Ineke Hothouse Flower

As I went through the list of FiFi Indie nominees, my eyes caught on Hothouse Flower by Ineke as the information was transmitted into my brain which made my hand shoot into the box of samples in my desk drawer. Hothouse Flower was a fragrance I had intended to save for spring, but with its name coming up on the nominees list, I couldn’t help the curiosity.

Hothouse Flower

Hothouse Flower

In Bottle: Green and floral, lots of gardenia but smells like dew dappled gardenia.

Applied: Hothouse Flower reminds me of days where the rain only lightly mists everything. It’s fresh and green like the smell you get when you pinch a leaf. The gardenia is very present, but it works well with the greenness and the freshness. It’s tame, not crazy or overpowering. I don’t smell much of the tea, but there’s a small mention of incense in the fragrance. The scent ages with a more noticeable cypress but always remains true to that lovely, green gardenia. Very nice, conjures up beautiful images of tall trees, pretty flowers and dew–just the kind of imagery I could fall in love with.

Extra: Ineke Ruhland is an independent perfumer operating out of San Fransisco. Hothouse Flower was released in 2012 and found its way to my desk drawer via a friend’s recommendation.

Design: Nice, simple packaging. Cylindrical vessel with nice elements etched on glass with a tasteful, equally simple cap. Nothing glaring, nothing too obvious, just plain old good work.

Fragrance Family: Soliflore

Notes: Earl grey tea, leaves, cypress, gardenia, galbanum, fig, frankincense, guaiac wood, corn silk, musk.

After experiencing Hothouse Flower, I want to go out of my way to get more of it thanks to the imagery it inspires. Or, better yet, get my hands on more house samples. Best of luck to Ineke Ruhland in the FiFi awards.

Reviewed in This Post: Hothouse Flower, 2012, Eau de Parfum.


Annick Goutal Ninfeo Mio

Been a while since I’ve done an Annick Goutal fragrance. I actually really miss the often soft, feminine fragrances available in this line.

Ninfeo Mio

Ninfeo Mio

In Bottle: Citrus and herbal. A very fresh interpretation and very green and leafy smelling. Quite nice and really natural. Doesn’t smell like a perfume, but rather like the concept of a dewy citrus leaf.

Applied: Initial flare of tart citrus the orange and lemon in particular are noticeable. They give the opening a bit of a bite–in a good way. After the opening the fragrance takes on a pleasant fresh herb and green leafy scent with a nice woodsy undercurrent. As the scent ages, the greenness dominates and the woods come up a bit more. To me, this is a very refreshing scent. Almost like droplets of water pooling in a forest after a light shower. It’s quite agreeable and very beautiful.

Extra: Ninfeo Mio was released in 201o, was inspired by the gardens in Rome, and is still widely available.

Design: Bottle like most other Annick Goutal fragrances in a ribbed bottle and tied with a ribbon. Annick Goutal bottles are easily reusable in that you can unscrew the sprayer and refill the bottle. The design is nice and elegant, a little vintage and quite lovely.

Fragrance Family: Aromatic Woodsy

Notes: Citron, lemon, petitgrain, bitter orange, galbanum, lavender, lentisque, fig, wood, musk.

This is one of the herbal fragrances that I really like. I’m not a big fan of herbal scents usually but Ninfeo Mio is a lovely scent.

Reviewed in This Post: Ninfeo Mio, 2011, Eau de Parfum.


Thierry Mugler Womanity

I put off reviewing Womanity for a while so I could get used to her and how she smells and hopefully come to understand where it is she’s coming from and she’s still confusing the living daylights out of me.

Womanity

Womanity

In Bottle: Okay, this is just going to sound silly but I’m going to come out and say it because it’s the honest truth. Womanity reminds me of lobster. A big old dish of lobster with that slightly salty, slightly fishy, slightly sweet and buttery smell to it. There. My opinion is out. It’s lobster.

Applied: I’m hit with a strange mixture of woods and spices with a mingling hint of sweetness all layered over this tangible saltiness in the fragrance. It’s strange because you can almost taste the salt. The caviar might be what I’m attributing to the saltiness in this and I think it might be messing with my image of the fragrance because, once again, Womanity makes me think of lobster. There’s a slight fishiness to the fragrance upon first application that does eventually go away as you continue to wear it. The fragrance digs into this sweeter and fresher territory as it ages into a lovely mixture of scent that I can only describe as clean and briny. I know how bizarre my description of Womanity is right now. I’m all sorts of confused at this point which is when Womanity heads into its base with a slight amp to its spiciness to add to that clean brine smell. If I had to make this as simple as possible, I’d say the opening is salty and reminds me of lobster. The midstage is a fresh and slightly salty fragrance with a hint of spice settled with a sweet figgy note. The base is spice, fading fig and brine. It’s weird, but it doesn’t smell bad. I wouldn’t stretch it and say I like how it smells either. It’s certainly unique but I don’t know if I could wear it.

Extra: So Womanity’s given me a run for my money. I still don’t know if I could classify it as okay, all I know is that I appreciate it’s bizarreness but I wouldn’t wear it as a fragrance. It’s fun just to sniff now and then though, just to give my mind something to think about.

Design: I do like the design. It reminds me a bit of punk rock meets cyberpunk meets Barbie. The pink juice is clearly the Barbie part. One of the better designed Thierry Mugler bottles, in my opinion. I love just holding this thing too. It’s like holding a weird alien artifact. The bottle has a nice weight to it. I love the feel of it and the sprayer is fantastic.

Fragrance Family: Fresh

Notes: Citrus, caviar, fig, woods.

Am I the only one who doesn’t like the smell that money leaves in my hand after I’ve handled a bunch of coins but I always end up going back and smelling it just for the sole purpose of confusing myself and reaffirming my dislike for how it smells? It kind of feels like that with Womanity. In that I’m pretty sure I don’t like how it smells but I keep going back and smelling it anyway.

Reviewed in This Post: Womanity, 2010, Eau de Parfum.