As sure as the sun rises, we can count on celebrities to release self-branded fragrances. When I first heard that singer Christina Aguilera was coming out with a fruity floral called Inspire, I couldn’t help but shrug. I’m a fan of Christina’s, but seeing Inspire’s pretty pink bottle triggered flashbacks of my trip to the fragrance counter when I first sniffed Gwen Stefani’s syrupy sweet Harajuku Lovers. Would Inspire smell dirrrrty … or would I want to put this genie back in its bottle?
The scent itself might actually be what a girl wants; what a girl needs. Like so many other celebrity fragrances, Inspire fits into the fruity floral category, with notes of freesia, mango, rose and gardenia, but on my skin it smells a little more floral than fruity, with the rose and freesia dominating the other notes.
Not to take anything away from Xtina, but both the bottle and the scent bear resemblances to one of my standby fragrances, J’adore by Dior.
That said, I like Inspire. It may not be the most original fragrance in town, but there are worse things in life than smelling like J’adore.
Inspire, by Christina Aguilera
Top notes: mango, citrus and freesia
Middle notes: tuberose, rose and gardenia
Base notes: orange flower, sandal wood, musk
The 1.7 oz. bottle pictured above will run ya $49. There’s also a shower gel ($20) and body lotion ($25).
I really like that Christina and her marketing people are making samples available online. While supplies last, you can order a sample from the Inspire website by filling out this form.
Christina Aguilera Inspire Eau de Parfum Spray
Price: $49 for a 1.7 fl oz. bottle
Use: A light fruity floral
Makeup and Beauty Blog Rating: B-
I actually don’t hate this. The mango is kept to a minimum, and the white florals are fresh — not stuffy or old lady at all. I can see myself wearing Inspire to work or on the weekends.
Ode to Inspire
You are beautiful, no matter what they say,
Words can’t bring you down,
You are beautiful, in every single way,
Yes, words can’t bring you down,
Don’t you bring me down today…
How was your Tuesday? Mine wasn’t bad. I had to work a little later than usual at the office, but when I got home El Hub had burritos waiting from the Mexican place down the street. Right now I’m getting ready to watch a little TV before bed. Tabs is here on the floor beside me, but he’s upset because I’m not paying him enough attention.
Onward to Wednesday!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
My day was okay. It was very boring at work though: so little people it was annoying. I could stop earlier but even then it was too boring.
thank god I got praised for my gorgeous eyes or I would’ve fallen asleep completely… 😉
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I’m kind of over celebrity fragrances. They’re so generic at this point, in my opinion.
Tuesday was pretty good for. My tennis class turned into an hour and half gym session because of the rain (I hate the gym, oh so much), but after that I went over to one of my friend’s house where she had invited a couple of people over and barbecued and we played some games.
Hi Karen,
Thanks for the post, I just submitted the info for a sample. Mango eh? Does it smell anything like Hillary Duff’s perfume? That one actually smells good and a bit more memorable than the rest of the celeb perfumes. I like Xtina’s VMA eye makeup a lot, she looked fierce! Tabs is like a baby, so cute!
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I’m actually a big fan of citrus smelling things. Something about it screams clean, hah.
Hey Karen!
I love fruity scents (ala Marc Jacobs Daisy, Ferragamo perfumes, etc.) so this sounds like it’d be right up my alley. I’m off now to see if I can get myself a sample of this!
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LOL! I just love the “You’re beautiful…” picture. 😀 So funny!
Hi Karen B.,
Oh! What look did you do on your eyes?
Hi Brittany,
Yeah, I know. There’s one out every five minutes.
I usually don’t mind the gym once I get there. It’s the getting there part that’s sometimes hard! 🙂
Hi Dao,
Nope, it doesn’t. I think it smell than Hilary’s. Yeah, I thought Xtina’s makeup looked good. I would never wear it myself, but I appreciate how it was executed. Tabs is a big ole’ cat baby. He likes to be carried around, too, just like an infant.
Hope you’re having a good hump day!
Hi Mrs. Lynne,
Yeah, me too! I like it when it’s not in your face. The citrus notes on this are faint on me; still, it’s a nice scent.
Hi Jen,
Oh nice! When you get your sample please let me know what you think of it. 🙂
Hi Eru,
🙂 That’s Xtina from her Dirrrty years, LOL. I kinda liked her with her dark hair!
Thanks for the review. I’ve been wondering whether to try this or not. I’m not a fan of celebrity fragrances as they are very generic. But I do love J’adore by Dior, so I think I may like this as well.
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Hi Gio,
It’s worth giving a sniff. How long have you been wearing J’adore? I’m going on six year now!
Poor Christina, that girl was a hot mess a few years ago. Well she seems to have settled down. I hope she keeps it together. I love her voice.
I love her first fragrance, almost as much as I love SJP’s Covet, so I’m definatly gonna have to try this one out.
Lately I’ve realized that I’m addicted to celebrity fragrances.. oh my.
Excellent news about Christina Aguilera’s world tour coming over to Britain. I hope Leona Lewis is going to perform with her in the shows over here.