The Scented Hound

Perfume blog with abbreviated perfume reviews & fragrance reviews.

Tag Archives: leather


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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.


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Tom of Finland by Etat Libre d’Orange

Yesterday was my partner’s birthday and I gave him a present of Tom of Finland Eau de Parfum.  This was a fun gift.  For those in the know, Touko Laaksonen, better known as Tom of Finland, created erotic illustrations primarily revolving around gay leather and hyper-masculine men.  I think that it’s ironic that this caricature of masculinity has been turned into an Eau de Parfum, but that’s part of the fun with Etat Libre d’Orange.  So one would expect a rough and tumble scent based on the inspiration.   What you get instead is a lovely, sweet and soothing suede composition.

The first thing you notice is that in the bottle, Tom of Finland is a very bright and artificial orange color.  I wonder if this is a new formulation since all ads show a clear composition.  Upon application, you immediately smell burnt rubber, pine and lemon.  The pine and lemon quickly dissipate and you are left with the rubber and an introduction of leather.  At this point, it’s a bit harsh and you wonder where besides a smoky dive bar you would wear this.  However, as the dry down occurs, the leather turns to suede, with vanilla and a touch of powder.  It turns out to be rather sweet and intoxicating and surprisingly luxurious.  Now, I’m not a fan of leather scents, but this is a fragrance that I would wear.

From the Etat Libre d’Orange website:

This is a fresh, pure water that can wash away the sins of the night. Clothing becomes merely ornamental, an insignificant wrapping paper that only serves to cloak the true erotic power of the flesh. This is a man who wants to play, to love, to ravish, and to be free of all inhibitions. Tom is sex.

Tom of Finland Notes:

Aldehydes, lemon, birch leaves, pine, safraleine, pepper, cypress, galbanum, geranium, vanilla, tonka bean, orris, vetiver, pyrogened styrax, suede, musk, ambergray…

  • Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 possible bones
  • Classification: Masculine
  • Expense: $80 for 50ml EDP


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Charles Street by Mark Birley

 

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, so I thought I would celebrate by wearing an Irish fragrance.  The only problem is that I don’t have anything that is from, or resembling anything near Irish, like a Creed’s Irish Tweed.  So as blasphemous as it may be, the closest I could come to Irish is a scent from England.  Charles Street by Mark Birley is nice and subtle, almost too subtle.  When applied, the initial smell is of soft leather and raspberries.  But wait, there are no raspberries in the composition, so where does that come from?  Who knows, but it’s there and it’s nice.  It mellows into almost a raspberry/cherry wet pipe tobacco smell with a hint of light leather.  Again, I use the word nice.  It’s nothing that wows and I found that it quickly dissipated and disappeared.  Too bad.  I guess that’s what I get for going English on St. Patrick’s Day!

Charles Street Notes:
Coffee, mace oil, angelica root, leather, vanilla, musk, patchouli

  • Bone Rating: 2 out of 5 possible bones
  • Classification: Masculine
  • Expense: $88 for 75ml EDP