It was a cold-gray-wet mid-November day in 2007. Ineke and I sat at the Starbucks across from Vancouver Public Library (the main branch, which Moshe Safdie has humorously designed to resemble the Colosseum and give my city an imposed air of culture). This was my first time smelling Evening Edged in Gold and my immediate reaction was that of familiarity. I couldn't quite pinpoint it at the context, so Ineke mentioned the influence of the grand woody-floriental scents from the 90's - Feminite du Bois and Dolce Vita, both with a pronounced cedarwood and fruity notes.

Months later, Ineke kindly sent me a sample of her new opus (by the way - Ineke has a new and beautifully packaged sampler set, with all her 5 fragrances, titled “Volume 2” and meticulously wrapped and packaged in their miniature matchbox-like case within a larger drawer-type box), as well as the three floral bases used in the perfume. Two of the bases are ones that Ineke has created “from scratch” so to speak, using flowering plants in her garden as a reference and inspiration.

Although these floral bases play a modest role in the formulation percentage-wise (the woody and musky notes play a more dominant role here, accounting for more than half of the composition), they sure are what sets Evening Edged in Gold apart from, say, Dolce Vita and Samsara.

The Angel’s Trumpet (aka Datura) base is reminiscent of lilies and reminds me greatly of the lily-and-orange blossom saturated Lys Mediteranee, yet with a far more pronounced lily-of-the-valley note (most likely from Phenyl Ethyl Alcohol and other muguet molecules).

The Midnight Candy base is a lot less floral that I expected it to be and smells very candy-like indeed, and has a dusky, smooth ripe-plum-like texture which goes very well with the more complex, apricoty-osmanthus base (Ineke used both osamnthus absolute and an osmanthus base for Evening Edged in Gold - I have to say I personally prefer the absolute as it is).

The Angel’s Trumpet I’ve taken pictures of (see above) did not have much of a fragrance (at least not in broad daylight). Keep in mind that I've met in in mid-day; according to Bill (Ineke's husband and business partner), it is at night time when the flower releases it's lily-like scent into the air, and the yellow variety is the one to look for (the bush I've found being peach coloured may not be as fragrant but I'm bound to check out if it's still in bloom this very evening).

Midnight Candy is the flower that “stars” in this fragrance’s packaging. Unfortunately, I haven’t smelled it either. Again, according to Bill this finicky dusky flower will only show off its olfactory capabilities on a hot day after 4pm. In a cooler day it won't be as generous sharing its fragrance. I am very curious to hear if any of you who have tried Evening Edged in Gold are familiar with these two fragrant flowers and could “find” them within Ineke’s perfume. I would love to hear from you more about the plant inspiration for this perfume.

Visit Basenotes to read an interesting interview with San-Franciscan/Canadian perfumer Ineke Ruhland. Ineke is about to launch her new perfume, Evening Edged in Gold, thus adding the letter "E" to her fragrant abecedary anthology...

While still inspired mostly by her garden (this time the flowers of Angel's Trumpet and Midnight Candy), Evening Edged in Gold is meant to be a heavier and sweeter scent than the spring/summery breeze of the rest of the collection - with notes of Golden Osmanthus, Plum, Angel's Trumpet and Midnight Candy and a base of Saffron, Leather and Woods.

Ineke talks about her inspiration, about her perfumery school, and also raises the question - which perfumes are better, the modern ones or the perfumes of yesteryear? Here is a quote:

"Many perfumers cite travels as their main inspiration, but that doesn’t tend to work for me in a direct sense. When I visit a new city, the first things I tend to see are the botanical garden and modern art museum, so perhaps it does work in an indirect sense. I’m also not big on food inspirations, or using historical perfume references. At ISIPCA, we had the historical collection of the Osmothèque stored in the basement and were constantly smelling the classics, but I always had a hard time getting past the density of older compositions, not to mention the prevalent use of civet! I’m not very sentimental about the past, tending to be rooted in the present in terms of my fragrance preferences. I actually think that perfumers today are much more talented and technically proficient than perfumers of the past, and I’m very grateful that we have a multiplicity of raw materials available to us that didn’t even exist fifty years ago."

I would be very much interested to hear what Smellyblog readers have to say about this. Feel free to share your insights by adding a comment.

The first thing that crossed my mind this morning as I thought of Balmy Days and Sundays was a walk in an herb garden in an early summer morning, picking spearmint leaves, all the while getting my barefeet all wet on the freshly-cut green grass. Only moments later, the kettle is whistling. As the first sun rays hit the concrete floor of my balcony, my feet start drying and warming up a bit, and so do my hands holding a cup of fresh spearmint tisane sweetened with honey.

It’s my day off, and once the grass dries a bit, I will lay on my back on the grass and let my closing eyes gaze at the warm of the sun. The grass is humming with secret activity: little ants carrying their loot to the nest, bees above hoarding the honeysuckle nectar, and an exhibitionist butterfly poses right in front of me showing off its graceful white wings.

Balmy Days and Sundays is a particularly charming green fragrance, as it combines the the effervescent sparkle of greens alongside a calm warmth. The minty notes offer this contrast on their own, but also the choice of sweet florals paired with grass (rather than the traditional and often cool and sharp jasmine and rose paired with galbanum and orris that are usually found in green compositions), adds to the experience of a summer garden: refreshingly luscious and sun-warmed, a sensual delight to both eyes, skin and nose...
Balmy Days and Sundays starts with a "B" and is the second installation in Ineke’s ABC’s (or a chapter in her olfactory book, if you will).
This is purely a scent for those who love gardening and everything about it, and having met Ineke in person, and learned that she does indeed love gardening, the first two perfumes in her collection make even more sense than ever: the lady likes everything fresh and

Balmy Days and Sundays opens with the sweet greenery of fresh-cut grass and sweet warmth of mint, moves to a heart that is a heady floral (I smell mostly freesia and lily of the valley, but the perfumer also lists honeysuckle, rose and mimosa). The base is somewhat powdery with musk and moss, and like After My Own Heart (and the rest of Ineke’s line), is subtle and clean, yet in a non-sterile manner (think the musk of Lovely). The top notes and the heart notes definitely steal the show here.

The fragrance notes, according to the perfumer’s website, include:

Top notes: Freesia, Leafy Greens, Grass
Heart notes: Honeysuckle, Rose, Mimosa
Base notes: Chypre Accent, Musk

I am not usually in the habit of using the “marketed” images of fragrances (which are too often imposed and pretentious) but in this particular case I think the images so accurately portray the scent, and are so non-pretentious, that I feel it is necessary to use them to give an accurate picture of the perfumer’s intentions, and the same goes for her own words to describe the scent – the little poems or stories that accompany the packaging – from the outer box (and website) to the actual bottles, which is printed with lovely delicate details, words and symbols. When the perfumer-creator is the one responsible for every stage of the process, you get results that are not only stunningly beautiful, but also genuine. And that makes all the difference to me, not to mention that in this case the perfumer is a perfectionist who has an utter sense of visual and conceptual aesthetics besides her olfactory sensibilities.

I may not see the same garden in my mind as Ineke's, but the olfactory impressions and visual and tactile connotations are crystal clear. The mood of a sunny garden is created here, and you just need to step into your own favourite when you smell it. I am very curious to read the next chapters in Ineke's book...

P.s. if you liked Herba Fresca, you are most like to enjoy this one. But also, if you liked some things about Herba Fresca, but found the grass notes there too harsh and the base too chemical, you might find that Balmy Days and Sundays is a more mellow impression of a summer garden (minus the intense citrus notes of Herba Fresca though).