Ô de Lancôme

I received this as a gift a good couple years ago, but was unable to see past the mighty citrus opening - it seemed too bitter and too powerful. I recently revisited what was a nearly full bottle, after reading the reviews here (thanks!), and oh boy, was it a beautiful surprise! First of all, seeing the comparisons to Diorella was a bit startling (it is my mother's signature perfume, and I thought I would have noticed the similarities!) but they are absolutely spot on. There are important differences (Diorella starts off much less aggressively and is softened/sweetened by the floral elements) but all the marks of an elegant, classy chipre, ending in a woodsy, long lastin aura - are here. The opening is a bit of knock out, and don't be afraid if it puts you off at first. The herbs and the lemon pretty much punch you in the face. But (at least on my skin) very soon the citrus evaporates, and the herbs get more complex and - whether it's basil, or rosemary, there's hardly any sweetness. It's actually as if somebody took the leaves with the whole bush, twigs, roots and all, and blended indiscriminately. I mean this in the nicest possible way. It is green, but in a vermouthy, bitter yet drinkable sort of way. What happens during the next hour or two is fantastic. I'm not terribly good at discerning notes, but something in the final phase of "O" (is that the oakmoss or the sandalwood?) creates a delicate, round, very classic cloud of scent (this is where it is most reminiscent of older, classic perfume). I love it and I'm very happy to rediscover it. Turns out the bottle design and the initial strong splash of citrus really fooled me. (If you excuse a bit of clumsy synaesthesia here, I don't see it as cool and green, at all - it's very much a gold and white kind of scent for me)

Ô de Lancôme is such a great summer scent. Featuring a bright citrus opening with floral and herbal nuances, followed by a deliciously mossy chypre drydown, it has it all. Light and fresh, yet full of rich, damp greenness, it reminds me of the Mediterranean countryside in summertime. With more depth than many citrus colognes and warmer than the likes of Chanel Cristalle, this is like the sister of Eau Sauvage - another perfectly formed citrus chypre for warm weather. Ô opens with a bright, zesty lemon note, green like lemongrass. It is tempered nicely by darker begamot and a hint of orange, keeping it from lemon cleaner territory. An aromatic herbal accord joins the citruses early on, more fresh and damp than dried and dinner-y. It reminds me of a herb garden, perhaps near a lemon tree. Soft white florals add a little clean sweetness in the background, and there is a nice hint of peppery spice, which gives a kick. A classic chypre drydown features during the later stages of Ô, and it is beautiful, vintage-style, mossy goodness. I particularly enjoy chypres, and this is an excellent one. Mossy, earthy and woody, it is like a forest in late summer. The vetiver is dry and grassy, while the sandalwood note adds a smooth, rich warmth to the base. The oakmoss in particular shines here. It fades to a mossy skin scent, earthy and woody until final fade. Sillage and longevity are moderate - it has better performance than the average citrus summer scent. Feminine-leaning, but perhaps unisex, this is a lighter take on a classic chypre. For warm sunny days. Excellent. 4.5/5.

What is this strange magic? A freshie-citrus chypre? It's positively chartreuse! (I'm speaking metaphorically--the juice itself is just regular pale yellow). I should have ordered this travel sprayer ages ago. When I lift my self-imposed moratorium, I might buy a full bottle. I live in a hot, humid city, and we're having a heat wave, and Ô la la does Ô de Lancôme fulfill all my summertime scent desiderata! It's pure olfactory refreshment. Scentwise, its complex mix of green spices makes me think of my beloved Dior Eau Sauvage, vintage formulation, although it reads slightly more feminine than that while still occupying the unisex category to my nose. Obviously, anyone can wear whatever, regardless of gender, but these are my personal associations, and I can say with great confidence that I would rather smell Ô de Lancôme on my particular man than, say, Guerlain Insolence or another unrepentantly girly-girl concoction. Not that he would wear either. I might be able to persuade him to wear the Ô, but only from a travel sprayer. That pretty bottle would set off his macho censors probably. His loss! I doubt I will want to share this anyway. I think even people who don't like perfume would find this pleasant. It smells like you have just taken a shower and washed your hair.

In my journey through the re-discovery of the "eaux" after Eau de Rochas, Eau de Courrèges and Escale à Parati, I now am the happy owner of one of my timeless favourites: Ô de Lancôme (with the circumflex accents please). And I must say, what a beauty! Yes, it is a perfume marketed for ladies, but all the "eaux" found their original inspiration in the "eaux de Cologne" which were originally worn by men back in the 30s, and Ô is definitely a unisex perfume starting with a citrusy punch developing into a flowery subtle combination which is not overpowering at all, and very close to Eau Sauvage. So why not trying? Guys, you should definitely be brave and have this gem in your bathroom, in your bag and in your gym locker. You will not regret. And if you live in Europe, it is one of the cheapest luxury perfumes money can buy. I would be curious to have any man's views on this! Update: Ô is very similar to Eau de Courrèges but with a deeper sillage and lasting longevity. There is also something powdery and feminine in this perfume that gives me an immense sense of security and well-being like your mum's personal smell, without being too pronounced. Off to John Lewis next week to stock up! Now I have a dilemma: shall I cheat on Eau de Rochas or remain faithful...

This is the ultimate lemon/lemon splash fragrance IMO, totally unisex and timeless; I discovered it a few years ago when I was 20, and I receive many compliments on how lovely and fresh I smell whenever I wear it. Ô De Lancome smells super, very zesty, fresh, clean, just everything really that I love in a summer/casual cologne type fragrance. Ô opens up with a really hard smack of lemon, pure, fresh, mouthwatering, lemons and something which gives it a very fizzy feeling, almost sherbert like which is possibly the bergamot. Ô stays smelling of fresh lemons for most of its life on my skin, by the 4 hour mark, it dies down into a herbal oakmossy musk with some lingering citrusses in the background which keeps Ô feeling fresh and airy. Longevity is moderate for a citrus based EdT; roughly 5 hours and projection is rather soft to moderate depending on how many sprays you use (5-6 work best for me) I'm looking forward to trying its flankers, but nothing can be as good as the original Ô, I always return to this every summer without fail, its also relatively reasonable for quite a big bottle too. Tres chic, fraiche et propre!

Don't you just love it when you stumble upon the kind of perfume you've been searching for all your life and were never able to find, but then you pick up a random bottle while shopping at the mall, and it turns out to be THAT perfume? This is what happened to me with O de Lancome. I'd been searching for years for something distinctly herbal, not fleeting, complex, and not overabundant in citrus. I've tried several fougeres as I was willing to buy men's cologne to get that green, fresh, and herbal quality I have so desperately desired. I never gave a chance to any Lancome fragrances, since I dislike Tresor so much. When I sprayed my arm out of a sudden curiosity, I knew I found the Holy Grail of herbal perfumes. It's completely green, loaded with delightful culinary herbs, just a pinch of refreshing citrus, and oooooh my--that oakmoss base! It's not the kind of oakmoss that is suffocating in the style of the typical chypres of the 80's, with all their headache-inducing resins and spices. It's a different kind of oakmoss--one that is vibrant, green, and totally alive. I'm in love and will definitely purchase.

How wonderful is it to stumble upon something great that's been in plain sight all along but somehow escaped your eye? I only recently gave a tester bottle of this stuff an absentminded spritz, and wondered aloud why I hadn't tried it sooner. To parrot a reviewer below, Ô de Lancôme was probably just another ladylike citrus chypre for most of its existence, but today it stands out like an extra shot of lemon in a Cosmopolitan. You don't expect a mall-mainstream feminine thing to be so dry and zingy! There is indeed something almost mouthwatering about the citrus here - I want to drink it over ice as much as wear it. Soft, mostly muted white florals and a gently green coriander add some extra color to the hesperidic sparkle, along with whispers of waxy aldehydes and vetiver to keep everything crisp and elegant. OdL can be a depressing proposition in colder months, given its slightly skeletal countenance, but it's a marvel once the temperature soars. One of those elusive "summer in a bottle" perfumes that are worth their weight in sun-dappled gold. I love it.

I used up the remainder of my decant today, and I'm going to keep my eye out for a deal on a big bottle. It's really the best for hot weather, the olfactory equivalent of a forest bath (the scent profile is more citrus than woody, so imagine that you are forest-bathing in a lemon grove, I guess). Personally, I enjoy the oakmoss note (or whatever synthetic approximation is meeting the current IFRA regs), but I love vintage fragrances and do not accept "dated," "old-lady," or even "mature" as scent categories. When I see those phrases used as negative descriptors, I relegate the reviewer to baby-brained TikTok simpleton whose fondest dream is to become one with the ethyl maltol compound and transform into caramelized goo. I don't hate gourmands, but I don't understand why anyone would want to smell like a tray of glazed donuts when it's 100 degrees Fahrenheit with 90% humidity. Ô de Lancôme is both refreshing and perfectly unisex, and I wish I had a gigantic bottle in my refrigerator right now.

This review is for a 1970s vintage bottle. I bought this blind because I found it at a good price and liked the lemon lime description. When I first sprayed it I didn't like it. It reminded me of someone I didn't like from the past, it smelled dated. I tried it again and I enjoyed the herbally, grassy, lemon lime scent. This one makes me happy. It starts out real strong, but soon enters into a lovely herbal/oakmoss/lime world. A place I like to be. It doesn't last long on skin, but remains on my clothes til the next day. I wouldn't call it feminine or sexy, but happy and serene. I wear it for myself and my husband likes it. I am surprised at the clinique aromatics comparison. Aromatics is one of my faves and is much more spicy. I know everyone is different though. I've had it on for about and hour and don't even smell citrus, but sweet honeysuckle mixed with windblown grass on a sunny day. oh I'm enjoying this.

After buying other chypres, CKOne and Cristalle by Chanel I appreciate O de Lancome even more than I did before. CKone and Cristalle are both beautiful, but really annoying in the way that they disappear in no time. O de Lancome lasts at least for a few hours, you can still smell it on your wrist. It smells fresh and clean. It doesn't smell like plain astringent lemon like Light Blue. It smells really just so fresh and beautiful and expensive not cheap and nasty like Light Blue. Doesn't just annoyingly disappear quickly like CK One and the much more expensive Cristalle. So it's perfect, and it is my main signature scent for now. I've bought two back up bottles. A lot of perfumes these days are turning me off as headache inducing or too chemical right now even perfumes I used to really like back in the 80s and 90s (perhaps it's all the reformulations) so O De Lancome is really special.

Definitely citrus peel with that basil freshness! I don't know if this would've always been a standout, but it's not the usual profile nowadays. I've played with a lot of essential oils and this is pretty close to the real stuff. Quality work, and smells indistinguishable from real plant materials. It has a astringent rosemary/thyme accord (rosemary is listed, lets go with that), and smells somewhat bitter and masculine drydown, and the oakmoss continues pressing on for hours. I don't see how this could be anything less than unisex. I could easily imagine my husband in this too, and I'd be totally into it! It's gardens, and sunlight, and fresh air at the edge of the woods... MAN is this a lovely break from modern feminine perfumes. Definitely a classic for a reason! It's perfect for warm weather when you'd love to smell different. 💚🌱

O de Lancome is one of the loveliest vintages I know. There's a big, sadly empty bottle in my collection I can't bear to part with ... Anyway, the vintage of O is all about citrus, but not nasty sharp citrus. The opening is similar to 4711 Koelnisch Wasser, but O takes it further with oakmoss. The citrus notes deepen and sweeten as the scent sinks into the skin. Longevity and lasting power are average, this frag is certainly worksafe and unlikely to offend anyone. Unisex and oh so nice in hot weather, vintage O is a delight to wear. Unfortunately this fragrance has been reformulated. I don't know the new version and feel no urgency to try it out. Reforms rarely improve the original scent, and I'd hate to find O has become a nose searing citrus bomb like so many already on the market.

Joyful, optimistic, fresh and uplifting. As most of the vintage perfumes I own this one reminds me something from my youth too. It brings to my mind pictures of my summer holidays somewhere in southern Greece where the lemon trees were still full of fruits and numerous pots with basil decorated every single yard. I had the chance to wear it during my university years back in early 90s. A frosted splash bottle filled with the juice of carelessness. Not just a citrus perfume but a beautiful composition of lemon and basil with an earthy quality due to vetiver and real oakmoss. Recently I found a forgotten unopened bottle in my parental home, a backup from that era. I'm very lucky that it didn't get bad after all these years and that it still smells like summer.

I have loved and worn this fragrance for more than 20 years. The first time was at a friend's summer wedding and all the women nearly attacked me asking what scent I was wearing. Shortly after that, I began working for Lancome and wore this fragrance almost everyday. There was a time when it was a little more scarce, but the clients demanded Lancome to keep making and selling it. Since then, I have always owned a bottle and look forward to pulling it out in the summer. Lancome did reformulate it a few years ago, but it is generally the same smell. Wearing it today, it seems almost more masculine than feminine in current fragrance trends. I prefer wearing this over many of my expensive niche scents. It is just so comforting.

I tried it the other day again and I must say that the only resemblance I see with Eau de Rochas is the fact that they`re both aqua-ish, but EdR is more like fresh-salty sea water with hints of cedar or citrus, O de Lancome kicks off with citruses and green and dries down to smell exactly like the sulphuric thermal baths in Hungary! When it fades you get the jasmine and sweeter notes too, even though at the beginning there`s too much bergamot going on, everything is just too sharp..It might come accross as a bit of a `grandma in summer` scent, but I love it. But I still insist that Eau de Rochas is a different kettle of fish, and full stop. Both equally nice though.

When an old perfume shop closed locally, I bought an old tester and split it with a family member. --- The citrus notes are a little subdued and hidden, possibly due to the age, so this older juice goes straight into the warm spicy herbal mid and drydown. The drydown is amazing. Dry herbs, lots and lots of basil, lots and lots of moss, lots of what I believe is vetiver (dry spicy herbs like we smell in the end of the Mediterranean summer) something spicy and almost pepper-y (maybe the coriander?), completely unisex and very classy without being too formal. This version is possibly the most moss-y perfume I own. Delightful and warm. Love it.

This is the most simple, straightforward scent I ever encountered. There is no hidden meaning and no message to be delivered. It is fresh squeezed bitter orange mixed with just chopped fragrant wood splinters and a touch of aromatic herbs thrown in for good measure. It is an uplifting, happy, bright and unclouded cologne. It can make one feel clean even after not having showered for an entire week. Ok, I didn't try that yet but it's the feeling I get when I'm wearing it. I've been using it for several years already and never got tired of it. Sillage and longevity are just right for this type of fragrance. Not monstrous and not weak.

O de Lancome is a herbal, complex and distinct fragrance that is fresh, green, and herbal. This one is totally green and is flooded with many many herbs along with a hint of citrus giving refreshing vibes and the oakmoss base that is typical chypre kind. Wearing this makes me feel green, vibrant and totally alive. Madly in love with this amazing fragrance. one can smell the clean and fresh O de Lancome even after 5-6 hours of spraying. The fragrance is expensive and super fresh that is just beyond perfection. Trust me, wear it once and you feel like wearing it every other day, it is that good. It can be a signature scent for anyone.

The opening is like a tangerine dream (owing to well balanced citruses) from which you wake up in a woody forest in springtime. A beautiful, uplifting chypre that is classy and elegant and in my opinion it has a bit of a Dior vibe (how I see it). There is certainly an X-Factor that makes it so desirable and unique even though it is a classical scent most perfect for spring and summer. Green and earthy in the beginning which settles for a subtle comforting fragrance. It may appear very familiar to those who were around in the eighties since it's a perfect example of a classy perfume that was appreciated at a time....beautiful.

One of my all time favorite perfumes. At the duty free shop I RUN to Ô DE LANCÔME! The bottle is gorgeous, the scent sparkling, fragrant, and timeless. The exhilarating citrus married to dewy grass invigorates you. It is green and woody, with vetiver, basil, and rosemary, lusciously combined with floral scents of honeysuckle and jasmine. An exquisite combination! I love wearing Ô DE LANCÔME in the spring and summer. It is a fresh, clean scent that energizes you. A truly lovely, feminine scent, like being in citrus grove on a summer day. One of the all-time great LANCÔME fragrances.