The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Id takes its name from Iddu, the local nickname for Stromboli, the Aeolian island volcano that has been erupting on its own schedule for over 2,000 years. In the Odori d'Anima Trilogy, Id occupies the middle position between Alfa and Omega, the two extremes. Where Alfa and Omega are desperate, Id is the fragrance that mediates. It finds the middle ground without becoming middle-of-the-road. Amélie Bourgeois, trained in Grasse, built the composition around that tension: the creative and changing energy of a living volcano, yes, but also the stillness that exists between eruptions. The name itself carries mystery, and the brand leans into that deliberately. Stefania Squeglia, the house founder, has never disclosed what Id means to her personally. That ambiguity is part of the fragrance's identity.
The note structure earns a closer look. Ravansara opens the composition, an unusual choice that most wearers encounter as a camphorated, slightly medicinal freshness before the spice cluster arrives. Clove, nutmeg, and Ceylonese cinnamon arrive together, forming a warm-spice foundation that reads as one accord rather than three separate notes. The heart is where Id becomes itself: iris and violet are the dominant florals here, and their powdery character is what divides opinion. Jasmine is present but pushed behind the iris, so the heart reads as cool and powdery rather than indolic or tropical.
The evolution
The opening announces itself with Ravansara's camphorated freshness, a cool green note that arrives before the spice does. Give it ten minutes. The clove, nutmeg, and Ceylonese cinnamon arrive as a cluster, and the composition shifts from cool to warm in a single motion. The sillage is moderate, Id projects close to the skin rather than filling a room, which suits its contemplative character. Around the 30-minute mark, the jasmine surfaces briefly, but the iris and violet take over and push the heart into powdery territory. The spice doesn't disappear, it sits underneath, keeping the powder warm. By the second hour, the base arrives: labdanum and oud first, then birch, benzoin, and patchouli filling in the dark, resinous structure. The drydown is warm, smoky, and close to the skin. On most skin types, Id holds for 8-10 hours, the sillage softens but the warmth persists into the evening.
Cultural impact
In the niche perfume world, Id has built a quiet reputation as the Mendittorosa fragrance most likely to convert someone who thought they didn't like powdery florals. The warm-spice opening pulls in a certain audience; the powdery iris heart is what keeps them. It sits comfortably between oriental and floral, never committing fully to either category, a quality that has made it a reference point in discussions of gender-neutral niche fragrances since 2012.
