre Petite Humps

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    • Robin says:
      15 April 2010 at 9:00 pm

      Over my head again.

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  9. SuddenlyInexplicably says:
    15 April 2010 at 5:15 pm

    Check out Alanis Morissette’s satire of Fergie’s “My Humps”:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRmYfVCH2UA

    She doesn’t even have to change the words!

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    • Robin says:
      15 April 2010 at 9:00 pm

      I won’t, because I’d rather not know, LOL…but thanks for the link!

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  10. Julia says:
    16 April 2010 at 9:59 am

    At least it goes with Josh Duhamel’s nose. Now I’m curious about what fragrance she was wearing before that he didn’t like. Maybe a classic leather?

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    • Robin says:
      16 April 2010 at 11:06 am

      No idea!

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