Back before Chatillon Lux was even thinking about opening for business, I began working on my very first fragrance. Fast forward to early last year as Chatillon Lux was celebrating our second anniversary (and even still next year as we celebrated our third) and I was thinking about Delor de Treget. A lot. And I decided it was time to rethink what I believe was a great idea, but an idea that I wanted to explore with the knowledge, experience and technical know-how that I lacked in my nascent years.
To be clear: I am still very happy with Delor de Treget, but I think the realm of perfumes and fragrances introduces a new realm of possibilities to explore within that idea. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start from the beginning, then we will bring the two worlds together.
With Delor de Treget, I wanted to convey the inspiration I find behind the Chatillon Lux brand and the history of South Saint Louis. I wanted to make sure, like I do with all of my own fragrances, that I incorporated my own personality into it. Finally, because it was the first fragrance in the Chatillon Lux line, I wanted to create something easily wearable and easily likable.
The Delor de Treget accord (orange, grapefruit, bergamot, lavender, cedarwood and labdanum) was designed to have an old-world vibe to it. Something classic and timeless, but not necessarily dated, which is how I view my vibrant yet historic community here in the Cherokee Arts District in South Saint Louis. I did that with a balanced accord that is versatile and full of familiar scents.
Secondly, if you have ever talked scents with me, then you know I love woody scents. It goes back to childhood and hanging out at the lumberyard my dad works at. He would always have me smell the shavings if there was any freshly cut red cedar. I still love the scent and knew I would have to include it in the first fragrance I made.
Finally, my goal was to make something that may not have been the most exciting, but was something that I could see a wide group of people enjoying. Citrus, cedarwood, bergamot tea and rich, resinous scents can be found in the daily lives of many.
However, when considering creating an eau de toilette strength fragrance, I felt this idea not only fell kind of flat, but I also thought I could achieve the goal with the scent I wish I made. One that could be universally liked, even better balanced, not only with the elements but between the classic woody scent vibe along with the fresh, modern citrus scents that are beloved by many.
The structure of Delor de Treget was a little bit of oakmoss short of being a chypre already, and I have always admired the underrated versatility of the genre. It can run from classic and rich to modern and one-million-watt bright. And this modern bent was one that I wished to explore. It began last year with the scent I made for the St. Louis meetup. It was bright and aldehyde-heavy, giving it a sparkling, champagne-like citrus mixed with peach, rose, lily of the valley, vetiver and cedarwood.
As you can tell, I had already begun thinking about this concept before I even knew what I planned on doing with it.
So I started thinking how I could round out the scent more and it hit me: let’s see what happens when we use this framework to rethink Delor de Treget as a fresh, modern chypre, a structure that includes oakmoss, labdanum, and citrus, with many featuring florals. I found myself toning down the aldehyde sparkle in order to focus on how the peach, lily of the valley and rose could interplay with the bright citrus sparkle fizzing underneath.
Usually I find in my creation process that I have a firmer grasp on the basenotes before I move to the top notes. Perhaps going in knowing I was using a chypre structure helped, not to mention that I used a familiar wood accord of vetiver and cedarwood. However, with this cedarwood accord, I tried to emphasize the crackling dry notes of freshly shaved red cedar along with a vetiver that deemphasized the rooty, green notes and focused on the dry, woodiness so it would work in tandem with the cedarwood as a more unified note in order to bring a more seamless transition to the rose, lavender and lily of the valley in the heart of the fragrance.
Finally, in the basenotes I struggled at first to create an oakmoss accord. The International Fragrance Regulatory Association is banning the use of natural oakmoss due to concerns about allergic reactions, which is why many of the bold, musky fougères you may remember from years past smell a little more punchless these days. I created something that was green but not pungent, musky but not dank. Any sharp edges would be softened by same labdanum that I use in Delor de Treget.
I love labdanum and cistus quite a bit, much in the same way that I love castoreum. But while the latter can be a bit too musky, leathery and animal-smelling for some, labdanum can impart a slightly rich, leathery facet into a scent without grabbing too much attention.
In the end, I created an accord that is bright yet rich, woody yet unisex, and true to the original while allowing me to write a new chapter in a book I published back when I was first learning how to author the ideas I had in my head. I am excited to share Eau de Treget with you because those who already enjoy Delor de Treget will find it to be an uplifting companion, while new fans can simpy enjoy it for its fresh cirus vibe that can be dressed up or down, much like your favorite pair of jeans or sports jacket.
On August 1, Eau de Treget will be available through Chatillon Lux, as well as Maggard Razors, Top of the Chain and West Coast Shaving. In short order after the release, we will hope to have samples available through the Chatillon Lux web store, but there is no firm date yet.
Thank you for reading and I apologize for the length of time between editions of Scent Notes. I am already planning one out for the Lamplight Penance Parfum Extrait, but this one will undoubtedly be very in-depth because we are going to have a lot to talk about.
