Gilded Lily
Ineke (2010)

I've wanted this one, for quite some time. I am glad I sampled before blind-buying a full bottle.

The lily isn't as strong as I thought. It is well balanced with oak moss, patchouli, rhubarb, and grapefruit. A summery oriental. I didn't get any pineapple or labdanum out of this one. Still, I enjoy the lily/rhubarb combination.

I only wish it lasted longer.

Lily-centred perfumes that celebrate the power of the scent seeping from beneath those sticky stamen usually overwhelm, just as a vase of lilies in a closed room will soon begin to fray nerves. A light hand is needed and Gilded Lily is well-measured. The floral heart is kept unclogged and away from syrup, and a further dryness is added by a chypric twist, the mossy note imparting an almost severe sophistication to the indulgence of the lily. Whereas many of the perfumes of this line come across as overly synthetic, on occasion, stridently so, Gilded Lily finally delivers the goods.

Odd. I don't smell lyrol or any of the other common ingredients that make that round green almost-aquatic smell that usually passes for lily in lily perfumes. To me, Gilded Lily is more of a chypre: spicy, tart, and a pich aldehydic on top with a sort of flowery, powdery, almost-suede core and a very traditional straight-from-the-70's green chypre base. That being said, it smells modern, with what I'm guessing is some pink pepper/bay rose in there to give it a more common appeal.

A lot has been said about the term "modern chypre", and it's been very over-applied to all sorts of garbage that's not even remotely chypre-related. As such, I'd like to nominate Gilded Lily for the representative of a true modern chypre. It keeps the traditional ingredients intact while still bringing it up to date.

Oh goody, a lily fragrance. Reminds me of Donna Karan's Gold. Yeah very nice lily, that expected pepperiness of other lily fragrances. Yup. *nods*

-an hour later-

Wow, is this really the same fragrance? Seriously? This drydown is AMAZING. a dry, woodsy oakmoss. For a while, I couldn't find the fragrance but I kept smelling something amazing and, in fact, wondered if I had spilled my bottle of Homme de Gres somewhere because the drydown smelled eerily similar. Figured out it was this that I had sprayed just a little bit on my wrist.

As advertised, Ineke GILDED LILY is a gorgeously gilded lily perfume. The overall effect is that of a fine floral chypre, so part of the “gilding” appears to consist in oak moss–or reasonable facsimile–which imparts a truly splendid texture to this haute lily perfume. Sometimes I find lily too dirty or heavy-handed, but this compelling composition is a big-time wrist-sniffer. GILDED LILY is beautiful from start to finish and would appeal to anyone who appreciates vintage chypre perfumes, provided that they like lily, which is definitely the dominant floral. With relatively big sillage and superb lasting power, GILDED LILY is a bona fide eau de parfum, not a watered-down cologne stretched thin and mislabeled to maximize profits. I can honestly state that I cherished every drop of my 1.5 ml sample vial, and I would love, love, love to have a bottle of this! On my wish list! Bravo, Ineke!