Yazhini ManimudiLancôme’s Idôle line began in 2019, a chypre floral crafted by Shyamala Maisondieu, Adriana Medina, and Nadège Le Garlantezec. It was the thinnest perfume bottle at just 15mm and proved difficult to keep upright, an issue they have since rectified. The new bottles are also refillable. In the eighth year of the successful line, we have a new flanker, leaving us with a total of 11 Idôles. Let’s have a look at every Idôle before we discuss the newest one.
Lancôme Idôle
Key Notes: Pear, Rose, Jasmine, Vanilla, Musks
Fragrance Family: Floral
Year: 2019
The perfume that kickstarted the line is a chypre floral that became an instant success. A perfect everyday perfume, it’s typically feminine with the scent of two roses (Isparta and Centifolia), jasmine, fruity facets, and patchouli. The vanilla is light and not at all overpowering. It’s fresh, lasts long, and can be worn for any occasion without much thought.
With Zendaya as the face of the fragrance, one might expect the perfume to be groundbreaking, but it is a run of the mill, pleasant, safe to gift fragrance. Safe to wear to work. This fragrance got a hair mist later in 2022.
Lancôme Idôle L’Intense
Key Notes: Rose, Jasmine, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Cashmere Wood, Patchouli
Fragrance Family: Chypre Floral
Year: 2020
The same team of perfumers created the intense, more woody flanker of Idôle. This time with three varieties of jasmine and two varieties of rose. The intensity comes from the woody notes and the velvety nature of the rose. While the first was generic, L’Intense has more of a character and is actually chypre unlike the original which was only chypre in advertising.
With woody dimensions and chocolatey patchouli, it’s an ideal autumnal fragrance. Though it’s sweet at first, it evolves to a deeper fragrance with a likeable bitterness.
Lancôme Idôle Aura
Key Notes: Sea Salt, Rose, Jasmine, Bourbon Vanilla, Heliotrope, Musk
Fragrance Family: Musky Floral
Year: 2021
Aura is an unconventional one for a designer mainstream perfume with the undeniable salt note. It’s bright and sunshine-y with a creamy vanilla and sweet rose to balance out the savory salt. You’ll either love Aura for how different it is or hate it for its less easy take on rose. Lancôme seems to be phasing out this flanker with only 3 of the 50ml bottles still available on their UAE website and none of the two other sizes. So, hurry if you want this underrated flanker!
Lancôme Idôle Limited Edition 2021
Key Notes: Pear, Rose, Jasmine, Vanilla, White Musk
Fragrance Family: Floral
Year: 2021
Lancôme skipped the cedarwood and patchouli with this limited edition flanker for an even simpler feminine perfume. They opted for a May Rose and Turkish Rose this time. The May Rose brings a honeyed sweetness along with some spicy, green undertones. It’s basically impossible to get this perfume now, but I wouldn’t fret. The most special thing about this bottle was the glittering shooting star on the bottle.
Lancôme Idôle Emily in Paris
Key Notes: Pear, Rose, Jasmine, Vanilla, White Musk
Fragrance Family: Floral
Year: 2021
If you thought it looked awfully similar to the limited edition bottle you only just read about, you would be correct. It’s the same juice in an Emily in Paris themed bottle. If you aren’t a fan of the show, the bottle is plain ugly and I’m glad that it’s limited so I don’t have to see it on the shelves. Now that Emily is moving to Rome, do we think there’ll be an Emily in Rome bottle? I, for one, hope not.
Lancôme Idôle Édition Limitée
Key Notes: Pear, Rose, Jasmine, Vanilla, White Musk
Fragrance Family: Floral
Year: 2021
Another of the same juice as the last two, it was a special edition for Valentine’s Day. The graphics department at Lancôme sure had a busier year than their perfumers. This bottle had the following words printed on it, serving us a mixture of love and the usual coopting of feminism for marketing because it was Valentine’s Day:
We are the future together
Love is ours
You are my Idôle
Sky is never the limit
Me, you, us
We are unstoppable
All these words and the only one I have is why. ‘We are unstoppable’ but thankfully, they did stop (production) and you can’t find this bottle anymore.
Okay, I lied and that isn’t every flanker ever. We’ll take a look at the five others in a second part to this article. I’m happy to report that the flankers get better from here on and have less confusion and limited editions.
A new Lancôme Idôle is set to be released soon. This flanker called Peach ’N Roses has already been released, but just not yet available in the UAE. While we await the fruity flanker, let Perfume Mag know which Idôle is your favourite so far.
Yazhini Manimudi
