Lolita Lempicka Perfume and Girlhood Rage

I recently listened to the audiobook version of Rebel Girl, Kathleen Hanna’s autobiography.

I was in 9th grade when I first heard the term Riot Grrrl. I went to a small alternative school where the majority of the students were oddballs, misfits and most of all young feminists. Some of the older students had organised a local chapter of Riot Grrrl. Although I attended a couple of meetings, my memories of the details are shaky.

In the book, Hanna talks about her experience being a conduit for a lot of trauma dumping. That part of the meetings, I do remember. This was the early 90s and young people did not have as many outlets for trauma dumping back then. We did not have live journal, we had actual journals with little keys we had to hide from our parents and siblings. So, when given an opportunity to hear and be heard by our peers we took it. For better or for worse.

I found the book compelling in that it was a snapshot of the lifespan of a movement. The rise and fall of something that had a significant impact in my life, but feels like a tiny dot on the horizon behind me.

I’ll admit, I never really listened to Bikini Kill. I couldn’t tell you why they didn’t really resonate with me as a band. There is a band that is mentioned in Rebel Girl that I still turn to to this day whenever I want to revisit my girlhood rage: Babes in Toyland

The front woman for Babes in Toyland was Kat Bjelland. She came up in the music scene alongside Courtney Love and to the untrained eye/ear they seem like clones of each other.

However, one of the biggest differences between them is illustrated by something Kat once said in an interview.

Kat wanted to make music and Courtney wanted to be famous.

The music Kat and Babes in Toyland made was aggressive with a side of babydoll sweetness that appealed to me as a 13 yr old just learning how to feel her feelings. The song Bruise Violet was in rotation on Much Music, our Canadian MTV. It is a sonic assault, driving guitars, drums and profanity. But my  favourite Babes in Toyland song might be Sweet ‘69, with its liberal dose of cowbell over Kat’s baby girl whispers mid-song.

I’ve been thinking a lot about pairing music with perfume. This is not an original concept, brands have created perfumes with specific music in mind. An example that comes to mind is the brand Clue who has a perfume inspired by Harry Nillson’s The Point.

I’ve personally been listening to the music I love and forcing a synesthesia response. I’ll listen to a song and think “what does this song smell like”. I don’t own a lot of perfumes, so I’m mostly thinking about individual notes.

However, when it comes to Babes in Toyland a specific perfume does come to mind. Lolita Lempicka. Lolita Lempicka is a perfume from the 90s created by the great Annick Mernardo.

The obvious tie-in here is that the term “Lolita” was tossed around a lot during the Riot Grrrl era in response to the babydoll dresses and barrettes we were all wearing.

I coveted this perfume when it was new but this was back when my disposable income was “nil”. Still, I would sniff it at the department store and admire its poison apple aesthetic. I was hurling towards my goth phase in the late 90s.

At first, Lolita Lempicka comes across as maraschino cherry sweet but that fades quickly and what follows is all licorice and purple flowers, Bruised Violet if you will. There is also a lingering vetiver note that is grounding and fresh