Beyonce Giselle Knowles-Carter is an entertainment powerhouse. Throughout her 16-year career, she’s sold over 118 million records as a solo artist and 60 million with Destiny’s Child. She’s won 17 Grammy Awards. And she’s been named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. That said, Beyonce has also built a strong signature fragrance business in partnership with Coty. That deal was inked after the singer signed on as the face of Tommy Hilfiger’s “True Star” scent. (She sang a cover version of Wishing on a Star for the tv commercial.)
In 2010, Beyonce launched her first, and arguably best, fragrance called Heat. Here’s the interview from that launch in New York City where the singer explains her first memories of fragrance and what inspires her today.
Beyonce: In her words.
My first memory of fragrance is my mother. I remember being a young girl and hearing her in her stilettos click, click, clicking on the hardwood floor and she wore a beautiful fragrance. She would walk past me and the perfume would just stay in the room and it just gives me such a warm feeling when I think about her. I realize how important it is to have all of these memories. And, I think a lot about all of my icons, and they all have their own fragrance, so it seems like such an accomplishment to have my own.
I used to play with my mother’s antique bottles and they would have these beautiful tops with gold accents, which is my favourite colour. And when you think of heat you think of power, and fire, and sensuality, and being desired – I know I write a lot my songs for women and I want them to feel strong, like they can take over the room and I want them to feel like they can seduce any man with this fragrance. It’s very important that the men like this fragrance. One of the reasons I chose red is because it’s very strong and romantic.
Well it feels like it’s been a very long process to create this fragrance but I couldn’t be happier. I’m very proud of the fragrance. I’m so thrilled with every aspect, from the bottle right down to the juice of the fragrance, and the name. Every little detail is very personal, so I’m extremely proud.
Filming the tv commercial was more like a film but it was great because I got to work with Jake Nava who shot Single Ladies and Crazy In Love, which I think is some of my best my work. So it was a really easy chemistry and it was very sensual singing.
I wanted my first fragrance to be original and I didn’t want it to be like all of the other celebrity fragrances. I wanted it to have different textures and it to be long-lasting. During my childhood, my family cooked with a lot spices, so I wanted to be able to actually smell the spice mixture of something fiery and sensual.
I wanted something simple, and something that would last forever and never go out of style. And also something modern – the fire, the heat, I mean it also sounds really sexy when a man asks, “What are you wearing?”
And the Grammy’s was a big night for me, my husband said, “You won six Grammy’s and you smell good.” So, I’m really proud of it. If I had one scent that was my signature scent it would be Heat.