The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Category Archives: Charenton Macerations


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New Release: Asphalt Rainbow by Charenton Macerations

Asphalt RainbowWHAT I SMELL:  Asphalt Rainbow opens with a sparkly zesty bergamot, like peppered champagne which retreats quickly and then flattens to a slightly soapy, rather milky floral.  The notes states that there are aerosols in the perfume and after 5 minutes it does feel like the perfume is sprayed through a can.  As such, the projected spray throws out the perfume and what was once soapy and milky, is now a bit gritty and rough-hewn.  There’s also a warmed hair spray effect that feels tinged with charcoal.  What’s strange about Asphalt Rainbow is that in some sense, it feels very “bathtastic.”  Maybe it’s the aerosol effect which makes it feel as if it was born in a 1950s blue tile bathroom.  On the other hand, there’s a grittiness about it that makes it go from blue tile bathroom to truck stop bathroom.  If you’re looking for your mother’s rose scent this is not it.  The rose is muted, flat and roughened.  For some reason, the perfume also reminds me a fabric store as there is a slight muslin feel to the fragrance, like it’s sheathed in bolts of the clean, yet unfinished fabric.  After around 20 minutes the rose comes to the forefront, and it’s big and powerful and much cleaner with infused musk and a light amber.  After 30 minutes, the perfume becomes much prettier, woodier and softer.  And while it is still big, it has moved from the bathroom to the garden. In the end, Asphalt Rainbow becomes demure, light and rather pretty with a very prominent clean musk.  Quite the journey if I say so myself.

Asphalt Rainbow ArtFrom the Charenton Macerations website:

Asphalt Rainbow draws inspiration from the “break the rules” attitude of global  street art: a creative world movement that teaches anything can be a canvas and anyone an artist. Specifically exploring the concepts of distortion, reappropriation, and impermanence, Asphalt Rainbow borrows from a series of masterful street art techniques to craft an olfactive love letter to the street: a roughed up rose that’s been hyper-colored, torn apart and twisted on its head, then nailed to the wall for your sniffing pleasure. The arc of the fragrance mirrors the unpredictable lifecycle of street art: a re-envisioned rose accord that distorts and morphs over time like a fragmented floral collage stretched across urban walls and alleyways; its aerosol-tinged aroma ever-fading closer to background.

Featured: Rose Absolute, Rose Fragments
Accents: Spray Paint (Aerosols), Galbanum, Lily of the Valley, Lychee, Ylang, Saffron, Magnolia, Leather, Cistus,
Background: Asphalt, Detritus, Patchouli, Wood, Amber

School BathroomWHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME:  An institutional bathroom; clean, yet slightly dirty.

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE ASPHALT RAINBOW: big, bold, large

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT ASPHALT RAINBOW: No others found.

BOTTOM LINE:  Asphalt Rainbow is an interesting perfume.  The journey is rather fun and conceptually I love the idea.  But I love the idea more than the perfume.  However, I can tell you that the hub loves it, which says to me that this is a floral that is for those who don’t want their florals to be too feminine or too pretty.

  • Bone Rating: 3 out of possible 5 bones
  • Scent: Floral
  • Nose: Cecile Hua
  • Classification: Unisex
  • Expense: $100 for 30 ml Eau de Parfum

Sample courtesy of Twisted Lily Fragrance Boutique & Apothecary


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Christopher Street by Charenton Macerations

Christopher-Street-Bottle_960WHAT I SMELL:  Christopher Street opens with a fig like citrus that has this swirling effect on my skin.  It also has this semi-petroleum like kick to it.  Hmmm, in other words, it’s a like a ripened bag of oranges and lemons being kicked by a pair of Doc Martens.  After a few minutes there’s a bit of sourness to that comes to surface.  It’s salty and sweaty, like the mix of sweat and body odor from a hot day mixed with the coolness of the air conditioning when you step inside.  It’s kind of repulsive, but there’s something rather natural about it which isn’t too off putting.  But with all this sweat, you would think that the fragrance would run hot…but it doesn’t, it’s rather cool.  After around 10 minutes, the soured orange remains, but the sweaty aspects start to dissipate as they’re replaced with an undercurrent of oakmoss and warmer hues of subtle spice.  At this point the fragrance is almost split in two as it seems to have this top aura that sits like an orb on top of grounded spice.  It’s odd in that the various layers of the fragrance seem to pull from the middle moving in opposite directions.  After around an hour there is something remote about Christopher Street.  It projects and has power for a citrus scent, but there is nothing soft there as it’s bold and rather removed.  After a couple of hours, I get a slight appearance of leather, but just barely.  For the most part I am left with this sour orange citrus sitting on a base of very dry oakmoss.

Christopher Street notes as well as the information on the fragrance’s namesake and inspiration from the Charenton Macerations website:

Top – Alcoholic Lime, Bergamot, Bitter Orange, Leather, Tobacco
Mid – Cinnamon, Clove Bud, “Dance on Skin,” Orange Blossom, Poet Carnation
Dry – Incense, Moss, Musk, Myrrh, Patchouli

New York City’s Christopher Street is one of the oldest and longest streets in the West Village. Designed as a diagonal road against a rectangular grid, Christopher Street has always been known for its subversive character.  A street of merchants and misfits, along with the occasional mob front, Christopher Street has played home to a cast of unlikely heroes that has included everyone from Beatniks to Bohemians to homosexuals. The neighborhood is a spectrum of vibrant personalities that shatter traditional notions of gender.

Developing a long-standing reputation for celebrating individual freedom, Christopher Street is most notably known as the location of the 1969 Stonewall Riots. Over the years, its promises of hope have made it a chosen destination for those individuals moving to New York City in search of openness and acceptance. “The Shangri-La of the West Village.” All around the world, the name Christopher Street has become synonymous with the word “liberation.” Stemming from its rich history, its architecture, and its quintessential connections to New York City activism,Christopher Street was seen as the perfect inspiration for the first Charenton Macerations fragrance.

WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: If I lift my wrist to my nose, I am inclined to get a headache.  From afar the scent smells rather good.  As such, it’s like there’s a party going on down the street, but there’s a fence that separates me from the fun!

OK, not the visual I was looking for, but this is from Christopher Street and depending on your definition of a party...the work zone might keep you away!

OK, this is not the visual I was looking for, but this is a store on Christopher Street and depending on your definition of a party…the work zone might just keep you away!

THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE CHRISTOPHER STREET:  sharp, raw, bold

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT CHRISTOPHER STREET:  EauMG, Bois de Jasmin, Indieperfumes

BOTTOM LINE:  I really want to love this fragrance because the backstory and thought in its creation is just so wonderfully thought out and unique.   However, my body chemistry doesn’t always mix well with orange blossom and that’s what I mostly get from this boldly different creation.  I do look forward to what Charenton Macerations offers us next.