Celebrity fragrances are big business nowadays. It seems like every celebrity and why-are-they-a-celebrity has a perfume. Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Jennifer Lopez, Paula Abdul, Jessica Simpson, Hilary Duff, Celine Dion, Antonio Banderas… it’s like a who’s who of fading divas. Their fragrances are never remarkable.

When I told my husband that Prince was releasing his own fragrance line, he said, “um, what?” Almost any other celebrity, I would just roll my eyes and ignore it. But Prince is different. He is odd by nature, so this just doesn’t seem odd at all. And all of his odd stuff has (or seems to have) a modicum of thought and quality behind it, so I did not discount Prince.

Glad I didn’t. 3121 is a surprisingly complicated scent. An initial sniff made me wary – it was quite heavy, almost oriental, and I am not a fan of either scent. But a quick spritz on the wrist and it immediately mellowed. It was still somewhat heady, but not overwhelming, and did not induce headache. The notes in 3121 are numerous: bergamot, jasmine, gardenia, patchouli, sandalwood, musk, and tuberose are just some that you will find.

Packaging is a very important part of product marketing. In the beauty industry, this seems to be even more important. When asked why they like Stila cosmetics, for example, most women will first answer that the adorable packaging caught their eye over everything else. 3121 fragrance doesn’t disappoint in the looks department, either. The faceted bottle is meant to resemble an emerald-cut diamond (or an amethyst since, in keeping with Prince’s tradition, the bottle is clear, but the fragrance itself has a faint purple tinge). And that gold panel on the bottle? That’s not painted on; that’s 22 karats of gold, baby. Yes, even your dressing table deserves some bling.

First it was Prince and purple. Then it was his symbol. Now he is identifying himself with the number 3121, the address on his Hollywood Hills home. His new album is titled 3121 (with several 3121 number combinations hidden throughout). His Las Vegas club at the Rio Hotel is called 3121 (incidentally, rumor has it that he chose the Rio Hotel to host his club because the exterior is purple). And now his fragrance is called 3121. But it doesn’t stop there. The 30 ml bottle will retail for $31.21. Fun-with-numbers doesn’t stop there. The fragrance debuted on 07/07/07, and in the first 24 hours of sales, 7% of sales of the 30 ml bottle were divided between 7 different charities.

The fragrance is available for purchase from 3121perfume.com and at select Macy’s stores. How can you say no to these eyes?