Lolita

[cybra111]

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

 

Lolita

 

In bottle: orange citrus

 

On me: Wanted this for a summer scent and it is going to work for me! Yay! At first a nice citrus. The orange, which I have trouble wearing, blending in beautifully. I get a sexy blend of citrus and heliotrope, which I love! The honeysuckle is in the background to round out a light fresh fragrance.

Edited July 3, 2006 by clover

[urbanruralferal]

I haven't found too many florals that work for me, but this one does.

It's SO SUNNY!

It is sparkling sunny.

The image that came to me is of a girl on a dock just about to dive into a sparkling lake, she is looking back over her shoulder and laughing. She is really much more Hayley Mills than Natalie Portman or any of those other precociously sexual creatures.

I like this very much. I will need to wear it a few more times to see if it is a long-term keeper. I will definitely use the imp.

[Eunice]

Damn, that's nice! Lemony and floral. Lolita is so crisp and clean and refreshing. I totally get the poisonous sexuality!

[Mountaingrrl00]

Well, darn. I sniffed this at a meet & sniff and was smitten by the lovely citrus topnote. I ordered an imp. Again, it was lovely in the vial. On my skin, though, it becomes boozy-sweet, with that same bubblegum note from Jailbait - which makes sense, conceptually, but I was hoping for something different. I may try this one again at another phase of my cycle, in case there's a possibility it can work with my skin chemistry. Otherwise, it looks like Lolita has a lot of fans I can swap her to.

[Melantha]

In the imp: Hmm, sweet flowers, but not off-putting at all.

 

wet: A nicely balanced blend. I smell honeysuckle mostly, but the others are there, and it's a light fragrance.

 

Dry: It's faded a lot, but my! I like her! I really didn't expect to, since I'm not a floral fan, but there you have it. I'll keep my imp, and who knows? I might need a bottle later on.

[edenssixthday]

Lolita - when first applied, Lolita has a strong and acrid scent, very similar to what I get from the initial stages of Bess (despite having no notes in common, as far as what I tell see from the Lab descriptions). Within 15 minutes it dried down into a sweet powder that has no pizzazz, no character, no throw, and well, the staying power doesn’t matter because it has no throw and no character! I’m passing this one along.

[PurringPulsar]

Lolita

 

In the imp: sweet, lemon-tinged orange blossom.

Wet on skin: orange sugar fizz! This is an effervescent, candied citrus scent.

Dry on skin: so pretty and ever so bubbly. This is a youthful, bright scent, a citrus-floral sprinkled with sugar…I smell the orange blossom, made even more tangy by lemon verbena, giving a cute lemon-orange combination, and I'm sure it's the heliotrope adding that sweetness to it all…I can just detect it, that soft, powdered sweetness. I love me some heliotrope.

After a while: the orange blossom fades slightly and the lemon verbena loses it's lemony scent, and turns a tad olive like (I've had that happen in other scents, but not all) I can smell the heliotrope a bit more now, and just the barest, barest hint of honeysuckle.

The drydown is a very pretty heliotrope (though in here it's a lot more cherry like than usual), but with an odd greenish scent to it which I'm not so keen of-I think it's the honeysuckle going a bit dry as it can sometimes do on my skin.

And then, after a couple of hours…all gone. Poof. Vanished.

Verdict: at first I was so pleased with how pretty and lively this scent was-a very youthful scent of tangy citrus notes dusted with sugar. It was reminiscent of orange and lemon sweets and it was such a fun scent! But I'm not so keen on the drydown. The verbena goes odd on me and the scents becomes a dry green scent which I'm not really into. And then it disappears. If there was a musk or a deeper note to ground these evanescent notes I might have preferred it, since I love the wet stage, but unfortunately it's not really my thing, so off to swap it goes.

Emoticon rating: at first but then becoming

If you like this, try: Glitter, Phantasm

Edited September 28, 2006 by yeahbutnobut

[sofiaviolet]

I can really smell the lemon verbena. It overpowers everything else to the point where this might as well be a single note. It fades pretty quickly, allowing a citrusy floral that makes me sneeze to come forth.

[neuilly]

This completely doesn't work on me. It comes off as citrus chemicals. I was hoping for a bice youthful springy type of scent. Some minimal floral in the background...after a while the citrus chemical fades a little and a bubblegum scent comes out. Still doesn't work on me.

Edited August 8, 2006 by neuilly

[Eleri]

OK, I think my nose is broken. Cause all I'm getting off of this one is peppers. It smells like enchilada sauce to me. I smell like a chipotle.

 

I'll try it again later.

[Miss Lynx]

Hmmm, on first sniff, not bad at all. It's very light and fresh, and simultaneously sweet and tart. Very much something I would think of as a springtime scent. And somewhat reminiscent of Maenad, which is also a spring scent in my mind. It's sort of equal parts floral, fruity and herbal, and smells very yellow-green.

 

The touch of sharpness (probably from the verbena) gives it a bit of a wake-up feel, like something that would probably make a good "energizing" or "uplifting" aromatherapy blend. Definitely quite citrussy, and with a gentle warmth to it, and a honeyed sweetness. I can see why some people have described it as being candy-like, but it doesn't quite go there on my skin -- more like Lemon Zinger tea with honey in it.

 

All in all, I think I like it, and it's scents like this that make me very glad that the Lab sends frimps, because I never would have thought to try it based on the description. It's probably not something I'd wear often, but I can see it being just the thing for springtime, or to lift my spirits on grey days.

 

Grade: B

[copyshopclerk]

In the imp: Sweet - there's citrus, and sweet flowers

 

Wet: Definitely a "bright" scent - someone else said sunny and I agree!

 

Dry: Honey and orange, very sweet and cheerful

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is bright, enticing lemon verbena with a kick of orange blossom...

once applied this amps up with the orange and honeysuckle notes being forefront...vibrant and vivacious this is a stunning perfume...good throw as well...perfect for sultry summer evenings sitting on the porch with my heart shaped sunglasses and sipping a mojito...oh yeah

[Eros]

First impression~LEMON!

 

Applied, the lemon softens and the honeysuckle is the more dominant note. There's a hint of the other notes & after a couple of more minutes I get a light, candy-like sweetness. Decent throw and lasting power. Another one that while lovely, not for me.

[Ghost_Light]

First impression/in the imp: this smells more like "perfume" than any other BPAL I have tried.

 

The first time I wore it was at my sniff party. I really amped the lemon verbena wonderfully at first and the mix of that and the other florals in the background made it fluctuate between being too pretty and girl to being very adult and sexy. Very appropriate for the name, but not entirely to my taste.

 

The second time, I decided to have a sniff-off between Lolita and Shanghai since they share so many notes. Poor Lolita never got a chance to show her adult side. My right wrist smelled like a 14-year-old girl in pigtails working on a lollipop all day long. It was just far, far too young for me. Not to my taste.

 

Keeping the imp? I'd love to give this imp to one of the teenage girls at the theatre, someone who is that age and could really wear it, but I don't want to explain that to any of the mums.

 

Bottle: No thanks.

Edited March 17, 2007 by Ghost Light

[alston78]

In the imp: The lemon is very strong - it smells somewhat chemical and sharp.

 

On skin, wet: The lemon starts to mellow out almost immediately and takes on a creamy undertone (the honeysuckle, maybe?). Still much more citrus than sweet or floral, though.

 

Dry-down: On me, this blend only became sweeter as time passed - however, it did not acquire the baby powder smell that orange blossom usually produces on my skin. In the first hour after application, I thought this was the perfect olfactory representation of too much lipstick and Bazooka bubble gum. After the first hour, it lightened into something sweet and delicate, which wafted a bit (I thought I could actually smell it better by waving my hand than by sniffing my wrist). At the end of three hours now, it is almost gone, with just a slight sugary sniff left.

 

Overall impression - I am happy that I found a blend with orange blossom that didn't turn to powder. I probably wouldn't wear this too often because it feels a little young to me (I prefer resin/sweet/floral blends), but I'm glad I got to try it.

[forspecial_plate]

Mmm, this is beautiful in its simplicity. It's a bright cheery citrus flavored floral scent, and the flowers blend together smoothly and marvelously. It dries down to a buttery golden warmth with a zing of sweet citrus....the citrus doesn't shout 'lemon' or 'orange' to me, it's just a nice tart accent.

 

This was frimped from the lab, and I really wasn't expecting to like it much. What a surprise!

[Dinerdulcinea]

imp: luscious fruit

wet: fruit and some dry herbs...gets metallic.

dry: fruity burnt plastic bugspray! EEEEEEEEWWWWWWW!!!

[lookingglass]

Orange and honeysuckle right off the bat. Yeah! I can live with that. Then the lemon verbena hits with a left jab. It soon sweetens out to Lemonheads. The honeysuckle hangs on with the heliotrope (you go little glorious, sweet flowers!), but the sharp lemon is really pissing me off. I am just not that SUNNY!

 

In looking for the perfect honeysuckle (which I have not found...I want a shaded honeysuckle...) this would play 2nd fiddle to Eos. If you love lemon, though, GO FOR IT!

[steffanina]

Lolita-

 

In Bottle: Very bitter in the bottle.

 

Wet: The lemon verbena blooms.

 

Dry: This fades fast and never really turns into anything interesting on me.

 

Overall: Nothing much to it on me.

[bodegaselkie]

I have encountered Lolita before, and passed it along to a friend pretty quickly (she likes girly/citrusy scents more than I do). But another imp came in the mail last night with my most recent Lab order, and since I am currently reading Nabokov's Lolita for the first time, I thought I would give it a try.

 

More than anything else, Lolita smells like bubblegum on me. It's slightly harsh on the bottle, but once it's on my skin the harshness goes away and it's super, super sweet and gummy. After wearing it a while it takes on a slightly incensy/powdery note, which reminds me a little of cheap strawberry incense. I like it quite a bit, and may keep the imp this time. It reminds me of some of my favorite smells from my girlhood days.

 

That said, I don't know if this is "Lolita" on the nose. In the book, there is a moment where Humbert Humbert lays down in the bed where Lolita had lain recently, and describes the scent -- I forget all the details now, but several girlish aromas plus the smell of some light French perfume he allowed her to wear. I wish this scent captured that description, but I suppose if it isn't going to, then its actual scent will have to do.

[supremegoddessofall]

Lemon and orange hell in slightly sweet honeysuckle, with headache-inducing heliotrope. Swap pile.

[mtlaise]

I hadn't really thought of ordering this one, as lemony scents just don't seem to work on me, no matter how mcuh I want them to. That being said, I got this one in a trade, and I'm so glad!

 

Wet, this was very much straight lemon (or the lemon verbena, I guess). I love this phase. On the drydown, the orange blossom makes a brief appearance, and the lemon note softens (not less scent, just a less sharp scent). Dry, the honeysuckle makes its debut, along with what I assume is the scent of heliotrope; these 2 notes now share equally with the lemon verbena.

 

This is lovely; light and breezy - perfect for summer.

[SeaLady]

Lolita is lemon and pepper, and a little honeysuckle on me. Very summery, light, and wonderful. I can just imagine the summery scenes, the tennis games, and how this would fit right in perfectly. For Lolita the book, this is perfect. Lolita the girl I presume would be like Jailbait from the description (the numerous bubblegum references, the french perfume), though I haven't smelled it yet.

 

This is going to be a gift for a friend, but I will have to get myself an imp (a bottle?), because this is delightful. I can't stop sniffing!

 

ETA: A couple hours later, this has turned into the -exact- smell of the paper bubblebath packets I used to have when I was wee. The packets had unicorns and bubbles on them. I've been looking for them for years. Yay!

Edited December 10, 2006 by SeaLady

[harmonyfb]

In the imp, this was acrid, bitter oranges. On my skin, the same. Once it dried, it smelled like bubblegum flavored with bitter oranges. Gross.