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.

I think this perfume should win some kind of award for the greatest advertising/actual product dissonance. The black fluid, alien egg-shaped bottle and American Horror Story-esque adverts set it up to be musky, dark, spicy- almost Womanity-like (a perfume that Gaga had confessed to wearing in the past). Instead what we get is a surprisingly sweet mix of honey and apricots with a base of incense. However, I do not believe that this perfume is deserving of all the dislikes it gets on this site. I believe that the majority of people who down-voted it, did so because they were duped by the marketing and hype into believing that it would smell like one thing, and when it didn't turn out quite like they were expecting, instantly wrote it off. But take away the all the packaging, the bottle, forget you've seen those ads and just smell the perfume for what it is. The scent is not terrible, in fact it's quite nice. This perfume doesn't consist of the 3-tiered structure but has a push-pull effect, meaning that different combinations of ingredients are supposed to get brought out at different times and in different intensities on your skin. This sounds amazing but i'm confused as to how this actually works. No one ingredient stands out on me. At first the scent opens as a heavy, honeyed floral of jasmine and orchid. Then they quickly mix together to form honeyed apricots with saffron and orchid. They dry-down is a lovely indulgent mix of Incense and belladonna (though this perfume never gets too dark, despite its appearances). Scent cloud= 2 hours (moderate) Total wear time on me= 12+ hours (lasts all day) This is the perfume that I've had the most compliments on whenever i've worn it. And for all those people reading this, who get snobby about celebrity fragrances, just remember that once you're wearing it, nobody can see the bottle!

Empirically, this perfume is a mermaid - a mythical creature that no one seems to relate the same tale when discussing its nature. Every ingredient listed, save jasmine, is a synthetic creation. Belladona and orchid contribute no natural fragrance structure, so labs have gathered together to create an imaginary "like" experience. Then there's this "push-pull technique" that smacks a bit pretentious, similar to Cabotine's Gres "living-flower technique". I feel like there's quite a bit of wishful thinking shoe horned into a commercial product. Besides, mathematically, if there is a push-pull between components, then why are there only an odd number listed? This seems to be trying a bit hard to be mystical. So, let me take everyone back to the reality of the initial spray...it is heavenly! Absolutely heavenly! Honey and apricot come across as sweet, but cultured, like a debutante's jam. Then there is this undertone of florality that takes me off guard, seducing me into this momentary euphoria. If there is a smoky note of incense, it is extremely discreet, along with any notes of saffron. I've read a lot of comparisons to a grape scent. Although personally, I get only sweet fruity florals, I can see minor comparisons are plausible. Still, I hope those quips do not deter you from a delicious experience. It is a cohesive, linear perfume that I lament both its discontinuation as much as its elusive presentation. Warning: It is a dark and steamy, sensually provocative, and freshly innovative scent structure, that may cause repeated autonomic eye rolls, and momentary lapses of higher brain function. Yeah, those crazy good perfume jogs in time and space. It is most certainly worth the time to find, and the blissful moments of refection.

The friendliest incense you’ll ever smell! Personally, I see “incense” in the notes, I think “80s power suit” or “mall goth with clove cigarettes” (both of which I love!). Well... this doesn’t really give either. The incense is a gentle smokiness that adds a little sophistication, but for me, it’s dominated by fruit, flowers, and honey. The florals lean white, but I personally don’t get very much (if any) indole. I think that some of the “unusual” notes — belladonna as a jammy berry, saffron as a crisp floral — make this scent a little intriguing, and the color of the perfume helps! Despite its looks, I find this scent is approachable and shockingly inoffensive. It’s edgy pop, but it’s still pop (and I say that with love). I was obsessed with this scent about a decade ago, and so I still have a few bottles. I’d say it’s a spring/summer scent, but I use it for my day-to-day year-round (on my floral-fruity days, anyway). My coworkers, my husband, and my mother are equally delighted by it. Projection is decent; people will probably know you’re wearing a perfume of some kind. Longevity is great! I start my day at 5am, and I can still smell it when I’m coming home from the gym or a class in the evening. The scent stays pretty well, and, in my experience, doesn’t seem to change much upon wear and dry down (except for the color — don’t use this on clothes, skin only!). The black-liquid-clear-aerosol gimmick adds fun, but it doesn’t subtract from the quality. It can be so easy for a celebrity to pump out a quick gimmick scent, but Fame stood my test of time.

An exquisite honeyed floral. It lasts long on your skin, and it will project somewhat, but it's not an overwhelming scent. In the way the ingredients were blended you'll find the Lady side of Gaga. on some skins, it will unfold only in the incense / honey ways. for others, the perfumes gives way to a syrupy berry scent that is, in truth, the bella donna. it's in this dichotomy, love it or hate it, find it innovative or dull, that you'll find the Gaga side of the Lady. It reminds me of Mugler's Alien in the indolic vibes given by the jasmine. It also reminds me of the opening of Aura though, thankfully, Fame is linear. It stays pretty much the same once its particular dry down is revealed on your skin. side note: please, do not spray on clothes! the black liquid *will* stain somewhat. it is only transparent once airborne. again, the Gaga of it all coming through, over the Lady. what smells like a classy, sexy, uptown floral is a threat to something as mundane as clothes. Also, as much as I love this perfume, I will agree with those who have commented and begged people not to pay for the overpriced ones found on Ebay. if you get a good deal, go for it, but do NOT get conned out of income you know ain't disposable. Lady Gaga Fame is a lovely memento of a pop culture moment now gone, but it isn't one of the most revolutionary scents you will encounter. I say this as a Little Monster myself.

I'm so late to this. Even though I've tried my fair share of celeb perfumes (and I loved quite a few of them & still do) I was never really into Lady Gaga in particular and completely missed this release back in the day. I recently got a few various used perfume samples with an order from someone who was clearly trying to get rid of them. One of these was a 10 ml decant of Fame. My first reaction was "uh more clutter". I took a sniff though and I knew there was something about it, I had to try it. I still ended up procrastinating for weeks... The first time I finally used it was on a lovely mellow spring night when I had to go grocery shopping very late, barely any people, the city was peaceful and quiet, and on my way back, there were suddenly fireworks close to the main road. And I was feeling this soft apricot orchid nectar. It was so simple, pleasant and perfect. I absolutely understand why people find this underwhelming - I don't think the bottle or the concept really matches this scent. It's very safe and nice and sweet and wearable. This perfume is more like 2018 Lady Gaga singing Shallow with Bradley Cooper than anything. But that's alright. I love this so much, a full bottle is on the way (it was surprisingly hard to find).

For years, I searched for the perfect perfume. I was and continue to be unimpressed with the majority of perfumes out there- very generic, too sweet or just odd-smelling and unwearable. I am a huge fan of vanilla candles, honey, nutty and musky scents, however, most perfumes kick the floral component to the top, so the sweetness is quite sickening (Britney Spears- Midnight Fantasy for example). I am a huge fan of Lady Gaga and when the fragrance launched I was a middle-schooler and didn't have the money to buy this perfume, but the memory of it stuck with me. Years later, a good friend of mine reintroduced me to this scent by wearing it on herself and it smelled incredibly intoxicating and sexy and I was immediately hooked. The minus of this scent is that it fades somewhat quickly and u should give it 3-4 sprays if you want the scent to radiate from you. I consider the longevity to be secondary, as it is my favorite scent in the whole world, and would recommend it to everyone who wants to smell like a Succubus. PS. The bottle design and the black liquid makes it a great statement piece on my shelf. It looks very chic, yet edgy. Thank god for Lady Gaga and her many talents.

Loved it since 2018 but still in my first bottle since then. May be biased due to my love of Gaga so take it with a grain of salt. To me, Fame is sweet smoky florals. I barely smell anything too fruity in the fragrance so I think the fruitiness lives in the undertones. I wouldn’t say the smokiness is dominating either but I think it is enough for me to be able to pick it up apart than any other “mainstream fruity floral scent” out there. May be the start to my adoration to incense and smoky notes in fragrances as its sweet disposition makes it more accessible to like smokier notes in fragrances. I don’t think the smell changes throughout the hours using the perfume so I suppose it smells linear to me. Absolutely adore this fragrance in the cold winter nights as it shines a bit more with its smoky-floral attribute. I also agree that it has bitter qualities to it after some time of wear but I personally think it helps better the scent as the bitterness isn’t off-putting to me. Projection is better than Eau de Gaga at around arm-lengthed-radius in the outdoor winter but can spread slightly more/better indoor. Longevity is fair at around 3-6 hours for me.

Been a Little Monster ever since the day Gaga stepped out of the limo and just danced her way into my heart, so perhaps i am biased when it comes to this scent, But to me till date remains a fruity floral scent offset by deep honeyed incense which makes for a soft well mannered scent which is a mix of smokey fruits, honey with a dark floral pinch, which in my books is totally well above okay, and like its creator Lady Gaga its a love from me. Sillage- Sprayed under clothes and on wrist points makes for a fairly average projecting scent, which in this case is not a bad thing, it makes the scent more lean closer captivation. Longevity- it varies from 3 to 7 hours. (differing mileage at differing times means i am always intrigued by it) Uniqueness- Despite it smelling familiar it is not wholly unoriginal, to be fair it is quite unique whilst remaining oddly reminiscent of other scents, much like how Gaga is to Music critics. Rating- 8/10 (perhaps i am biased, but ive been into fragrances since i was a junior so yeah i may be biased but i love this. Lady Gaga has my heart always scent wiise and talent wise. im her Monster for life

I ADORE this perfume and have for years. I can't remember what enticed me to try it initially--I can't claim to be a Lady Gaga fan and I used to avoid celebrity fragrances due to their less than stellar reputation. Perhaps it was the gorgeously dramatic bottle or the black liquid? It truly does look beautiful on display. Now onto the nitty gritty. The prevailing notes are the honey and incense; I really don't smell anything else but I honestly don't mind that. The honey is quite intense when first sprayed but dries down into rich, warm, wintery cosiness that I find difficult to describe. Upon reflection I find it weird that I even like this fragrance. Why? Because I really, *really* don't like honey. And yet this is just delicious. Do I get why it's polarising? Absolutely. But this fragrance is truly special to me for its permanent association with Christmas and dark wintery nights snuggled up with a thick blanket and a good book. Give it a try; you might just have found an unlikely favourite.

I understand everyone's frustration with this scent because of its marketing and advertisements. This was touted to be an off the wall, unique, and unforgiving fragrance. Unfortunately, this fragrance is none of those things. But with that being said, I really adore this perfume. It's quite fruity and juicy smelling, but not in a young and girly way. To me, the honey is present but it's not an overwhelming amount of honey. Honestly, I don't really like honey in scents, it just always smells off to me. Fortunately, this application is pretty demure. I think I get a hint of a floral in here but it's not really all that pronounced, just very soft. As for the incense, well... that's not really present i'm afraid. But, I find this fragrance worn best in mild weather, not too cold, not too hot. Also, if you're into mixing scents, I love to mix this with Victoria's Secret Love Spell. If you're into both Lady Gaga Fame, and Love Spell, I would recommend layering them.

11 years after its release, I bought fame. A perfume shop has it on its online store (im from argentina, so its weird they have it). Im a big gaga fan, so probably my review is biased but I do think it is unique and smells nice. The note breakdown and the way haus of labs promoted it like a perfume without a note pyramid confuses me but I think I get honey & apricot. Its sweet but also dark. Like something covering those notes with a veil. Probably is the incense. I really like it. Its like a perfume before the gourmand crazyness (circa 2010), it has a personality. My mind made an association I cant get rid off: smells like fabric softener. Like that "texture" you get when you smell fabric softener. Finally... the glass of the bottle is cheap, looks dirty. The liquid really is black and the cap is cool and made of metal. What else can i say... i kinda love it

THE GREATEST CELEBRITY PERFUME TO EVER EXIST. The perfume itself is so innovative being the first black liquid perfume. SCENT is a strong powder/floral scent which I love, it smells youthful and suits night time more (think clubbing and late night hook ups). For those saying the lid is cheap, no it's not. It's design is one of a kind and miles above most I've seen. If you buy the 100 ml, the perfume comes with a gold metal cap which you don't really find with many perfumes. The cap can oxidise over a long period but you can easily clean it with a bi-carb mix. LASTING POWER is amazing, it stays on my clothes days or even weeks after I've sprayed it. I'm also pretty sure it's the highest selling celebrity scent, grossing roughly $1 billion. This perfume is definitely my favourite of all time, nothing has topped it yet. Perfume Queen Rating: 5 out of 5

I am OBSESSED with this fragrance. I've never smelled anything like it. When it first came out I begged my parents for it but they never caved. A few months ago I saw a cheap bottle online and snagged it. I'm now absolutely addicted to it, and naturally its impossible to find and super over priced I've gone to dozens of perfume stores looking for anything even remotely similar and I've come up empty handed. What I love most about Fame is its adaptability. It really compliments your body chemistry. Fame smells like Saturday nights in a home full of old wooden furniture, with incense burning and fresh cut fruit on the table. Warm candles burning, flowers in a glass vase. I could be having the worst day imaginable but a few spritzes of fame and I feel beautiful. That being said, the roller ball smells way more floral and fruity, stick to the bottle.

i remember being in my early 20's and smelling "fame" and wishing i had the funds to own it! after 11 years of it's release, i can finally say i own a bottle of this beauty! it was not easy getting this since most of these are being resold for $300+ online. i was lucky enough to get it brand new and wayyy cheap! i'm so happy! i love the concept of a "black fluid" fragrance and i don't think it's ever been done before? but it smells the opposite of what it looks like which is so interesting to me. fame is actually "honey" sweet with some floral and it's definitely a mood booster! sure "fame" isn't anything unique or anything that hasn't been done before... but here i am spraying it in 2023 and it smells like something gaga released today; special and timeless.

I have been a huge Lady Gaga fan for over a decade so I fully admit I may be biased...but this perfume is heavenly. I’ve gone through multiple bottles since the original release. It’s a dark and sexy floral with some sweetness and it has me sniffing my wrists all day long. I don’t think I’ll ever use up my current bottle since it’s discontinued but it really is an amazing scent. The bottle itself is gorgeous as well of course! Love love love everything about this fragrance. It’s unique for my personal collection, the other floral perfumes I have don’t smell anything like this. My favorite time to wear this is during a fall evening/night when I want something sexy, but I will wear it any time because I love it.