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Kim Kardashian is one of the biggest stars in the world, but she might never have achieved the level of fame that she currently enjoys without the assistance of socialite Paris Hilton. Long before Kardashian made waves on reality TV, she was on Hilton’s arm at various club openings and parties. Even Kardashian herself credits her success partially to Hilton’s guidance.

While Kardashian and Hilton both have wildly different careers, Kardashian followed her former BFF’s example in at least one significant way. Both women operate massive fragrance empires. And while Kardashian eclipses Hilton in terms of reality TV fame, Hilton is still the top player in the world of celebrity fragrance. 

Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian have been friends for decades

paris hilton kim kardashian
(L-R): Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton visit Royal North Shore Childrens Hospital in Sydney, Australia. | John Stanton/WireImage

Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton’s friendship dates back to the early 2000s. Kardashian worked for Hilton for several years, acting as her wardrobe assistant and on-again, off-again stylist. But a deep friendship formed between the two. Between 2003 and 2005, Kardashian was seen with the socialite at many high-profile parties and club openings. She even appeared on a few episodes of Hilton’s reality series The Simple Life.

The pair had a brief falling out in the years after Kardashian landed her own reality show. But they have long since reconciled. These days, Hilton and Kardashian are good friends again and have even worked together on several recent advertising campaigns.

Paris Hilton runs a fragrance empire

Along with being a pop culture hot topic and a DJ, Hilton is a successful businesswoman as well. When it comes to celebrity fragrances, Hilton is one of the top names in the game. According to Paper Magazine, Hilton has launched more than 25 different perfumes over the years, beginning with a simple body spray in 2004. The publication notes she surpassed $2.5 billion in sales and is still going strong, almost continuously developing new products.

Fans still love Hilton’s perfumes to this day. According to a recent report from Hey Discount, Hilton’s fragrances rank as some of the most popular of all celebrity fragrances, with approximately 368,200 online searches related to “Paris Hilton perfume” and 14,340 searches related to “Paris Hilton fragrance.” All in all, she’s estimated to be the seventh most popular celebrity fragrance brand, based on the accumulated Google search data.

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While Kardashian started developing and launching fragrances well after Paris Hilton, she’s become very successful, with multiple perfume varieties on the market. In fact, she launched her own brand, KKW Fragrance, releasing scents such as KKW Gardenia and KKW Crystal Violet Musk. As successful as Kardashian’s brand is, however, Hilton’s perfumes are still estimated to be more popular. According to Hey Discount, Kardashian’s perfumes rank as the 10th most popular celeb scents, three rungs lower than Hilton. 

With close to 235,400 searches for “Kim Kardashian perfume” and 24,800 searches for “Kim Kardashian fragrance,” it’s clear that, in this area at least, Hilton still has the leading edge. Of course, Kardashian and Hilton are far from the only celebrities with fragrance brands. Everyone from Billie Eilish to Addison Rae and Celine Dion has jumped on the celebrity perfume train. Singers, in particular, love curating exclusive perfume launches. Lady Gaga, Shakira, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bieber, and Dolly Parton have all curated exclusive perfumes.

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