Reviews of Lolita Lempicka (1997)
by Lolita Lempicka

Lolita Lempicka

Notes: Ivy Leaves, Aniseed, Amarena Heart, Violets, Iris Roots, Vetiver, Tonka Bean, Vanilla, Musk (from sephora.com)

Lolita Lempicka is absolutely delicious upon first application--it is difficult to resist an accord of chocolate, caramelized sugar and licorice which is actually dry and a bit crisp, miles away from the typical heavy, sweet and edible vanilla gourmand. The foody notes are supported by green fruit and herbal notes which amazingly seem to evoke the sense of garden freshness and bitter roots with what are obviously synthetic ingredients. The base buzzes along on a big cloud of Iso E Super, but this is one composition where the Iso E works as a team member rather than a cheap one-dimensional filler. In the drydown, LL bears some similarities to Bulgari Black...makes sense given LL is composed by the same perfumer. LL has the same edgy vanilla-musk accord which makes BB stand out from the vanilla oriental crowd. Despite being marketed to women, I find Lolita Lempicka to be solidly unisex. LL is one of those stand-out fragrances that everybody should experience, even if you never consider adding it to your wardrobe.

Lolita Limpicka will always have a place on my fragrance tray.I bought this when it first came out and have been hooked ever since. It has a very original scent, deep, musky, sweet. It's more of a nightime, "going out" scent for me. I get many compliments on it. The guys love it! The bottle is beautiful too!

The ackaging and ads are so dreamy and fantasy-y. I dunno if I'd necessarily relate that to what I smell in this perfume, but.. who cares! It just smells good. It's this weird, sweet-licorice-green perfume out of a purple, apple-shaped bottle. Trippy, but again, who cares, if it smells and looks great! And some people say it's a bit old ladyish? Ehh.. maybe. Maybe it's cuz it has this slight clean-green-ness.

The soft anise accord that opens Lolita Lempicka is at once less cloyingly sweet and better balanced than that of its masculine counterpart, as good an argument as any for the motto “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The scent moves on in a spicy-sweet, woody oriental direction that I find just too dry to qualify as truly “gourmand.” (This is a good thing, mind you.) Part of the appeal in this central accord is an almost peppery kick that emerges from the juxtaposed anise and woods.

While much is made of Lolita Lempicka’s being a gloss on the original Angel, I don’t feel it has the same gaudy, overbearing, and borderline-crass character. Not that Lolita Lempicka is subtle, but it doesn’t hit me like a freight train, as Angel often does. What accounts for the difference, I suspect, is the absence in Lolita Lempicka of Angel’s stupendously lewd, rank patchouli note. The comparatively civilized blend of woods that Lolita Lempicka offers in its place makes for a much more comfortable, if perhaps less startlingly original, scent. By comparison, Lolita Lempicka is also more spicy and less sweet than Angel, which goes a long way toward making it convincing as a unisex scent. I would certainly much sooner wear this than the crude, bombastic boys’ version. The peculiarly nutty vetiver, vanilla, and soft wood drydown is likewise superior to the slobbering, gap toothed woody amber mess that closes out Lolita Lempicka au Masculin.

I really love how warm and comforting this fragrance is. But definitely unusual - with this fragrance you will stand out from the crowd. For me its sweet spicy creaminess makes it perfect for colder weather. Its not too heavy or cloying or too sweet - just delicious!

I am still discovering this scent, so will write more when I've figured it out. :)
To me, it is sweet and spicey, very comforting. Strangely Im not getting the licorice note, but instead a deep fruity powdery musk, which is gorgeous! Dry down reminds me a lot of the original Anna Sui. Powdery and purple, not sexy but something to feel deliciously comforted by. As someone said, you may want to eat your wrists, that is of course after nuzzling into them like a cat with catnip. :)

wow....the fragrance i discovered in my teens at a trip to bloomies with a girlfriend. the anise, violet and vanilla in this are sumptuous. the juice is royal purple and the bottle is
a sparkly lilac apple--so beautiful! lolita is so flirtatious its outrageous. this is a perfume that will--WILL--get you attention and compliments. the mens version is incredible too.
ever eat stella d'oro anissette cookies? now its in a fragrance.

I absolutely detest the taste of licorice, especially the "noir" version, but this is my favorite female fragrance BY FAR... If there is anise in this it is so subdued by the amazingly deep violet and earthy ivy that I cannot even detect it. I bought this for my girlfriend recently, and I say proudly that on every single occasion she wears it "business time" comes very early. In fact I have missed many episodes of American Idol, Family Guy, House, and whatever basically any show that comes on the television because when she comes out of the bathroom wearing this, nothing else really . Thumbs up for keeping the fire alive~!!!

I stumbled upon this perfume while in Paris on business in 1997, and it has been in my top 3 since then. I still love it today just as much. The anise is wonderful, and it so unique. Plus the bottle and packaging are just gorgeous! One spritz lasts a long time!

This one really appealed to me because of the licorice note. We Dutch are a bit crazy that way. For the rest this scent is sweeter than what I would normally wear, but it's ok- a bit of variation does you good. I bought this in a set with a body lotion in a stunning box. This is one of the most imaginatively packed products on the market, Very girly, pretty bottle and I love to wear this when a certain feminine mood comes along. Shame I'm almost out of it now...

Wow! I really like this one. The fragrance is sweet, but the ivy & anise add great balance to that sweetness. The bottle is sexy. The name is melodious. My reaction to this is very visceral as opposed to my usually cerebral approach to perfume. The weather is so cold here today, but I am warmed and comforted. I will be adding "Lolita Lempicka" to my ever growing collection. P.S. Not for those who dislike black licorice...

Aaaah, wonderful! I absolutely cannot fathom how this smells in any way like Angel to so many people - I get none of that heaviness, no cloyingness, no objectionable anything at all! This is pure fairy magic on me: sweet violet with some ivy, and then longlived, fabulously earthy vetiver... mmmmm!! It stays pretty close to my skin, although people do notice it - compliments, always! It doesn't seem too complex - I can smell most of the notes, without much else confusing matters to my nose. I absolutely love the final earthy, gritty phase (which I guess is the basement smell mentioned!) - if only it could be stronger by far! I'd LOVE to smell just like these base notes all the time. AND it comes in the prettiest bottle ever, even if it is quite hard to use (I keep fearing I'll break off the little stem).

This review is circuitous; it takes me awhile to address the issue of Lolita Lempicka, but please bear with me. My history with the note of anise is long, and my reaction to it is strange. First of all, I love to eat black licorice; I've been a fan of it ever since I was a child. But in some perfumes, I cannot stand the smell of anise. For example: the anise top notes of Givenchy Very Irresistable (a rose soliflore) were obnoxious from start to finish, and it ruined the fragrance for me. I disliked Caron Aimez Moi, with its thick, dark, licorice syrup created by amber and vanilla. And yet, I love anise within other contexts. One of my favorites is Ayala Moiel Indigo, where anise is paired with an airy cedar, and I loved it. (She also used it to great advantage with jasmine and spearmint in her discontinued zodiac fragrance Cancer.) I've never smelled the big momma of them all, Jungle L'Elephant, but I hope to some day.
I recently tried Lolita Lempicka and feared that my aversion would be triggered. I expected it to have a heavy licorice aroma, especially since it is a gourmand fragrance. But somehow, the caramel melted all over the anise, completely enveloping it in sweetness that all but disguised the anise from me! Together with violet and a bit of greens, it stopped short of bon-bon territory, never becoming quite edible. It's strong, but I like strong perfumes. It was nice! And it is probably the first gourmand that I have enjoyed so much.
It reminds me of Angel, a fragrance that wanted to love but couldn't. I hated the cotton candy top notes so much that couldn't wear it long enough to get to the beautiful patchouli base. Lolita Lempicka is without patchouli, so one would expect that I would dislike it; but no, it is more restrained in the beginning compared to the blaring top notes of Angel. In fact, it makes me reconsider the entire genre, and I may now be able to make friends with Angel. Thanks Lolita. I think I would call this an Oriental fragance with strong Gourmand leanings.

My husband and I found this one while searching for my wedding fragrance. Pure Poison won, (more elegant) but this one haunted me for three years, until I opened a bottle this Christmas! It smells like nothing else out there, and I was not too surprised to find that its creator also did my other favorite, Hypnotic Poison. LL reminds me of a mid-summer night's dream-- sultry, heady, a little otherworldly. It will be my warmer weather counterpart to the wintry Hypnotic. I thoroughly enjoy wearing both.

I keep reading how similar it is to Angel. I've only smelled Angel on a test strip, not interested enough to put it on my skin, actually compelled not to. For their similarities, and there are some, Angel smells powdery and peppery, and lacks the warmth of LL.

I would bathe in it. I have to wrestle it way from my 9 year old daughter. Her attraction is 'it smells like mommy'. Mine is 'it smells like me in heaven'. I adore the subtle strength of the scent. It melts into a constant warmth and stays around for a long time. Sometimes I turn over in my sleep and get a huge whiff of it from the bottle on my dresser.....the most comforting, lovely smell ever.

A very unisex herbal, anisic twist on Angel. Much better than the masculine. Fabulous!!

I loved the bottle so i asked the parfume, i got lots of compliments ...most from men..it is not really sexy thoug, but is very comfortable and warm, it`s pretty and feminine.

Let me be honest. Upon my first few spritzes of LL, I was overwhelmed w/ a haze of purple licorice and molasses and a strong splash of urine. I was regretting ever testing it. I was unable to change my clothing or shower, however, and had to go about my day w/ it still on.
It was 1-2 hours later when I realized how lovely I was smelling. It was powerful, but not nauseating. There seems to be a powder throughout which softened and blended the emerging violet, still there but less prominent than before licorice, musk, and then vanilla. I wanted to eat my wrists. It also worked as an appetite suppresant making me feel constantly satisfied.

All my other perfumes are old hands, as it were - my tastes run to the 70's and before, often well before. Although I started wearing and choosing perfume in my teens in the 80's, I never made peace with modern perfume; who wants to smell like air freshener? Or food items?

But Lolita I like. It's modern but it's complicated like the oldies I love. Violet and licorice and vetiver, oh my! I got a mini with a mail order make-up purchase and was pleasantly surprised. I kept going back to it. Sniff sniff sniff all day. It goes through so many changes that the final rather boring vanilla musk dry down doesn't bother me - it lets me go to bed without all kinds of scent sticking out all over, which is nice. I got the big edp and it's worth it to me, it's nice to have something from a recent decade that isn't boring and isn't omnipresent. This is my only everyday fresh light scent (or at least the most everyday stinkum I own!), probably the only perfume I have that I'm not habitually underdressed for. Perhaps that seems weird to some, but I've been known to wear Bandit under my pony tail with jeans, flip-flops, and a black tee shirt to run errands and go to the PTA meeting.

The bottle is a riot! I love it so, and I keep my empty mini next to it. So many bottles are dull as ditchwater. I know some people think it's gaudy and horrible - perhaps it is. But at least it's not some pencil-pushers idea of a bottle that will sell well to the mass market - somebody who loves perfume designed that bottle.

Ahh, lovely Lolita. I adored this when it was first launched - it was so unusual and captivating...and that bottle! I still admire it, but since discovering Jungle L'Elephant (which actually came before LL), I must say I enjoy Jungle much more. They both share the same unique liquorice note, but Jungle is smoother, spicier, and creamier. However, Lolita will always have a special place in my heart...I'm smiling as I'm looking at the adorable bottle right now... :-)

When I first tested lolita lempicka I was enchanted. By the moment I got home my family told me it was great on me.They found it refreshingly sweet and charming. So did I. Well, I finally bought the EDP and I use it almost every day (except hot days). It has an amazing lasting power, a beautiful bottle and it makes me feel nice. Also a little goes a long way, so it is economic too.

This blend of sweet spices and floral - AND vetiver - is magic! Not typical by any means. I must disagree with some of the previous comments ~ the anise and licorice notes are amazingly good. It comes off less sweet than Angel ~ not trying to be a 'clone' ~ and it's very wearable. What an ingenious blend! I've tried it several times now and grow to love it more with each application. This one is worth the full bottle. Which by the way is a treasure all it's own!

What caught my attention with this fragrance is the bottle ,very lovely presentation; I would say it's elegantly bohemian !!
Now to the smell. My first impression was a cloying characteristic but its settles well to a slight musky/smokey scent. Its girly and flirty (even the packaging affirms this!) Definitely has a more youthful demeanor to it...!!

Sweet, sugary and fresh scent.
It is an Oriental - Vanilla type of perfume.
This recommended for people who enjoy the scent of sweet and lily of the valley.
If you liked it try out ‘Angel’ by Thierry Mugler, ‘Wish’ by Chopard, and ‘ange ou demon’ by Givenchy.
For me it is a magical scent
It is suitable for night wear and special occasions. It will make you feel like the star of the night. If you wear you will be stealing every one’s thunder.
This has a love spell on me.
It is my second favorite perfume after ‘ange ou demon’.

I crave Lolita Lempicka, and I don't own it yet! It breathes lightly and waves at me with ozone-fresh and sophisticatedely fruity tandem. Spring in the bottle, it is a great outdoor wedding fragrance for a non-clishet bride who is not into lavish floral arrangements.

I think this fragrance is wonderful for everyday wear. It is not too spicy, a bit sweet, with a smokey drydown. The violet and musk combination make it smell classic while being sweet pop at the same time. Flirty and not too heavy. A great gift fragrance for a younger sister or friend.

hehehe i Heart Lolita. If I've gone a long time without smelling it and I smell it, I t makes me nostalgic and it makes me feel sexy. If it was a guy, i would eat him up.
Dont expect to find Angel here, and i'm tired of those drawing comparisons. This is demure, and intoxicating at the same time. Its sweet but not like dessert, its musky yet lightened by the florals and greens. Ones a pleasant compliment to the other.

Reminds me of something Marla Singer from Fight Club or Courtney Love might wear. Like others have said, it's nearly sickeningly, poisonously, saccharine sweet (but without the nasty aftertaste of artificial sweeteners). Very 1997, but I don't mean that as a bad thing. Definitely a moody, going-out fragrance for me.

I definitely do not get the “sickly sweet” scent from this; or even the overpowering of anise – for me it is a bit “in your face” initially with the licorice but it mellows into a delicate, soft scent with enough uniqueness from the anise to keep it actually interesting. The first time I tried it I had the original Lolita Lempicka on one wrist, and the new “L” on the other and I could not appreciate the original much since I felt overpowered by the “L” – which I did not like as it really turns to a rather synthetic smelling vanilla on me and is simply too much. Once I was just able to savour the original Lolita on it’s own – I was in heaven  I have Angel too, and I can say that in no way does this seem at all similar to Angel at least on me. With Angel, I get a very rich, warm chocolate-caramel-vanilla flavour with that underlying patchouli kick (I almost want to eat myself up!) whereas with the Lolita I have this very soft, warm intriguing smell – I find it very complex and that is why I like it!

And of course, the bottle is amazing.

I got my Lolita EDP in the mail today! Wow am I ever impressed!! This does not strike me as gourmand at all. It's sweet, but more woodsy to me. Sounds funny but I can smell the ivy. The anise is wonderful, not too much. I don't smell the licorice at all(I found that really weird because my sense of smell is extremely keen!). This could almost be a nice hot tea! The dry down is like a dreamy, womanly powderish scent. It was well worth the wait!
Beautiful, unique bottle & packaging*****

I'm sort of surprised by the descriptions of sugary sweetness. I do get deep musky vanilla in the drydown but mainly its violets and sharp licorice and astringent green notes (reading ivy as one of the topnotes makes sense to me) its quite foresty and green although yes very feminine and something tealike about it. My mum bought this for me just for the bottle and faerie themed advertisement and I will love it forever although it is hugely nostalgic for me now and a bit too emotional. A forest nymph fragrance.

Mmmmm! I bought a 100mL bottle of the EDP which arrived in the mail today (thank you Ebay!) and this is divine. Just LOVE the aniseed smell, totally gorgeous. I also enjoy sweet scents and this is delicious. This one deserves its reputation and popularity but I can see why some don't like it. It just depends on what your style is!

I would recommend testing before you buy though! See if it is to your taste.

I love it .. makes me feel young & flirty .. and that's not bad thing for a 55 year old!

When I first spray it on, I always think it's way too sweet, but then it dries off to a subtle soft powdery scent that lingers for hours.

This reminds me of a subtle version the "Angel" type scents and all its copies. Dries to smell like real baby powder, so it gets an A+++ from me!

This scent is addicting. At first, I thought I would be bothered by the licorice because I do not like licorice, but the way it is mixed in with the other ingredients actually makes it smell wonderful. A spicy oriental that I dearly love.

I love this fragrance. It was mentioned in a book that I was reading, so I bought it, unsniffed from ebay, and am I ever glad that I did. I've loved this one from the very first day that it came to me.

I have to agree with most of the sentiments expressed about this, i.e. Amazing fragrance but very little lasting power on my Wife's skin which is a shame (and she has NO problems with other frag's and longivity by the way!)

I like Lolita Lempicka and find it easy to wear: light, sweet, lasts about 4 hours on me, & just a touch of aniseed scent wafts up from time to time.

I just received this in an exchange of perfume samples between friends. I guess I too, live under a rock because I've never smelled it. It is so delicious. To me, it's very creamy and sweet, without the sickening vanilla that seems to be overpowering everything lately. I don't smell licorice at all, which is a good thing because I have disliked the smell since I was in grade school. It doesn't smell like any of my usual floral or fruity perfumes, and is way out of my comfort zone. Yet I can't stop smelling it. This is my new HG perfume. Definitely bottle worthy. I must thank my friend for the sample:))

I love this sent. It is my all time favorite out of my entire perfume wardrobe. I love licorice, and I just feel like this sent fits my personality. I like to wear it with darker clothes, or when I'm going out at night. I sometimes feel like its more of a winter sent, but a male friend of mine told me "I think it smells so sexy, and if sexy isn't in all year round then I don't know what is..." so there you go.

I tried this one three years ago and have fallen in love with it. Every time I wear it, someone asks me "what is that wonderful scent that you are wearing?"

This is an unusual choice for me because my other favorites are 1000 and L'Heure Blue".

Well, this was rather unexpected. I received my mini in the mail, opened, and immediately fell out of obsession with the lime and lavendar box (what a wonderful box!) I couldn't get the scent off, no matter how many times I washed my wrist. Then, literally overnight, the olfactory-fairy sprinkled her dust of inexplicable enchantment, and I woke up craving the perfume. This just doesn't happen. I like anise as a flavor-- it's great in cookies and other sweets (though I abhor licorice), but on me? Needless to say, something about the scent was addictive, and after a week, I'm already half-way through my mini. Notes: anise, violet, vanilla, possibly a tame breed (?) of patchouli, and Cabbage Patch Doll with a rebellious side... (there's no baby powder here, ma'am!) I know I have to stop saying it, but once again, I'm in love with my wrist.

I just sampled this (I basically live under a rock) because someone sent me a sample. I never tried it before in dept stores, I suppose, because I don't care much for anise or licorice flavors and I thought that I wouldn't want to smell them in a perfume either. How wrong I was! :-) This is one of the loveliest fragrances I've tried in a long time. On me, it's very long lasting. It smells of anise pastilles and violets and soft musk -- it's so nicely composed. I don't find the anise/licorice at all discordant. I think it adds a note of interest without overwhelming. I'm surprised by how much I love this one. It's now on my wish list.

I just bought a small bottle of this yesterday after using up two Sephora samples.

At first, I didn't care much for it, but that anise note is like a drug. The drydown (on me, anyway) is pure vetiver, here very dirt-like, and somehow so compelling. I've made a fool of myself many a time, snorfling the dry LL on my wrist in public.

I was in heaven yesterday when I tried this on! I've been searching for that perfect scent and I tried this on my wrist skeptically because I hate black licorice. I tried clinique's simply and absolutely detested it because of the licorice notes. However, I don't smell strong licorice notes in this at all. It was just the right amount of sweet mixed with soft powdery notes and it was heaven on my skin! I kept smelling my wrist over and over again and I'm searching for a bottle of the perfume, not the EDT. I want it to last longer on me...so yummy! And the bottle is amazing too, just an added bonus!

This is one of my favorites and most complimented next to Angel. I love it.

I've offered compliments to women on their fragrance only a number of times, and I've been surprised that more than twice they were wearing Lolita! It's beautiful, sexy and sweet...though I agree about that Licorice note.

Lolita, of course, an interesting name for this fragrance. And so, like it's name, this fragrance too, explores the femininity of a "young"/"youthful". Having said this I don't necessarily think that this is either a "young" or "youthful" scent, it is rather reminiscent of the sweet exploration into ones sexuality/femininity/maturing into a woman... something reminiscent of 'awakening desire' in a young woman. Lolita is of course both inviting and deliciously playful... Lolita is in my opinion slightly similar to Chopard's Wish, but I do like Wish quite better... However, where the true winnings with this scent lies as far as I'm concerned is in the bottle itself. The bottle too is reminiscent of the 'sinfulness' of Eve - hence the apple... but this apple of course is far more fairy-like and more innocent and dreamy looking! Who could ever resist?

I, along with my twin daughers, love this fragrance! It is sweet, feminine, girly and fun! Every time we wear it someone asks, "What do you you have on that smells so good???"

The scent reminds me of something heavenly. The best way I can describe it is that it smells like cotton candy tastes! Absolutely delicious!

Plus the purple apple bottle looks fantastic on my bathroom counter top!