4160 Tuesdays Midnight in the Palace Garden and Advent Calendar Review
The 4160 Tuesdays Advent Calendar 2015
During the last advent Christmas period I tested 25 different fragrances made by 4160 Tuesdays London based perfumer Sarah McCartney. 4160 Tuesdays had offered an Advent box with a different daily fragrance for 75 pounds. Generous 2,5 ml edp or extrait sprays were wrapped in beautiful coloured envelopes. It was a joyful and playfull way to experience a large part of the 4160 Tuesdays perfume collection. I missed the surprise of opening a new envelop with a different fragrance and tweeting about it at end of the Advent Box on December 25th. Sarah McCartney reacted daily to the tweets which was quite nice as well.
Why writing about it now, after Christmas ?
At the beginning of December and the Advent period, I started blogging everyday about her fragrances but I needed more time to test her fragrances and not all were my personal taste. So I decided to test all of them and afterwards write about the ones I liked and enjoy, starting with Midnight in The Palace Garden (shortly: Midnight) from the Crimes of Passion series.
An honest remark about 4160 Tuesdays fragrances
Before I start with Midnight I have to be honest, most of the 4160 Tuesdays fragrance were not my personal taste. They were either too sweet or too edgy. But they are quite different from all other fragrances I have tried before. The perfume names at times are very funny and I love all the colors Sarah McCartney uses in her collection.
My Four 4160 Tuesdays Favorites
From the whole collection I liked four fragrances, Midnight in the Palace Garden, Centrepiece, Doe in the Snow and Paradox. I will start reviewing Midnight and might review the others another time.
Midnight in The Palace Garden Extrait Review
When I first scented Midnight, it reminded me of the Alhambra Palace in Granada. This could be due to its name or the accompanying story on the 4160 Tuesdays official website:
“Picture a moonlit courtyard, scented with white flowers and orange trees; there’s a fountain, a low table with coffee and sweets, a silk- upolstered divan and the scent of warm skin after a calm hot day.”
Notes: (from official 4160 Tuesdays website)
Atlas cedarwood and skin notes, frangipani, jasmine and neroli, sandalwood, cedarwood, 20th century wood-like modern molecules, blood orange, vanilla and coffee
Orange blossom in Jerez de la Frontera
Midnight starts off at my skin with very sweet oranges, as if you are drenched in oranges in a bath. Shortly afterwards sweet orange candies with a semi liquid orange filling and sweet flowery orange peel appear. To be followed after some minutes by beautiful orange blossom flowers. This is my favorite part of Midnight. After half an hour what remains are the sweets. I did not get any coffee only a slight tobacco idea note at the start. Midnight changes over time but not surprisingly. For a pure extrait, Midnight had some projection, giving the impression of an eau de parfum as more modern extraits do. It lasted about 4 to 5 hours on my skin.
Bottomline: I liked Midnight and I have to admit I like everything from the orange tree from its blossom, twigs, leaves to its fruit. But I wish Midnight was a tad less sweet. The orange blossom note in Midnight is beautiful. If you like orange or orange blossom fragrances give Midnight a try, if you don’t, stay away from it.
Did you try any 4160 Tuesdays fragrances? If so, which was your favorite?
Disclaimer: the Advent Calendar was bought by me
photographs: 1 and 2 : made by me, 4: made by Jerez de La Frontera
January 15, 2016 @ 15:48
i love the idea of an advent perfume calendar. But undoubtedly, with that many perfumes, there will be many that don’t fit a person’s personal preference. But it’s still fun getting a new present every day! Personally, I have never tried a 4160 Tuesdays perfume. How is that possible?
January 15, 2016 @ 17:40
It is a great way to explore new fragrances,
S. You should give them a try and see if you like them. Can’t recall finding any florals though.
January 15, 2016 @ 18:13
Hello, I tried many, and I agree, they can be edgy. For instance Lady rose lion that I find hard to wear. My personal favorites are Urura’s Tokyo Café (now renamed, but the Tokyo bit stayed), Centrepiece and Goddess of Love and Perfume . My mother fell for Ealing Green, which I like too!
January 15, 2016 @ 19:40
So you like Centrepiece too, Karin! I haven’t tried Ealing Green, curious about it if your mother likes it. Urura’s Tokyo I liked as Well but would not wear it. I believe it is her bestseller?
January 16, 2016 @ 21:42
What a beautiful atmosphere you create for Midnight.
Really well done for committing yourself to a new fragrance for most of December, and that from a brand unknown to you. Much as I love oranges, I really don’t want to smell of them, so I guess this one is not for me, I’ve tried doe in the snow and tarts knicker drawer. They disappeared before I could truly form an opinion, but I’ll get back to them as it might have just been my skin on that particular day 🙂
January 17, 2016 @ 11:31
Thank you very much, Asali, it was a real pleasure to do, a different fragrance every day from 4160 Tuesdays, but a month is certainely a long time to commit to one brand. Doe in THE Snow is very special and definitely worth to retry.
January 17, 2016 @ 15:48
Delighted to read the long version, and it’s always fascinating to know how others approach one’s own work. I don’t find it all that orangy myself, but perhaps it could be adopted as the official Netherlands football team fragrance. 😊
(I hope no one skips straight to the last sentence. It’s all I hear echoing around my head!)
Now I realise that the Advent calendar was biased to winter fragrances. Our non sweet (and some of the non edgy) scents were edited out as too spring and summery. Without the balance of Ealing Green, Who Knew?, What I Did On My Holidays, Sunshine and Pancakes and other you would definitely have a firm impression that I don’t make fresh green fragrances at all. Perhaps we ought to do a summer solstice set too.
We’ll have to put that right and let you smell the others.
January 17, 2016 @ 16:48
Glad to see you read the longer version too, Sarah. It was quite a short version, the tweet with Citrus Extravaganza, which captures the essence of Midnight beautifully. It would be curious to know if our National Dutch Football team would be open to wear it, maybe they would 🙂
Interesting to know the Advent Calendar was biased to winter fragrances. Which makes sense. A Solstice Summer calendar would be a great idea!
January 19, 2016 @ 09:32
I like the idea of a calendar (and it looks very appealing) but since out of 5 perfumes from this brand that I’ve tried I didn’t like any, I’ll probably skip the rest: most likely, it’s just not my brand. But I’m glad that it has its fans.
January 19, 2016 @ 11:58
Some of them are worth a try especially Doe in THE Snow, if you can give it a try, Undina. THE scented Advent Calendar is great.
January 19, 2016 @ 21:14
Actually, I did try this one. It was nicer than some others but still “not me”.
January 20, 2016 @ 13:51
There is enough perfume to be discovered 🙂 I can imagine it is not you, as in a way they are quite outspoken and have a particular style.
DIY Perfume Advent Calendar 2018
November 28, 2018 @ 07:26
[…] Read my previous review on the 4160 Tuesdays Advent Calendar here . […]