英国男人钟情名人香水

British and Italian men will be hoping to catch a whiff of celebrity this Christmas, according to a survey released on Friday.

Interest in celebrity fragrances has tripled among British men in the last three years and is second only to Italian men across Europe, the survey of 1,000 people in Europe released by consumer research consultants Mintel said.

Six percent of British men own a fragrance backed by a celebrity such as soccer player David Beckham compared to two percent in 2007 and 16 percent of British women.

Three quarters of British men receive fragrance at Christmas and it is British fathers, in particular those with children under five, who are the most likely to own a celebrity scent.

"Men are aware of the ability of scent to boost self-image and enhance confidence -- an important factor when job security and rising unemployment are issues -- and the increase of interest in male celebrity fragrances is reflective of this and the current marketplace," Mintel Senior European Beauty Analyst Vivienne Rudd said in a statement.

The men's fragrance market has continued to grow despite the global financial crisis, albeit at a slower pace.

Last year British men sprayed on 388 million pounds ($605 million) worth of the stuff and by the end of this year, sales of men's fragrances are set to reach almost 400 million pounds, Mintel said.

British men are only beaten by their Italian counterparts in their desire to buy celebrity fragrances. Across the big five European countries, eight percent of Italian men own celebrity fragrance compared with six percent in Spain and just four percent in France and Germany.

Italian men are also the most eager to please their partners, with over 22 percent of them saying they wear a fragrance they know their partner likes, closely followed by Spanish men (21 percent), German men (20) and French men (19), leaving British men trailing behind at 18 percent.

However, British men lead the way in the amount of fragrances they own, with six percent of men in Britain owning between six and 10 bottles compared with four percent in Germany and Italy and three percent in France and Spain.

周五发布的一项调查显示，英国男人和意大利男人希望今年圣诞节能沾点名人气息。

英敏特公司一项涵盖了1000名欧洲人的调查发现，在过去三年中，对名人香水感兴趣的英国男人增加了两倍，位列欧洲第二，仅次于意大利男人。英敏特是英国一家消费者研究咨询公司。

6%的英国男人拥有一款以名人（比如球星大卫．贝克汉姆）命名的香水，2007年这一数据为2%。与此同时，16%的英国女人拥有名人香水。

四分之三的英国男人在圣诞节收到香水，其中已为人父的英国男人最有可能拥有一款名人香水，特别是那些孩子不到5岁的年轻爸爸们。

英敏特公司欧洲部高级美容分析师薇薇安．路德在一份报告中说：“男人们意识到香水可以提升自我形象和增加自信。在目前失业率高攀、工作没有保障的情况下，男人对名人香水的青睐反映了他们对自我形象和自信的重视以及目前市场的潮流。”

即使在全球金融危机下，男人香水市场还是在不断扩大，只不过是扩大速度减慢了。

英敏特公司说，去年，英国男人用掉了价值3.88亿英镑（合6.05亿美元）的香水。到今年年底，男士香水的销售额有望达到4亿英镑。

英国男人买名人香水的兴趣仅次于意大利男人。对欧洲五个大国的调查显示，8%的意大利男人和6%的西班牙男人拥有名人香水，而在法国和德国，这个数字仅为4%。

意大利男人也是最渴望取悦自己女伴的，22%的意大利男人称他们会使用女伴喜欢的香水。西班牙男人、德国男人和法国男人紧随其后，分别为21%、20%和19%。英国男人以18%排在最后。

但是，在拥有香水的数量方面，英国男人处于领先位置。6%的英国男人拥有6到10瓶香水，而在德国和意大利，这个比例是4%，在法国和西班牙这个比例仅为3%。

Vocabulary:

albeit: although（尽管；虽然）