Lolita

[couscous]

Bright, sweet and youthful, but swelling with a poisonous sexuality. Glittering heliotrope, honeysuckle, orange blossom and lemon verbena.

When people use words like "young" or "juicy" to describe a scent, I pretty much file it in the back of my mind as being "not for me". Same thing with florals.

But Lolita came as a gift imp, and I'm wearing it today and loving every minute of it.

Orange-citrus flowers when you get close up to the wrist, but warm, sexy florals waft upward. I can't pick out the flowers, beth's description must remain as the only ones confirmed- honeysuckle and heliotrope-but its wonderful. Very perfume-like, very soft and powdery, with a great kick of spice.

Next to Eternal, this might be my favorite floral blend.

[Pixie-elf]

Lolita

 

In the Vial: Sweet and Juicy.

 

Wet: Mmm... This starts out sweet and candylike... very yummy! A cotton candyish quality pops up, too...

 

Dry: Mmm some yummy cotton candy. A bit more juicy than Dragon's blood is, it's like fruity cotton candy...

 

Conclusion: I like this a lot, I'd eventually like a 5ml or a 10ml.

 

 

ETA: Second Imp.

 

In the Vial: Orangey pretty much is all I get.

 

Wet: Orangey but fruity/juicy.

 

Dry: Oranges. No sweet really, just -oranges-. I'm not fond of this imp due to it. I don't really like citrus scents.

 

Conclusion: I like the first imp I got of Lolita MUCH better. I bought this imp from the lab, the other one was given for free. I'll use the one I was given up but I don't know about this one!

Edited April 10, 2005 by Pixie-elf

[slave1]

In Bottle: Very sweet and the lemon stands out.

 

On Skin: A bit Lemon Pledgy at first. I can smell the honeysuckle coming out. The orange blossom is blooming as well, very delicious and girly. I like it, but I got it on reviews that it smelled like Cotton Candy… and I’m not sensing that sadly…

It is a good sweet girly scent though.

[kmasden]

I am surprised by this. At first, I wasn't in to it. Not a big citrus person and I could smell citrus right off, but then there is a creamyness (heliotrope?) and the florals. It's young and happy and pretty. I like it. Funny though, I agree w/ a previous poster, it does smell a bit like rose on me after it dries...strange!

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Kinda like candy but with an odd backnote that makes the sweet seem a little dangerous. Heliotrope is very prevalent in the bottle as well as a little of the lemon verbana. I have problems with orange blossom, though.

 

Wet: Lemon verbana and...spices? I swear it smells like allspice and some clove, maybe cardamon.

 

Dry down: Lemon verbana is the top note in this on me, and I'm gonna to gather that either it or the heliotrope is responsible for that vaguely spicey note I smell in this. That or the orange blossom. There is a faint orange kinda scent leaking out around the rest of it now. No honeysuckle yet. This is just...spicey. It's like lemon spice on me, really. Like lemons and allspice. It kinda reminds me of a cleaner, one of those powerful citrus ones that makes your nsoe curl a bit. But it's still kinda nice because it isn't all cleaner; it just has a cleaner edge to it.

 

Dry: I'm guessing that on me this has decided to be only lemon verbana. I just get this vaguely spicey lemon/floral note. It's like lemon licorice really, which is interesting but I'm not entirely sure that I want to smell like lemon licorice.

[cricketshay]

In the vial~Soap! I can't detect any of the notes from just sniffing the vial.

 

Wet~Citrus. I can now smell the orange.

 

Dry~My skin ate Lolita after 10 minutes. It's completely gone now. Good thing I didn't care for it.

 

No smileys for Lolita.

[Orodemniades]

Imp: Erk, it's all sharp and acidic and there's a slight hint of that pickle coming through.

 

Wet: Morphomatic! The sharpness is all gone, but there's a hint of citrus rind and something smells vaguely like anise? Love the lemon verbena...and the sweetness of the honeysuckle and heliotrope is there too, but only in the background.

 

Drydown: Still quite lemony, but it's fading now and the orange blossom is coming through...and going a bit powdery....very powdery, but in a good way, not a baby powder thing. It's creamy, too, quite nice.

 

Overall: This reminds me of candy, but something between a buttermint without the mint, and - HEY! This is like Chaste Moon, but with orange and lemon!! Fab!

 

Oro

[isyche]

Lolita was a frimp from the lab in my last order...I wasn't expecting to like it, as I usually don't like candy sweet teenybopper smells, but I tried it.

 

in vial: Sharp, not sweet, like vinegar or pickles or something. Odd.

 

on me: I can tell it's a spicy floral with a touch of lemon, but something about it is still reminding me of pickles. Then it dries down to a weird musty nose-wrinkling scent.

 

Something about this really does not like me, which is strange, as the separate ingredients have worked fine before, but that's OK since I wasn't invested in liking it. Off to swap with you, Lolita!

Edited June 17, 2005 by isyche

[Aurelius]

I have two imps of Lolita. One older, one newer. The newer imp? WAY more pungent, almost, to my nose. Something simply does not agree with me. The older imp? Fruity, sweet, almost like candy. Odd. I kept thinking the sour one had turned, but it's new and it's from the lab. I think it may be the honeysuckle. Sometimes it simply doesn't agree with my nose or my skin. Very strange. I can see how this could work wonderfully on someone; candy with a bite sounds really naughty! On my skin I smell like candy gone wrong.

[zankoku_zen]

In the Bottle: Something citrusy but sweet. I definitely feel that "Bright, sweet and youthful, but swelling with a poisonous sexuality" explains it perfectly.

 

On Skin: I can smell the citrusy but with a bittery note which is the lemon verbena. I'm starting to smell some of the sweetness.

 

On Drydown:This has become almost cloyingly sweet. Almost like lollipops. Bah.

 

Verdict: If this had retained more of the citrusy smell that it had in the beginning I would have kept the imp. I do think that the description was dead on. In the end, I just don't think its me. Off to swap.

[Sara]

Initial Imp Sniff: Hmm...smells bright, like yellow or orange, semi-sharp, and slightly citrusy.

 

Swipe: Things liven up a bit, but begin to take a turn in the "not me" direction. Florals are popping up and lending the scent a "grown up lady" feel. Which fits in with the "young lady behaving maturely"-ish theme..but doesn't fit me.

 

Drydown: It went kind of powdery and flowery and just....not me.

 

Overall: Far, far outta my league. Ah well, the notes sounded wonderful, but they just didn't mesh well on my skin. But I *definitely* get an image of a young girl playing dress up in her mother's clothing and drowning herself in this perfume.

[olympia301]

Lolita is all about orange flowers, neroli. It comes off as being immature but aggressive and sexually inexperienced, something like a nymphette who thinks it all ends up with her being "the little bride". It dries down to an old fashioned "grown up lady" perfume in the end. As a piece-of-performance-art blend, Lolita is excellent. You could scent Nabokov's book with Lolita the perfume and not be too far off the mark of it all.

 

As a personal perfume, I am a bit past the Lolita stage in my BPAL understanding and appreciation. In view of what has gone on since, I prefer Jailbait as a performance piece as well as a scent. Jailbait has that utterly unconscious vulgarity that Lolita lacks, an overwhelmingly neurotic unshakable self centeredness a la Modern America that just doesn't jolt you in Lolita. Lolita has a wistful, misguided yearning to it which Jailbait doesn't have. The two scents are nothing like each other, by the way, but the concept of too-early sexual maturity is the theme which makes me compare them.

 

Maybe it's the way that we looked at sex in the '50's vs. the way people think of it now which has colored my view of Lolita. The way that the slightly corny orange flowers dry down to a slightly passe old-before-its-time smell that makes me think Lolita is a great piece of art because it tells the story of the girl who grew up too fast then grew old too fast better than just about any other medium I have encountered.

Edited July 23, 2005 by olympia301

[malanna]

This isn't what I expected. I was expecting something along the lines of Jailbait or Hollywood Babylon, but this is really nice and subtle. I don't get much lemon from Lolita. In the first two hours, there's the heliotrope and orange blossom, combining to make it a sweet scent, like honey. Then, the heliotrope fades, and I'm left with orange blossom and honeysuckle. Such a nice, lovely, light, sweet floral. I really like it! It might be a bit too subtle, though....

[girlmadasbirds]

very citrusy! i'm definitely getting the orange and lemon... as it dries, i'm beginning to smell the honeysuckle.

very pretty blend

[Monster]

Out of the vial it smells like dirty diapers mixed with flowers to me. I guess I'm not a fan of the floral scent as every floral scent I've tried smells like dirty diapers and old ladies to me.

 

On my skin the dirty diaper smell fades a bit and is replaced with old lady talcum powder.

 

This is a good scent for anyone who like white flower scents, but it's just not for me.

[Blueelm]

Orange Flowers!

 

I would never have tried this on my own, but got it as a lucky sample. This makes a very classic perfume. At first the orange/honeysuckle seemed like this would be too sweet and sharp a floral for me. Too standard. But this is such a nice respectable perfume, I could wear this to work.

 

The initial blast of acridly sweet flowers gives way to orange-honey, and then to a powdery, musky orange and heliotrope. All the while there is a slight waxyness that reminds me of mimosa.

 

Looking back, it fits very well. The scent starts out so brash, and ends up fading fast. It actually matures from pink lace and pointy high heels, to silk and pearls with pantyhose. I'm a little sad for it.

 

The drydown is lovely and nostalgic. Powdery orange flowers, faint heliotrope.

 

Such a strangely "me" scent. I have to say, this may not be as unusual as the scents I typically go for, but this is something I could really wear every day.

[~AmusedMuse~]

My impression:

This is a lovely orange blossom and honeysuckle scent. It leans more toward the citrus side and is quite lovely. I can detect another floral element for which I am unable to identify but it certainly works well with this and is a beautiful blend.

My scale of 1-5 ....4

[QueenFae]

very, very heady and perfumey when I first sniffed it. I didn't think I would like it at all. It has softened into an orangey, honeysuckle sweet floral, and its really nice. I don't think it's one I would wear to often, but it perfectly embodies its name and is a lovely, girly scent.

[voodoobaby]

In the bottle: Kind of a sharp floral. I can't identify any notes off the bat.

 

Wearing: Hmm. Lemon scented soap? Maybe it'll get better once it sits a while.

 

Later: Well, the honeysuckle comes out a bit more to sweeten it, but the lemon verbena scent is gone and it's still mostly soap. I'm sure it'll make someone with the right skin chemistry very happy.

[Christine Daae]

Lolita

 

In the bottle: Orange flower and lemon verbena - sharp, sweet.

 

Wet: Bright, heady orange flowers - almost too overpowering. Heady is the perfect word for this, yes - it's almost intoxicating. Very citrusy and sweet.

 

Drydown: Ooooh, I was surprised with this one. I really love this scent now - it's turned brighter and sweeter, less heady, more innocent. Very sweet, I smell a lot like candy.

 

Verdict: I can already tell that BPAL is going to be a very troubling addiction for me, because I want a big bottle of this, too! I wore this two days straight because I liked it so much. It becomes sweeter and sweeter as the day goes on, I smell a little like powdered sugar and a little like Juicy Fruit gum, but with the florals mixed in as well. This is extremely surprising, as I added this one in last-minute to round out my order, but I absolutely love this. Unfortunately, it doesn't last very long, so I'll have to keep reapplying.

[slugbait]

A freebie form the lab. Wee!

 

In the imp this smells like a juicy citrus blend. It has somewhat of a bubblegum/candy quality to it. On my skin it is fruity, then dissapears. Thenit turns into powder. I smell a light trace of jasmine, but this went mostly powder. Drats!

[herongale]

Lolita (Love Potions line)

 

in the bottle: flax-colored oil (if one wonders how many different adjectives I can come up with to describe yellow oils, wonder no longer... I have a 500 page Dictionary of Colour at my elbow and am not afraid to use it!). Spicy bubblegum is my first impression, but this is a very different kind of scent from Arachne (the other bubblegum-ish scent I've tried)... this fragrance has a certain heft and arch charm that immediately draws me in. Complexity.

 

wet: Oooh, easter candy! The initial smell is a rush of crystal pink-coloured sugar, but almost instantly (like a dueling symphony), the peppery spice note comes out, like a really naughty kiss.

 

drydown: This is a long lasting, cute floral that really does a million different things on me, depending on the location. For example, I wore it yesterday at Kensington park, and under direct sunlight it becomes a thick amber syrup of honey and honesuckle; under the variegated light of trembling leaves, it becomes more dusky, like a young rose. I feel tasty and sexy wearing this, and yet completely naive... it's perfect for these late summer days, but I also sense that it will do well for me in the coldness of late fall and winter.

 

verdict: YES. I'm keeping this, will use it up, and plan on getting more on my next Lab order. Wonderfully Herongalian (whatever the hell THAT means!).

[Firewaver]

in the bottle this is a deceptively sweet and sugary scent. On my skin, it turns into a sour, murky sweetish smell. If that makes any sense at all.

 

Drying down, this reminds me just a wee bit of pink moon, without the shimmery lunar oils to lend a sparkle. Ah ha! I see the culprit is the orange blossom! I never get along with anything even remotely orange related.

 

Oh dear... the sweetness is taking on a decidedly candle-like smell. It smells like a candle that might be labeled "candied fruits" or something of the sort.

 

I'm sure this is pretty on those who don't revile orange blossom. It seems like a very sweet and crystalline scent otherwise.

[lohengrin]

In the imp: WHOA SWEET. @_@ Not as sweet as, say, Jailbait, but sweet.

 

On, wet: Little bit soapy. Sweet and soapy. Damn.

 

Later: Soapy, with something nicer in the background. ;_; Still haven't found my citrus scent that ISN'T discontinued.

[magic_tree]

Oh, Lolita, how I love thee!

 

In the imp Lolita is a sweet haze of wet fruity candy. Once it is on, it lightens up and evens out so that I smell like pixie stix, which I'm surprised I really really like. Lolita is the only scent so far that actually improves my mood just by wearing it. I feel upbeat and pretty happy. The funny thing is that I'm not remotely a candy person anymore, but I did like it as a kid, and I think this has a good association for me. This might be an anti-depressant this winter. I plan on getting myself a nice big bottle...winters are long.