Oui! by Lancome: Just Say Non!
Written: Jan 30 '03 (Updated Jul 02 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: I didn't actually buy the stuff
Cons: too sweet, too musky, too lasting
The Bottom Line: Perhaps this smells nice on some people, but I can't stand it.
|
|
|
| naphtalia's Full Review: Oui Perfume |
My friend Patricia's mother-in-law gave her some perfume for her birthday. Patricia is not a big wearer of perfumes, but she really liked the bottle of scent that she was given. She liked it so much that when I walked into her house this morning, she sprayed me as if she was a woman demoing the perfume in a cosmetics department. I've never liked being ambushed by perfume attack-girls. After I emerged from the cloud of scent being sprayed in my direction, I asked, "What is that?"
Patricia, who has one of the all-time greatest babies in the world, said the name of the perfume. What I heard was "wee." Considering that her sonny boy is major producer of "wee," I asked her to repeat what she had said. This time she said it with such glee, I was sure she meant "whee" as in something joyful and fun. Then she thrust the bottle into my face and I saw that she meant "Oui!"
Oui! is a fairly new entry into the high-end perfume market. It was introduced by Lancome in 1997. I had only just heard of it recently, so the confusion was understandable. The perfume is advertised by Lancome as ideal for daytime wear.
Greatly relieved that the scent came from Oui! and not "wee," but still in the earliest stages of perfume maturation, I delayed commenting on the odor. At this early stage, I felt it was gaggingly sweet. I like the floral part of my fragrances to be background. I'm much more a spicy, woodsy, or green person when it comes to the scents I wear. With Oui!, the floral was in my face. All I could smell was lilies - not a favorite flower.
Top notes are those aromas made of a perfumes most volatile agents. They are the first thing one smells when it is put on, and the first to dissipate. Middle notes are the main fragrance of a perfume. Bottom notes are the longest lasting ones.
I had a hope that the top note of lilies would give way to a pleasant middle note of something else. What I got as the lilies faded was more flowers - mostly freesia and honeysuckle. Other aspects included a sherberty-fruity smell - pears, apples and a little bergamot. There was also a hint of musk, and I'm definitely not a musk person.
Patricia and I had a nice lunch, and then I had to go off to an interview smelling of Oui! In the enclosed space of the car, I felt that the scent was still overwhelming. I ended up driving with the windows open. No one else commented on the aroma while I was at the interview. By the time I got home, it had subsided to a tolerably light musk and baby powder scent.
I'm happy to say that I've had a chance to shower and the clothes that I was wearing when ambushed are now in the washing machine.
There is a lesson here. When surprising someone with perfumes - whether it is a gift or an ambush - make sure you know at least the family of perfume they prefer. Patricia appears to love floral perfumes. I like spices and woods. My sister prefers greens (fresh and clean). Perfumes can be expensive. A 1.7 ounce spray bottle of Oui! runs between $26 and $30.
In the end, if you are a floral person, you might want to check out Oui!. For me, however, I give it a great, big and emphatic Non!
***********
If you are interested in reading more of my women's fragrance reviews, you can find some of them at these links:
Asja by Fendi
White Linen by Estee Lauder
Tuscany Per Donna by Estee Lauder
Oui! By Lancome
Tresor by Lancome
Private Collection by Estee Lauder
4711 Unisex Cologne
Youth Dew by Estee Lauder
Paloma Picasso Perfume
Samsara by Guerlain
Knowing by Estee Lauder
Spellbound by Estee Lauder
Maja by Myrugia
5th Avenue by Elizabeth Arden
Extravagance d’Amarige by Givenchy
Realm by Erox
Boucheron by Boucheron
Oscar for Women by Oscar de la Renta
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
naphtalia
|
 in Restaurants & Gourmet |
 - Top 100 |
|
Location: Somewhere in Southern California for Now
Reviews written: 1596
Trusted by: 449 members
About Me:
Just cause you got the monkey off your back doesn't mean the_circus has left town.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.