Perfume Review: Idole de Lubin

Lubin’s 466th scent since 1798, Idole de Lubin was created by Olivia Giacobetti, the nose behind Frederic Malle’s En Passant, various L’Artisan scents, and the whole IUNX line. As Victoria (Bois de Jasmin) points out in her review, Idole is Giacobetti’s darkest fragrance yet. It is a nocturnal, resinous, smoky, woody, warm scent that is somehow very Lutenesque in its feel. Idole brings to mind precisely the image the creators intended, namely that of a wooden Idol, “a mute and hieratic figure of Nubian divinity”, around which “bark was burning and resins were grilled”. Still (again I agree with Victoria), Giacobetti retains her crown as a Queen of the Light (the title originally bestowed by Chandler Burr on Jo Malone, undoubtedly another master of olfactory transparency). Even though the color this scent evokes is pitch black, at the same time it manages not to be heavy and overwhelming. I love Idole, love its every stage, from the pleasantly medicinal, sweet and spicy blend of rum and saffron of the top notes, to the strangely sweet, almost fruity, smoked wood accord of the middle notes, to the incredible leathery and resinous drydown. There isn’t a single note that I wouldn’t have wanted to be in the composition, this perfume is so perfect for me, when I put it on, it feels like second skin. Idole is the scent of wanderlust to me, one whiff of this smoky, dark potion and, the homebody and potato couch that I am, I start dreaming of adventures a la Jules Verne, of faraway exotic journeys, of “languid Asia, blazing Africa, a whole faraway world that is absent, almost defunct…” I adore and treasure perfumes that make my heart and my mind fly away from the mundane everyday reality; Idole now tops the list of these beloved Wanderlust Scents. A review of such a scent would not have been complete without a Baudelaire poem (do I hear groans in the audience?). I will let the poet finish this review by telling about that longing to be far, far away, in the way only he can: Grieving and Wandering Tell me, does your heart sometimes fly away, Agatha, Far from the black ocean of the filthy city, Toward another ocean where splendor glitters, Blue, clear, profound, as is virginity? Tell me, does your heart sometimes fly away, Agatha? The sea, the boundless sea, consoles us for our toil! What demon endowed the sea, that raucous singer, Whose accompanist is the roaring wind, With the sublime function of cradle-rocker? The sea, the boundless sea, consoles us for our toil! Take me away, carriage! Carry me off, frigate! Far, far away! Here the mud is made with our tears! — Is it true that sometimes the sad heart of Agatha Says: Far from crimes, from remorse, from sorrow, Take me away, carriage, carry me off, frigate? How far away you are, O perfumed Paradise, Where under clear blue sky there's only love and joy, Where all that one loves is worthy of love, Where the heart is drowned in sheer enjoyment! How far away you are, O perfumed Paradise! But the green Paradise of childhood loves The outings, the singing, the kisses, the bouquets, The violins vibrating behind the hills, And the evenings in the woods, with jugs of wine — But the green Paradise of childhood loves, That sinless Paradise, full of furtive pleasures, Is it farther off now than India and China? Can one call it back with plaintive cries, And animate it still with a silvery voice, That sinless Paradise full of furtive pleasures? Idole de Lubin is now available in Printemps for very reasonable EUR 59. The rumour has it that it is going to be available in the US in a couple of months. I am counting the days! *The photo is a still from Пятнадцатилетний Kапитан (Fifteen Year Old Captain), an old Soviet movie based on Jules Verne’s book Dick Sands: A Captain at Fifteen.