Ineke's new additions: Jack+Jackie and Idyllwild

With these two additions, Ineke's collection (website here) reaches the letter I. In fact the names of her perfumes begin with a subsequent letter of the alphabet: A for "After my own heart" (a fresh, rosy floral ethereal and quite romantic), B for "Balmy days and Sundays" (one of my favorites, a floral green scent, delicate, outdoors-y and spring-evoking), C for "Chemical bonding" (a clean, bright white musks bouquet introduced by a crisp citrus accord) and so on until “Hothouse Flower”, one of the most elegant and convincing gardenia scents around.

This was until a couple of months ago, because at Pitti Fragranze Ineke presented J and I: "Jack + Jackie" and "Idyllwild". 

Idyllwild is named after a place in California rich in forests and wilderness loved by many Californians. To evoke its environment Ineke chose an aromatic accord (rhubarb, sage, pine needles) with wood accents (cypress and nagarmotha). Dry, aromatic, rustic, with green and woody facets, Idylwill was one the best scents in show at Pitti: it conquered me for refinement and millimetric balance. The start is as bright as the morning after a night of thunderstorms, the heart is dry, slightly smoky, very "wild" with a vigorous and interesting personality that is mantained also during the long drydown, which made me sigh with pleasure almost more than the fragrance itself during its development. One of the finest perfumes sniffed throughout the year, and finally a masculine with great temperament.

Jack + Jackie is an extremely smart fragrance, too: it is a vanilla ... disguised as a Daiquiri! It is inspired by the couple Jack and Jackie Kennedy who, in their years at the White House used to throw spectacular parties, where Daiquiri cocktail never failed to be the main guest. The base of Daiquiri is lime+white rum, and this is also the accord under which Ineke has chosen to "hide" the real protagonist of the fragrance: the dryest, rarefied vanilla you can imagine, perfectly wearable also by masculine skin. The opening captivates with a fresh and crisp citrus accord, after a few minutes an unusually dry vanilla note- it is real vanilla and not vanilline!- emerges, all wrapped in woody and musky notes that almost transfigure it.

A funny, surprising, well-kept and elegant vanilla scent, just perfect on male skin, ideal for all those who are not particularly fond of vanilla due to its excessive sugariness.

It took Ineke more than two years to compose these two little gems, and comparing them with all her previous production, they seemed to me more incisive, focused and unusual. I must say I really love the new direction she's taken!