PR queen Roxy Jacenko’s new project smells like old news
PR queen Roxy Jacenko and her chicken heiress pal have shifted focus to a new business but just how are they going to get their inspiration for tedious signature scented candles, Annette Sharp asks.
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Just when we dared hope Australia’s pseudo celebrity class had abandoned the tedious signature scented candle category, along comes Roxy Jacenko and her pal, the chicken heiress, with a plan to unleash a range of candles they no doubt hope will throw some shade on Gwyneth Paltrow’s vagina.
By which I mean Paltrow‘s vagina-scented candle of course.
Now the one question begging to be answered, is where will publicist Jacenko and the Sydney chicken heiress look for inspiration? In which location, experience, or jar will they search for the germ for their enterprise?
Days after the pair announced the venture, some suggested the women may take a leaf out of megastar Paltrow’s book and try to create their own “rose wrapped in suede” fragrance — a compound that says “gorgeous, beautiful, unexpected” vagina (from Gwynnie’s own marketing paraphernalia) like no other scent.
Paltrow’s essence has been a disruptive force in the segment with the This Smells Like My Vagina candle retailing for $107 on her Goop site, not the top end of the market but pricey none-the-less.
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But surely Jacenko plans to aim a little lower in the signature scent category, though possibly not as low as Paris Hilton’s Passport Paris.
Hilton’s “juicy” scent range now retails for roughly as much as a Hungry Jacks Double Whopper burger ($8.90) though, some would say, holds considerably less appeal with Aussie men when dabbed behind the ears.
It seems more likely Jacenko and the chicken heiress will aim for the middle of the segment, at a price point akin to Kyly Clarke‘s Lyfestyled musk massage candle, whatever that is, something the former grid girl once revealed she rubbed on her cricketer husband Michael Clarke in the days when there was still a spark — and probably some sexy hot candle wax drips — between them.
That was before he packed his cricket bags and started hanging out with hubris-scented fashion designer Pip Edwards.
But I digress, we were contemplating the heady top notes of one who was once married to the brother of slain Sydney gangster John Macris, as the chicken heiress was, and those of her BFF, Jacenko, whose own husband, Oliver Curtis, served jail time for corporate crime, in a stick of wax.
It’s possible Jacenko, who once, as was observed by media (yes, OK by me …), had a full blown fashion obsession with former Miss Universe entrant Jesinta Franklin, may again have the AFL WAG in her sights with her latest venture.
In 2015 Campbell released a range of candles in direct competition to Clarke.
“I’ve always loved candles, every room in my house has at least one in it, so why not make my own?” Campbell informed media at the time, hinting that the life of a WAG left her with time on her hands.
With the pandemic impacting the PR industry, Jacenko too has found herself with more time on her hands of late.
The recession has smashed the various industries Jacenko once serviced — fashion, food, events — hence the appeal of the multibillion-dollar scented candle industry, one largely driven by the celebrity fans’ desire to capture the aura of a person they greatly admire and hope to emulate. A role model in uncertain times.
Locally there may be some who still want to bottle and take home the aura of a Sydney PR woman who once was runner-up on The Celebrity Apprentice and her chicken heiress BFF.
And so to my original point, if one did want to take home that scent, what would such a candle smell like?
The general consensus is a kind of inescapable spicy chicken McNugget meets Kings Cross nightclub meets new luxury new car scent. But then again the pair might just go with gardenia.
Originally published as PR queen Roxy Jacenko’s new project smells like old news