Mariah Carey Perfumes & Colognes

A singer with a five-octave range and a fragrance line that has outsold most of the designers it sits beside.

M, 2007

Mariah Carey’s first fragrance arrived at the point when celebrity perfume had stopped being a novelty and become a serious business. It sold in large numbers, and a long run of releases followed — Luscious Pink, Forever, Lollipop Bling, and a Christmas-themed edition that sells every December for obvious reasons.

Marshmallow and vanilla

Warm and sweet, mostly — marshmallow, vanilla, coconut and soft florals recur through the line, and several of them tilt frankly gourmand. They are designed to be comforting rather than sophisticated, and they perform well for the price.

M itself is the most grown-up of them: a floral musk with a slightly powdery finish, closer to a department store release than to the candy end of the line.

The Christmas one

It is worth noting that a fragrance tied to a song that returns to the charts every December has a commercial life most launches never get. Seasonal buying keeps the whole line in circulation.

For sweet, comforting fragrance currently on our shelves, see Lattafa and Moschino.