After having already spent almost a decade in Europe, residing and working in England, The Netherlands and France, the Canadian-born Ineke Rühland’s heart found its true calling in Versailles, where she trained at IPSICA to become a professional nose. Currently, Ineke lives and works in beautiful San Francisco, creating her Abécédaire, the alphabet of perfumes. After A, B, C and D, the alphabetical collection’s most recent addition is, of course, the letter E, in the form of the absolutely stunning Evening Edged in Gold.Few perfumes manage to inspire me already from the first sniff, most actually inviting introspection and careful consideration along with inarticulate murmurs of appreciation rather than coherent speech, but Evening Edged in Gold delivered its beautiful message with such lucidity that I found myself instantly describing it, singing its praises, to the nearest available ear – a stunned salesgirl. Today, hopefully with less crazed urgency, but certainly with just as much passion, I wish to describe its beauty to you.
The opening is heartbreakingly gorgeous, the fragrant osmanthus besieging heart and
senses alike with its beauteous accents of fresh apricots and jammy plums with unparalleled erotic intensity, until they can but succumb. The fruity aspect is deep, dark and slightly abstract in nature, like the scent one would find upon opening an antique wooden cupboard used for keeping fruity liqueurs and preserves. Soon, the mellifluous intensity of the fruits recedes, giving way to creamy, exotic floral notes tinged with a mild cinnamon scent and rounded with the earthy, spicy yet sweet aroma of saffron. And although I hardly need any more coaxing to fall in love with this scent, seeing as I am already in its thrall, what comes next truly seals the deal: a beautiful, ever so slightly bitter note of suede leather starts rising from the skin, buttery soft and subtle, with absolutely no inclination towards aggressiveness. The inclusion of this note reveals the genius of this fragrance: In a perfume so romantic, so chic and sophisticated, so wistful of an erotic ideal under the twinkling of the stars and the sweetly yellow light of the moon, in creeps the very unorthodox scent of leather, seemingly uninvited. But you will have to believe me when I tell you it works like magic! Instead of drawing attention to itself or the perfume, it brings all the attention back to the wearer, for it magically emulates the feel of the skin itself, tricking the mind, breaking the boundaries between the perfume and the body’s own skin-scent. The result? Beautiful depth and a certain muskiness that create the illusion that the soft fragrance is being exuded by the wearer herself. To me, this translates as the feeling of owning the perfume, making it mine, instead of it wearing me. These feelings, as peculiar as they sound, are echoed in SweetDiva’s blog as well, making it clear that Evening Edged in Gold weaves a particular kind of magic...Ineke Fragrances are available for purchase on the official website and perfumistas located in Belgium and the Netherlands can find a comprehensive list of points of sale near them on the International Brand Services website.
Images: www.ineke.com
