The sixth fragrance in the Ineke alphabet series, Field Notes From Paris is a welcome evolution in style from the San Francisco based perfumery. I ordered the Ineke Deluxe Sample Collection back in November of last year (the sample collection didn't include Field Notes From Paris, as the fragrance hadn't yet been created) and Evening Edged in Gold was my favorite of the lineup at that time.
Here's what I said about Evening Edged in Gold: "A great big leathery floral with life flowing through its veins, probably along the lines of what Hermes Caleche might have been before it was reformulated into the thin, wan ghost of a leather it is today: honied, spicy, huge (though it hits its drydown with a much lighter touch)."
Field Notes from Paris is also a honied, spicy leather, but it ditches the floral bouquet for a focus on the more urban-cafe elements of vanilla, tea and tobacco.
Right out of the bottle, I wasn't certain I was going to be a fan -- the patchouli takes a flying hairspray tackle and I'm thinking, "Uhm . . . uh . . . hmmmm" but after the first ten to twenty minutes, it shakes itself out, the harsher edges evaporate and the air is suffused with the scent of sugared tea (with a slice of lemon) and an undercurrent of pipe tobacco.
Not bad.
I'm not a huge tea-fragrance fan, personally, but the other pieces of the puzzle (coriander, orange blossom, vanilla, patchouli, cedar, tobacco flower and tobacco leaf, leather, tonka bean, benzoin, beeswax) are skillfully arranged and keep any one note from outmuscling the others, so while I smell tea, I'm also picking up snatches of other tunes playing on separate yet harmonious frequencies.
The result is like sitting in a glowing cafe on a chill day as the vaguely indeterminate scents of leather jackets, wool scarves, black tea, almond biscotti, cedarwood tables, upholstered chairs, book bindings and loose leaf tobacco swirl and mingle.
From Pink Sith: "After the dry down from the initial spritz, Field Notes From Paris mellows into a STRONG Tobacco Flower & Leaf, Patchouli and Cedar knock out. Let me say I am NOT a fan of Patchouli, but whatever Patchouli Ineke used in this fragrance is amazing. The sweet and masculine tobacco combined with the cedar is just lusty."
The Ineke brand is a true niche fragrance brand -- the brainchild of classically trained perfumer Ineke Ruhland, with a tight product lineup that's expanded slowly (one per year) and a thematic roster that appears to be getting richer and more subtly complex with each new release.
After sampling fragrances day in and day out, month in and month out, the majority of them start to blur together, indistinguishable from one another as they march and wave in their trend-hopping bandwagon parades, so it's always a pleasure to run across a brand that's willfully individualistic even as it aims to hit all the right crowd-pleasing notes -- and Field Notes From Paris is certainly pleasing.
From Legerdenez: "The pairing of a composed tobacco flower accord to replicate the particular moonlit white blossoms (that perfumer Ineke Ruhland) grows in her own garden, with the essence of the earthy, virile leaf, now this is an example of how Ineke's fragrances are created from her own ingenuity and personal ideas. You don't see that process much when a fragrance is mass produced for a giant brand."
The packaging is detailed and graphically appealing, an excellent match for the fragrance itself with a box in warm, earth-tones and a beautiful, rounded glass bottle printed with a fragment of a hand-drawm map of Paris.
Ms. Ruhland explains her packaging philosophy in a 2007 interview with Grant Osborne of Basenotes: "I'm sure the Basenotes community is very olfactively evolved, but the average person has a rusty connection between their nose and their brain. I think it's important to use visual cues to give some guidance as to what a fragrance will smell like, and for a niche brand without advertising, that has to come mainly from the packaging. I also love textures, colours, images and graphics, and found the packaging to be a true pleasure to work on."
Beyond its whimsical modernism, the bottle is nicely balanced in the hand, it doesn't leak when spraying (always a plus), the cap is a solid, molded plastic with rounded edges and a secure fit (at least I'm assuming it's plastic, yet it's not a rigid plastic -- there's a slight velvety softness to it; maybe it's a hardened rubber?), and I'm a fan of the etched brass nameplate that encircles the upper body of the bottle like a thin metallic ribbon.
Scott Lauzé at Perfume Smellin' Things states that "Ineke, as a line of fragrances, has achieved the perfect marriage of bottle and perfume design. There is a simplicity that manages to be fresh and contemporary, and yet still feels solid and luxurious." I tend to agree.
For a boutique fragrance that presently clocks in at under $90.00 (and since I'd already purchased the sample box, they took an extra $25.00 off my order!), the level of quality in both product and product packaging is surprisingly high.
My advice: If you're the type that enjoys handing out perfume as presents, Field Notes From Paris would make an excellent choice for the giving . . . if you don't break down and wind up keeping it for yourself, that is.
In summary: While I wouldn't say that Field Notes From Paris threw me for a "Wowzers!" loop with a crazy, somersaulting performance on the high-wire (that territory is apparently reserved for Christophe Laudamiel), I think I can safely say that being the Next Big Thing is not the point of its existence. Field Notes is an approachable, charming scent that effortlessly straddles the border between smoky and gourmand (Kevin at Now Smell This writes that Field Notes From Paris is "immediately likeable").
Ms. Ruhland mentioned in her Basenotes interview that the "F" fragrance she developed for her alphabet line would likely be a masculine, and yes, the leather, tobacco, vanilla combo of Field Notes is definitely masculine friendly, but I know a lot of leather/tobacco female afficianados who will be more than happy to hug it, pet it, squeeze it and call it George.
You can purchase Field Notes From Paris directly from the Ineke website.
***Note: Field Notes From Paris is an EDP, and room penetration is soft to medium -- you'll be noticed, but you won't overpower the space (depending on how much you put on). I did my usual "apply with enthusiasm" test (8-10 full sprays, and the nozzle emits a fine spray with good coverage) for a few weeks and you could smell me coming, going, arriving, leaving, thinking about arriving, considering departing, etc. for the first thirty minutes, but it's a progressively smoother ride with a pleasant sillage once the initial flurry of bright opening notes matures into a sense of calm.
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