Idole

I wrote this post before I left for the NYC Sniffapalooza, given the rigors of the schedule and my travel.  I´ll report in later, if Patty doesn´t cover it tomorrow. Instead I thought I´d cover one of my fragrant surprises.

Two weeks ago I grabbed one of my gazillions of atomizers sitting on the shelf in my closet, intending to douse myself in (reorchestrated) Femme, because it was one of those craptastic sleety days, and I was feeling like a hefty dose of Femme´s cumin contrariness would be the perfect antidote. I could tell immediately I´d grabbed the wrong thing. It smelled like Feminite du Bois, sort of, and you can make worse mistakes in grabbing the wrong bottle. Only that flummoxed me, because I thought my decant of FdeB was a much bigger bottle. While I stood there pondering, the scent changed again, and I picked the vial back up, filled with hope and wonder and yet still incredulous. Yep. My newfound love – Idole de Lubin!

Regular readers – don´t you wish you had a dollar for every time on this blog I have whined about how Idole never opened up properly for me? Never did its thing? How it was clear that the fragrance should suit me right down to the ground, from the notes (saffron, bitter orange, rum absolute, black cumin and bitter orange peel, doum palm, smoked ebony, sugar cane, leather, red sandalwood) to the nose (Olivia Giacobetti) to the bottle? And how all I ever got was 15 seconds of Feminite du Bois, followed by generic hazy woody vanillamber sweetness?

Well, knock me over with a feather. I wore it three days in a row. It was absolute perfection. It was every thing I ever wanted. I have absolutely no fricking idea. The Perfume Gods took pity on me? I got a new nose? What?

Idole starts off with a glorious burst of saffron (my love!) over orange, the rum note adding a jaunty richness to the opening rather than an overwhelming drink-me liquor feel. The cumin adds warmth without coming on strong – I couldn´t pick it out unless I was looking for it. The drydown is smoky and resinous – I don´t know what doum palm, smoked ebony and sugar cane smell like, but sign me up. The whole experience has that Giacobetti seamlessness and lightness I appreciate. The drydown gets darker and richer, vaguely in the direction of Chaos, but never really dark. I don´t get a ton of leather in the drydown, more woods, and I´m fine with that. My only nitpicky complaint is the blast of alcohol in the opening; do yourself a favor and give it a minute or two to fade before you bury your nose in there. It´s less opaque and woody than FdB, easier to wear than Chaos, lighter while not being insipid.

For three excellent alternate reviews, check Bois de Jasmin, Now Smell This, and Perfume-Smellin´ Things.

Idole bottle: Luckyscent.com