Sinbad Lubin 2019

There are days, who doesn't know them, when you just have to reward yourself.
The day before yesterday was one of those days, and as if drawn by magical forces, I found myself in front of the shelf with the new Lubin fragrances. A few days earlier, I had already been here, testing all of them and finally deciding on ‘Condottiere’.
I took the remaining test strips home to sniff them again in peace, and I also got a small sample of ‘Gajah Mada’.
Interestingly, I didn't like ‘Gajah Mada’ as much anymore, even though it was previously in the running against ‘Condottiere’. Instead, two others came into focus: ‘Sarmate’ and ‘Sinbad’.
If I had to decide on one of the two without another test, it would have been ‘Sarmate’. The scent is extremely well done: balsamic, leathery, and with a beautiful oud note.
However, it ended up being ‘Sinbad’, even though I’m not a big fan of fragrances with prominent orange blossom, and its penetrating, sweet-indolic, and somewhat waxy scent can quickly get on my nerves.
But after I sprayed both on - this time on my skin - I found, contrary to my expectations, that one was nice but also quite boring, while the other: - Wow! - that one grabbed me instantly.

Not that it was the first distinct orange blossom scent I had encountered, no, but the special thing about ‘Sinbad’ is that while the blossom does define the scent (the O-blossom is a major influencer, similar to tuberose...), it fortunately does not completely dominate.
‘Fleur du Mâle’, ‘APOM pour Homme’, of course also ‘Fleur d’Oranger’ by Lutens, or ‘Dilmun’ by Villoresi, just to name a few - all O-blossom-centered fragrances that I personally cannot wear because the blossom completely overwhelms me.
Yet I actually like this accord - in principle. A bit more subdued, embedded in the right environment, I appreciate it quite a bit, and in ‘Sinbad’ I have even enjoyed it a lot for the past two days!
Because here the environment is right, at least for me.
With oriental additions like cinnamon, vanilla, sandalwood, and a hint of pepper, paired with a fresh-fruity hesperidic opening and a balsamic base that fades out with a touch of ambergris, but above all with the counterpoint I love, geranium, or rather rose geranium (although rose is listed, I perceive the fresher rose geranium more), Thomas Fontaine creates a beautiful framework that skillfully encloses and contains the often overwhelming orange blossom.

In the promotional text for his fragrance, Sindbad, the sailor from ‘One Thousand and One Nights’, is described as an adventurer who, before thrilling his listeners with his stories, washed his hands with rose and orange blossom essences.
And Thomas Fontaine has indeed made this moment the focal point of his fragrance.
It occurred to me that I also have a bottle of rose water and orange blossom water in my kitchen, the contents of which I sometimes need to recreate a cake I had a few times in Israel: a rather sweet, yet juicy semolina cake that is soaked with rose and orange blossom water.
Like in fragrances, these essences are also quite penetrating in baked goods - some would even say: intrusive, as they are anything but common in these latitudes.
But I love them. They transport me back to the Carmel market in Tel Aviv and to one of the city's cafés, where in the evenings, a hint of orange blossom often wafts around from one of the many orange trees in Tel Aviv.
‘Sinbad’ is, for me, almost Tel Aviv to spray on - at least a little bit.

Otherwise, what I wrote about ‘Condottiere’ applies to this fragrance as well: apparently, the perfumers, in this case Thomas Fontaine, were able to work with good raw materials and had sufficient freedom to express their art.
All the notes in ‘Sinbad’ are beautifully blended; nothing grates or squeaks here, quite the opposite. Everything is very nicely intertwined and has an almost creamy consistency.
Fortunately, the fragrance is not overly sweet. There is a risk with these fragrance components, but Monsieur Fontaine skillfully navigated around one or two sugar and caramel pitfalls, also adding slightly smoky facets, so that the fragrance, despite a tolerable base sweetness, can also be appreciated by wearers of more robust scents.

Longevity and projection are in line with a perfume concentration, namely enormous! ‘Sinbad’ accompanies the wearer with its dense, spicy-floral, but also subtly smoky, oriental aroma throughout the whole day, the whole night, into the early morning.

The packaging and bottle are exceptionally elaborate, which should somewhat reconcile the discerning consumer with the horrendous price. Above all, however, the content is right: an extremely beautiful fragrance concept has been skillfully implemented here with noticeably good materials.

And then - last but not least - the fragrance simply smells good.
What more could you want?!