03/12/2025
mejohann
1 Review
mejohann
1
Best left to history
A sharp, rose-forward chypre with very heavily green galbanum and oakmoss notes in the dry-down. Labdanum is at a whisper, but the oakmoss screams. It's as close to the antique Myretta Nymphaea by Atkinson's (which I believe was made in the 1880s) as you can get, though more synthetic. I think I detect some vetiveryl acetate in the base. Nymphaea uses a specific variety of vetiver that doesn't lean very earthy and gives it a lighter, fluffier effect, which combines nicely with the oakmoss. The vetiveryl acetate accomplishes that task in Oh La La. Effective, but lacks the hint of roundness and warmth. It is quite linear and the rose note seems to last forever, so I suspect quite ample use of linalool and other rose isolates.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this unless you're a big fan of chypres (which is probably my least favorite perfume style, so please take this review with a grain of salt). It's synthetic enough to be offensive and even scrubbing with baking soda proves ineffective to remove. Ciro, as a whole, seems to primarily have made chypres and after a while start to smell very similar. Of their creations, this is probably my least favorite. There is a reason this was discontinued less than 10 years after production began. Despite its more accessible price-point, there were simply better options out there and the brand was already glutted with chypres. Do they do it well? Yes. But I was not impressed with this one.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend this unless you're a big fan of chypres (which is probably my least favorite perfume style, so please take this review with a grain of salt). It's synthetic enough to be offensive and even scrubbing with baking soda proves ineffective to remove. Ciro, as a whole, seems to primarily have made chypres and after a while start to smell very similar. Of their creations, this is probably my least favorite. There is a reason this was discontinued less than 10 years after production began. Despite its more accessible price-point, there were simply better options out there and the brand was already glutted with chypres. Do they do it well? Yes. But I was not impressed with this one.
