Welcome to My Salon: Interview with Perfumer Ineke Ruhland (part I)
Today in my salon we have the pleasure of talking to hip niche perfumer Ineke Rühland. Ineke lives in San Francisco, California, which is also world headquarters for her company, Ineke. She launched her line in August 2006 with four beautiful eaux de parfums: After My Own Heart; Balmy Days & Sundays; Chemical Bonding; and Derring-Do. Ineke creates inventive fragrances inspired in part by the rare scented botanicals she grows in her garden. As a professional nose and classically-trained perfumer, Ineke creates joyful fragrances which are a delight for the senses.
When I spoke to Ineke by phone and email, I felt I had met a kindred spirit. She, too, practices yoga, has been a vegetarian for 20+ years, and is 45 years old. We had a terrific time discussing the fascinating world of niche perfumery. Join me as we get to know the friendly, talented and extremely knowledgeable perfumer and business-woman, Ineke Rühland.
Perfume Bee: Hi, Ineke! First of all, how do you pronounce your name?!?
Ineke Rühland: It is pronounced “In-a-kuh,” and is a Dutch name.
Bee: Thank you! I understand you were born in Canada and now live in San Francisco. At the risk of over-generalizing, do you perceive a difference in attitude towards perfume in Canada compared to the US?
Ineke: In many respects, Canada lies somewhere between the US and UK in terms of culture and attitudes. Canadians are perhaps more discreet about fragrance usage than Americans, although I would say they are probably quite aligned with West Coast preferences. Before moving to San Francisco, I lived in Europe for 12 years, and that is where I noticed the biggest difference in attitudes to perfume. Europeans, particularly the French, are much more enthusiastic in their fragrance usage. The French consider fragrance to be part of their “patrimoine” (heritage), and the average person is surprisingly knowledgeable about perfume.
Bee: Could you please tell us a bit about your background leading up to your career in perfumery?
Ineke: After studying business in Toronto, Canada, I started my career in marketing at the fragrance supplier Quest (now part of Givaudan) in the Netherlands, and eventually found my way to Quest’s offices in the UK and France. I always thought that perfumers had by far the most interesting job at Quest, and the idea of changing professions came to me when I was working for Quest’s fine fragrance group in Paris. Most perfumers are chemists by training, and the idea of moving from marketing to perfumery had never been done before, so it must have seemed a strange request. My boss and mentor, Yves de Chiris, very graciously agreed and suggested I first attend ISIPCA in Versailles.
Bee: Was there a defining moment that led you to become a professional perfumer? What keeps you coming back (i.e., how do you prevent burnout?)
Ineke: There was no defining moment, but rather a gradual process of listening to my intuition. Like many people, my career path has been somewhat of a process of following the forks in the road that seem most interesting and rewarding. As a perfumer working for a fragrance supplier, I think it’s possible to approach burnout when you are asked to work on dozens of projects at a time, but that’s not likely to happen when you have your own business. Unfortunately, I end up spending less time in my lab than I do on packaging, sales, PR, administration, etc. Since I plan to launch just one new fragrance per year, I can devote a lot of time to its creation. I’m planning to create a home fragrance line so that I can spend more time in the lab.
Bee: You studied at ISIPCA in Versailles. What was the most unexpected element of that experience for you? The most difficult? The most fun?
Ineke: Studying at ISIPCA was a great experience. First of all to get accepted at the school was a great privilege since the classes are very small – my year had just 17 students in perfumery. The most difficult thing for me was the chemistry, since the other students already had undergraduate chemistry degrees. I was allowed to skip the really chemistry-oriented classes, which worked out well for me because I knew I would end up in fine fragrance creation where it’s not as necessary. Secondly, all the classes were in French, which was a bit of a challenge for me. ISIPCA now offers an abbreviated course in English, but it didn’t exist at the time. The most fun was always “travail pratique” in the lab, where we worked on things like natural ingredient reconstitutions, basic structures (eg. eau de colognes, chypres, orientals), countertypes of important fragrances, and original creations. We worked under the tutelage of experienced perfumers like Dominique Ropion, for example.
Bee: There is a lyrical lightness to your fragrances. They are like poetry in scent. How do you come up with the concepts for your fragrances and how difficult is it to capture these concepts in the actual fragrance? Which comes first, the name or the fragrance?
Ineke: Thanks! Sometimes a fragrance idea comes first and other times I start with a more conceptual idea, but I’ve found that the ideal approach is to work on them simultaneously so that there is coherence between them. For me the conceptual side of a fragrance needs to be supported by visuals, colors and words, so I really focused on that for my packaging. I’m quite visually oriented, so I don’t find it difficult to associate imagery with scents. The execution is a bit more difficult because it’s a very hands-on effort. My husband Bill O’Such is an accomplished photographer, and took all of the photos based on my ideas and styling. I collaborated with my sister on the text on the cartons, brochure and website. And I have a brilliant graphic designer named Helena Seo, who makes everything look polished and professional.
Bee: How many trials (mods) does it typically take to make one of your fragrances?
Ineke: As perfumers go, I’m definitely on the slow side. Each of the four fragrances launched so far took about 2-3 months of elapsed time to create (not full-time) and over 100 modifications. Typically each fragrance has between 50 and 75 components. Customized fragrances are not in the cards for me because I can’t work that quickly and be happy with the results.
Bee: How do you know when a fragrance formulation is complete? That “aha” moment?
Ineke: Since I have a perfectionist side, each fragrance never seems 100% perfect. What I usually do is work on a fragrance until it seems about right and there is nothing obvious left to do. I then put it away for a month or so, and when I return to it with a fresh nose and perspective, I find plenty of things to modify. I find it helpful to have a deadline, otherwise I could probably keep tweaking to infinity.
Bee: I love your notion of the alphabet book (abécédaire) for naming your fragrances. How did you come up with that idea?
Ineke: A girlfriend of mine came up with the idea years ago in a different context, and the idea stuck with me. There are lots of instances where it has been used effectively in publishing (eg. the Sue Grafton murder mysteries), but never in perfumes as far as I’m aware. I like it a lot because it gives the fragrances chronology – people will always know which is the latest fragrance. The alphabetized names also add to the “storytelling” aspect, and allow for some nice graphical flourishes.
Bee: When can we expect to see the launch of the “E” fragrance?
Ineke: I’m currently working on “E”, and it should be available in late fall/early winter. Since the current selection is largely in a fresh and clean register, which comes very naturally to me, I would like the new fragrance to be warmer and richer in contrast. As components, I’m working on replicating a couple of plants we grow in our garden here in San Francisco: Angel’s Trumpet (brugmansia) and Midnight Candy (zaluzianskya capensis), both of which are night bloomers.
Bee: You not only create beautiful fragrances, you also manufacture, bottle, package, ship and market them. How do you balance the creative aspects of perfumery with the business aspects?
Ineke: That’s an ongoing challenge! The most important part of the solution for me is to use a contract manufacturer to take care of most operations. I use a great company in Pennsylvania called Fragrance Manufacturing Inc. (FMI), who take care of everything from storing components, blending, filling, assembling, storage of finished goods, fulfillment and shipping. I’m also fortunate to have a very organized husband who works evenings and weekends for me. He’s an engineer, and by some stroke of luck, he’s exceptionally good at all the things that dreamers like me can’t do easily. Our dog Fritz also pitches in with evaluation support from time to time. Although he has by far the best nose in the family, he’s not always good at communicating his preferences. 
