Shakira at the launch of her S fragrance in Madrid

If you’ve ever wondered why it seems that every singer or actress seems to be pushing a perfume lately, it’s because of the high margins. Celebrities can get paid an upfront of anywhere from $2 million to $5 million. If the fragrance does well? Annual revenue can be as high as $100 million a year, with very little effort in terms of promotions or marketing. {Fashionista} Where do we sign up?

Celebrity scents have skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years and we’ve covered some of those from Jennifer Aniston, Sarah Jessica Parker, Beyoncé and more recently (as in yesterday) Shakira.

If a fragrance could give you a cavity, it would probably have a name like Lollipop Bling

Madrid held the celebration for Shakira’s new S perfume boasting notes of benzoin, amber, vanilla, fresh woods and Indian jasmine Sambac. This is the Colombian singer’s second fragrance. The first, Amuleto, was launched in France in 2008.

Mariah Carey, in all her sweet, pink and sugary, 12-years-old forever glory has also indulged fans with the latest addition to her fragrance repertoire with Lollipop Bling. Yes, it does seem appropriately named for  smelling like a more “sophisticated interpretation of bubble gum.”

Now, we know what you’re thinking, candy-scented perfume? Well, looking a little deeper at the brand’s strategy it becomes more sensible. The product is not in a fancy glass bottle- but a gumball machine! Capitalizing on her younger audience, Mariah has teamed with Elizabeth Arden who’s no stranger to the fragrance industry (they also produce Britney Spears’ scents).

Elizabeth Arden is planning on marketing the scents–Honey, Mine Again and Ribbon–using gumball machine gift sets and a lollipop rollerball fragrance set starting this Fall. (The scents sans gimmicky packaging are $35 a pop (pun intended), and will be available at department stores nationwide in July 2010.)

Jennifer Aniston is the newest starlet to jump on the perfume bandwagon, as it is rumored she is collaborating with the Falic Group to create her new scent. {WWD}

Stars like Sarah Jessica Parker, Beyonce and Eva Longoria Parker have all worked with the same company in their perfume production.

Forbes Magazine estimated net sales totaled a whopping $353.6 million in revenue for top celebrity fragrances just two years ago. Due to the crashing economy, things aren’t looking so bright this year-with sales dropping 10% {Technorati}.

We can’t help but wonder if this is the right time to make a move into fragrances, but one thing we are sure of is Aniston’s squeaky-clean image. The downside of being a celebrity is that your career’s success is largely based on your personal life. One slip up can lead to a downward spiral in sales although we don’t think Jen has anything to worry about!