Nollie

I grew up in a small coastal town in south Florida, where my daily girlhood ritual consisted of sunflower seeds and a slushee from Wawa, slathering myself in Maui Babe tanning lotion and attempting the perfect seashell shaped tan-ttoo, and finally putzing around the mall with some sticky-fingered friends until my mother called me home to supper. It was the sort of idyllic cool-girl vibe that was made possible only by the fact that amidst the Presbyterian churches and cow pastures, my town had a Pacsun storefront situated in what was widely considered the beach babe corridor of our derelict shopping plaza (a 2000s Florida teenager’s holy trinity: Hollister, Pacsun, RonJon’s). And within Pacsun was a highly coveted little jewel of an elixir; packaged in an unbearably cute and holdable bottle, with an unassuming and decidedly cool lower-case label and the perfect splash of lime-green rubber grip. St. Augustine’s fountain of youth had absolutely nothing on the classic Nollie. The snowbirds had their designer scents from the Sephora inside JC Penny’s— Carolina Herrera Good Girl abounds!— but to me, Nollie is the smell of Childish Gambino’s Because the Internet album on CD in my beater with no AC, the smell of skipping Sunday service to practice french kissing with my best friends in the girl’s bathroom, the smell of pretending that you like coconut water (it’s pretty gross, babe, but it’s super good for you). It’s awesome. Don’t get me wrong— you pilfer your mom’s Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy or D&G Light Blue on special occasions, but Nollie is your ride or die. You tan easy, and you never really use sunscreen, like, ever. And you wouldn’t be caught dead without your watermelon Bubblicious. Now I’m in my late twenties and I’m ruminating. I have an office job in the Midwest and the winters keep me sickly pale. I meal prep and network and I generally don’t smell like sour green apple and DIY lemon juice highlights. I go for “skin scents,” because they’re office appropriate/respectable and if I’m being totally honest they’re pretty delightful. Basically, I grew up. L on my forehead. I suppose overall Nollie is a metaphor for the ephemerality of my sunkissed teenaged years— juicy, summery, and begging for an extra spritz. It sticks around in places you wouldn’t expect, but for me, becomes undetectable too soon. This perfume smells like a citric acid head rush tempered by light, bright, addictive tropical fruits. And maybe I’m biased, but I actually don’t think Nollie reads as immature or sickly sweet. True to form, this is the smell of your best friend’s intimidatingly cool older sister. You wear it because you wanna be her, or be her boyfriend (?), or maybe you wanna be the perfume bottle on her dresser (??), like you really wanna be the cute round glass that she holds carelessly in her fingertips and then tosses onto the bed while she’s getting ready (????), you want to be the little nozzle that she suspends teasingly just above her pulse in a casual, nonchalant way (????????), and then ten years down the line you’re in a Pacsun in a strip mall somewhere and the smell of this perfume makes you realize that your lesbian tendencies were never quite latent. You might be thinking, ‘Girl, calm down, it’s cheap, it’s childish, it’s obnoxious, blah blah blah.’ Well, now I know you’re probably a snowbird because spraying then overspraying Nollie for the first time is a spiritual rite of passage rivaled only by, like, successfully orchestrating a game of spin the bottle. And you probably reapplied sunscreen, like a noob! To the real Nollie girls out there: where are we getting our Botox done. The years of competitive tanning have caught up with me. And to my childhood best friend’s older sister: thanks for the weirdly sexually confused relationship I now have with fruity gourmands.

This is a nostalgic scent for me. I wore it all through high school religiously, and although it definitely is fruity, it has a light and fresh quality to it that is very summery and wears well in hot climates, at least it does on me. The bottle has been updated, but the scent remains the same as it was in 2009 when I fell in love with it. It is rather uncomplicated, but it wears well with my body chemistry and fades beautifully into a clean hint of rosewater and sweet melon. It is not long lasting, but it's so inexpensive and accessible that I just fill a travel sprayer with it and refresh after 4 hours or so. It is not soapy at all, which I appreciate since a lot of these more adolescent-targeted scents can end up leaning that way. At 31 years old I do not find this to be overly juvenile, and I still enjoy it very much after all these years. There's something really nice about a simple scent like this, and I get plenty of compliments on it even though it's quite possibly the most affordable and simplistic fragrance I own.

Awh this smells so cute, fresh green apples cut up next to a spring time bouquet dusted with sugar, or a sugar and citric acid mixture like what’s on sour candy. It smells delightfully sour but not sharp or pungent. I got a compliment wearing this from my boyfriend’s sister she said it smelled really good and lingered in the hallway I walked though. The sillage and longevity is really good, it lasts over 24 hours on clothes, it’s a really strong perfume especially for a fruity floral, two sprays is enough for the whole day. It’s a little shampooey with fruity sweetness. I really really like this one a lot, I’m glad I revisited it. It also stands out from other fruity florals I have for lasting so long and having a really fresh green apple note. Also I asked my boyfriend what he thought of it and he said “nummies” I was like wtf do you mean and he didn’t have any other way to describe it, so I guess guys really like this one lol.

I bought this perfume for myself for Christmas in middle or high school: wore it every day until the bottle was gone. It was the og round one with the silicone cover. I guess I moved on to other perfumes that year and completely forgot this existed. Until now, 15 years later I buy a hair detangler. Spray it on my daughters hair and feel transported in time and immediately see this bottle and remembered how it felt holding that petite green bottle ❤️ Oh my god it was good. I was excited to see it still exists, but looks like it’s been changed, and that round silicone bottle was everything... (the hair detangler that triggered the memory was John Frieda 3-in-1 Vibrant shine spray) Edit: yesterday I discovered that Opus Kore by Vilhelm smells super similar to this also. I don’t have Nollie anymore to compare. But if you’re into fancy crystal bottles and perfume collecting, check out Vilhelm.

I was in high-school from 05 to 09 and I got this as a gift twice bc I was obsessed with it when I smelled it at the mall and if I had a bf this is what I would ask for as a gift lol, and bought it when I could afford it myself. It's great for lovers of "Lucky You", DKNY be delicious, Versace bright Crystal, and bombshell by VS. One day I would like to buy this again for nostalgia bc it was a signature scent for me in HS. I remember when I first got it, I would wear it with a country apple body cream from BBW and I felt like that girl, it always got me attention. It smells like early mornings getting ready, hoop earrings, a ponytail w baby hair, and the south pole puffer jacket with fur trim on the hood bc I couldn't afford the baby phat one at the time, and my DC pink and black sneakers. And can't forget the shimmery 99 cent lipgloss. Yesssss.

By some crazy miracle, I caught it when they restocked this online about a month ago. It was like 3am and I was doing my semi regular checks on it to see if it’d let me buy it. When it actually let me put one in the cart I damn near had a heart attack. I quickly added a 2nd to the cart while contemplating a 3rd or even 4th. But I have a very large collection so 2 should be fine. Y’all it still smells like it did back in the day. The memories that came flooding back were just so good. I have it right next to my bed and I keep sniffing it to cheer me up throughout the day/night. If you want this fragrance and don’t want to pay exorbitant prices then definitely stalk the page late at night. Try to add one to the cart. If it says you can’t then try again another day. If it actually shows up in your cart, you’re golden. Good luck!

Nollie was the first perfume I ever bought myself with my own money. Its extremely nostalgic for me and reminds me of the time in my life where I was just starting college and working my first job. When I saw it finally pop up in the database I actually squealed haha. Its extremely easy to wear fresh and clean. Something a younger girl would wear. Its not offensive and has amazing lasting power. On me it over 8 hours. Its heavy on the citrus pretty sure it bergamont maybe lime(?) and basically indistinguishable florals that smell fresh. I'm assuming its an fresher take on jasmine and I can't smell any of the rose that is listed here. Nollie is great I wouldn't limit it to younger girls. Great for a first signature scent. Fun, playful, and a little sporty.

I revisited this gem after over a decade because some folks were saying this smells like Opus Kore by Vilhelm. Currently obsessed with that scent but not able to drop $200+ so I picked up a bottle of Nollie during my last trip to the mall. They are indeed super similar. Nollie doesn’t last super long but for the price tag I’m totally okay over spraying or reapplying. The body mist also smells amazing but just a bit fresher/lighter so I will be using that one for around the house or errand days! I do find that there’s a pencil shaving smell for the first 10 min after spraying, even my husband agreed it smelled like a pencil sharpener lol. but once it dries down it goes away! Overall, amazing beautiful scent for the price- hope they never discontinue it!

I was at a work function and the lady that was standing next to me smelled AMAZING. This is what she was wearing. She said that her daughter had been buying her this from the Pacsun store for years. I was obsessed!! I think I drove a pretty long way to get to that store and purchased it stat. Reminds me of Daisy - clean and beautiful Update: I gifted a bottle to my daughter in law who loves Daisy and she loved this, too. I am wearing this today and it is clean, fresh, and floral. Very pretty. I think this is perfect for spring and summer but really, I would wear it anytime. If you sign up for their emails, they send coupons, but it's $22 to buy a 1.7 and it's $6 to ship. But you can buy it at Pacsun in the mall.

I wore this as a teenager and after 20 years had forgotten all about it. Recently stumbled across a Depop listing for one of the original rubberized bottles and it all came flooding back. I remembered this smelling so good and after receiving one of the new (boring) bottles in the mail can confirm it smells exactly like I remember. I’ve always thought it smells like pear, but maybe it is apple. I couldn’t believe this is still being made! I love it and am so happy to wear it again. Takes me back to a simpler time which is very comforting right now. 💚

I already wrote a review but I just needed to say how much I love this scent. It goes so well with my skin chemistry and spring time. It’s so nice to put on after taking a shower and putting on a matching pajama set, feeling pretty and feminine. This is my go to feel good fragrance when I don’t know what to wear.

Very unique young scent to it. Its refreshing and different thats why I like it. It stands out and people love it I always get compliments.

I love this perfume it has a clean fresh scent n the scent lasts a long while n trails behind you..i wish it was easier to find.

This review is for the new formulation. Also, I’ve never tried the original, so I can’t compare. It’s a pretty, mildly sweet fruity floral. It’s not too citrusy in the opening, thank goodness, but I do get fresh fruit... apricot, maybe? Plum? Something sweeter and milder than citrus. The floral I’m getting in the opening is freesia, I think. It did a weird disappearing act on me, when I couldn’t smell anything around the hour mark, but then it came back more floral about half an hour later and stayed with me for a few more hours. I wore it over Neutrogena Hydro Boost gel cream (unscented); I wonder if that helped longevity? Projection wasn’t bad, either. I had a nice little scent bubble for a while. I detect jasmine in the dry down. This is a great scent for spring and summer. It’s not too sweet for hot weather. It’s youthful, but anyone can wear it.

I bought this perfume in high school which is very fitting for this smell. It's light and fruity in a way that just smells rather young to me. It's not a sophisticated scent. It's something that smells very low maintenance to me. While I loved it at the time, it no longer suits me now that I've grown up.

My coworker often smells like fruit cocktail, so after some indirect probing, she told me that she has worn "Pacsun Nollie" since high school. I somewhat see the comparisons to DKNY Be Delicious. Green apple, yes, but this one is softer and sweeter with a discernible peach note. The white floral presence has a warmth to it, I think jasmine and neroli. Sunny, clean, very pretty. Like a nice shampoo or hand cream. I was a DNKY girl in high school and I still prefer it, but this is a great alternative, especially for the low price. I see why it's so popular.

All I smell in this is green apple. I liked it, didn't love it. Gave it to a friend.

An earlier review claimed that the newer version of this (in the tall rectangular bottle with green florals over top, that you can buy right now on Pacsun's site) smelled the exact same as the OG formula (in the round bottle with the green silicone edges). The new formula is **not** identical to the OG formula, but it's pretty darn close: - The OG formula had a bit more of a creamy, tropical feel - almost like a soft whisper of a creamy green banana, mixed in with the white florals; it was similar to some of the DNA in Escada's "Pacific Paradise" - New formula is more white floral-heavy than the OG, especially in dry-down - Still smells amazing/very similar to the OG! Despite the slight differences, you'll still feel nostalgic when wearing it! Just wish I could get my hands on an OG bottle again.

This brings me back to my high school days when Pacsun used to carry surf & skate brands. I remember there were 3 different scents - a pink one which was musky, a purple which was sweet fruity and this green one which was fresh fruity. It’s a clean/fresh, sorta fruity, sweet jasmine. Linear and lasted a while on my skin. A little juvenile but a good “idk what to wear/on the go” scent, if you still own this. Reminds me of DKNY be delicious but not as sharp or dry. Best in the spring and summer months, as well as in warm weather environments - island or coastal. The bottle I had looks like the photo used here (Round) but I remember searching for it online years ago and it was rectangular. Agree with previous reviewer, wish it was easily available.

nollie by pacsun will always be one of those scents that just takes me back. i used to wear it all the time in high school and every time i smell it now, it feels like those years all over again. it’s sweet and fresh but not too much, kind of that perfect everyday scent you’d spray before running out the door. it just smells exactly how you think a girl would smell — soft, clean, a little flirty, and really pretty without trying too hard. there’s something warm and comforting about it too, like sunny afternoons, lip gloss, and laughing with friends. it’s simple, but in the best nostalgic way. i’ll always have a soft spot for this one.