As you're shopping for perfume, you can't help but notice that most perfume counters have more celebrity names than a movie marquee. It's not just designers like Calvin Klein or Coco Chanel affixing their names to perfume bottles, it's singers like Beyonce or Celine Dion, actresses like Elizabeth Taylor, and even pop icons from Britney Spears to Paris Hilton. Is this for real? What on earth do these people know about fine fragrance?

Judging by the perfume counter, you'd think they knew a lot. Fragrances by celebrities are big right now (just check out a fashion magazine) and it appears the trend is still on the upswing. So are they good fragrance choices?

Some people figure it's just a marketing gambit and walk away. Others would argue that a celebrity would likely only endorse a product they liked, so perhaps it's more like a "seal of approval." And who knows more about glamour than some of the folks who attach their names to perfume bottles?

The role a celebrity plays in developing a fragrance varies a lot from product to product and celebrity to celebrity. Some celebrities play a very active role in developing a fragrance, others just have approval rights and let a team of experts work out a fragrance that's marketable. Sarah Jessica Parker allegedly obsessed over her fragrance as it was in the works and Brittney Spears reportedly had some input on the bottle and packaging design of her scent Curious.

It's hard to say if that is true or part of the marketing spin on these products. Most right-thinking celebrities do not endorse products lightly (even if some do it frequently). But is the endorsement deal based on love or money?

The perfume industry has been a moneymaker for the last, say, 18 centuries. Individual perfumes make money based on the extent to which sales can offset research and production. Since a very fine perfume may be sold for years--generations even--a classic perfume can make its manufacturer a great deal of money over time. But not all perfumes become classics.

The idea of a "person behind the fragrance" is nothing new. Perhaps Coco Chanel created that mystique when she unveiled Chanel No. 5, a perfume she did not invent and marketed by a company she was involved with. However, Coco Chanel quickly became Chanel No. 5's "persona" which was a boon both to her own career and legend as well as the perfume (it's been around since 1923).

Designers have always had fragrances. From Christian Dior to Paco Rabanne, from Calvin Klein to Vera Wang, it's almost obligatory for a design house to have a perfume. Even luxury brands (not designers) have signature scents: Tiffany, Coach, Burberry.

It was only a matter of time before that sphere extended to include American royalty, that is, movie stars, singers, and celebrities. At first, famous women merely served as spokespeople for the perfume. Today, they are more likely to have their name on the bottle than on the ad.

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