The Top 10 Best & Most Pricey Perfumes

Many stylists and beauty experts say a fragrance completes an outfit and complements a person's personality. The perfect perfume adds a whiff of style to an attire while the right scent can guarantee a grand entrance, and exit, to the wearer. Here, are 10 of the best and most pricey perfumes which certainly are not common scents.

SHALINI

With an exotic name like Shalini, one can expect its perfume to be precious and pricey. Shalini Parfum's Shalini fragrance is rich in ylang ylang, neroli and coriander that are blended with musk, sandalwood, vanilla and tuberose. Shalini fragrance costs US$900 or a 2.2 oz bottle made by Lalique.

CARON'S POIVRE

The 101-year-old French perfume company has a fragrance called Caron's Poivre that is priced at US$2,000 (2oz). Concocted in 1954, Poivre means pepper in French and the scent certainly lives up to its name. The fragrance is a vibrant blend of black and red pepper, cloves as well as other spices. It is suitable for both sexes.

IMPERIAL MAJESTY

AT US$215,000 a bottle, Imperial Majesty is a perfume fit for royalty. The limited edition signature scent by British designer-turned-perfumer Clive Christian is known to be the most expensive perfume in the world. The fragrance, with ingredients like ylang ylang, vanilla and sandalwood, and also known simply as No. 1, is tagged at US$2,150 an ounce. Unveiled at Harrods in London and Bergdorf Goodman in New York recently, the perfume is poured into a Baccarat crystal bottle encrusted with a five-carat diamond on the 18-carat gold collar. Three of five bottles, each containing 16.9 oz, were sold at the launch.

LES LARMES SACREES De THEBES

Famous for its pure and exquisite crystals, Baccarat ventured into the perfume business in the late 1990s by introducing three limited-edition fragrances. Currently hot on accarat's perfume shelf is Les Larmes Sacrées de Thebes at the Roja Dove Haute Parfumerie at Harrods, in London. Tagged at US$1,700 (0.25oz) the scent by the French brand is contained in a Baccarat crystal, pyramid-shaped bottle. Its ingredients such as frankincense and myrrh evoke the exotic and mysterious scents used by royalty of ancient Egypt.

BOLT OF LIGHTNING BY JAR PARFUMS

The price for a Bolt of Lightning is US$765 (1oz). We're talking about JAR Parfums' fragrance that's said to have a strong and dramatic aroma. JAR stands for the name of famous jeweller Joel A. Rosenthal, who designed the fragrance and the bottle. Bolt of Lightning is contained in hand - cut glass bottles and is only available in two of its boutiques in Paris.

JOY by JEAN PATOU

Introduced in 1935 (at the peak of the depression period), Joy was dubbed "the world's most expensive perfume". Today Joy remains one of the the world's most expensive perfumes due to its costly ingredients. Created for Patou by Henri Alméras, the concoction includes 10,600 flowers and 28 dozen roses, 10 per cent of which are exotic and expensive Bulgarian rose and jasmine. Which is why it costs three times the price of a regular perfume. In its purest parfum form, Joy is tagged at US$800 (1 oz).

EAU d'HADRIEN by ANNICK GOUTAL

Former model and award-winning pianist Annick Goutalʼs fragrances have a cult following. One of her popular perfumes, the fresh and citrusy Eau d'Hadrien was once available in a limited-edition Baccarat crystal bottle which cost a cool US$1,500 (3.4 oz). The aroma comprises scents of grapefruit and Sicilian lemons among others.

HERMES'S 24 FAUBOURG

The coveted French brand is not only known for its elusive Birkin and Kelly bags but also its feminine scent, 24 Faubourg. Once, crystal manufacturer St Louis created 1,000 limited-edition bottles of the fragrance with a price tag of US$1,500 (1 oz) each. The perfume contains a sweet blend of iris, rose, orange blossom and other florals.

CHANEL No. 5

It is probably the most famous fragrance in the world, thanks to its sweet and timeless powdery scent, and Marilyn Monroe, who once declared that she never slept with anything on except for a few drops of Chanel No. 5. Created by legendary French couturier, the late Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921, it is also said to be the first perfume to bear a designer's name and has since set a standard for designer perfumes. An oversized crystal bottle (15.2 oz) of Chanel No. 5 in its purest parfum form can be yours at US$1,850.