Years ago, I created a scent for a brand. However, during the process, the whole thing went sideways and we had to part ways. This left me with a formula that I liked but had no use for, so I released it as a limited edition called Nonaginta. The name came from its inspiration from my childhood. As someone who came of age in the 90s, it took from those types of unisex citrus and fruit scents that came to define the decade.
Nonaginta became a cult classic in the Chatillon Lux history. I had many requests to add it to the line. However, it wasn’t personal enough. It hit some nostalgic buttons for me, but there was no connection to my life or to St. Louis.
I realized recently, years down the road, how I could change that. My home is close to the Cherokee Street Historic District, which is home to the city’s best and most authentic taquerias (and if you’re local, yes, I added the “city” qualifier because I know the county has some killer joints, as well). And because I really love an agua fresca to help quench the fires of hot sauce on delicious, delicious food, it hit me that this was the direction that this fragrance should head.
The Top Notes
Unsurprisingly, this juice starts off with a melange of tropical fruits. It contains the citrus of a yuzu accord, an apricot essential oil, a lime accord based on the candy-like lime oxide, a melon accord with the 90s-tastic calone as well as the apple-tinged musk zenolide, a strawberry accord featuring strawberry glycidate and cassiffix, and a pineapple essential oil. Both the apricot and pineapple are distilled by Robertet, a premier natural raw materials house.
Halfway Down the Drink
However, this is a watery drink, and so a watery cucumber accord with isoraldeine 95, sagecete, pinene alpha and the watery green-floral materials of vernaldehyde, precyclemone and bourgeonal work in the background to make the scent feel more refreshing.
And of course, since this is the 90s, there was a good dose of the fruity, jasmine-lite material of hedione. It adds a lot of air to the fragrance, making it feel like summer. Very drinkable.
At the Bottom of the Cup
The base notes of this are cream and vetiver. The vetiver is used sparingly, as a weight to the rest of the fragrance, with the strategic use of a Haitian vetiver that’s light and bright, as well as vetikone, a material that emphasizes the grapefruit rind aspect of vetiver so that it would blend in with its surroundings.
Next, a creamy note reflects some of the sweeter aspects of certain agua frescas. This starts with a coconutty gamma nonalactone and is reinforced with the creamy, tonka spice of bicyclononalactone and ice cream vanilla of ethyl vanillin.
Finally, a couple of white musks, helvetolide and romanolide, sit in the background, adding freshness and weight without being noticed.
Now, we have a drink mixed the way I’d like it to be. If you’re a 90s child or just enjoy a fresh, refreshing summer scent, Agua Fresca will be here on Saturday, June 4 with an EdT from Chatillon Lux as well as a shaving soap and aftershave from Declaration Grooming. Cheers!
Notes include melon, apricot, yuzu, pineapple, strawberry, cucumber, vetiver and cream
Scent Notes by Shawn Maher 