Fame

This was the first fragrance I ever owned, and probably the first one I ever consciously perceived, too. I will always love Lady Gaga and her commitment to the artistry of anything; what other celebrity with a perfume line would have been willing to wholly die on the hill that her perfume be black, lest she scrap the whole thing? Even more impressive is that it really does atomize completely clear, a formula I'm sure Blackbird x Cold Cave would love to get their hands on for their Death fragrance (which is also black, as a result of the black dye that they courteously warn you *will* stain your clothes). Fame is jasmine, incense, and honey, with a pungent fruit accord that I wouldn't be confident enough to distinctly label as being apricot. Objectively not the most revolutionary note combination, but the blend is shockingly pleasant, not just for a celebrity fragrance, but in general. There is a vague vibe of muskiness even though it's not a note, probably as a result of the smoky incense. How sad it is that this has been discontinued, and more so, that it's catastrophically expensive secondhand. I have been rationing my bottle since it's debut and should the day come that I'm down to my last 5ml, it's more than likely that I will be fronting the money for another bottle to nurture the nostalgia this scent brings me, perfume-expiration-theories be damned. It's a bit funny looking back on the marketing for Fame. Gaga was really driving home the narrative that this was a fragrance for dirty girls, bad girls, hookers, mistresses, strippers, etc. Girls who love sex, money, power and fame. I recall she even said in an interview that the longevity was weak because she thinks its hot and sensual to re-spray perfume throughout the day (I think I agree.) The reality is that Fame is an extremely pleasant light-sweet feminine scent that is not nearly as dirty and vulgar as the press coverage would lead one to believe. Even though the visuals and story were a bit incongruent with the actual scent profile, I do think Fame is a very lovely white floral perfume that stands the test of time. J'adore.

I was lucky enough to find a small 15 ml bottle of this + a tube of body lotion with the same smell. As a fan of Queen Gaga, I needed to have it. The way it goes on completely clear astonished me. She really knew what she was doing. You have to be careful when you wear white or other light colours, though, because it may stain. As soon as I sprayed it, it was very opulent, dark, strong and almost masculine. I swear the smell reminded me of gummy bears mixed with incense. The honey and the apricot along with belladonna and lots of incense seem to be the first notes I could recognize. Two minutes later, the smoky and slightly masculine scent was gone, revealing the beautiful flowers. The orchid and the jasmine were quite prominent and stayed on my skin until the perfume wore off completely. Its performance is kinda lackluster which may be due to its age or improper storing. It is a skin scent within 30 minutes and it becomes extremely faint after three hours. Overall, it lasts around 4 hours which may differ depending on the amount of sprays. I had to press my nose to my skin in order to feel it. However, if you layer it with the lotion, it should perform better. I am planning on saving the perfume for special occasions or just for the sake of owning it. The lotion keeps its strong incense-like smell better and does not change as drastically as the perfume. The good thing is that I can simply use the lotion and enjoy this divine smell without worrying about wasting the actual thing. The fragrance overall smells expensive. It is quite different compared to the typical celebrity perfumes. It is not the sickly sweet floral fruity gourmand perfume that many celebrities opt for. Gaga, pleaseee consider re-releasing it! Bottle: 10/10 Scent: 7.5/10 Sillage: 5/10 Longevity: 6/10 Price value: well, wish you luck in finding it :) Overall: 7/10 really appealing Her other fragrance, Eau de Gaga, is astonishing as well! It is one of my favourites.

I used to use this perfume in high school, and was very sad when it got discontinued because had I known I would have bought a few bottles while it was in stores and still reasonably priced. Yesterday I remembered it and checked on ebay, turns out as an adult with disposable income I can finally afford the listings on ebay, so I one-click paid and instantly forgot about it. This morning I see that it has arrived in the mail, and I get so excited I sprayed it straight out of the package, and scent memory really is strong because it has remained my favourite scent even though the last time I would have smelled it would have been in 2013? so I instantly realised I had to track down this perfume and buy more so I don't ever run out again and/or find a more readily available and afforded dupe. There's a listing in my area for $250 AU and I'm really tempted to make an offer even though that is not within my budget for a perfume (my regular perfume buy-price would be somewhere between $30-40). I'm ready to make this scent my personality again and wear it every day for the next month, especially when the Joker Folie à Deux film comes out next month and there's also slutty slutty Halloween to look forward to (I'm doing charli xcx and my bestie is doing troye sivan) this scent definitely reminds me of dancing at the club, having s-- in a car or in a deserted street or alleyway, really sweaty live music gigs. I can id the jasmine and incense notes very easily on first wear. It already has more longevity than Cloud by Ariana (which is the perfume most regularly in use within my rotation), I haven't yet been able to compare reactions from others - whether this perfume smells as good to others without the nostalgia factor as it does to me. I love this and want to smell like this every day though. If you have a bottle that you don't care for feel free to message me and I'll take it off your hands or offer to buy it 💕

I watched 'A Star Is Born' last night and it seems very fitting that my bottle of Fame arrived today. I didn't pay this fragrance much heed when it was selling off pharmacy countertops, but I was intrigued by the bottle. In those days, I had less money to spend and celebrity perfumes seemed too cheap and gimicky. Fame is the Queen of gimicky, but it doesn't seem as cheap. I scored one of the original deluxe bottles with the metal claw cap on eBay; I don't know how it compares to the more widely sold edition with the plastic cap, but it is warm and sweet. The opposing notes within it seem to resonate much like the paradox of the black juice that sprays clear. Like Lady Gaga herself, beautiful and yet somehow the opposite of beautiful at the very same time. I think of her character in A Star Is Born saying that if it wasn't for her nose, she would have been famous long ago. While the truth is that it's her unusualness that makes her so damned gorgeous. If only we could all be made to feel that in spite of our flaws, in fact because of them, we are uniquely beautiful. I'm being sentimental, but I think I've got the gist of it and I am experiencing opposing ideas of whether I should keep this black beauty on my dresser where it can be admired or whether to lock it away in the dark to keep it safe for posterity. It's not a revolutionary combination of notes and I find the push pull technology somewhat schizophrenic. I read one comment stating that Fame was nearly close to what it should be but it never quite got there. But perhaps that's the point. Like everything else Lady Gaga does; from a dress made out of meat to her cloven hoove stilettos, Fame encapsulates the shock art nature that screams out and radiates through her skin. If you are lucky enough to own a bottle, keep hold of it. If you don't, perhaps it's fitting to let your memory of it float away as a moment lost in time.

My all time favourite perfume. I remember the summer of 2012 when this came out I was on holiday with my family and it was a beautiful summer filled with lots of lovely memories. I brought my first bottle the day I went to see Gaga perform in London during her Born This Way Ball and the smell still takes me back to that day. I loved it. I sprayed it with abandon everyday to go to school and my friends all loved it and even had their own bottles of it too. I must have got through at least 5 small bottles before I go my first 100ml masterpiece and it felt so luxurious and expensive in my hand with the cold metal. The incense and apricot come out the most with a mix of sticky honey and sweet orchid. Gaga said in a interview she intended that this fragrance not stick around long on the skin and she loves sprayed and applying perfume throughout the day which I agree with. The lasting power for me is about 5 hours and projection is quite intense for the first 2 hours before it softens down. This perfume sold like hot cakes and smashed all records of fragrance in the first couple of years it was out. It being discontinued absolutely broke me as I only have 2 50ml bottles left both about half full. I saw a clip of Gaga saying she didn’t like selling perfume as she didn’t like being used to make people money, I just hope now that she has set up Has Laboratories once again for her make up line she will soon rerelease this. I emailed Haus labs to see if they had anything special coming up for the 10 year anniversary of Fame and they said since they were not the original manufacturers (coty my absolute most hated company ever) made this they did not have any plans but would pass my feedback on. Makes me sad as I know the demand for this perfume is huge even though lots of people hate it and things it’s boring lots of people like me love it and cannot do without it.