Developing the scent was a two-year process, and the Napanee native had a hand in everything—she went to “a whole lot of meetings,” and contributed to the print campaign, the bottle and the commercial, which features a purpose-written song, “Black Star,” that will also appear on the new record. “I’ve never done anything like this before, so there’s a whole new process that I’ve never experienced,” says Lavigne. “It totally opened my eyes.”
Part of her job was being a muse to the perfumers, who were tasked with rendering in scent the personality of a singer who can moon a crowd (as she did at the 2003 MMVAs) and still be endearing enough for parents to allow their adolescent daughters to sport “I heart Avril” T-shirts. “Avril’s character and personal style are very clear,” says Will Andrews, a member of the P&G Prestige fragrance team. “[The fragrance] had to be girlie, edgy and energetic—a fusion of charm and energy in a bottle.”
Lavigne gave the noses another clever jumping-off point by noting the parallels in the construction of the notes, chords and choruses in songwriting and fragrance notes and signatures. Black Star’s top note has the “edgy, dynamic sparkle” of green pear, which provides the “sweet, attractive liveliness of an intro,” explains Andrews. At the heart—or the chorus, to continue the song analogy—is black plum and pink hibiscus, which the perfumer describes as “striking and flamboyant and yet delicate.” On the drydown is an accord of dark chocolate—the sweet encore from a rascal rock princess.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at the shoot for the Black Star commercial
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