Idôle Aura

Lancome idole auruo I can't stop smelling my wrist! : ) Interesting scent. It smells a tiny bit familiar, the jasmine reminds me of Dior Pure Poison. There is a beachiness to it, which must be the salt. It also reminds me of V&R Salty Flower, which I LOVE but was a limited edition. It's not an extract dupe for those perfumes, but that's what comes to mind. I can't remember if Mugler has an Alien flanker that smells similar. There is a slight sweetness to it, very subtle and I think it's from the rose and vanilla notes. More feminine and would be good for ages 20-40ish. This would also be a very sexy men's perfume if the sweet notes were taken out. Not a safe blind buy, it is a strong perfume for spring/summer daytime. I think I might get tired of the scent after a while BC it's hard to wear such a heavy scent in the hot months, but the notes are beachy and marine (not tropical beach though). It's a scent bomb. I usually love Lancome's perfumes. I haven't tried the OG flanker, I remember when I first saw the bottle it intrigued me. I wonder if the circle is supposed to represent the sun. It's $158CAD with taxes included on a discount site for 100ml, which is pricey. At full price I think it'd be worth about $115-130 (inflation). I don't mind spending $130 for a perfume that I love, and you don't need to spray a lot of this scent. I think it's okay-overpriced, if it wasn't just a summer scent I would say it's fair price. Sillage arms length+. I don't think I would run out and buy it, but I do like it and will keep the sample. I understand why people like/love it (bold, powerful woman, but with a relaxed sailing in warm sun vibe, somewhat younger), and how some ppl dislike it (it's strong, not something to wear in the cooler months). I would keep a small bottle if gifted, BC I don't have any scents like this for summer. As it dried down the sweetness is more prominent, still beautifully warm and salty. About 14 hours later and it smells like a nice floral caramel. Not quite as yummy as Juicy Gold Couture, but pretty close, Both lack sillage (Idole Aura lacking sillage after 14 hours is totally understandable though). If I remember correctly, Lancome Tresor gave me the same type of yummy scent by the end of the day too.

Wow, what a stunning fragrance! I tested this out last night and I can still smell it on my jacket about 20 hours later. This is not your typical vanilla floral. The salt note really gives it a unique quality. Personally, I like that it balances out the other notes and tones down anything that could potentially make this too generic, too sweet, or too floral for my liking. This definitely has a tropical vibe as others have mentioned, but it’s also very elegant and it smells good in any climate. I tried this out on a dry chilly night and I loved it, but then I smelled it on a warm, humid day and I loved it even more. The heat really makes it blossom. Which brings me to this—I agree with everyone who says it has a bit of that lipstick rose quality, but it doesn’t dominate the scent and it’s more prominent in warmer weather. Either way, it’s in the background and the sweet creaminess from the salty vanilla really takes it to a new level, they combine beautifully. This starts out sort of bubbly and aquatic, but it gets creamier and more intoxicating as you wear it. I should add that I love “beachy” scents, but all the ones marketed as such never really capture the beach for me. They’re usually just coconut, yellow florals, and some aquatic notes. This actually smells like you’re taking a vanilla bubble bath with rose petals in it, while you’re overlooking the beach and getting whiffs of the saltwater and a garden of jasmine. In other words, it’s not totally beachy, but it gives me fancy tropical resort vibes. It’s so nostalgic, but not what I’d call old-fashioned and I love that I can smell every note in it. There is an underlying fresh and bubbly rose note in this that I smell in the OG and the other flankers, but this is by far the best from the Idole line, in my humble opinion.

2027 FEBRUARY PURCHASE I watched two videos by Anne Lauren on YouTube and she mentions Aura with a passion - she said it was under-rated and not talked about - after mulling around Youtube, she was correct. She described it as "happiness in a bottle". So I bought a 100ml as it was on a massive discount, sprayed it in February, wasn't sure, laid it away with my UAE for maturation...and low and behold, it performed, she's very salty, breezy, solar - you can taste the salt when you move in to sniff it a bit more, there's the jasmine, bergamot and rose in a translucent gentle wash onto the sands - it's softly aquatic and the musk gently keeps it glued to your skin. It's literally that tired old phrase "your skin in the sun, but better" (!) Expensive body cream and salty air - It's very lovely and calming. It's not massively projecting, I don't think she was made for that experience, but she lasts about 5 hours on oiled skin. I use Aura as a gorgeous aquatic top over a base of Al Haramain Amber Oud Gold, Tiare Intense by Montale and a base moisturiser of Fame by Paco Rabbane. It's really pleasurable and spritz through the day as the other perfumes and their notes keep poking through their dry down cycle. It's not discontinued in the after sales discounters, it's cheap as chips though, £60 for 100ml ! Loads up your carts.

My perception of this fragrance changed, so I decided to rewrite my review. Initially, I didn't really like it, then I decided it would be a wonderful perfume to take on a beach holiday, something to take to Greece or Turkey with me, just to step away from usual Bronze Goddess Nuit, Olympea, etc. Unfortunately, during heat and humidity there is some off putting watermelon accord, I don't even know what creates it, perhaps a very sugary rose combined with salt? It just becomes a bit cloying. I put it away and didn't use it, but gave it another chance in spring and realised that this perfume just requires specific weather conditions. I don't like it during hot summer, I cannot imagine myself wearing it during winter (and it is not even about the rose, I like my Roses Vanille in winter, for example). To be more specific, I only enjoy it when the weather outside is +15 - +23 (c), and even better if it is a bit windy. Then it is a beautiful, joyful and playful rose fragrance to wear during a daytime date or walk in the park with friends, or whatever. I have many pink bottle fragrances and many rose perfumes, but this one is perfect for some careless day out, when my other roses (A la Rose, Miss Dior Rose N' Roses) are a bit too serious.

For a flanker, this one really doesn't smell too similar to the original, but in this case it's a plus imo, as the original Idole never managed to wow me, nor did any of the other flankers. Aura is still soapy and feminine, but it's a lot more interesting and definitely works better for my skin chemistry. It's also a more affordable option than other designer and niche fragrances with similar scent profiles. If you're looking for an intense salt note, though, you won't find it here. It's still present, but just enough to give an otherwise very standard designer DNA a recognisable touch. The rose and vanilla are really well blended and on my skin non is more prevalent than the other, which I'm a fan of. It's warm and sweet, while being light and fresh. Pretty and inoffensive. Works great for warmer weather. Performance and projection are great not only on skin and clothes, but also in enclosed spaces. If I've spent some time in a room while wearing Aura, I can still smell it present in the room for days, even weeks after. I also love it layered with Zarkoperfume's Youth. The latter adds woodiness and slight powderiness while amping the summery quality of Aura with the fruity notes like melon and peach.