Lola (2009)
by Marc Jacobs

Lola explodes from its bottle in a blaze of neon-colored fruit that streaks directly toward shampoo or public restroom hand soap. It settles into a tropical fruit (guava?) and rose accord that’s a linear descendant of Calyx, but decades of inbreeding leave Lola coarser and several degrees more shrill. Calyx used pleasantly bitter green notes to offset the sweetness of its fruit and rose. Lola is all canned fruit syrup. I waited patiently while Lola played itself out, hoping that it would develop into something more interesting, or at least less cloying. It didn’t. Instead it just congealed into a block of sweet and intensely unnatural vanilla.

In a very crowded field of crude, sweet, fruity florals, Lola’s most distinctive features are its cute bottle is its volume. This scent is LOUD. Loud as in, spill a few drops of this on my carpet, and I’ll have to relocate. Loud as in, keep it in a locked box if there are small children in your home. I’m not kidding: I’ll be wearing disposable rubber gloves the next time I open my sample vial. I wish I could say otherwise, but Lola is a very, very bad fragrance. On the other hand, a purse spray might be handy for deterring muggers.

Really wanted to love this one, but it just isn't right on me. The initial spray is nice, but it really started to strengthen in the middle notes. It was really spicy on me. It may smell really great on someone else but the spice was just too much for me. When it settled on me it almost reminded me of Mackie, which was strange because the notes are so different. I am giving it a neutral, because perhaps if you are lover of spice this will appeal to you.

First things first - the bottle is absolutely gorgeous, I defy anyone not to fall in love with the OTT plastic floral cap. Marc Jacobs has proved he is very adept at choosing/designing kitsch bottles that make you go all gooey eyed and scream 'I want!'

As for the fragrance itself, Lola is described as 'Seductive and Alluring' which is a break from the fresh and youthful theme of Daisy. Lola has notes of Pink Peppercorn, Pear, Rose, Fuschia Peony, Vanilla, Tonka Bean and Creamy Musk.

I would describe Lola as pretty rather than seductive, the top notes open with a blast of pear and grapefruit, the floral notes come through quite quickly and the sillage and longevity are fair.

The dry down is soft and creamy and for me this is the best stage. Lola leaves a nice aura of 'pleasantness' on the skin and this lasts for a few fair hours before fading away completely.

Lola is not adventurous or anything that we have not seen before but that does not take away from the enjoyment at all, sure we've seen billions of fruity florals over the last few years but that doesn't make Lola bad in any sense of the word.

I'm not sure I agree with the description of 'Seductive and Alluring', perhaps 'Flirtatious and Sexy' would be more apt. Lola would suit a man if he was the type of guy who could get away with fruity florals without turning too many heads, I certainly don't feel uncomfortable wearing it.

Will I get a bottle? Probably, not so much for the juice just because I find it incredibly hard to resist that bottle!