With Magda by Lubin, we turn our attention today to a venerable fragrance house that can look back on a history of over 220 years, marked by many highs, but also some lows. Lubin, the traditional brand, the royal purveyor to the French and English royal families and the Russian tsars, which almost went under in the 1980s but was rescued and revived just in time by Gilles Thévenin. Thus, for fragrance lovers like us this historic perfume house remained, in whose assortment today can be found not only lovingly reformulated classics, but also some new launches.
Portraits of the Femmes
Magda belongs – together with Anna and Eva – to the Portraits des Femmes collection, which is dedicated to femininity in all its different facets. Each fragrance is devoted to a particular portrait of a woman, and thus pays homage to the ladies in manifold ways. The eau de parfum Anna revolves around a young Dutch woman “at the flower market in Amsterdam” and combines marine accents with the delicate scent of rose. By the way, the portrait behind Anna is “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” by Dutch Baroque painter Jan Vermeer.
Eve, on the other hand, is inspired by “The Birth of Venus” by early Renaissance artist Sandro Boticelli. “The daughter of an Englishman who left his country for the orange groves” is said to be Lubin’sEve. In Sicily the fragrance story takes place, orange blossom combines with neroli and musk.
The third in the group: Magda. The portrait to the fragrance is the neoclassical painting “In the Days of Sappho” by the British painter John William Godward and also in this creation there is a flower at the center of the fragrance action: the tuberose. So this is what all three fragrances have in common – besides the obvious homage to women – they are floral compositions in the most diverse ways.
Magda – Lubin
Magda thus pays homage to the tuberose, the famous poetess of Ancient Greece named Sappho, and – as the press text reveals – a woman named Magda, who is both artist and muse. Moreover, said Magda is part of the illustrious circle of Parisian intellectuals of the 19th century. She – the imaginary lady – attends the real Tuesday meetings at the home of the writer Stéphane Mallarmé, where the who’s who of lyricists and authors of that particular era gather.
Rainer Maria Rilke, Oscar Wilde, William Butler Yeats, Stefan George and many more met at the soon-to-be legendary Mardis Mallarméens. On one of these Tuesday afternoons, Magda was also said to be present, supposedly an author from Mexico who is soon to return to her homeland.
A dusky afternoon, late 19th century Paris. In the Rue de Rome, as every Tuesday, the young poets gather around the famous lyricist Stephane Mallarmé. Today Magda is among them, she too has a way with words. Radiantly beautiful, she whirls among the poets, muse and author at the same time. Her sensual scent, exotic and confident, fills the room and turns the head of many a literary man.
All three fragrances in the Portraits des Femmes collection are created by Delphine Thierry, longtime Lubin perfumer but also working for other brands such as Majda Bekkali, Masque Milano or Malbrum, to stay within the range of fragrance houses also available at Aus Liebe zum Duft. The Frenchwoman combined the ingredients pomegranate, cherry, black currant, tangerine, tuberose, orange blossom, gardenia, cinnamon, amaretto, sandalwood, Peru balsam and vanilla.
Muse in Paris, artist in Mexico City
Dark red and extremely sweet cherries open the eau de parfum Magda, underpinned by tart pomegranate and the dark fruitiness of blackcurrant, to immediately slide into a creamy-soft and extremely floral bouquet of white flowers. Gardenia and orange blossom, in particular, push forward here at first, with milky nobility and sumptuous opulence.
Amaretto gives the creation a hint of almond aroma, which combines with the still perceptible cherry nuances and the exceedingly creamy floral notes to create an almost gourmand fragrance cocktail. In the finish, a vanilla warmth joins in, which I would attribute to the blend of sandalwood, Peru balsam and vanilla into which the fruity-floral creation pours and with which the composition very gradually fades out.
Magda by Lubin is a fruity floral fragrance with a deliciously gourmand cherry amaretto twist. The eau de parfum has excellent durability and comes up with a medium to stronger presence. A feminine fragrance with a touch of nostalgia that should absolutely please fans of Lubin, of cherries and white flowers. It is not an explicit tuberose scent, but rather a bouquet of different beguiling white flowers. Adult, elegant and voluptuous, Magda shows herself as an olfactory lady who knows what she wants, who seduces and charms and is always good for surprises.
Seasonally, I would locate the fragrance of Lubin rather in the warmer season and also in terms of wearing opportunities, I would prefer leisure and evening to the office. A beautiful and classic-looking creation that successfully reflects the magic of the traditional fragrance house Lubin.
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