Lolita Lempicka Lolita Lempicka 1997 Eau de Parfum

When first introduced to perfume world, I was smitten witl Lolita Lempicka's creations. I had this sudden urge to own them all. At the time the first one I had in my hands was a mini of this.
To this day I believe this is a very distinctive and recognizable modern scent. I dont find it similar to TM Angel as I have heard several times. The colour of the flacon is so representing the juice inside, this smell is absolutely purple, with the pretty violets and the dark anise, the deep licorice.. A very successful combination which creates an instant fairy tale, a magic world. This is not a mainstream scent in anyway. It may be sweet for some, for me it is kind of surreal. Although I dont wear it very often, it holds a very special place in my heart. As I suggest in the title, it is a contempporary classic, and it will be worn for many many years ahead.

The first time I ever smelled this perfume I was in a car with friends of mine. I remember sitting there and being overwhelmed by this beautiful, deep fragrance but I didn't know what it was. I asked if someone had just put on perfume and sure enough one of them said they had. I asked her what it was and she told me it was Lolita Lempicka. I had never smelled a perfume quite like that before. It smelled very rich and sweet to me. Very alluring and exotic. I loved it! It's a very special perfume that smells just aggressive enough to be unisex.

bought this back in 1997 and it still smells amazing. this morning my baby dog luna (my rescue pit bull from our local shelter) decided she wanted to give me kisses right at the exact moment i was spritzing myself and is now shambling around the house reeking of lempicka's cloying cloud of licorice, star anise and vanilla bean. hahahaaa! poor thing does smell lovely though!

Lolita Lempicka is often identified as one of the post–Angel issue. The first of Angel’s progeny, many of which would follow. Most of those would be defined as cotton candy + something loud, the loud usually being a harsh floral note or an enormous but simple fruity note. While this group of followers can be considered imitators, they mostly don’t fall into the same (sub?)genre as Angel, one I call unresolved gourmands, or fragrances with a food element combined with something that makes them appear simultaneously edible and poison. A great trick, and one that Angel pulls off exquisitely, but one that most of the followers miss by being strictly gourmand, and purely dessert at that.

I understand the line from Angel to LL, and it has to do with corresponding philosophies of construction, but the wonder of LL is that it gives you something qualitatively distinct from Angel. Despite a similar combination of florals with patchouli and other fruit and woody elements, to my nose LL is not gourmand. It is a sweet, woody perfume, like a viscous play on the sweet, sheer wood of Chanel’s Egoiste. While Angel’s first and virtually only state is dissonance, LL puts dissimilar elements together toward one rich accord. The floral notes, particularly iris and violet, bring together the other ingredients in an interesting fashion. The cool iris ties to the licorice, and the violet ties to a somewhat herbal green feel that connects it by extension to a fruity sweetness. Despite licorice and a fruit note, though, LL doesn’t seem come off something to eat. What I’ve seen identified as an ivy note combines cool and green, falling in line with both the iris and violet notes. Two points on similarity of construction yet difference in tone: 1) in LL, patchouli gives a gummy sweetness, but not Angel’s mothball/poison blast, 2) although sweet from a number of angles (licorice, musk, fruit), there’s no cotton-candy in LL. LL winds up cool and comfortable as opposed to the shrieking avenging Angel.

(Angel is so bombastic that I find it easy simply to characterize it. On the record, I both admire and enjoy Angel.)

LL hints at its gourmand-era origins but doesn’t land in cohort-lockstep with the post-Angels. If I haven’t really made the point, LL is a gorgeous and utterly charming fragrance. Also, my friend Aleli wears it and she’s wonderful.

I'm not so sure why it took me so long to get around to sampling this scent, but I must say that I am delighted! Perhaps it was my experience with L, which is likable but a bit too pedestrian to be unique. I was expecting another sugary confection, but no, it's not. :)

The Licorice & Vetiver present themselves immediately on my skin. Unisex at this stage, most definitely, and now I know why so many men wear this scent. I then pick up some Anise and a Woody accord or two, and then the Licorice. Eventually, I get Shalimar-like flashbacks, in a good way - it's likely the iris, jasmine, vetiver, vanilla, tonka bean, & woody accords giving me the impression.

As LL dries, it just melts into my skin, demonstrating to me once again that tonka bean & vanilla work very well for me. LL is not overly strong or persistent, just present ... my skin, only better.

LL is a sweet scent but not overly sugary. I get a lovely powdery character throughout, which is just perfect for my taste & style. As a fifteen yo fragrance, I suspect this fragrance is best suited for cougars, not kittens, and the more fragrant-hungry fellas.

But, here's the problem ... the bottle ... more specifically, the integrated sprayer. Mine leaks, dribbles, and wastes juice. It's a great bottle but a lousy cap design. I don't have this trouble with L Coral Flower which is a more functional & better designed. I can't be the only one with this trouble - it's so darn cute but so terribly inefficient.