Ô de Lancôme
Lancôme (1969)

Some days I cannot believe how much I love this fragrance, and it's truly one that resonates with me on a deeper level.

I know it has citrus and powdery facets, but the citrus itself smells powdery to my nose, especially in it's opening. Like a bed of fluffy orange and soft coriander.

It smells of both dried and fresh herbs atop shelves long spiced and imbued with all manner of savory ingredients. It smells...in the purest sense of existence, of home, because nothing is more reassuring than healthy flavors. It's green, and the soft brown of faded wood, it's basil, marjoram and salt. It verges on tomato leaf/stem. It's SO green and plant-y.

It's grassy and sunny, and smells of a muggy day in early June. It's as if the windows are open indoors, wafting the breezes of a rural woodscape across your kitchen.

It's so humble, but exquisite all at once. It satisfies, and yet creates longing for the best life has to offer....which is in all reality, quite modest and simple. It's the *healthiest* and most wholesome fragrance I've ever put my nose to. Absolutely masterful, and although it smells so pointedly familiar and not at all exotic, doesn't feel as if it lacks anything whatsoever. This fragrance reminds me of what is truly needed, and comforts me. It's heartachingly beautiful.

I was a little mystified by my small vintage bottle of Ô de Lancôme when I picked it up, liking the fresh, clean top notes but not really noticing much about where it goes afterwards. Don't let the subtle cyclamen aldehyde bother you – it's not dominant. While Ô is quite light, the heart and base accords are truly wonderful. Just make sure to splash on a bit more and take a decant with you if you want this sleeper to accompany you on an all-day summer outing. Lovely juice! (I haven't tried and don't want to try the reformulation. I suppose it could be done well again with Evernyl someday...)

Ô yeah. Ô yeah! The moon, beautiful...The sun, even more beautiful, ah ha ha. Ô yeah! Chicka chicka chicka...

An herb garden after the rain, damp mosses genuflecting before trees, honeysuckle hedges, lemon yellow and basil green; all of this comes to mind upon applying Ô de Lancôme. It's made for late July, when you're starting to grow weary of the heat and need something to lift you up and stretch your limbs into action. It's just bitter enough to put a pep in your step, just sweet enough to put a smile on your face.

The vetiver in the dry down is an added bonus, as it seamlessly syncs with the citrus and herbs and is always a joy to have aside the oakmoss, making for a winsome skin scent hours in from application.

Citrusy, bitter, but soft. Not something I would bother buying at all.

Citrus chypres are rather common in the world of scent, stretching from the 1920s (R&G's LE JADE) through the 1990s (Gres' HOMME DE GRES).

O DE LANCOME is one of these with a light citrus burst that calms down to an oak moss, vetiver and labdanum chypre.

They are all perfectly likable and very much like each other. One of the simplest formulas in the perfume world, but done well, the best type of summer scent imaginable.

This one is as competent as the others. Thumbs up on its own merits, as it would be unfair to take it down a notch because of its lack of originality.

Turin gives it three stars and names it a "fresh citrus," while Herman praises its "tart, green, herbal dry down."

I cannot bear to give Ô de Lancôme anything but a thumbs up, but that is for the old one, the vintage, the pre-reformulation fragrance. Ô de Lancôme used to be one of my favourite scents for summer and sports – refreshing citrus with the most gorgeous, soft and sexy sandalwood drydown. The wave of reformulations round about 2010 hit Ô de Lancôme as well, and left what is an insult to both the old fragrance and those who loved it. Its new version is a sharp, charmless, lemony washing-up liquid, not to be recommended. Best not dwell on that though, but to remember the dreaminess of the Ô de Lancôme that used to be...