Ô de Lancôme (1969)
by Lancôme

One of my all time favorites, the classic that is always there. Very unprepossessing, a rather straight forward citrus, but with a certain je ne sais quoi, a subtle sexiness below the surfuce. Every time I wear it my husband tells me: ”You smell wonderful – what is that?” So it isn’t as obvious and easy to recognize as you might think…

This fragrance was in all of the lavatories on an Alitalia 747 flight to Rome in March, 1975. All of the woman (and men, too) were refreshing themselves with it. To this very day, I find this fragrance to be very pleasant and so European. It's clean, light, and reminds me so much of summer in the Mediteranean countries. I think that this fragrance is also ideal for a career woman to wear to the office. It's never "overbearing". Ladies, try it !

Ô is not "fresh" like modern citrusy/green/aquatic scents are fresh. It's "fresh" like an extremely watered down version of a classic green chypre - that is, not very fresh at all. The topnotes of citrus and cut grass are agreeable enough, but the development on my skin is in the direction of musty, powdery, stale, sour, sharp, anything but "fresh". This is like the evil twin of some great chypre of yesteryear, the pale, skinny, crooked, whiny evil twin, the Gollum of chypres. It smells like "old perfume" and flowers that didn't smell very good to begin with rottening in a vase. It gets a neutral rateness for classic style and originality and because it might work with someone else's skin chemistry than mine.

O pour Homme is green, fresh, a bit floral but not sweet. It develops a grassy character. This is a light chypre. Some have called it cold, harsh, sharp – I don’t find it so frosty. It is cool and quiet. It may have rosemary and vetiver in it. I don’t detect any ginger. Nothing extraordinary here, but it is pleasing.

I usually do not care for Lancome, but I like this scent. It's very....French. I'm not exactly sure what it is that conjurs "Frenchness" for me....perhaps the fact that it was given to me by a Parisienne who, on that same day, taught me how to make Coq Au Vin from scratch. But even though it's a French memory, without it, it still reminds me of something a French woman would surely wear: sophisticated, sexy and very feminine while being fresh & fun...it takes you with ease from day to night. Just close your eyes....ah...summer in Paris ....

I still remebember the day my father and i bought her this fragance for mothers day about 12 years ago. I didnt know that this was a unisex fragance, but now that you tell me i think im borrowing a little bit from her.