L (2006)
by Lolita Lempicka

Because I quite enjoyed Lolita Lempicka, this sounded on paper like it would be just as lovely, but as much as I've tried to like it, it isn't working. I've resorted to spraying it in my clothing & underwear drawers in an attempt to use it up, rather than having to wear it.

On me it smells like being in a sweet (candy) making factory .. just too much sickly vanilla for my liking. Although I've noticed that when sprayed on material, it dies down to a subtle & not unpleasant incense smell, so it hasn't been a total waste.

L de Lolita Lempicka is a good choice if you're looking for a unique fragrance but not one that's completely, expensively niche. I found it at my local department store easily. I say unique because it really doesn't smell like half the stuff out there. I find that many fragrances, whether they're for women my age (I'm 19) or other age brackets, focus on the floral-fruit-sugar! accord and leave me wanting something, I don't know, a little different. Not TOO different- if I wanted the kind of unique that is analogous to the punk-rock-artist-day-job-physicist-part-time-kitemaker, I'd go niche. But different enough not to be Aquolina Pink Sugar, do you know what I mean? I feel like L de Lolita Lempicka is a orange-yellow-white fragrance, if you can describe smells in colours, while most fragrances are light pink-peach-pale green.

I adore vanilla, so the vanilla drydown of this didn't put me off at all. But the best part of L is the top and heart notes- at first, on my skin I get this burst of citrus-orange-florals and burnt cinnamon that makes me feel like I'm sitting under an orange tree that is shedding its blossoms all around me. Then the bright notes fade off and I get this bright, intense sunlight sensation- like lying on a sunsoaked rock on a Mediterranean beach in full summer. Maybe that's the immortal flower note. This all fades, though, and in the end I end up with a vanilla-slightly-musky sweetness, all white and warm, that leaves me feeling like I'm lying in white sand at the perfect temperature. With cookies.

On me, this fragrance dried down like a desert; no sweetness of fruit or flower, just an off-putting, overpowering woodsy/oriental sweet. Perhaps it was the synthetic-smelling caramel that ruined it for me. It reminded me of that strange chemical that disneyland pumps into the air in the park to get you to purchase sweets. On my friend, however, this frag was bliss. She brought out all of the florals and powdery musk.
The bottle is a work of art. Hands down, one of the best I've seen.

This perfume is quite woody and heavy. I smell lots of patchouli in it. Definitely not for me.

I find it interesting..at first. Loved the cinnamon and spiciness I had off the bat. And then within a few minutes I just got vanilla, vanilla, vanilla which persisted and persisted (at least it is long lasting!) - and I did apply it with a delicate tough!

Great if you really adore vanilla as it is a wonderful vanilla smell in itself, but not for me - just reminds me of when I was a teenager and wore the vanilla Body Shop oil so it feels too young for me.

I was disappointed as I LOVE the original Lolita Lempicka and the complexity of it and wear it frequently; but for sweet/gourmand I prefer Angel over this due to the more complex spicy-chocolate-caramel-vanilla.

I would of felt different I think if I got more of the musk or other notes to add more complexity.

This is an unusual scent--super sweet, yet not quite saccharine. Not unpleasant, just confounding...like a piece of buttercream cake with a slightly citrus air, underscored with a sea-salty note. As the packaging evokes something that would be on a mermaid's boudoir, I'm surprised that the only marine-like quality of "L" is that which is reminiscent of saltwater taffy. This is more the fragrance of an animated mermaid than someone from the yachting set. Despite this, there is something delightfully hypnotic about "L" and I'd consider this a more sophisticated interpretation of the popular squeaky-fresh-gourmand genre.