INeKE

Gilded Lily by INeKE Ruhland 2010

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 25 Comments

Hello APJ Family,

I was blissfully unaware of this line of fragrance till Lanier posted about Field Notes From Paris (FNFP). Righto said I, better try this, sounds rather good. I did and was blown away by the quality, story and beauty of FNFP and have tried it a few times since because it did not then or now capture my heart. Not the fragrances problem, it has everything I wish for in a personal scent except I don’t love it. Since then I have also been trying…..

Gilded Lily by INeKE

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Pineapple, rhubarb, grapefruit, elemi
Heart: Goldband lily
Base: Patchouli, oakmoss, labdanum

Ha ha Ha I love the opening of sweet tinned pineapple and slightly tart grapefruit with beautiful, resinous elemi keeping it from slipping into modern fruity sugar nightmare. I wouldn’t know what fresh rhubarb smelled like if you hit me with some and I can’t smell the rhubarb from apple & rhubarb pie that Mum used to make. No matter the opening is FAN TAS TIC! Makes me want to respritz again and again. This glorious opening is just for the wearer though because within ten minutes the outrageousness has settled into a very pretty fruity floral and a cool, calm and collected lily steps up and ever so gradually takes centre stage and the whole fragrance takes about 6 notches down. This is a good thing because that initial fireworks section would have many people gasping for air.

Once the opening craziness ends Gilded Lily (which is a FABULOUS Drag name BTW) becomes almost skin scentish. It is the way I dream my skin smells, the lily is so soft and the base notes so airy that though I am still fragrant and will give a lovely sillage, up close it is soft enough to believe it could just be me with a very slight residue of my floral/fruit fragrance. Lasting power is good in this stage at somewhere between 4-7 hours depending on the day and my original spritzes. It’s leather more than anything else at the end, soft well loved leather that has been a seasons firm favourite and started to take on the wearers scent and fragrance a little.

Photo Stolen from wetcanvas

Only the most fragrance phobic or closest of work environs would have a problem with this lovely scent. A great all round beauty that has enough story to keep a perfumista interested but is pretty enough for a non perfume hound to enjoy it too. Have I mentioned that incredibly desirable bottle? It’s not often I like the soft ones but Gilded Lily has a quiet dignity, an aloof warmth that I think is extremely alluring and provocative without trying. Bravo INeKE! You have captured my heart and all it took was a Gilded Lily.

For further reading try TheNonBlonde or CaFleurBon

INeKE has 75ml $95 and a wonderful World Stockists page
Anthropologie has the range including the Sample Set and ships worldwide
SurrenderToChance starts at $3/ml

Which ones from the INeKE range have you tried? Is there a quiet fragrance that surprised you with its beauty? Tell us in the comments below please, we love to chat!

Till tomorrow we wish you well,
Portia xx

Field Notes From Paris by Ineke Ruhland for INeKE 2009

/ australianperfumejunkiescom / 10 Comments

Hi All You Lovely APJ,

Back in July I remember reading a ScentsMemory post about Field Notes From Paris by a perfumer from his town, San Francisco, and thinking “WOW! That sounds like a killer frag, Must try it soon.” So when INeKE fragrances became part of the September 40% off deal going on at SurrenderToChance I felt it was time to get up close and personal with the brand. I ordered 5ml of Gilded Lily, Chemical Bonding and Field Notes From Paris and have only just opened the little anti break baggie (I always feel like I’m in the middle of a drug deal opening this stuff up, perfume crack indeed!) and it all smells so good.

Photo Stolen INeKE

Fragrantica has this to say and gives these featured accords (added INeKE accords): Field Notes from Paris is inspired by Ineke Ruhland’s halcyon days studying perfumery in Paris and Versailles. It captures the romantic, nostalgic feeling of sitting at a café and writing in a journal while lingering for hours over a cafe crème.
Top: Orange blossom, bergamot, lemon and coriander seed
Heart: Tobacco blossom & leaf, patchouli and cedar
Base: Tonka, benzoin, leather, beeswax and vanilla.

Citrus Coriander Blooms Photo Stolen foodarts

I love the opening with its coriander seed and citrus, almost a dissonance but strangely alluring, I keep getting whiffs of interesting and unusual which is a joy rather than outrageous or confrontational. It’s a warm, lived in smell, inviting and unpretentious.

Then it is a citrus, tobacco and leather scent on my skin, warmed by the vanilla and woods but never dominated by them. I know Field Notes From Paris is about the feeling of Ineke Ruhland sitting drinking a single cafe au lait while spending hours updating a journal in Paris & Versailles during her training as a perfumer but I really would have liked to smell the coffee. The citrus, blossom, fruit and rest of the tree, stays through different intensities almost to the dry down and shows its diverse faces from crisp zest to sensual flower through to powdery pith and bittersweet bark and twig.

Photo Stolen secretcitizens

Having worn it to work I had one person ask what I was wearing, I couldn’t remember the damn name GRRR. Somewhere between 4-5 hours I become completely anosmic to Field Notes From Paris but TSO Jin says he can smell something that’s not me but very soft, skin scent-ish and good. He had to get his nose to my chest to smell it though, so rides very close to the skin at that point.

Will this be my next FB? Not sure. I really love the opening and the journey is a good one with highs, lows and interesting things happening, I want to be madly enraptured because the work is so good and the price is not outrageous either. Field Notes From Paris is the kind of niche offering that we wish the big boys would emulate, and the bottle itself is gorgeous. I have a 5ml decant, let’s see where I am at the end of those 5mls because this is definitely the good stuff but it just hasn’t grabbed me, which I am very sad about.

NowSmellThis and PerfumeShrine also do excellent reviews with so much information made easy.
INeKE sends their 75ml/$95 bottles only to the USA & Canada, but they have an awesome WORLD STOCKISTS page which includes 3 great Australian Stockists in Qld & Vic 75ml/$160 delivered to your door.

As always, I amgrateful that you have chosen to spend some time with us in the APJ Family.
Loads of love and hugs till we see you tomorrow,
Portia xx