Idole de Lubin Lubin 2011 Eau de Parfum

In the highly saturated perfume market, it is rare for a new launch to receive more than a month or two of attention. This is especially true when the fragrance does not come from one of the established houses, but is instead the first creation of a small niche company that has secured a once-great name: Lubin.

‘Idole de Lubin’ is such a fragrance.

Several factors helped ‘Idole de Lubin’ gain unusually large attention:

- a prominent, very successful perfumer, Olivia Giacobetti
- a magnificent bottle, Serge Mansau
- a very, very good fragrance, along with beautiful sources of inspiration
- a, albeit only nominal, connection to the old ‘Idole de Lubin’ from 1962 (which hardly anyone is likely to remember), serving as a bridge to the heritage of the house.

It was launched in 2005, labeled by the manufacturer and in relevant forums as a men's fragrance, which was somewhat nonsensical even then, as it can be worn by both women and men alike.
It was not truly innovative: fragrances featuring rum, spice and fruit notes, as well as exotic woods, had existed in abundance before. But it had something that very few fragrances possess: character, or more fashionably put: ‘personality’.

Since then, ‘Idole de Lubin’ has become a sort of iconic fragrance, one that many more people know than wear, and which serves almost as a founding myth for the revived house of Lubin. Today, Lubin cannot be imagined without ‘Idole’.
However, the first EdT version of the fragrance disappeared a few years after its launch, shortly after an EdP variant hit the market. The reasons for this were not entirely clear, but I suspect that one or another ingredient fell victim to the IFRA's regulations, and Lubin felt compelled to revise the fragrance according to the new guidelines. Fortunately, Olivia Giacobetti herself took on the task. The result was a slightly revised, yet overall quite identical version of her earlier fragrance.
Other much larger houses, such as Chanel, faced similar challenges during this time, leading many formerly developed Eau de Toilettes to mutate into Eau de Parfums without noticeably losing quality - at least in the case of Chanel, but also the fragrances from Patricia de Nicolaï, Etro, or indeed Lubin.

I still have a small sample of the original fragrance from 2005, but as is often the case with aged scent remnants: they only convey an unreliable impression of the once-experienced fragrance.
I do remember, however, that I wasn't particularly enthusiastic back then. Rum-spice fragrances, whether of Caribbean origin or located in the East Indian regions, did not appeal to me at all, and they still don't, although my preferences have become more diverse.
Recently, however, I came across the old ‘Idole’ sample again and sprayed a bit of the remaining residue on myself. It somewhat smelled like ‘Idole’, but it was changed enough that I realized: judging the fragrance based on this pitiful residue was impossible.
Shortly thereafter, I purchased the wonderful ‘Galaad’ and asked the saleswoman to fill me a little of ‘Idole’. Once home, I tested the filling and immediately thought: yes, this is ‘Idole’ as I knew it, as it has remained in my memory.

Differences from the old EdT may be noticed by those who still have a bottle with somewhat intact contents of the original. Unfortunately, I only have my sample remnants, which are simply unusable.
One thing is for sure about today’s EdP version: it is absolutely committed to the character of the old EdT and possesses the same aura. Some say the fragrance is now rounder, softer, while others lament exactly that and miss the edges and contours.
Similar comments are often made about ‘Sycomore’, but in the case of the Chanel fragrance, I can say that the new one is not worse than the old - a little changed, indeed softer and rounder, but that’s it.
If the new ‘Idole’ behaves qualitatively towards the old in the same way that the new ‘Sycomore’ EdP does towards the old EdT (which I suspect!), I can only say: Chapeau, the work was worth it! The EdP has good longevity, and the fruity-alcoholic, woody-smoky notes, as well as the bitter spiciness, are wonderfully intertwined.

Unfortunately, ‘Idole’ is no longer in the great old bottle, inspired by African mask art, but in the almost equally beautiful new one, which the fragrance now shares with several others like ‘Korrigan’ or ‘Akkad’, and which always reminds me of a little man with braids, shouting forward.
Both bottles were designed by Serge Mansau, perhaps the greatest bottle designer the industry has ever seen.

However, one thing irritates me again: as much as the labeling of the old EdT as a men's fragrance was nonsense, the current designation of the EdP as a women's fragrance is equally incomprehensible. I can imagine, however, that ‘Idole’, in any version, is still worn more by men than by women, which does not mean that the fragrance tends to be more ‘masculine’. No, much like other unisex icons such as ‘Bandit’, ‘Eau Sauvage’ or the aforementioned ‘Sycomore’, ‘Idole’ defies any gender categorization. Only in terms of woods, bitter-aromatic spices (saffron, cumin & co.) and high-proof spirits, the gentlemen of creation are likely to be a bit quicker on the uptake.

Just a guess. The saleswoman in the perfumery referred to it, after she turned the bottle to decipher the key notes listed on a small handwritten label on the bottom, more as a men's fragrance. I disagreed and still had her wrap it up for me.

Today, I like ‘Idole de Lubin’ more than ever before, and a little bottle now adorns my already completely overcrowded shelf...

Have I mentioned that very few perfumes manage to become a scent icon?
I have.