The Beauty Gypsy Review: Lancôme Idôle perfume (the world’s thinnest perfume bottle!)

Who’s ever bought a perfume for the utter gorgeousness of its bottle design? That’s me… always!

But in the case of Lancôme’s new Idôle Eau de Parfum, this works pretty well as you are buying into the pinnacle of perfume bottle design for the 21st century: Namely, the world’s thinnest perfume bottle.

Yup, at just 15mm thick, the Lancôme’s Idôle perfume is housed in the world’s thinnest fragrance bottle EVER.

Created by architect and industrial designer Chafik Gasmi, the peach-and-rose-gold bottle is so slim that the outer packaging simply seems to disappear and what you see is the inner bubble holding the fragrance.

In fact, it’s so slim that it’s pretty difficult to shoot!

The base of the Lancôme Idole perfume is too slim to be freestanding — it’s to be laid flat on your vanity. Which does take up more space but then that’s the cost I am willing to pay for innovation.

The Lancôme Idôle perfume bottles are also refillable — from gorgeous perfume fountains, no less — to minimise environmental impact. Which I think is an initiative more brands should emulate.

The fragrance itself has been created by three female perfumers — Shyamala Maisondieu, Adriana Medina, and Nadège le Garlantezec.

It’s a bright floral with hints of chypre, calling upon four different roses as a base — including the sustainably sourced Isparta rose petal essence from Turkey that was made exclusively for Lancôme, and the Centifolia rose from France.

Added to this are notes of bergamot, Indian jasmine, pear, pink peppercorn, vanilla and white musks that make for a clean, sweet scent that’s neither overpowering, nor underwhelming.

In short, it’s not the most innovative juice in the world but it’s beautiful and I have found myself reaching for it almost every single day in the past weeks.

And it’s got good wear time – 5-6 hours on a hot afternoon, which is pretty good on my skin. 

Plus, it tucks easily into the smallest of handbags, making it great for on-the-go touchups.

Though don’t be like my friend, who tucked it into the pocket of her jeans — it’s slim enough to fit unobtrusively but sitting on it accidentally was not the best move she made that night (*hello shattered glass*)!