Oh La La by Parfums Ciro made its debut in 1959, a moment when perfumery was embracing both elegance and modernity. The choice of the name “Oh La La” was deliberate—an instantly recognizable French expression that conveys admiration, delight, or a touch of flirtatious surprise. Pronounced in simple terms as “ooh la la,” the phrase evokes lighthearted glamour, feminine charm, and the effortless sophistication often associated with mid-century Parisian style. Its playful lilt carried an emotional charge: a wink of seduction, a breath of excitement, and the promise of something irresistibly chic.
When the fragrance appeared, the world was in the midst of what we now call the late 1950s—a transitional phase between post-war restraint and the cultural blossoming that would define the 1960s. Fashion emphasized polished femininity: cinched waists, full skirts, pearls, and immaculate grooming inspired by icons such as Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, and the rising influence of Paris couture houses. At the same time, youth culture, international cinema, and increased travel began shaping tastes, infusing beauty and fashion with a desire for novelty and cosmopolitan flair. In perfumery, aldehydic florals, chypres, and sophisticated woody blends dominated the market, frequently marketed as modern, luxurious, and unmistakably feminine.
Against this backdrop, a perfume called Oh La La would have appealed to women seeking glamour with a wink of playfulness. The name alone suggested a spirited confidence—the sort of charm that acknowledged tradition while leaning into a more youthful, contemporary attitude. It carried the promise of something stylish yet slightly daring, an accessory for women who embraced elegance without taking themselves too seriously.
Interpreting “Oh La La” in scent, Parfums Ciro delivered an aldehydic woody floral composition that began with a bright, sparkling blend of aldehydes and citrus. This effervescence evoked the crisp gleam of polished pearls or the shimmer of champagne bubbles. A heart of rose and jasmine, warmed by hints of spice, provided a classic floral core—refined but expressive. The fragrance settled into a chypre base enriched with warm woods and ambergris, lending depth, sensuality, and lasting sophistication.
While Oh La La fit neatly within the dominant trends of the era—particularly the continued popularity of aldehydic florals and chypres—it offered its own engaging interpretation through its spirited identity and charming presentation. Rather than breaking entirely from tradition, it harmonized with the tastes of the time while offering a name and character that made it memorable among its contemporaries.
Fragrance Composition:
So what does it smell like? Oh La La is classified as an aldehydic woody floral fragrance for women. It begins with a sparkling aldehydic and citrus top, followed by a spicy floral heart of rose and jasmine, resting on a classic chypre base punctuated with warm woods and ambergris.
- Top notes: aldehydes, bergamot, lemon, neroli, sweet orange, petitgrain, galbanum, clary sage
- Middle notes: hydroxycitronellal, lilial, rose geranium, rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, carnation, clove, eugenol, orris butter, violet ionone,
- Base notes: labdanum, musk, sandalwood, benzoin, tonka bean, coumarin, vanilla, vanillin, castoreum, civet, cedar, ambergris, patchouli, vetiver, oakmoss
Scent Profile:
The first impression of Oh La La rises in a bright, quicksilver shimmer—those classic mid-century aldehydes that seem to glow rather than smell, radiating a clean, fizzy brilliance like sunlight flashing off polished glass. They lift the entire composition, setting the stage for the citrus that follows. Bergamot, especially prized when sourced from Calabria, lends a tart, elegant greenness unmatched by other citruses. Italian bergamot carries a refined bitterness and a soft floral undertone, making it more sophisticated than lemon or orange alone.
Lemon adds sharper sparkle, a bright zest that feels almost effervescent on the skin. Sweet orange rounds this with a juicy, sun-warmed sweetness, softening the sharper citrus edges. Then comes neroli—the distilled blossoms of bitter orange from places like Tunisia and Morocco—bringing a honeyed floral brightness with a delicate metallic sheen. Petitgrain, taken from the leaves and twigs of the same tree, adds a crisp, green counterpoint, grounding the airy florals with leafy freshness. A breath of galbanum, the famous Iranian resin known for its piercing, sap-green sharpness, slices through the top in a bold, exhilarating streak of green. Finally, clary sage contributes a musky-herbal warmth, adding a silken, slightly earthy undertone that smooths the transition into the floral heart.
As the aldehydes fade into a soft halo, the fragrance blooms into a richly faceted floral tableau. Hydroxycitronellal, one of the early great synthetic floral notes, creates a glowing muguet-like freshness—dewy, green, and slightly citrus-touched. It acts as a bridge between the crisp opening and the richer florals that follow. Lilial, another iconic mid-century material, adds a soft, powdery lily-of-the-valley glow, creating an ethereal, feminine softness. These synthetics don’t overshadow the naturals; instead, they extend and illuminate them, giving the florals a radiance nature alone cannot sustain. Rose geranium, typically from Egypt, contributes a rosy-green sharpness—peppery, bright, and slightly mint-tinged—while true rose deepens the heart with velvety, honeyed warmth. Depending on its origin, rose oil shifts in character: Bulgarian rose often reads more jammy and lush; Moroccan rose more lemony and airy.
Jasmine, likely from Grasse or Egypt, adds its narcotic bloom—sweet, creamy, and subtly indolic—giving the fragrance its sensual core. Ylang-ylang, particularly exquisite when sourced from the Comoros or Madagascar, brings a custard-rich, slightly fruity warmth, softening the sharper floral edges. A touch of carnation and clove introduces a warm, spicy contrast, while eugenol—the primary molecule responsible for clove’s scent—sharpens the spice with a medicinal, peppery bite. Orris butter, among the most luxurious ingredients in perfumery, lends its characteristic powdery-violet coolness, buttery yet dry, adding aristocratic elegance. Violet ionone, a key synthetic note, reinforces the orris with a soft, violet-petal transparency, introducing a nostalgic, cosmetic softness that feels unmistakably mid-century.
As the fragrance settles, Oh La La reveals a sumptuous, deeply textured chypre base. Labdanum, a resin traditionally harvested in Spain and Crete, brings a leathery, ambered richness—dark, warm, slightly smoky. Its honey-resin depth forms the backbone of the chypre structure. Oakmoss, most prized when sourced from the mountainous forests of the Balkans, adds its unmistakable damp, velvety, forest-floor complexity—earthy, slightly salty, and shadowed with bitter green nuances. Patchouli, often from Indonesia, contributes a dark, earthy-woody richness, while vetiver—especially the superior Haitian variety—adds dry, rooty depth with a faint smoky edge.
Threading through this deep forested base are warm woods: sandalwood, prized for its creamy, milky softness; cedar, with its pencil-shaving dryness; and touches of benzoin, lending a sweet vanilla-amber warmth. Tonka bean and its principal molecule, coumarin, bring almond-tinged tobacco sweetness, bridging the woods and resins with comforting warmth. Vanilla and vanillin add subtle sweetness—vanilla being more rounded and natural, vanillin offering a stronger, crystalline sweetness that enhances projection.
Then come the animalics—hallmarks of 1950s sensuality. Civet adds a warm, musky glow; castoreum contributes a soft, leathery warmth; and the musk accord—likely a combination of early synthetic musks—creates a lingering, powdery softness. These traces evoke the intimate luxury so beloved in mid-century perfumery, shaping a base that feels undeniably feminine, warm, and sophisticated. Finally, ambergris threads through it all with its airy, marine-amber radiance, giving lift and longevity. It softens the resins, warms the woods, and leaves the skin glowing long after the other notes fade—an elegant, sensual echo of the fragrance’s name.
Together, these materials create a perfume that feels both glamorous and mischievous: sparkling and aldehydic at the start, richly floral at the center, and grounded in a chypre shadow warmed by woods, resins, and animalic whispers. A scent that perfectly embodies the spirit of its era—effortless, flirtatious, and undeniably captivating.
Bottles:
It was available in four sizes:
- 5ml miniature
- 1/2 oz (15ml)
- 1 oz (30ml)
- 2 oz (60ml)
Less commonly found are the hourglass shaped bottles. The parfum flacon has a ground glass stopper in the shape of a fan. Eau de Cologne and Bath Oil was available in a modified form of the parfum flacon but fitted with a screw cap.
Other bottles were also used.
Introduced in 1953, Esscent – Image de Parfum represented Ciro’s attempt to reinterpret its classic fragrances for a postwar generation that favored convenience, modernity, and intensity of expression. Esscent was formulated as a concentrated perfume—essentially the equivalent of a modern eau de parfum—strong enough to linger beautifully on the skin yet fluid enough to be worn more generously than a traditional extrait. Ciro emphasized that Esscent offered the “image” of their perfumes: faithful to the originals in character, but reborn in a form that suited contemporary lifestyles.
All Esscent fragrances were presented in bottles deliberately modeled after Ciro’s earlier luxury designs. These replicas retained the familiar silhouette of the parfum flacons, with their elegant vertical lines and distinctive shoulders, but were crafted in pressed glass rather than hand-cut crystal. Instead of a ground-glass stopper, each bottle carried a gleaming gold-plated screw cap, making the perfume easier to use and better suited for repeated, liberal application. The caps themselves were a small marvel of mid-century industrial design—made of Durez phenolic plastic manufactured by the Plastics Division of the Terkelsen Machine Company, then gold-plated to echo the warmth of the amber liquid inside. The overall effect was glamorous yet practical, with a touch of the Space Age optimism of the 1950s.
Fate of the Fragrance:
Oh La La arrived on the market as a fragrance designed to delight, a scent described in early advertising as “a gay, sparkling scent of woods and amber.” Even in its original perfume concentration, priced at $22.50 for an ounce, it was positioned as a bright, effervescent composition that shimmered on the skin before warming into a soft, ambered glow. Ciro presented it not as a simple perfume, but as a mood—lighthearted, flirtatious, and irresistibly polished.
By 1959, Harper’s Bazaar was calling Oh La La “Ciro’s provocative new adventure in perfume,” emphasizing that it captured “everyone’s most unashamedly romantic dream of Paris.” Their wording reflects how the fragrance was experienced: rose and jasmine formed the heart, touched with just the faintest breath of spice, creating a floral aura that felt luminous rather than heavy. They described it as “sparkling and sultry”—a paradox that made the perfume especially compelling. It offered brightness without sharpness, sensuality without opacity, and an unmistakable Parisian sophistication that women of the late 1950s found deeply appealing.
A couple of years later, LIFE magazine echoed the same sense of romantic fantasy, declaring, “It’s Paris in a perfume—too wonderful for words!” The pricing showed its status: $40 for two ounces, $22.50 for one, and $12.50 for a half-ounce—significant sums for the time. Yet Ciro also ensured accessibility through domestic blends of Eau de Parfum, Perfume Mist, Mist Concentre, and Bath Powder, all ranging from $3 to $5. This versatility helped Oh La La become a recognizable household fragrance, an accessible luxury that promised a whisper of Parisian glamour in everyday life. Advertisements from this period often paired Oh La La with Ciro’s other iconic fragrances—Reflexions and Danger—suggesting that the brand saw it as part of a trio emblematic of elegance, daring, and sparkling femininity.
As tastes evolved in the mid-1960s, so did Oh La La’s presentation. The 1965 Harper’s Bazaar announcement revealed the introduction of the “Genuine Spray,” a modern innovation that resonated with a generation increasingly drawn to convenience, precision, and style. The new spray delivered “pure” and carefully measured bursts of fragrance at the pulse points, allowing the wearer to experience the perfume’s structure exactly as intended. The refillable ripple-motif glass flacon highlighted the fragrance’s refined character while adding a contemporary visual charm.
Newspaper descriptions from that same year, such as in The Wichita Eagle, emphasized how this updated format showcased the scent’s character: a blend of woods and amber, accented by rose and jasmine, all housed in a chic white box decorated with a lacy point d’esprit pattern and a jaunty red bow. Everything—from the fragrance to the packaging—was crafted to suggest feminine elegance with a playful twist.
By 1966, trade publications like Soap, Cosmetics, Chemical Specialties noted that Oh La La had become the design model for Ciro’s expanding spray line. Fragrances such as Danger, Reflections, and New Horizons were all introduced in the same ripple-motif flacon, a sign that Oh La La had achieved both commercial success and visual recognizability. It represented the modern face of Ciro during this period.
The fragrance appears to have been phased out around 1969, but it continued to be sold into 1970, leaving a legacy of nearly a decade of admiration. Oh La La remained beloved because it embodied the glamour and optimism of its era: a sparkling aldehydic lift, a glowing floral heart, and a warm embrace of woods and amber. It promised a touch of Paris, a dash of flirtation, and an atmosphere of polished radiance—qualities that defined its appeal then and continue to define its charm in memory today.