• About
  • Login to comment
    • Facebook
    • RSS
    • Twitter

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Menu ▼
  • Perfume Reviews
  • New Perfumes
  • Perfumers
  • Perfume Houses
  • Shop for perfume
  • Resources

Ineke Hothouse Flower ~ perfume review

Posted by Robin on 23 October 2012 25 Comments

Ineke Hothouse Flower, detail

Hothouse Flower is the eighth fragrance in the alphabetical series from San Francisco-based niche line Ineke, and the description — a hothouse elegance wrought from an overindulgence of gardenia — sounded very nearly perfect. Ineke is one of those in-between sort of niche lines: the fragrances are made with care and they don't smell like all the money went towards the promotional efforts, but they're neither outré nor esoteric nor difficult to wear; it's easy enough to imagine them doing well on the counter at Nordstrom. Oh, and they're under $100 — and as we all know, $100 has long been the new free when it comes to perfume, especially niche perfume.

The only one of the line I've wholeheartedly adored so far is Field Notes From Paris, which Kevin (and everybody else, I guess) thinks of as an orange blossom fragrance, but which I think of as one of my favorite patchouli-tobacco blends (actually, my only favorite patchouli-tobacco, neither note being a usual favorite of mine).

Hothouse Flower is an "almost" for me. The opening is greenery, dewy and fresh and clean, with a very light tea note (I'm sure I would not have thought of tea if it wasn't listed in the notes, which also include green foliage, cypress, absinthe, gardenia, galbanum, fig, frankincense, guaiacwood, musk and corn silk). The gardenia is there, but it's likewise dewy and fresh, and not the photorealistic, demanding hothouse diva you may love or hate from other perfumes.1 Everything else is very muted: there is a touch of fig, but no more, and the incense — indeed, the whole base — is mild and airy. I do not notice the absinthe, and would not know the corn silk in any case.

Hothouse Flower is a pretty, eminently wearable middleweight fragrance that should work in any season. It's a gardenia you could wear to the office, with enough elegance to carry you elsewhere as well; for many people, that is probably a welcome thing. If it were a bit less aggressively fresh in the early stages, I would like it much better, and I would say the same for some of Ineke's earlier fragrances, like After My Own Heart and Balmy Days & Sundays. If those fragrances suited you, I highly recommend that you try Hothouse Flower, and vice versa.

Ineke Hothouse Flower fragrance bottle

Ineke Hothouse Flower is available in 75 ml Eau de Parfum, $95. The lasting power is perhaps a little slight for an Eau de Parfum, but it's reasonable enough. Ineke has a very generous sampling program if you buy directly from their website: $25 gets you all eight samples, beautifully packaged, and you can apply the entire amount towards a full bottle purchase. For buying information, see the listing for Ineke under Perfume Houses.

1. Or from the real thing: I can vouch for the fact that a gardenia bush right outside your window can be headache-inducing on a hot summer night.

Possibly of interest

Amouage Figment Woman ~ fragrance review
Maria Candida Gentile Lady Day ~ perfume review
Pacifica Tahitian Gardenia ~ fragrance review

Filed Under: perfume talk
Tagged With: gardenia, ineke

Advertisement


25 Comments

Leave a comment, or read more about commenting at Now Smell This. Here's our privacy policy, and a handy emoticon chart.

  1. flannery says:
    23 October 2012 at 3:02 pm

    Oh how I hoped this would finally be THE gardenia for me, I love Ineke’s Evening Edged in Gold, After My Own Heart & Field Notes so I was just sure this would be perfect gardenia. But I get zero, zip, nada gardenia from it. Nice green floral scent but not a hint of gardenia for me. :(

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      23 October 2012 at 4:14 pm

      Oh, shame. I would not say I get anything like “real” gardenia — it’s not creamy or indolic or “big”. It’s closer to the idea of tuberose in Diptyque Do Son, only this is gardenia in humid air instead of tuberose in water.

      Log in to Reply
    • ladymurasaki says:
      24 October 2012 at 8:20 am

      What a shame. I had hoped the gardenia was prominent as well.

      Log in to Reply
  2. Merlin says:
    23 October 2012 at 4:13 pm

    I really disliked Field Notes but I LOVE Evening Edged in Gold. EEG though is a bit much for every day, so as much as I adore it I dont wear it THAT often. I like it because osmanthus can be too ethereal but with the saffron it is wonderfully lush here.
    I haven’t tried other Ineka scents though I love the names and the bottles. I think someone mentioned that ineka does not ship outside of America…

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      23 October 2012 at 4:14 pm

      First in Fragrance in Germany carries the line though.

      Log in to Reply
      • Merlin says:
        24 October 2012 at 3:14 am

        Yes! A friend went to Germany, and I ordered some samples from First in F to his hotel. That was the first time I ordered niche samples from that type of company. And thats when I got to try Field notes and also Evening. I should get another batch from surrender to Chance or Perfume Court but I worry about the shipping etc…

        Log in to Reply
        • Robin says:
          24 October 2012 at 7:22 am

          I hate paying shipping, but I have paid for shipping from First in Fragrance to the US before when I was desperate :-)

          Log in to Reply
  3. Omega says:
    23 October 2012 at 4:32 pm

    I do enjoy Field Notes as well, almost too much tobacco, other than that, good! EEIG is super good. I really liked that cypress note in Hothouse, didn’t last long but I really liked it! I am not a big white flower person, except for jasmine. I really liked the warmth of Hothouse, and I like Ineke’s style… but I don’t do those white flowers! I will try Poet’s Jasmine but want a jasmine in her A-H line as they seem more concentrated from what I have smelled. Don’t want a tuberose though!

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      23 October 2012 at 4:39 pm

      I wish I loved Evening…I adore osmanthus, but that one just didn’t speak to me. Poet’s Jasmine is more of a summery thing, and I like it but have plenty of other scents in that category so have not been hankering after it like I might otherwise.

      Log in to Reply
  4. Ayala says:
    23 October 2012 at 6:25 pm

    Like you, I love Field Notes from Paris. The “orange blossom” in it is in fact tobacco flower – which smells similar. I had the pleasure to smell the real blooming thing (Nicotiana fragrans is I believe the scientific name for it) and it’s divine and indeed similar to orange blossom. Her garden is also the only place where I was able to smell fresh, real living osmanthus flower. There is no perfume in the world that truly captures that scent – a tricky one indeed – except for very rare incense sticks that my friend brought me from Japan.
    After My Own Heart is also beautiful and I love the raspberry sweetness in there.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      23 October 2012 at 6:37 pm

      Interesting — I used to grow Nicotiana, it really does smell fabulous.

      Log in to Reply
  5. fragrantfoodie says:
    23 October 2012 at 7:06 pm

    Ooooh, I’ve been waiting for a good review of this one – thank you! It’s going on my must-sample list. I adore Balmy Days & Sundays, so sounds promising for my nose.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      23 October 2012 at 9:21 pm

      It might be perfect then — hope you’ll love it!

      Log in to Reply
  6. maggiecat says:
    23 October 2012 at 9:33 pm

    I love gardenias but agree that an overdose can be deadly. I’ve been intrigued with Ineke of late, and this sounds very worth a try.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      23 October 2012 at 10:22 pm

      I don’t mind an overdose in perfume, but in real life, too much gardenia is too much :-)

      Log in to Reply
      • Ayala says:
        24 October 2012 at 12:02 am

        You must be living somewhere warmer and sunnier than Vancouver not difficult, if I may add ;-) – where I can rarely get them to bloom.

        Log in to Reply
        • Robin says:
          24 October 2012 at 7:20 am

          I grew gardenias when I lived in So Cal…not where I am now :-)

          Log in to Reply
      • Omega says:
        24 October 2012 at 1:02 pm

        I couldn’t agree with you more!

        Log in to Reply
        • Omega says:
          24 October 2012 at 1:04 pm

          I think I read that wrong..with gardenias..any is too much for me! lol

          Log in to Reply
          • Robin says:
            24 October 2012 at 1:54 pm

            Gotcha.

  7. poodle says:
    24 October 2012 at 5:48 am

    I like this one. I love Field Notes from Paris though. I do get gardenia in this but it’s not the big white floral gardenia. It’s more of gardenia at a respectable distance, if that makes sense. It’s there but there’s a lot of green, humid notes to temper it. Some days the BWF’s are just too much. This doesn’t seem to cross into that territory.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      24 October 2012 at 7:21 am

      Totally agree…this is much quieter.

      Log in to Reply
  8. bluegardenia says:
    25 October 2012 at 2:24 am

    I was disappointed in this one. I’m not familiar with the line but got a sample of this and was reminded of something awful that girls in high school used to wear. Dry, synthetic fresh, maybe it was Eternity? In any case, my nose disliked it then and dislikes it now! Not a whiff of gardenia in this to me either.

    Log in to Reply
    • Robin says:
      25 October 2012 at 7:26 am

      I really don’t like fresh notes either. Try Field Notes, though!

      Log in to Reply
  9. Jukauz says:
    17 January 2013 at 11:04 pm

    Ineke hit the nail on the head with this one. I live in the South (USA) and this is very much the heady fragrance of a gardenia hedgerow growing in an equally heady mulchy flower bed on a hot humid summer night. For me this fragrance is best described in one word – LUSH, I love it! It’s on equal footing with Field Notes from Paris.

    Log in to Reply

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Advertisement

Search

From NST at Twitter

  • "The Biggest Fragrance Trends for 2023, According to Experts" (marieclaire) https://t.co/tVmxnyMEXX, 2 hours ago
  • "Cult Shop: the perfumer drawing on her Māori heritage" (financial times) https://t.co/9HmkvBfcvm,
  • Imaginary Authors' limited edition Decisions, Decisions from 2020 is available again for a limited time… https://t.co/CL55QrsyTB,
  • "Scent-a Fe: New Mexico could be first state with official aroma" (guardian) https://t.co/zt7NB3n20L,
  • "The Smell of Magic: A new crop of scents reference long-held beliefs about the connection between perfume and the… https://t.co/6OeiuFOYtf,

Browse by...

Topic

Perfume talk New fragrances
Shopping Books :: News
Body products Home fragrance
Polls Another subject

Date

January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022

Prior months

Author

Robin Jessica
Angela Kevin
Erin Guest Author

Tag

Celebrity perfumes
Cheap thrills
Collector bottles
Perfumista tip series
Video
The complete tag index

Recent reviews

Atelier Cologne Love Osmanthus
Moschino Toy Boy
Arquiste Misfit
Diptyque Eau Capitale
Zoologist Bee
Parfum d’Empire Immortelle Corse
Comme des Garcons Series 10 Clash
Frédéric Malle Rose & Cuir
L’Artisan Parfumeur Le Chant de Camargue
Yves Saint Laurent Grain de Poudre
Régime des Fleurs Chloë Sevigny Little Flower
Chanel 1957
Gallivant Los Angeles
Amouage Portrayal Woman

Blogroll

Bois de Jasmin
Grain de Musc
Perfume Posse
The Non-Blonde
More blogs...

Perfumista lists

100 fragrances every perfumista should try
And 25 more fragrances every perfumista should smell
50 masculine fragrances every perfumista should try
26 vintage fragrances every perfumista should try
25 rose fragrances every perfumista should try
11 Cheap Perfumes Beauty Outsiders Love

Favorite posts

The Great Perfume Reduction Plan
Why I Love Old School Chypres
New to perfume and want to learn more?
How to make fragrance last through the day
Fragrance concentrations: sorting it all out
On reformulations, or why your favorite perfume doesn’t smell like it used to
How to get fragrance samples
Perfume for Life: How Long Will Your Fragrance Collection Last?

Upcoming

List of upcoming Friday projects

4 January ~ damage poll
4 February ~ winter reading poll

TBA April ~ swap meet

Back to Top

Home
About Now Smell This :: Privacy Policy

Shop for Perfume Online
Perfume Shopping in New York
Perfume Shopping in London
Perfume Reviews
New Perfumes
General Perfume Articles
The Monday Mail

Glossary of Perfume Terms
Perfume FAQ
Perfume Links
Perfume Books
Fragrance Awards

Noses ~ Perfumers A-E :: F-K :: L-S :: T-Z

Perfume Houses A-B :: C :: D-E :: F-G
H-J :: K-L :: M :: N-O :: P :: Q-R :: S
T :: U-Z

Copyright © 2005-2023 Now Smell This. All rights reserved.