I’m pretty nervous to be interviewing Nicole Scherzinger. If the 12-year-old me who used to make up dance routines to The Pussycat Dolls’ Buttons in my Juicy Couture tracksuit knew she’d be doing this, she’d freak out. Palms sweating, I walk into the private penthouse of The Dorchester hotel in London, where Nicole sits in a pastel gold dress complete with rock-chick hair rings and a hippy side plait (I feel a little less red carpet-ready in my white jeans and top). She’s cool and collected, holding her new perfume Chosen in her hands. ‘Do you like it?’ she asks wide-eyed as she stands up to shake my hand. ‘Yasss,’ I reply in my head while twerking. In reality, I politely tell her how much I frickin’ love it.
‘I wanted Chosen to represent me in every aspect,’ she explains in her sweet, slow accent. ‘It’s a dream come true to bring out a perfume and something that embodies the essence of me. I wanted it to feel light and soft, just like a woman. And who doesn’t want to feel chosen?’
And that pretty much sums up what Chosen is about – feeling special. ‘I want the people who wear it to feel one of a kind,’ she explains. ‘That’s why there’s an embedded diamond at the base of the bottle.’
It’s clear that everything about this bottle is linked to Nicole’s life. ‘I come from Hawaii, so I really wanted this to come across in Chosen. My tribal heritage is represented in the mosaic-patterned packaging and I wanted the floral essence to take people there too.’ You get a sense that she’s had a lot of input into this scent, because unlike some other celebrity perfumes, it’s meaningful to her fans and smells beautiful.
I’m blown away by the wafts of caramel, peach, orange blossom, patchouli, musk and vanilla. What a mixture. The overall smell is a sophisticated and sweet but subtle concoction – one you could wear in the day but classy enough for the evening, too. ‘I love that the patchouli and musk create mystery and edge and the caramel and vanilla are sweet and soft, just like a woman,’ she says.
I ask her where she’d wear Chosen and it’s obvious that this will actually be her signature scent. ‘I’m going to wear this all over the world. In Italy, on a boat in the South of France and even when I walk out onto the X Factor stage.’
She smiles gently and hugs Chosen, cradling it in her arms like a little baby, which it kinda is. ‘So, shall we take some selfies now?’ she asks in a serious tone. And how can you turn down a selfie session with Scherzy? ‘Sure,’ I reply. We try to find the right lighting in the room, circling as she holds my phone in her hand, totally selfie-ready. Her poor agent watches on while we take 10 minutes to get in position – head tilt, pout, sweep of hair – check, check, check.
The photo shoot wrapped (we legit took about 60 selfies) and it was time to leave.
But it was cool because I smelt shamazing AF – and still do btw.
