Scented Snippets New Fragrance Review: Charenton Macerations Asphalt Rainbow - Rose Is Rowdy in the Streets

by: Ida Meister

Ebullient, explosive, brash, devil-may-care and full of itself: how could I resist Mick and the Thin White Duke as musical scoring for Douglas Bender and Cecile Hua of Mane's collaborative Asphalt Rainbow?

I'm very much enjoying his sassy street rose for myriad reasons—not that I need a reason. CM's rose is rowdily irresistible and thoroughly wearable by any and all—it travels between genders, if that makes any sense.

Here's Douglas' prelude:

“Introducing Asphalt Rainbow The next fragrance from Charenton Macerations,Asphalt Rainbow is 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.”

Major Fragrance Notes 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—Charenton Macerations

Asphalt Rainbow opens with a pop—likely aldehydes. It's fizzy and inorganic/organic, marrying disparate elements to one another and amalgamating them into a harmonious whole. Not a Mozartian harmony—it's pleasurable olfactory cacaphony instead. Got that?

There are aromatic heavy-hitters here. The subtlest and most rounded you can find would be rose, the gentle playmate of perfumery; perhaps ylang, as well. Nothing soft-pedaled about lily of the valley, cistus, saffron, magnolia, patchouli, galbanum ... or any of the other components, for that matter.

Yet somehow, it works. The drydown retains some of its initial spark while rose/patchouli duet in an edgy yet quieter manner, redolent of wet cement sidewalks, metal, and gunpowder.

It's not the tightly-corseted rose/patchouli of Portrait of a Lady [arid, astringent, plangent], nor the bosom-heaving plushness of Tom Ford's Noir de Noir. It's beautiful all on its own merits. What I appreciate most is its journey from radiant to cryptic while retaining transparency. That's quite a feat.

Asphalt Rainbow feels contemporary and new, and that's a scarce quality these days—when so many perfumes smell derivative or minimally like variants on a tried-and-true theme. Despite its charming eccentricity, it possesses a subtlety in the drydown which will likely make it a lovely Spring/Summer choice. You could wear it to work as well. Really.

[I don't see it as a seasonal perfume, but then I don't really care much about attaching such qualifiers to beloved fragrances. After all, the heart wants what it wants!]

I found Charenton Maceration's first fragrance Christopher Street to be pétillant, the sort of scent which is uplifting and lively. Asphalt Rainbow is perhaps its shadow aspect, a flip side of the street, darker and more subversive in nature but equally satisfying.

If you haven't sampled these, dear readers—you might enjoy giving them a sniff.

Thank you, Douglas—for giving me the opportunity to experience your newest endeavor.

All images: Charenton Macerations; limited edition stickers designed by Douglas Bender.