I'll say it straight; it took me a while to understand Lou Lou, mostly because I was expecting something along the lines of Poison but instead I got a different animal. Yes, there are similarities, but also differences. Poison feels warm while Lou Lou feels cold. Both are complex, and it takes some time to fully gasp the story behind this 1987 gem. I'm still getting there! The main undercurrent I feel through the whole development of Lou Lou is incense. It's a kind of weird plummy tuberose (similarity) with an incensey heliotrope (difference). It starts mellow and soft, only until it warms up on skin. As soon as your body temperature melds with the scent, Lou Lou unfolds big and brash. And it's one reason I prefer Lou Lou in warmer whether, though I've only worn it twice this summer; otherwise I feel it doesn't fully develop. The first hit is incense; a strange kind of incense with tuberose, plum, and a violet tinge. I'm not particularly fond of violet notes, but here the violet is married to the heliotrope so the end result in more of an anisic powderiness. At the same time, your majesty the tuberose tries to take over. On my skin, and for the first time, she fails. The incense pushes her back, creating an atmosphere that truly feels a bit goth; it's cold, there's a blurry floral image, a fruitiness that feels adult, and a powder puf in your hand scented with violets. In a nutshell, this is Lou Lou. I'm not sure I have fully gasped her, even though I quite like what I smell; it feels as if your wearing Poison to church. I mean this in the best way possible, and I'm waiting for warmer temperatures to take her out and play and see if we can connect a bit more. But in the colder weather we're having, which is where I've worn it the most, the incense feels a bit austere and doesn't let its companions come out and play. It's still fun, heady and loud, but not quite there. Sillage is very good, as is longevity. But my bottle (vintage, 1992) will have to wait until spring and sunny days to be worn to the max. Very unisex in all the wears I've given it.