Chatillon Lux Sunrise on LaSalle, photo courtesy of Chatillon Lux
Spring, that time of eternal awakening, remakes our little planet world into garden. Catching the bloomy perfume of mock orange, realizing suddenly that the ground warms and gives way beneath our feet as we walk it, and feeling the sun filter through the new luxuriance of leaves and tree blossoms, can stir a sense of possibility. Earth tells us it is time to smile again. And that is precisely what Shawn Maher’s latest fragrance for Chatillon Lux, Sunrise on LaSalle, intends to do. Chatillon Lux Sunrise on LaSalle is an origami arrangement of pear, geranium and jasmine tea that sings of quiet optimism. It looks both backward to the homey comforts of things like pear jam and geraniums on the sill while also craning its neck to see toward the horizon, where there’s the open road of a new day upon whose route all possibilities exist.
Shawn Maher of Chatillon Lux
Chatillon Lux founder and perfumer Shawn Maher explains Sunrise on LaSalle’s genesis: “As the world turns a corner and optimism abounds, it feels like the sun is rising on a new chapter. With that in mind, I have been thinking about bright, pleasant scents, but scents that do not smell like anything that we’re used to. Something new and unexpected. When I think of bright, pleasant scents, I think about the flora l market on LaSalle Ave. It’s one of the oldest in the country and supplies florists all over with flowers. In the morning, the dew coats the plants, while inside freshly cut flowers, wooden planters and other uplifting scents abound. That was the jumping off point for Sunrise on LaSalle.”
Pears image via Pixabay
The first spray is a beautifully realized pear note, its green, syrupy juice augmented with facets of rose and cream and a hit of spearmint. I love the dessert spice and tree blossom aroma of pear and often forget to eat the ones I buy because I get so distracted by their bouquet. But in perfumery, while I am always eager to try anything that features pear, I find that often it gets sugary and thin and even a bit plastic. Not so here. The rosy aspect of the fruit is quite pronounced to me early on, and plants the pear in a blooming garden where there is, it soon turns out, an abundance of geranium.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
Maher used a geranium essential oil from South Africa fortified with aroma chemicals that lend fruity, rosy and minty notes harmonize the pear and geranium. He then perks everything up with a touch of mint that gives the first part of Chatillon Lux Sunrise on LaSalle its dewy, early morning freshness. And that mint also acts as a silken green thread that ties into the flowery, serene smell of jasmine green tea that surfaces in the middle. Green tea was an inspired choice to stir into the composition, as it adds just the right touch of tannic bitterness to balance the fruity, fleshy pear juice. The dried jasmine odor whispers, but its quiet floralcy tames the geranium’s peppery bite. The ongoing interplay between bitter green, juicy fruit, mint and vegetal tea patterns a fragrance that is fresh and bouncy while also soothing and verdant.
Image via SnappyGoat
In the later stages of the perfume’s trajectory, Maher added a small amount of oakmoss absolute to underpin the tea and bring out the mulchier, richer qualities of the Virginia cedar essential oil that gives the fruity and flowery notes a burnished, deep foundation to rest on. At its zenith, Sunrise on LaSalle smells like the best moments of a childhood day in the country – pear juice from fruit straight off the tree, the garden smells of mulchy ground and wild mint tumbling over boxed geraniums in Mom’s garden – overlaid with the contemplative, calming waft of green tea through the open window where the adults are listening to Vaughn Williams and reading the morning paper. In its marriage of adult smells of green tea and cedar with the bucolic smells of back then, Chatillon Lux Sunrise on LaSalle smells like the reunion of generations. And that could not be more perfect for this moment in time.
Notes: Pear, geranium, jasmine tea, and Virginia cedar.
Disclaimer: Sample of Chatillon Lux Sunrise on LaSalle kindly provided by Chatillon Lux. My opinions are my own.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
Sunrise on LaSalle, photo courtesy of Chatillon Lux
Thanks to the generosity of Chatillon Lux, we have 60 ml bottle of Sunrise on LaSalle for one registered reader in the U.S. only. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what strikes you about Sunrise on LaSalle and if you have a favourite Chatillon Lux fragrance. Draw closes 5/19/2021.
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