By Lauren Bishop
Enquirer staff writer

Abby Worstell of Taylor Mill, KY. with Barbie perfume, Catherine Clay of Hyde Park with Taste perfume by Jessica Simpson, and Dale Marie Pontz of North Avondale with Curious perfume by Britney Spears. (The Enquirer/Brandi Stafford)

She's had more than 80 careers, ranging from photographer to pilot to presidential candidate. She's owned more than 43 pets. She adds about 100 new items to her wardrobe every year. Now, Barbie finally has her own fragrance - called, simply, "Barbie."

Despite Barbie's instantly recognizable face on the pink packaging, her fragrance isn't just for little girls, say her creators.

To test that, we enlisted a grown woman - 32-year-old Abby Worstell, an administrative assistant from Taylor Mill - to test-drive the floral fragrance. One man sitting in front of her on the bus told her he liked it better than his wife's Bath & Body Works products. Women she talked to said it smelled "fresh and floral," "like honeysuckle" and even "like a river." (She didn't like it, apparently.)

What's that you're wearing?

Can't smell the difference between perfume, eau de toilette and cologne? Here's a guide. • Perfume contains the highest amount of fragrance concentration - around 15-30 percent - and the least amount of alcohol. It's the purest form of fragrance and the most expensive as a result. • Eau de parfum has a fragrance concentration of 8-15 percent. The most popular and common form of fragrance, it's long-lasting and doesn't cost as much as perfume. • Eau de toilette contains 4-8 percent of fragrance essence. It has a lighter scent that doesn't last as long as perfume or eau de parfum. • Eau de cologne, the most diluted fragrance, contains less than 4 percent fragrance.What's that you're wearing?Can't smell the difference between perfume, eau de toilette and cologne? Here's a guide. • Perfume contains the highest amount of fragrance concentration - around 15-30 percent - and the least amount of alcohol. It's the purest form of fragrance and the most expensive as a result. • Eau de parfum has a fragrance concentration of 8-15 percent. The most popular and common form of fragrance, it's long-lasting and doesn't cost as much as perfume. • Eau de toilette contains 4-8 percent of fragrance essence. It has a lighter scent that doesn't last as long as perfume or eau de parfum. • Eau de cologne, the most diluted fragrance, contains less than 4 percent fragrance.

Worstell even solicited opinions from fragrance experts at Saks Fifth Avenue and Lazarus-Macy's. The general consensus was positive, and one said it reminded him of Paris by Yves Saint Laurent - coincidentally Worstell's signature scent years ago. Her own verdict?

"Overall, I would have to agree with the majority," she says. "Barbie is subtle - so light, in fact, that I practically had to touch the nose of my subjects in order for them to smell it. It's floral and sweet, without a doubt."

But Worstell says she wouldn't wear it again, mostly because it reminds her too much of Floral Fantasy, an Avon perfume she wore in high school in the late '80s.

Three other testers

Rather than let Worstell have all the fun, we found three other women willing to test-drive some new fragrances from some real-life Barbies: pop singers Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson and Beyonce.

Erin Federman, 27, and Catherine Clay, 32, both of Hyde Park, wanted to try Beyonce's True Star. ("If only in hopes that I'd get her body by osmosis," says Federman.) To be fair, we flipped a coin, and Federman won.

So was she crazy in love with it? She says her first impression was that it was clean, earthy and sweet, and that others told her it smells "like the beach," "clean," "like laundry detergent" or "like something expensive." The only negative comment was that it smelled "cheap." But Federman, who works in marketing, says most people didn't notice it.

"I didn't have anyone say, 'Ooh! What are you wearing?' " she says. "That happens all the time when I wear my favorite scent - Givenchy Amarige."

Tips for wearing fragrance

• Do apply fragrances directly to your skin when you're testing new scents. You can't get a true reaction to the fragrance from the bottle. • Don't try more than three scents at one time when you're fragrance shopping. Your nose will lose its ability to tell the difference. • Do wait at least 10 minutes after you have applied a fragrance to make your final judgment on it. By that time, the alcohol will have evaporated and the blending of the fragrance with your own skin's chemistry will give you a true impression. • Don't expose your fragrances to extreme cold or heat. Perfumes fade and change character with time, and long exposure to strong sunlight or extreme temperatures can disturb the delicate balance of the perfume and change its scent. Perfume should be kept in a cool, dry place, preferably in its box. • Don't put fragrance directly on furs or fabrics. It may stain. Source: The Fragrance Foundation

Clay, who works in advertising, sampled Jessica Simpson's Deliciously Kissable fragrance from the singer's new line, Taste. Fortunately, none of her co-workers tried to do anything other than smell the scent from Simpson's line of edible cosmetics, although most could pick up the coconut and vanilla scents immediately, Clay says. But she also says it was so light that no one noticed it. And the fragrance didn't exactly take her breath away (or her boyfriend's).

"I think it's only appropriate for her target demographic - 13- to 16-year-old girls," Clay says. "I doubt that 32-year-old women like myself would want to walk around smelling like cotton candy, but hey, I could very well be wrong."

Fragrance curious

Dale Marie Pontz, 25, a communications instructor at the University of Cincinnati , was curious about Spears' perfume, called Curious. The North Avondale resident says it reminds her of herself not too long ago, minus the annulled Vegas wedding and subsequent engagement to someone else.

Pontz says her close girlfriends said Curious has a musky smell that interfered with the floral overtones but that most guys liked it. She almost ran into trouble, though, when soliciting feedback from a male nose at a party over Labor Day weekend. (The man's girlfriend was watching.)

"Everyone was surprised it was Britney. They all said they expected it to be a little trashier-smelling," she says. "They were surprised that it smelled so ... nice."

E-mail lbishop@enquirer.com