Idole d'Armani (2009)
by Giorgio Armani

“Balance” is the key word for Idole. Balance between classic and modern, warm and fresh, sensual and playful, formal and casual. In a great art deco bottle, the perfumer managed to enclose the Armani philosophy of balance and create a scent that knows exactly where it’s going and which fan group to target. Artful blending of citrus notes, spices and florals, mixes the classic with the modern to create a sensual and elegant scent, that is warm without being very sweet and fresh enough to be pleasant for daywear. A beautiful jasmine note in the middle overlaps the saffron and gives that ultra feminine character, while clementine, orange and ginger freshen up the whole composition from top to middle notes. Sensual and warm patchouli and woods take over for the base. A future classic.

A dark fruit. A fruit that makes a lascivious sound when you bite into it. Very green, sweet, yet grounded. The patchouli, ginger and spice definitely steer this scent out of fluffy territory - no spun sugar cotton candy here. Instead, the sugar is a dark, sticky syrup; almost a venom.

The synthetic notes are not bashful, but they oddly enough give a lushness, a poshness. Indeed this is a large designer fragrance, and no niche-market bohemian. But as far as mass-market designer fragrances go, this is quite a winner. Complex, grown up, and deep with fruit and leaf and that ever-present dangerous syrup. Overall, a very pleasant surprise.

Hillary Duff With Love is at home on the shelf next to a bottle of Armani Idole - both have taken the current trend of sweet fruity frag.s and given them a diploma and a stock portfolio.

Pretty and sweet; an Armani I actually like!

Idole d’Armani opens with the usual Armani cloud of synthetics and sugar syrup, which does not inspire confidence, but (unlike most other Armani fragrances) it comes back from the brink and arrives at a pretty place.

Once the initial cloud passes I smell juicy Clementine, green jasmine, and a pear (in juice rather than sugar syrup) fruit note. These three notes end up closer to the sweet end of the scale than the green end of the scale, but there is still enough greenness to make this opening enjoyable.

As the ginger and saffron arrive the sweetness is toned down by the spice, and Idole d’Armani starts to smell very nice.

The ginger and saffron help to give the rose more than one dimension, as well as adding warmth to the heart of the fragrance.

The sweet, green, slightly spicy combination of the top and heart notes lasts right into the dry down, and the patchouli and vetiver continue the sweet but not too sweet theme of the fragrance. I’m not sure if the patchouli is earthy in its own right, or if the earthiness comes from the vetiver, but either way it is a very nice base that lasts for hours. A slight chocolate note fades in and out of the patchouli, which fits together nicely with the remains of the pear.

Idole d’Armani is a feel good fragrance that I am happy to recommend.