What makes a slut? - Rebelle by Rihanna Review

I'm not a snob - if I like the juice I'll buy the scent, celebrity fragrance be damned! Its been a particularly sunny and humid summer this year and I needed a signature frag. I wanted something that smelt like that magic mix of fake tan, sweat, and reef tanning oil. I went to the perfume counter and told the woman vaguely that I wanted something that smelt of 'coconut' she directed me to Selena Gomez - nice to know that even in my late-20's I look like I'd be down for buying something marketed for tweens (it actually wasn't terrible, by the way!). I don't really fall in love with summery fragrances, they're like a little fling, all the most complex scents shine on cold weather and linger on scarves, leather jackets and gloves. Summer is all about the sniff, sniff, yum factor. The shop assistant brought out Rihanna's range - I was incredulous about it until I sampled - yes, it was exactly what I was after: alcopops, coconut oil, chocolate. Smells like holidays I can't afford.

 The juice itself is not bad at all for a celebrity frag. Its not what I'd call complex, but its not trying to be, its warm and sweet with good quality sillage and impressive longevity and when I wear it people say I smell good but don't ask any more questions. That's pretty much what you come for, something nice and functional, not something that makes someone stop in their tracks and say "Oh my GOD what are you wearing?"

Her website announces that its made celebrity stink history, fastest selling of all time. This has to be due to more than name and marketing alone - it is a good scent.

I was pretty shocked when I read reviews calling this one 'slutty'. I'd file this one under wholesome holiday fun - Is that a genre? More like delicious daiquiri's with tiny umbrella's - rather than a bicardi breezer.

It got me thinking on what exactly are the characteristics of a "slutty" perfume - and as an aside - fucking hell its the 21st century, when is anyone going to hip to the jive that "slut" is a made-up concept invented purely to police female sexuality. Women, let's not reclaim it, lets just let it die. That being said - I'm still going to critique, perhaps for the benefit of future cultural historians.

"I have an interesting mind but I want to smell like a slut to be totally honest." — Lady Gaga

I've been asking around and generally it seems like what makes a so-called slut perfume is that sweet crowd-pleasing, inoffensive fruity-floral combo - maybe that's the key, as Jessica Cutler  said: "Sluts are the nicest people in the world. They're people pleasers!”
 Celebrity fragrances in general are tarred with the same brush. I wonder how much of this is just a projection of the type of image that these young female celebrities project? I'm sure that Jean Carles, the nose behind Tabu, the so called perfume for whores, would find Paris Hilton for women utterly demure and banal. By contrast, Tabu is unyielding intense, complex, sharp, offensive to many.
Rihanna sang "Sex in the air, I don't care I like the smell of it" the music video is a soft fetish extravaganza - I'm imagining the logical real smell of it all would be something that most would actively avoid: duct tape, dried saliva on hot skin, the shit-lube smell of anal sex, wet dick, sweat, piss, an unexplained tang of blood. I suppose that's the facade. We all suspect the same thing, none of its real, it's all a fantasy and it's all for show. A real crowd-pleaser indeed.
As usual, slutty doesn't mean anything at all, its just an insult tacked on to anything that has been deemed uncouth or undesirable and associated with the realm of women.