Marc Jacobs Oh, Lola!

Lola from Marc Jacobs was first released in the early fall of 2009 and I fell in love with it immediately.  Lola was my fall fragrance and Daisy was more of my spring fragrance, I love both of them and therefore I was really excited when I heard about the release of Oh, Lola in the early fall of the 2011.  I have never been fan of creating new versions of a best-selling fragrance and usually I end up only liking the original fragrance and I can never stand the new version.  I was hoping that Oh, Lola would change that trend but I was a bit concerned that a new version could never live up to the loveliness of the original fragrance.  Turns out...I was right about new versions of great fragrances, they don't live up to the original and just end up disappointing me in the end.
I feel like I read or heard somewhere that Oh, Lola! was made to be Lola's little sister and I couldn't have described this fragrance better myself.  It is a younger, lighter, sweeter version of the original fragrance.  That might be great for someone younger or who likes less fragrance (as the original can be somewhat strong) but this isn't at all what I had in mind and I prefer stronger fragrances over lighter ones.  This fragrance would also be better as a spring fragrance, where the original Lola is better for the fall and winter months. 

The Sephora website states the following about the fragrance, "Flirtatious, charming, and sparkling with lightheated personality, this fragrance leaves you flirting with your senses!  It bursts open with a bright and whimsical effervescence.  At the heart of the fragrance is the playful scent of peony.  As the scent dries down, a flirty and elegant trail gives you an unexpected touch of fun that makes you smile!  Oh, Lola's cap bursts from the bottle in a flowery swirl of glossy, transparent petals in pink and cherry red.  Beautifully juicy and refreshing, each brillant layer of petals comes together with a surprising sparkle of spontaneous personality."
The notes of the new version of this fragrance are: Raspberry, Vanilla, Peony, Pear, Cyclaman.  For comparison purposes, the notes of the original fragrance are: Pink Peppercorn, Pear, Ruby Red Grapefruit, Rose, Fuschia Peony, Geranium, Vanilla, Tonka Bean, Creamy Musk.  The raspberry note is the major addition to the new fragrance, making it much lighter and the absence of the tonka bean and musk also contribute to lightening up the fragrance.

My major problem with this fragrance was the addition of the raspberry note, this note never works on my skin and makes the fragrance sickeningly sweet when I try to wear.  The pear note just adds to the sweetness and makes the fragrance even worse for me.  This fragrance was pretty much killed for me as soon as I smelled the raspberry note on my skin, I could never pull this off.  I will stick with the original version of the fragrance, the heart floral notes and the base notes in it work so much better on my skin and are much more to my preference in fragrances.

photo courtesy of Sephora