Field Notes from Paris (2009)
by Ineke

Ineke FIELD NOTES FROM PARIS is a rather masculine composition, with a lot of bergamot and coriander and a decidedly cologne-y feeling especially in the opening before becoming more woody in the drydown. This is a nicer one to my nose than some masculine colognes (including some of the others from this house), as it is natural smelling and appears to have some depth hiding within.

Looking at the notes indicated on the house's card, I must confess that I don't detect many of them at all—at least not consciously. There is nothing very sweet (vanilla) or oriental/chypric (patchouli) or leathery or tobacco-y about this composition to my nose. Those are all notes that I love, so I'd like to be able to say that they are present here, but I really cannot tease them out as individual components. I will say that this is a rare case of a decidedly masculine perfume that I might consider wearing now and then, if I somehow happened upon a bottle lying about my house. I do think that I might enjoy smelling FIELD NOTES FROM PARIS on somebody else. Excellent longevity and pretty big sillage.

Hmmm... I see that this has been designated for women? Now that's a surprise.

30th July, 2011.

This is a bone dry tobacco scent. The coriander gives an herbal note. To me, this is rather masculine. I expected some sweetness as it evolved...my skin turns most scents sweeter, but not this one. It's very interesting and I appreciate the scent, but I have an aversion to tobacco scents. I think the tobacco is from tonka. I think this is a nice scent for men/women who enjoy tobacco scents that aren't too strong and a nice affordable price.

11th May, 2011.

Well, first off, this is definitely unisex, probably even leaning to the masculine side. Ineke says on her website that she does not ascribe to the notion of gender designations for perfumes - wear what you like is her motto. So, I'm not sure where the gender designation given above came from.

On to the fragrance...with the list of notes given you might expect this to be a little heavy, something that would be a fall/winter scent. But, as with all the Ineke perfumes I've tried there's a sort of light-but-substantial quality to Field Notes. Unlike Derring-Do, I have a tough time picking apart notes in Field Notes. It comes across as one big scent signature. Bergamot and coriander are sense-able in the topnotes. Patchouli, a dry but not bitter patchouli is present throughout, somewhat similar to the patchouli in Lutens' Borneo. The tobacco, vanilla, and beeswax seem to work together to add a natural sweetness, not too sweet, definitely not sugary or syrupy. Again, light-but-substantial sums up the sweetness, and again, I'm struggling to find the individual notes and am guessing at which ones provide the subtle sweetness. The fragrance ends in a typical fading-away dry down where it gets maybe a bit more ambery...a dusty amber, not a heavy, syrupy amber.

This is a very nice, modern, well-constructed oriental for men who find most oriental perfumes too sweet or too overbearing.

4th May, 2011.

As someone who is a die-hard white/oriental florals devotee, this fragrance is a lovely alternative. The citrus and patchouli are a bit off-putting at first, but the tobacco flower, cedar, leather and vanilla settle in soon and on me lasted about 3-4 hours. I wasn't transported to a Paris cafe, but I got a whiff of my mother's old train case that carried her toiletries and perfumes on the night train from from upstate New York to NYC many years ago. This is a subtle, gentle scent appropriate for the office.

8th March, 2011.

Field Notes from Paris evokes an inner wistfulness
of late spring in May opens with zesty orange blossom
and crisp lemon slice steeps in the evening air, in a
minute it dries to a sweet scent of violet a symbol
of lost love and nostalgia and grass green and lush
from the gentile spring rain dries Elegantly in acute
melancholy. Coriander with it's spicy nuance opens the
middle note with grounded underpinning Patchouli is diluted and elusive which i can't detect either ceder
those two note are a hidden mystery, the Finishing drydown is sweet with Vanilla then dries with an resinous Benzoin then ends with a soft and milky texture or Heliotrope.

21st January, 2011.

Sorry Ineke, I love everything else you've done, but I really couldn't like this one. Too acrid. Made me sneeze.

4th November, 2010.