Lolita Lempicka Forbidden Flower Perfume

Please don't mind the watermark to my nail blog. I had put the photos together before this blog was up and running.  Originally, the review was going to be placed on the other blog. :-)

I wasn't going to review this one yet just because it isn't exactly the "right" season for it (according to majority).  However, I didn't want to end up forgetting about it, so I will just go ahead and get it out there now.  This one is Lolita Lempicka Forbidden Flower.  It was created in 2008 by Annick Menardo, who also created the original Lolita Lempicka, but not the L De Lolita Lempicka (both of which I have already done reviews on).  This is considered a fruity floral gourmand fragrance.

This one is a little bit reminiscent of Lolita Lempicka by Lolita Lempicka, I'm assuming because of its violet note.  It (the violet) doesn't seem as soft and powdery as it did in the original Lolita Lempicka.  It seemed more classic and vintage in that one and fresh in this one.  While this one opens pretty quickly with violet (more so than the original) it still isn't the first thing I pick up on.  The extreme first scent I get is fresh cut grass or leaves.  Not dry, dead leaves but fresh spring or summer leaves.  It seems like an usual smell but it works very, very well in a scent directed for that time of year.

I know there are peony notes in this perfume, but on me they seem pretty light.  They don't stand out very strong.  I know most of you will be familiar with, say, the peony scent from Bath & Body Works. While I enjoy that scent because I can recall my grandmother always wearing it, this isn't the same.  It is softer in this perfume.  It isn't as sharp. It melds and blends in better here.

After a little while, I pick up on hints of dark cherry.  It is the strangest thing because it isn't settled there.  I can take a whiff and smell it and think "yum, that smells really nice" and so I'll sniff again, but get NOTHING in the way of that cherry scent.  It comes and goes.   When it is there it is a pleasant surprise.  This is the start of the cherry rolling in, because give it about an hour after initial application and BAM!  Chocolate covered cherries!  I get the sensation of the deliciousness that is inside of a chocolate covered cherry, you know, the cherry syrup that surrounds the actual berry PLUS that cherry.  Yum!

What lingers, and is the last thing I detect, I can't figure out.  I can tell you it smells clean.  It has a soap kind of smell, but not at all in a bad way. It definitely smells like one of the bar soaps I have used at some point in my adult life, though. I want to say one of the Olay ones. And that might make sense because I think they may have had some kind of "Cherry Honey" or "Cherry Almond" scented one. It isn't offensive and I think most people would enjoy it.  If you were to go in for a hug/handshake with someone or sweep past a person, you'd just smell....clean.

While this perfume opens very crisp and a bit sharp, I think the dry down on it could work perfectly in the cooler months, too.  It has a cozy smell to it that I enjoy when it is chilly, but also that clean aroma that would be refreshing in scorching temperatures.  Let's just be fair and call this one a year round appropriate perfume.  I think most people will find this one easier to wear than the original Lolita Lempicka.

The official notes of this perfume are...
top: strawberry leaf, mimose, green notes
middle: peony, violet, anise
base: almond, cherry, musk