Dua Lipa's Fragrance Collection Started With This Celebrity Scent

Dua Lipa is on top of the pop music world, and the singer-songwriter has hits, tours, and awards to show for it. But she also has accolades in the fashion and beauty space. Beyond having incredible style (on and off duty), Lipa's been the face of YSL Beauty Libre fragrance—a partnership that just makes sense.

The brand dubbed Lipa the leading lady of its Libre fragrance family, and since then, the singer and luxury beauty house teamed up for a series of campaigns to bring the scents to life. Libre Le Parfum is the latest iteration of the classic Eau de Parfum, and it's like the original's sexy, spontaneous best friend. 

Created by YSL Beauty perfumers Anne Flipo and Carlos Benaim, Libre Le Parfum is where seductive and spicy scents meets floral notes. The fragrance opens up with ginger, mandarin orange, and saffron sourced from the YSL Beauty Ourika Community Garden (hence its slightly red hue). Lavender and orange blossom make up the fragrance's unique heart, and it dries down to a warm blend of bourbon vanilla, honey, and tonka bean.

Lipa's campaign for the new launch is clad with bold visuals featuring the singer's rendition of George Michael's Freedom to match the powerful scent. We caught up with her on a rooftop overlooking the Eiffel Tower moments before a launch party for the fragrance's release, and Lipa told us that her partnership with YSL Beauty is a no-brainer. "I love the toughness of the YSL woman," Lipa tell me. "Yves Saint Laurent gave women the freedom to wear the tuxedo in the early stages of fashion, which separated the brand from others. That idea of strength has always resonated with me." 

Lipa wears a sharp black tuxedo in the campaign video for Libre Le Parfum, further embodying the YSL woman that she connects with deeply. Still, her YSL Beauty ambassadress gig isn't the first of her obsession with fragrance, and she tells me her mom sparked her earliest beauty memories. "My mom always had a very signature scent that was so comforting to me," she says. "I would always watch her put on makeup and was so fascinated by how much pride she took in caring for herself."

Lipa's mom shared her love for beauty with her daughter, and long before she became the face of a luxury fragrance, the singer stashed iconic celebrity perfumes like the rest of us. "I think that Curious by Britney Spears in the blue bottle was the first fragrance I ever bought," she says. "I like that it was really fresh." Lipa's fragrance style hasn't changed much since she purchased Curious, and according to the singer, she still leans toward clean, fresh scents that don't skew too sweet. 

Working closely with the YSL Beauty fragrance team has also taught Lipa how to pay attention to details in her perfumes. "It really helped me understand the nuances of fragrance, which is almost like wine tasting," she explains. "You start to have the ability to identify certain notes, and it becomes more refined as you pay more attention."

Being the face of a fragrance inspired by freedom and power is fitting for Lipa, who says she feels the freest when she's on stage. "Once you forget about the anxiety and scary bits, there's something very invincible about performing," she says. "I feel at one with everyone around me, and it's a powerful feeling." Still, Lipa says that the butterflies she experiences before a show or performance indicate she's on the right path. "I always want to do my best," she says. "It's a sign I'm doing what I should be."

Lipa's got a lot going on at the moment, including a South American leg of her world tour, an experience she says she wouldn't trade for the world. But she relishes in her accomplishments while prioritizing her mental and physical health, despite her busy schedule. "On an off day—which is usually rare—I'd be at home in London and go to a hot yoga class first thing in the morning," she says. "Then there's a lovely brunch spot next to my yoga class where I get a smoothie and an English breakfast, which feels really comforting."

Lipa says a day off also includes hanging out with her friends or lying on the couch to catch up on television. "I want to watch every Pedro Almodóvar movie, so I've been going through those, I just watched Volver, and I was obsessed," she tells me. 

Even when she's working, Lipa says her yoga practice, meditation before bed, and taking her vitamins are non-negotiables. "That mindfulness practice is super important to me," she says. "Making sure I am healthy inside and out helps me stay on top of everything."

Traveling and performing have also encouraged the singer to take a parred-back approach to her beauty routine. "My skin gets really dry from traveling, and for a while, I tried so many products, and nothing made it better," she explains. Instead, Lipa says her dryness bred breakouts, which subsequently left scars, that she's healed by adopting a minimal approach to skincare.

"When I am on holiday spending time in the sun, I don't really need to put on a ton of treatments and serums," she says. "I realized when I put less on my skin, and it's much better. We're conditioned to believe that we need to use 500 things when sometimes less is more."