Oscar de la Renta
Oscar de la Renta
118 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Coriander blooms sharp and almost culinary, accompanied by the subtle bitterness of cascarilla—you could almost taste it. Basil and orange blossom arrive as bright counterpoints, creating a herbal, slightly citric freshness that feels more afternoon tea than grand evening entrance.
The white flowers emerge with the confidence of a slow reveal, tuberose and jasmine creating that creamy, almost buttery density, whilst ylang ylang adds a honeyed sweetness. The broom note becomes apparent here, introducing a peculiar dry, slightly burnt-hay quality that prevents cloying; it's like catching smoke curling from a distant fire at a garden party. Castoreum appears in the undertone, adding a warm, vaguely sensual suede that grounds everything.
The fragrance settles into a soft, skin-scent territory where vanilla and patchouli create a warm, powdery embrace. Vetiver and sandalwood lend woody dryness that prevents any sweetness from becoming maudlin, whilst myrrh's subtle resinousness lingers like incense from a room you've just left. What remains is intimate and increasingly personal—a whisper rather than a declaration.
Oscar by Oscar de la Renta is a fragrance that refuses to whisper—it arrives with the architectural precision of a 1970s couture gown, all structure and deliberate sensuality. Jean-Louis Sieuzac crafts something genuinely unisex here, though not through the flattening compromise of modern gender-neutral design. Instead, he builds a floral composition so dense with spice and powder that it reads as neither masculine nor feminine, but rather as utterly confident.
The opening coriander and cascarilla establish an almost medicinal dryness that prevents the florals from becoming saccharine. This is crucial: when tuberose, ylang ylang, and jasmine arrive in the heart, they're tethered to earth by that spicy restraint. The broom note—rarely used and devilishly tricky—adds a green, almost burnt quality that cuts through what could easily become a suffocating white floral soup. Instead, you get tension: creamy floral opulence wrestling with dry, herbal resistance.
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4.2/5 (193)