I met Sarah McCartney at Esxence this past March. I was introduced to her by Grant Osborne and Lila Das Gupta of Basenotes. I didn’t immediately make the connection until she asked me if I would like to try some of her perfume line, 4160Tuesdays. Then it all clicked over in my head as I had been reading about her creations online but she was strictly a UK phenomenon. I was given ten of her fragrances to try and it has taken me most of the time since I met her to give all of them a try. Ms. McCartney joins a burgeoning indie perfumer movement picking up steam in Europe. I can say that the ten I spent time with are all worth trying and there are five more I haven’t yet had the opportunity to sample.
Sarah McCartney
Out of these ten there were three that shared a common thread of being near the beach and as I thought about it each captured the beach and a particular time of day, as well. The name 4160Tuesdays comes from “if we live until we’re 80, we have 4160 Tuesdays.” Sunshine and Pancakes, What I Did on My Holidays, and The Dark Heart of Havana capture three different Tuesdays or one really long Tuesday full of fun.
Sunshine and Pancakes captures the potential of sunny summer days. It is that midsummer moment when you wake up to a warm breeze and you can see a brilliant blue sky beyond the billowing curtains. Don’t let the name fool you this perfume is chock full of sunshine and try as I might the pancakes eluded me. (UPDATE: Ms. McCartney informed me that they use lemon juice and sugar on their pancakes in the UK and that is the reference in the name; not the actual pancake) Ms. McCartney chooses to open this with a lens flare of lemon. It is so bright I need to reach for my metaphorical sunglasses. It is brilliant, in both meanings of the word, as it sparkles with energy. It makes you want to get out of bed to see what the day will bring. What this Tuesday brings next is jasmine. On the website description Ms. McCartney mentions that this has “masses of natural jasmine” and it shows. Not only the floral quality but in overdose there is a subtle green character that become more prominent. The lemon lingers and intertwines with the jasmine beautifully. The transition to the base is again sun-burnished as honey is paired with vanilla. It is the honey which is ascendant and the vanilla provides an enhancement to the sweetness. If I was stretching I could say this is where the pancakes are but really it is the soft glow of the sun as it heads towards noontime.
Rehoboth Beach, DE Boardwalk
What I Did on My Holidays is the scent memory of a family holiday to Scotland. I’ve never been to the seaside in Scotland but I have been to numerous boardwalks on the East Coast of the US and this captures the smell of that milieu quite perfectly. The mix of people walking up and down covered in suntan lotion carrying an ice cream cone the smell of cotton candy wafting from one of the food stands. It is simple in structure a suntan lotion accord, vanilla, and calone. That captures the smells of an afternoon on the beach carrying your ice cream cone while the sea breeze blows the ocean smells to you. Right away the suntan lotion accord is present. Ms. McCartney used melon, coconut, and cucumber to create it. The coconut adds the right amount of slippery oiliness, the melon the sweet, and the cucumber the cool vegetal nature. Together they do combine to create exactly what Ms. McCartney was going for. Pretty soon the double scoop vanilla ice cream cone is in front of you and it carries a cool sweetness without becoming cloying. Finally the calone is used in a small amount but still enough to remind you that the ocean is right over there across the sand.
Once you reach a certain age the summer nights are as enjoyable as the days. The Dark Heart of Havana captures the sultry summer night at a bar by the beach. What stands out in that context is the heat of the day is slipping away and the night blooming flowers are scenting the breeze. An alcoholic libation, the smell of tobacco, and the smell of the sugar cane; this is Cuba and the Caribbean Islands. A trio of fruits open this up as orange and grapefruit get smoothed out a bit by peach. The promised dark heart is tobacco, jasmine, toffee, and tonka. This isn’t so dark as to be threatening instead it is the pulse of the latin beat as you start to tap your foot to the rhythm and it slowly begins to move you towards the dance floor. Once you are there the smell of the sugar cane sweet and green is married with a synthetic skin musk. With only a few minutes until midnight this Tuesday is winding down but you also have 4160 Wednesdays to make memories in too.
Ms. McCartney has been making these fragrances for almost two years now and it might be a little bit of a misnomer to call these “new perfumes” but they have just become available in the US at Luckyscent and so they are new to this market. If you are looking for an indie perfume brand where the intellect of the perfumer is on full display turn over a few of your 4160 Tuesday to Ms. McCartney’s creations there will be one or more that will create a new pleasant memory.
Diaclosure: This review was based on samples provided by 4160Tuesdays.
–Mark Behnke
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