I was out to lunch today with mom and decided to stop by local perfume counters. By the time we reached the Lancôme counter I was already wearing three fragrances, but my mother had skin to spare ( why does that sound more grotesque than it should? ), and she liked Ô on the tester strip. The SA, keenly aware that my mother was on a collision course with a high-quality fragrance, was attempting to steer her well away and towards the fruity-florals, but my mother thankfully ignored her.
The top notes got my attention for sure. A really BIG blast of galbanum and bergamot. Despite heading towards more hesperidic territory in the heart ( my mother commented that it smelled like lemon ), the base was the most interesting part to my nose: a big, dark moss note. The development to that point was quite fast, about forty minutes at most by my estimation, but the lasting power has proved excellent on her skin, which if you knew her, is astonishing ( hers is the skin chemistry that makes all but super-tanker orientals vanish in minutes ).
In some ways, my mother has a bit of a tragic relationship with green florals and classic green fragrances in general: she seems to really like galbanum, but not oakmoss-heavy drydowns. For the most part, they just lead to disappointment in the drydown for her, and Ô de Lancôme was no exception. No. 19 smells of stale lettuce to her, and this, apparently, smells like Hai Karate. Never having smelled that I can't comment, but in the fairness of presenting all opinions, the comparison was not meant as a compliment. It may, however, explain this to me: the drydown smells like a Big Green '80s Juice pour Homme, and it's a drydown I just love. While Ô isn't a powerscent, its drydown is very much aligned with that style and notes, at least to my nose.
In many reviews I've seen, Ô de Lancôme is placed as a citrus cologne, a genre I don't warm to at all. Instead, I've found to be an intensely green chypre with a sparkling and slightly bitter hesperidic accord running through the top and heart. I'm shocked it doesn't have more fans here. If Ô de Lancôme was released today, it would likely be a mens' fragrance. But that's extremely hypothetical, given that something like Ô de Lancôme wouldn't be released today at all..
The top notes got my attention for sure. A really BIG blast of galbanum and bergamot. Despite heading towards more hesperidic territory in the heart ( my mother commented that it smelled like lemon ), the base was the most interesting part to my nose: a big, dark moss note. The development to that point was quite fast, about forty minutes at most by my estimation, but the lasting power has proved excellent on her skin, which if you knew her, is astonishing ( hers is the skin chemistry that makes all but super-tanker orientals vanish in minutes ).
In some ways, my mother has a bit of a tragic relationship with green florals and classic green fragrances in general: she seems to really like galbanum, but not oakmoss-heavy drydowns. For the most part, they just lead to disappointment in the drydown for her, and Ô de Lancôme was no exception. No. 19 smells of stale lettuce to her, and this, apparently, smells like Hai Karate. Never having smelled that I can't comment, but in the fairness of presenting all opinions, the comparison was not meant as a compliment. It may, however, explain this to me: the drydown smells like a Big Green '80s Juice pour Homme, and it's a drydown I just love. While Ô isn't a powerscent, its drydown is very much aligned with that style and notes, at least to my nose.
In many reviews I've seen, Ô de Lancôme is placed as a citrus cologne, a genre I don't warm to at all. Instead, I've found to be an intensely green chypre with a sparkling and slightly bitter hesperidic accord running through the top and heart. I'm shocked it doesn't have more fans here. If Ô de Lancôme was released today, it would likely be a mens' fragrance. But that's extremely hypothetical, given that something like Ô de Lancôme wouldn't be released today at all..
If memory serves, it is a very unusual scent, not for everyone, with strong hesperidic notes. In all likelihood, this came out after the founding of Parfums D'Orsay in 1908 as one of its first offerings.
