Cacharel's second perfume, Loulou was born in 1987 under the hand of Jean Guichard, nine years after Anaïs Anaïs, whose opposite it takes. Vanilla serves as its foundation, surrounded by sun-kissed, powdery flowers contradicted by a bitter greenness of blackcurrant and tagetes. The juice has divided opinion since its release. Its blue and red bottle, signed by Annegret Beier, borrows its colors from a Matisse odalisque wearing scarlet trousers.
Loulou does not do things by halves. A green, bitter opening, a sun-kissed heart, a vanilla base that lasts for hours: people either love it or flee it, and rarely both within a few days of each other.
Olfastory’s review
Loulou has crossed the decades without ever reaching consensus. Reviews almost always fall on one side or the other, and those who love it, like those who reject it, describe similar sensations.
A fragrance that apologizes for nothing
The opening hits hard. Plum and spices arrive as a block, lifted by iris and violet, and this opening alone is enough to decide many people before the heart has even appeared.
What follows softens without backing down. Ylang-ylang, heliotrope and orange blossom round out the attack, and the vanilla of the base takes over for hours. The fragrance is gentler than its attack would suggest.
The comparison with Poison comes up constantly. Loulou takes from it the same confidence and the same promise of forbiddenness, but trades the spices and honey for a vanilla sweetness that makes it more wearable day to day.
The recurring complaints
Sillage comes first among the complaints. Several accounts describe a presence that fills a room and a persistence that outlasts the day, which makes the fragrance difficult to wear in an enclosed space.
The sweetness divides just as much. Some see in it a heady praline, others a caramel that turns medicinal on their skin. A single bottle produces opposite impressions depending on the wearer.
Why its devotees come back to it
The attachment often stems from the era. Many wore it as teenagers in the late 1980s and find it intact decades later, which gives the reviews a rare emotional charge.
Others come to it late. Several accounts describe an initial rejection turned into full devotion, once the nose grows accustomed to compositions less sweet and more forthright than current output.
The most recurring theme is identity. Loulou resembles nothing recent and is recognizable in a single whiff, which its defenders rank above its excesses.
Who Loulou suits
Loulou suits people who embrace a conspicuous fragrance and have no need for discretion. Shared offices do not suit it well, and anyone seeking a discreet floral after two hours will be disappointed.
A single drop is enough. The concentration and longevity make overdosing easy, and several accounts advise applying half as much as for a contemporary perfume before forming an opinion.
The question of versions remains. No source precisely dates the reformulations, and comparisons between old and recent bottles rest on memory. Nothing guarantees finding the Loulou of 1987 again.