Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays at work by Samantha Scriven
Once you meet Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays for the first time, as I did in 2014, you realise that the mould was well and truly broken when she was born and that she is one of life’s one-offs. Thankfully for perfume lovers, she channeled her uniquely British take on life into a world of scent that covers a spectrum of olfactory wonders. From retro Paris chic to teenage memories, from seaside holidays to glimpses of city vignettes (Havana, Rome, London, Tokyo) Sarah McCartney of 4160Tuesdays paints pictures with scent and you can’t help wanting to be a collector.
Sarah McCartney and Samantha Scriven, 2014, their first meeting
Narrowing her body of work into three wasn’t an easy task, so I asked Sarah to do it for me. She chose a trio that showcases her versatility and eclecticism: Tokyo Spring Blossom, (previously Urura’s Tokyo Café), Red Queen for CaFleureBon’s 9th anniversary (I have her own actual bottle) and Meet Me on The Corner, a memory of carefree days when we looked up at the sky instead of down at our phones .
Tokyo Spring Blossom by Samantha Scriven
Tokyo Spring Blossom (2013): An early composition, Tokyo Spring Blossom is one of Sarah’s personal favourites which she often wears herself. Inspired by the café of her Tokyo based Japanese friend, Urura (aptly, her name means spring breeze) Tokyo Spring Blossom is as joyful as it sounds. Densely packed with fruit, but juicy rather than sticky, this is a fragrance that flutters like a butterfly. One minute it’s raspberry jam and roses, the next a zen-like zephyr of woods and incense, the next a neat bunch of violets and a peeled tangerine, before roses and raspberries swirl back though. Tokyo Spring Blossom was helped onto the map by the powerful influence of Jo Fairley, celebrated founder of The Perfume Society, co-creator of Green &Black’s chocolate and the woman who still holds the record for having been the UK’s youngest ever magazine editor. Jo wrote about it (formerly named Urura’s Tokyo Café) and word began to spread. Unsurprisingly, this early hit has a special place in Sarah’s heart. Notes: pink grapefruit, mandarin, violet, rose, raspberry leaf, opoponax
4160Tuesdays Red Queen for CaFleureBon photo Sarah
Red Queen for ÇaFleureBon (2019): ÇaFleureBon Editor in Chief Michelyn Camen had one wish. “Make me a rose fragrance that I’ll love as much as I love Guerlain Nahema.” “Right-o!” said Sarah, or words to that effect, and made Red Queen. Michelyn wasn’t keen on the first mod. Sarah made another one. Michelyn was still not satisfied… she asked for more incense. Sarah made a third. Michelyn loved it. Sarah only later remembered that it was supposed to be inspired by Nahema, but a new magic had happened by this time and Red Queen was firmly on the throne. You might be tempted to say “waiter, there’s a carrot in my perfume” at some point, but you are falling down a rabbit hole, so carrots and roots are only to be expected. In fact, carrot doesn’t smell too dissimilar to orris, and is perfectly at home among the sophistication of this rose-and-more perfume. Sarah’s other inspiration was Alice in Wonderland, (as in 2018’s CaFleureBon White Queen), the classic book based on a real-life little girl named Alice Liddell. Alice often played in her father’s rectory grounds in the North of England. The rectory, now gone was replaced by houses, and guess who lived in one, playing on the same grass as Alice herself? Serendipity is not to be underestimated here.
From the Tim Burton Movie “Alice in Wonderland” 2010
4160Tuesdays Red Queen is an equal mix of beauty, enigma and contradiction. The deep velvety rose at his heart seems to bloom outwards and capture everything in its reach: blackcurrants, frankincense, musk, apricots and yes, she went there…parsnip. Red Queen works. It works every time you wear it. It worked so well on Sarah the day we had lunch together that she ended up giving me her own bottle from her handbag, which I wore on the train home. It worked there too. Notes include: Rose, incense, carrot seed, geranium, woods, pepper, blackcurrant, labdanum, raspberry, patchouli, musk
Meet Me on The Corner image by Sarah McCartney
4160 Tuesdays Meet Me on The Corner (2020): A semi-autobiographical fragrance that sets the nostalgic scene of a more carefree time. With a Lindisfarne song on your transistor radio, a cheesecloth top and the bluest of skies above you, you can easily imagine a day in the seventies, waiting on the corner for your friend. With orange, lemon and lime to give you the ice lolly summer optimism, and a vintage chypre background to remind you it’s the seventies so put your iPhone away, Meet Me on The Corner captures a time long gone and much missed. To me, it’s bittersweet. When you’re young you wish you could have all the perks of being a grown up. Once you’re a grown up, you wish you could back to a time when all you had to worry about was whether that boy you liked was looking over. Meet Me on The Corner is all of that. Notes: bergamot citrus patchouli, oakmoss sandalwood, veramoss, red mandarin, clementine, styrax, apritone, hedione, musks, violet leaf absolute, lily of the valley, ionones, flower essential oils, magnolia leaf.
If a diva-Queen, a café in Tokyo and a glimpse of a simpler time appeals to the perfume lover in you, dig deeper into 4160Tuesdays and fall joyfully through its technicolour portal.
Samantha Scriven, Senior Contributor and author/editor of Iscentyouaday
Disclaimer: With thanks to Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays for providing me with the perfumes mentioned.
4160Tuesdays-Three you should be wearing collage
Thanks to the generosity of Sarah McCartney we have a set of 15ml of all three “you should be wearing” for one registered reader in the U.S., Canada or EU. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about Meet Me on The Corner, Red Queen and Tokyo Spring Blossom based on Samantha’s review, and where you live. Do you own any 4160Tuesdays perfumes? Draw closes 7/26/2020
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