O Cool Juicy Hair & Body Mist

Written as O Cool and pronounced with the circumflex, this is one of three Juicy Hair and Body Mists Lancome added to the Les O collection, a line that traces back to the 1969 O de Lancome. It is the freshest of the trio and the one that reads most like a cologne. Lemon verbena leads, sharp and slightly herbal, with green apple giving a tart crunch and mandarin softening the citrus into something rounder. The heart moves to orange blossom and pear, and this is where it stops being purely bracing: the orange blossom adds a clean floral warmth and the pear a juicy, watery sweetness. Cedarwood and sandalwood close it out, light and dry rather than heavy, giving the citrus something to hold onto. The format is the point here. Lancome intend it for the whole body, the hair and even clothing, and hair in particular holds fresh citrus longer than skin does. Expect an hour or two on skin and rather more in the hair. It is a hot-weather scent, excellent after a shower or midway through a summer afternoon, and it is one of the few mists in this batch that is genuinely office-appropriate rather than merely inoffensive. Lancome note it offers no sun protection.