Bon Voyage
Pierre Francois Lubin founded his perfume house 1798, just after the French revolution. His first products were scented ribbons and powders and and Eau de Lubin which made him popular with Empress Josephine of the Imperial court, which led to other commissions for kings and tsars.The perfumes sold by the house of Lubin today are not the same venerable formulas, but the company strives to create an atmosphere of history, and precious materials around its new perfumes. Lubin Idole was created in 2005 by Olivia Giacobetti. Idole tells us a story of romantic travel over the Indian Ocean to Madagascar, on a ship full of ebony and spices. There you meet natives who offer you rum and sugar cane, rub you with precious balms and invite you to dance with them around the smoke from their fires. Afterwards you lie back on the deck of your ship and gaze up at the brilliant stars in an ebony sky, with your leather bag as a pillow.
Idole is very boozy. It opens with a spicy rum that is joined by fruity woods in the heart and a smoky leather note in the base. It's unisex and would be great on a man but don't be afraid of the pirate-themed notes if you're a girly girl. Giacobetti keeps everything transparent with light shining through the layers as she is famous for doing. It stays close to the skin. My only complaint is that it fades too soon. I would love to try it in a spray instead of the little dabs from my sample.
I have a thing for bucanneer perfumes. I've tried Caravelle Epicee and L'Eau de Navigateur, but Idole is the first one I think I could run away with. I also love the bottle.
Nose: Olivia Giacobetti
Notes:
Top: Rum absolute, saffron, bitter orange peel, black cumin
Middle: Doum palm, smoked ebony, sugar cane
Base: Leather, red sandalwood
p.s. The Lubin website is another one of those flash sites I hate. Please stop. It's not fun, it's a hassle. Look into HTML5 and stylesheets.
If you're interested, I'm happy to pass on a sample of vintage Idole for comparison's sake. They're nothing at all alike--the vintage is an indolic jasmine, a bit sweaty smelling and quite interesting. I love that the housewives of yesteryear wore such sexy scents!
ReplyDeletePS I picked it up at your favourite vintage spot in Kitchener, Fritsch's!
ReplyDeleteHi Sniffing. That would be great! You can contact me from Titteror get my email from the about me.
ReplyDeleteI sprayed the current Idole at a store and I liked it. Now a friend sent me a dab vial and I'll be doing more testing to figure out if I want to pursue a decant (I won't need a bottle, I think). If you get a chance to compare it to the vintage version, please let un know what you think.
ReplyDeleteHi Undina, I will try to get a sample of vintage. I've heard that they are completely different. i'll let you know.
ReplyDelete