After reading Mark Behnke’s best of celebuscents picks it’s a bit ironic to learn that Madonna ( the ultimate celebrity) will strike a pose for her position in the Celebrity perfume pantheon. The licensing deal is a joint partnership with MG Icon (a joint venture between the Iconix Brand Group Inc., Madonna and Guy Oseary.  ( I was a former VP of licensing  there  before it took on its new name) and Coty Prestige whose  management has been in the celebuscent game since 2002, beginning with J.Lo Glo; Chandlers Burr The Perfect Scent  recounted the olfactive journey of  Jean Claude Ellena  for Hermes (2004) and   Lovely by Sarah Jessica  Parker.

“I have always been obsessed by fragrance and for years wanted to create something personal that was an expression of me, but that other people could relate to as well,” Madonna told WWD on Thursday. “Something classical and timeless and yet modern. My oldest memory of my mother is her perfume. I carry it with me everywhere. “She always smelled like gardenias and tuberose, an intoxicating mixture [that was] feminine and mysterious. I wanted to re-create this scent, but with something fresh and new about it as well. Something honest and yet daring — hence the name Truth or Dare.” VP of US brands for Coty  Prestige, Catherine Walsh was quoted as saying Madonna was involved in every step of the process.

 Stephen Nilsen was featured in  Ca Fleure Bon's Profiles of American Perfumery

Madonna worked with Givaudan’s Stephen Nilsen to create the white floral with a signature gourmand underneath; bringing both light and dark to the composition. Truth or Dare has top notes of gardenia, creamy tuberose and neroli; a heart of carnal jasmine, benzoin and white lily petals and a drydown of vanilla absolute, caramelized amber and  musk.

 

   Madonna  during her Truth or Dare tour; Jean Paul Gaultier designed her wardrobe

The Truth or Dare brand also takes its name from the 1991 documentary film of the same name, which chronicled Madonna’s life during her 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour and will be marketed  to women  25-45.(I remember ex boss CEO of Iconix Neil Cole saying  that everyone wants to look like a sophisticated 18 yr old in 1992 when we were both 30 somethings; now Madonna, Neil and I are the same age) Madonna will be featured in a global print, television, online and outdoor marketing campaign for Truth or Dare produced in collaboration with Fabien Baron of Baron & Baron, who directed “Sex,” her 1992 pictorial essay on sexuality. Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott shot the print ads. TV has not yet been filmed.

Baron also designed the gold logo for the fragrance, which consists of an M with a cross sitting on top of it. “The design of the bottle is meant to feel luxurious and iconic,” said Baron. “In Truth or Dare, there is naughty and nice. The white of the bottle and M symbol are links to truth, purity and spirituality, while the beading detail, which adds a tactile feeling, taps into the dare side and gives the bottle a raw edginess.”

In nearly 10 years of dozens of celebrity launches and almost as many dire predictions of the category’s demise, the business seems to be maintaining momentum, although with fewer — but much bigger — introductions. “This is a great category,” said Ceo Bernd Beetz, Coty’s CEO in the WWD interview who pointed to next year’s introductions of not only the Madonna scent but also that of Lady Gaga.

 

Eaux de parfum in two sizes — 50 ml. for $55 and 75 ml. for $68 — will be sold in the U.S. A 30-ml. edp will be sold internationally. The line also includes a body lotion, $28, and shower gel, $25

The scent in the U.S will be a Macy’s exclusive will debut March 26. 2012 It will roll out to international markets beginning in May, adding up to approximately 20,000 doors worldwide, including the U.K., France, Asia, the Middle East and travel retail.

 

In her interview with WWD Madonna said, “We can be tricked by what we see and hear but not by what we smell. There is something primal and mystical about the sense of smell. It connects us to memory, nostalgia and the ability to dream and fantasize.”

Michelyn Camen, Editor in Chief
  

Tuberose and Gardenia and Madonna; will this make Mark's Yahoo! Shine Get It Guide  next year; what do you think?