The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Category Archives: Ineke


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Idyllwild by Ineke Perfumes

WHAT I SMELL:  Idyllwild initially graces the skins with a soft and fresh light tea along with a hushed rhubarb and grapefruit note.  It’s so soft and pretty and incredibly comforting, like a light cashmere sweater that’ spun with the lightest and finest of wool.    Soon a slight medicinal artemisia note appears which quickly is punctuated with a creamy lavender.  Here, the perfume begins to move from the lightest of comfort to a more rounded warmth that buzzes with a creamy evergreen.  The perfume continues to move to the Northwest with the cypress and fir becoming the perfume’s focal point.  Evergreen can be tricky as it can overpower and turn a perfume into a car air freshener.  Here, the notes are incredibly subdued as if the trees are wafting their beautiful scent from afar.

From the Ineke website:

For the wanderers who follow their own compass.

Top notes:  rhubarb, tea, grapefruit and lavender

Middle notes: artemisia, cypress and fir

Base notes:  cardamom, woody notes, agarwood (oud) and musk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  The wings of a butterfly fluttering through a sun kissed forest.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE IDYLLWILD:  comforting, fresh, positive

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT IDYLLWILD: Undina’ Looking Glass, Cafleurebon, Colognoisseur

BOTTOM LINE:   To me, Idyllwild is completely a comfort scent.  It’s one of those perfumes that makes you feel like you’re taking a lovely hike through the green forest with the bounty of nature abuzz all around you.

  • Bone Rating:  3.5 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent: Aromatic Fougere
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense:  $110 for 75 ml eau de parfum


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Ineke Scent Library

Ineke_ScentLibrary_2_webDon’t you just love perfumed packages in the mail?  It’s even better when the perfume is housed in the perfect packaging.  Yesterday I receive the Ineke Perfumes Scent Library and I have to say that Ineke Ruhland has outdone herself in perfume creation and package design.  The Scent Library provides 2.5ml samples of the Floral Curiosities line of fragrances which are housed in the most innovative packaging that I have seen a long time…they come in a book!   And inside the Scent Library book are individual “library cards” that describe each fragrance in the collection… each of which are individually exquisite and lovely.   The five fragrances in the Floral Curiosities collection are:

Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia) Fresh and Opulent

Angel’s Trumpet opens with refreshing notes of honeydew melon, Seville orange and leafy greens.  Angel Trumpet’s rich floralcy is then warmed by cinnamon leaf and allspice and supported by Virginia cedar and white musk.

Briar Rose (Rosa Rubiginosa) Fruity and Floral

A pretty rose-violet accord given big character with supporting notes of black raspberry, green apple, warm spices, patchouli, cacao and vanilla.

Poet’s Jasmine (Jasminum officinale) Citrus and Herbal

A fragrance inspired by Poet’s Jasmine tea, replete with slices of citrus fruit.  Added points of interest include star anise, rosemary, absinthe, frankincense, cardamom, hinoki wood and guaiac wood.

Scarlet Larkspur (Delphinium cardinale) Floral Oriental

A bright fruity opening of blood orange, red currant and morello cherry deepens over time with notes of claret wine, nutmeg, saffron, amyris wood, tonka bean and vanilla.

Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) Woody and Sweet

Ineke_ScentLibrary_7_webA peach schnaps note introduces the spicy Sweet William floral accord, and is further warmed with cinnamon, clove and cumin essential oils.  The dominant wood notes are a blend of cedarwood, sandalwood and patchouli, softened with Bourbon vanilla.

I am having a hard time deciding which one of these floral beauties is my favorite…so far Scarlet Larkspur and Briar Rose are running neck and neck.

You can check out all of the Floral Curiosities fragrances with your very own Ineke Scent Library which is only available via the Ineke website  for a great price of $22!   Great fragrances, great packaging, great price….how fun!

 


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Weekend Quick Reviews

It is definitely harder to write about something that you don’t have strong feelings about.  If you either love or hate a fragrance it seems that the words just flow.  As the following scents will be put to rest in my samples box because they don’t invoke love or hate, I thought I would try something different and so some very short reviews.  I’m not sure how helpful they may be, but let’s give it a shot!

HOTHOUSE FLOWER BY INEKE

WHAT I SMELL: Ineke’s Hothouse Flower opens with a burst gardenia and green tea.  The fragrance then blooms into a warmer gardenia with hints of fig.

Hothouse Flower Notes:  Earl Grey Tea, green foliage, cypress, gardenia, galbanum, fig, frankincense, guiaiacwood, musk, corn silk

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: very grandmotherly

  • Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Floral
  • Classification: Feminine
  • Expense: $95 for 75ml EdP

SANTALUM SLIVERS BY KEROSENE

WHAT I SMELL: Kerosene’s Santalum Slivers opens with sweet juicy orange, like orange concentrate orange juice.  It then turns to more of an orange/lemon cleaner like composite.

Santalum Slivers notes: vetiver, musk, sandalwood, bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, orange, rose, pepper, hay, cucumber and cedar

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: a very clean house

  • Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Citrus Aromatic
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $140 for 100ml EdP

GERANIUM POUR MONSIEUR BY FREDERIC MALLE

WHAT I SMELL: Frederic Malle’s Geranium Pour Monsieur opens with a blast of camphoric mint…strong, strong mint.  It’s very powerful and overwhelming at first, almost toxic in its volume.  When it dies down it becomes a bit spicy and warm.  It’s a familiar scent that seems powered through chemicals.

Geranium Pour Monsieur notes: mint absolute, peppermint oil, Chinese geranium oil, rhodinol, anethol and floralozone, CO2 and cloves oil, white musk, ambroxan, sandalwood, resinoid incense and Siamese styrax benzoin

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  classy barbershop tonic

  • Bone Rating: 3 out of 5 possible bones
  • Scent: Oriental Floral
  • Classification: Masculine
  • Expense: $240 for 100ml EdP

BOTTOM LINE:  All of these are semi-interesting compositions that just don’t work for me.  Hothouse Flower is not for men and Geranium Pour Monsieur would not work for most women.  Santalum Slivers is nice, but there is something there that leaves me a little cold, but I do love Kerosene’s artful bottles!