Lost In the Limelight of Christopher Street
Christopher Street is the type of fragrance designed to grab you from first spray. It’s olfactive story begins with that first cast of mist into the air. Alcohol isn’t simply used as the carrier in our formulation, but instead is incorporated directly into the first accord of the fragrance.
The sharpness of the alcohol is balanced here through the use of lime and other citrus top notes, taking full advantage of their inherent lightness and volatility, tempering that initial bracing effect. This produces an aromatic crispness similar to a gin and tonic. In short, the ingredients feel as if they are “reaching up” through the fragrance to greet you, and then accompany you on that journey into the heart.
How, how, how did they do it? A drunken lime that doesn’t ever fall down– it just keeps on trolling one bar after another. @cm_fragrance
— Carrie Meredith (@eyelineronacat_) January 9, 2013
In those beginning moments of Christopher Street, lime takes center stage. Lime oil has a wonderful brashness that’s greener than other citrus notes, yet never feels too harsh or bitter. Plus it has terrific sillage. All told, a perfect complement to the alcohol.
Christopher Street and A Dirty Lime
Throughout its history, there is an ever-present theme of alcohol and libations on Christopher Street. Stories of Underground Distilleries and Greenwich Village speakeasies of the 1920s and 30s. Mafia-backed secret clubs and bars of the 1950s and 60s… Christopher Street has always been a place to meet, drink, and socialize.
“…so much of the foundation of the riots lay in music, and dance, and how they created community. If the Stonewall had not been a dance bar, I don’t know that the riots would have happened.”
One of my favorite Christopher Street stories involves life inside The Stonewall Inn (51–53 Christopher Street) during the late 1960’s. Stonewall first opened in 1967 as a gay private club. It quickly became popular for two reasons: It had a great jukebox and it allowed slow dancing (a big no-no during a time when simply serving a known homosexual could get you in trouble with the law). Because of this, it attracted a very mixed crowd.
Past visitors to Stonewall described life inside as sweaty, sticky, and smoky. There was no running water behind the bar and the air conditioning worked intermittently at best. Behind the bar were still tubs of murky water used to quickly rinse empty glasses for reuse. Stonewall was definitely a Dive Bar with a capital D. And yet, it was the place to be.
“I liked that the scent needn’t be pretty, [could] even be slightly dirty. References to the bars and shops on the street were plenty. I thought it definitely had to be a sensual fragrance. I imagined somebody letting it all hang out and showing a lot of skin.”
— Ralf Schwieger (Mane USA)
Together, Ralf and I honed in on this idea of a dirty lime cocktail. The finished fragrance has this jubilance, a freshness representing the electric energy felt inside Stonewall, which is then coupled with this rawness, this dirtiness lifted from the actual physical space. A sentiment, that itself, harkens back to a past era of bath tub gin and prohibition. A perfect metaphor for the ineffable beauty that is Christopher Street.
Christopher Street
Available as 30ml bottle or 1.5ml sample