Oh! de London

FLOWER POWER FROM LONDON IN THE SIXTIES Thank you my perfumista friend Lucia in London. This was my favorite Christmas gift. Released in 1962 (same year as Bal a Versailles by Jean Desprez) Oh! de London by Tuvache is a floral fragrance for hippies, for peace lovers, bohemians, anti capitalists and Communists. Of course I was expecting something edgier and more avant- garde because that's what the 60's was all about. It was a time of great experimentation in ideas, fashion, psychology, art, politics, feminism, philosophy, radical thinking, sexual liberation, equality and total upheaval. This doesn't wear like a fragrance revolution like Yves Saint Laurent's Opium. This fragrance is, in the simplest of terms, a floral chypre. It's flowers and woods. Good thing for me I love floral fragrances and chypres. Oh de London opens with a lot of greenery: fresh citric bergamot, sage and chamomile. The chamomile is a lovely British touch and combined with the bergamot it feels like you've just made some tea. I thought ok, it's London and feels like I'm having tea. What happens next? Apparently you're taking four o clock afternoon tea in a flower garden. The heart of the fragrance is floral: rose, geranium, violet, lily of the valley, ylang-ylang and heliotrope. I love these flowers and I could smell mostly the violet, lily of the valley and heliotrope. The rose and geranium combo is rosy and sweet but not very heady nor overpowering. The rest of the fragrance is woodsy with sandalwood, cedar and oak moss. There is also some sweet vanilla. But they're not very strong base notes and it still feels like a garden. In this way it wears more like a dainty feminine fragrance with a lot of flowers. Even Houbigant's Quelques Fleurs is stronger and has more going on. This is a classy, sweet, feminine old fashioned very lady like fragrance that wears like one would imagine of Deborah Kerr or Julie Andrews perfumes. I liked it but I suppose if you're looking for a stronger and edgier 60's fragrance, even the vintage original Bal a Versailles with that animalic musk beast in it is what you'd want to experience. I loved this because I'm super into floral fragrances and vintages. The one selling today is a reformulation which has the additional vanilla note that the vintage '62 did not have. Both are essentially the same except the reformulation selling right now is powdery, very light, inoffensive, and stays on the skin closely whereas the old formula was definitely a stronger floral chypre. I thought this was beautiful but coming from the 60's I had hoped this would have rivaled Yves Saint Laurent's Opium. I will wear this for spring and summer or any time I'm in London with my friend Lucia - during Fashion Week!

This review is for the original "Oh! de London". I'm not familiar with the current formulation. If you were a child of the 60's you certainly know "Oh! de London". It was THE fragrance to wear. It said you were hip and happening -- it was not your mother's perfume! It was a bright florioriental, warm and powdery. In contrast to it's "of the moment" notes it was on a base of old-fashioned violets. What I loved and remember so much was it's undercurrent of freshly brewed black tea. Complex, unique, and intriguing. "Oh! de London" is one of the hottest perfume collectibles today. It will cost a small fortune -- if you're lucky enough to find it.

I loved the Yardley version of this fragrance and used it in jr high school. I thought I was so hip in my white go-go boots and mini skirt along with my Yardley pot-o-floss and this scent. I know some of the reviews are mixed but, I find this reformulation by Tuvaché to be similar enough that I am very happy to wear this fragrance again . I tried to find a vintage Yardley but it was impossible. The chamomile is prominent and combined with subtle florals and woodsy undertones makes this a lovely and soothing scent.

I am a novice perfumeist (as a hobby). What got me started on this journey was my frustration in trying to find a fragrance that even remotely resembles what I remember of Yardley's Oh! de London. There haven't been any recent comments on this gorgeous perfume and just wondering if anyone has come across anything that is in the same DNA as Yardley OH de London??? I have tried so many batches and just can't get it right. I'm not sure on what the actual florals were. Help!

...the dry down is milky and mellow This scent is very natural,smells like a newborn baby ,chamomile tea with milk The most innocent and neutral scent I came across ever...Staying power is amazing on fabrics