Monday, December 12, 2011

Lubin- Idole (EDP, 2011)


Hello, stranger.

I first met (the modern) Idole de Lubin shortly after it came out in 2005. It was stunning. Completely and utterly breathtaking with its boozy opening and intense dark spicy heart. I loved it and tried for a long time to make it work, but there was a hollowness halfway through Idole EDT that make it fade and die on my skin much too quickly. It was like a great romance that didn't survive the hardships of reality, but made me wistful whenever I looked back.

Six years later we meet again. Idole EDP is a changed perfume. Stronger, fuller and more reliable. I smell less cumin and more leather, the rum is sweeter and the incense smokier. It's all I ever wanted Idole to be, and here it is- more brooding, taller but familiar. I want to bury my face in its warmth, wrap it over my shoulder and breath the dark woody aroma.

In asking her to create Idole EDP, Lubin allowed perfumer Olivia Giacobetti to make things right, to let Idole become what it was meant to be. It's one of the best incense perfumes around, romantic and mysterious. On Luckyscent's masculine-feminine spectrum they placed it slightly to the manly side and I agree, sort of. The rum-cumin-smokes wood ensures that Idole will appeal to men and smell magnificent on them, but women who have a thing for the dark side and wear perfumes such as Black Cashmere, Safran Troublant, Passage d'Enfer or Tea For Two will find a lot to love in it (the last three are also by Giacobetti).

Notes: Rum absolute, saffron, black cumin, bitter orange peel, Doum palm, rock rose, smoked ebony, frankincense, sugar cane, leather, red sandalwood, amber

Idole de Lubin EDP ($160, 100 ml) is available from Luckyscent and Aedes.

Photo by F.C. Gundlach, 1962.

6 comments:

  1. I love boozy/leather/smokey scents, and wear Safran Troublant and Tea For Two, I think this will be right up my alley. My local Gumps carries this line, will have to give it a few spritzes, they also have Black Jade, which I'm interested in trying and comes highly recommended. Many of my fragrant friends compare Idole to the original Fendi, do you see any similarity?

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  2. Elizabeth, you're going to love Idole, no doubt. I don't smell any similarity with good old Fendi, though. More than anything, Fendi is a big big (BIG!) chypre. Idole is incense, wood and booze-- much darker and a little more restrained.

    As for Black Jade, yes, it's wonderful. I'll review it sooner or later. It has a honeyed dry-down on my skin that I find irresistible. My husband finds it sexier than Idole.

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  3. Beautifully written! I need to add this to my fragrance finding expedition today! Perhaps Louis of Boston will have it!

    - Kathleen

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  4. Kathleen, you can also call Barneys. They have several Lubin perfumes.

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  5. Thanks! Looks like I'll be slipping into my fancy-schmancy perfume huntin' boots today!

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  6. Thanks for the comparison, since I can wear many similar scents as you, I'm sure the EDP will work very well.
    I love honey in a fragrance, I will have to try Black jade very (very) soon.

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