Sitting on a plush couch in a posh suite at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles, Jennifer Lopez drives all thoughts of that certain other “pretty woman” out of your head. With her impeccable makeup and perfectly coiffed caramel-highlighted hair, and wearing jeans, high heels and a gold sequined top, the singer looks as impossibly put together as one would expect from a seasoned diva.

Lopez is here to celebrate the launch of Live, her fourth scent, which she likens to a fresh page in her diary. “I like where I’m at in my life to come through in my fragrances,” she says, still slightly breathless from a morning photo shoot for promotional pictures and videos. “You get to a certain age where you just want to go for it; you don’t want to make excuses anymore. You learn that every moment is precious. There is an energy to that. The whole concept of Live is about the energy of living in the now.”

As with each of her fragrances, Lopez has taken a hands-on approach. “It has never been about slapping my name on something,” she says. “I feel like I understand what women want. I know how they want to feel and how, when they go out, they want a little bit more confidence.”

The perfume is a vibrant mix of Sicilian lemon, Italian orange, pineapple, redcurrant, peony, caramel, tonka bean and sandalwood. The redcurrant was influenced by one of Lopez’s favourite candles. Another slightly unconventional scent that inspired her was the unique smell of a baby’s head. (And no, she’s not pregnant.) Lopez says that, besides embodying moments in her life, her fragrances also evoke the way women feel at different times of the day. “Some scents, like Glow, are geared toward the daytime and work. Then you have sexier scents, like Still, for the night. Live moves very well between day and night, when you’re hanging out with your family or going out on a date.”

The bottle, which looks like a miniature Murano glass wine decanter, was created before the actual fragrance and was inspired by a cluster ring in Lopez’s jewellery collection.

The television ad campaign for Live, showing Lopez gyrating to a heavy drumbeat in a low-cut white dress, was the brainchild of photographer and director Jean-Baptiste Mondino. “He asked me, ‘When do you feel most alive and in the moment?’” says Lopez. “And I said, ‘When I’m dancing.’” But for now, Lopez is all business — with legs demurely crossed and hands folded on her lap. Something about her, though, says she’ll be dancing in the spotlight for years to come.

Photo courtesy of Norbert Mayer