Eau My Soul

My first try from the house of 4160 Tuesdays comes as the result of this fragrance, Eau My Soul, being created for the Facebook group of the same name, of which perfumer Sarah McCartney is an admin, and which is run by Christi Long. It came as the result of suggestions and voting for various notes, hence the long list of notes that ended up being included, which is quite the feat. EMS is sweet throughout, and generally pretty boozy as well. Vanilla and cognac seem to be there from opening to dry down. As with many fragrance, it opens a bit sharper and fresh, with what I figure to be the bergamot and lavender, followed by a heart of tobacco and sandalwood, and a base of benzoin, tonka, and incense, with perhaps even another burst of vanilla. Flat out, this is superb stuff. Vanilla remains the comforter extraordinaire, and it is, for me, the definitively sweetest aroma, and it works as a good bandleader in this mix that goes from a fresh opening to a creamy dry down. Cognac provides a booziness throughout, while benzoin secures the creamy dry down with the tonka adding just a hint of powder to the mix. I'm sure there are notes I'm neglecting, but I can't imagine my olfactory abilities are sufficient to keep of more than a small handful of notes at a time. For example, I'm no doubt omitting some of the floral contributors (other than lavender) that assist. Performance is fantastic, a fairly loud projector for an hour or two followed by at least some hours of above average projection, and a strong lingering effect on the skin. I'd certainly peg this as a more of a cold weather scent, but I wouldn't have any problem wearing it on a summer evening, which perhaps says more about me than the scent, but I'll leave it at that. Gender-wise, it might fall into what some men regard as a feminine or perhaps even "old lady" scent but this is surely wholly unisex, the only caveat being that it may turn off those people who are wholly appalled by sweet scents. Apart from that, it's agreeable with respect to season, gender, and also occasion, as it's comforting and relaxing but sophisticated enough to dress up. 9 out of 10

Eau My Soul by 4160 Tuesdays I just want to say how special this fragrance is to me, in more ways than one. From the incredible scent right down to how it all came about, with all the notes chosen by the wonderful members of our Facebook group "Eau My Soul". And it could not have turned out more beautifully. It starts off with an eye opening almost effervescent cognac that brings on a "wow!", then it turns warm and cozy and despite the way the notes might sound, it's airy and there is an almost ethereal quality to it. It's full bodied yet breezy. It's an all occasion and all season fragrance with a casual feel. But it's also.....sexy! Yes, it's our "warm group hug" (as we have nicknamed it) but this is not just a friend zoned hug! Oh, no. ;) Yes, it's friendly, and yes, it's comforting, but it's also quietly seductive in a warm and friendly way. Despite the heavy sounding notes, Eau My Soul has a weightless feel, it is light on its toes like Fred Astaire, dancing about the air around you. But staying close, inviting others to come closer. Like something you would share with someone special, like during a hug. I don't think a "hug" screams "loud", a hug is more cozy. And Eau My Soul is just that, ever present yet unobtrusive. The sandalwood is obviously high quality, super smooth and gently purrs. I also get a noticeable amount of cognac, it's very present but still soft and subtle. Doesn't scream "boozy". The incense is soft and clean and inviting. The entire fragrance is about subtlety and warmth. There is a bit of a gourmand feel to it, like a warm background of vanilla pudding. I get some musk, labdanum and plenty of resins and all things golden and cozy. Eau My Soul not only comes in a gold bottle, it smells golden as well. Eau My Soul is not about slapping someone with a scent cloud or sillage or anything "beast mode", it's about inviting them in closer, something to share with a special friend. Or a more than friend. Like a hug. Eau My Soul is warm, comforting and easy going...just as any friendship should be. And it was made with the same ingredients: heart, soul, warmth, togetherness and love.

Eau My Soul is a golden treasure, a niche fragrance for the perfume obsessed. The notes listed do very little to describe what you will actually smell. To me, it smells of honeyed tobacco with a lot of sweet, boozey reduction drizzled atop. There's a semi-screechy, but still pleasant leather in there too... the labdanum, if it is what I'm smelling, also seems a tad screechy, but that pleasantly counter-acts the softness and, perhaps, overly warm resins that persist from top to bottom. The sandalwood is a dream and probably the standout note for me, effortlessly beautiful and meticulously blended. I wish I detected the tuberose more, but it does seem to fade in and out very softly. The rose is definitely there, perhaps closer to the base where everything quietens and you can detect more notes. Like many of Sarah's scents, the notes become much more noticeable all at once. Or, at least, they come out in stages as everything dies down. I know many scents do this, but it's a very distinct pattern for the majority of her scents. Lavender doesn't present itself to me every time, but when it does it reminds me a lot of many lavender/vanilla fragrances out there. Not a bad thing. All in all, I get this more now than I did last year when I got it. It's been a cool ride. This is one of the most comforting fragrances that has ever touched my skin. I remember when the polling process began before the scent was announced and I was voting left, right and centre because I had no idea what was going to happen. I remember that some of the notes I voted for had won by just a single, or few votes. It was so important and fun, leading to how this smelt. Every single person who voted contributed to fragrance history. It sounds grandiose, but it's true. It's magical, and feels all the more exclusive. I'm wearing what myself, and other friends had voted on and it feels so bespoke. This feeling is incomporable, second (probably) only to wearing your own private bespoke scent, or your own creation. Love the fragrance, still love the group and love the brand. A real stand out.

Having over 700 FBs of perfume means it can be difficult to choose which to wear. Perfume has a profound impact on my mood; if I need to be tough and project a "don't mess with me" image, I may choose Habanita, Galaad, or Serge Noire... other days I feel carefree, I'll choose SJP NYC Crush, YSL Black Opium or Penhaligon's Night Scented Stock. Businesslike and professional? Elixir des Merveilles, Karan Black Cashmere, or Cartier Baiser du Dragon. On the (increasingly!) rare occasion, I need something sexy or seductive - a femme fatale - I may go for Mugler Angel, Fan di Fendi EDP, or Lolita Lempicka. There are very few scents which support multiple facets of my character, but Eau My Soul undoubtedly does. This is likely due to the array of notes which "should" be at war with each other - but they just, simply, are not; they are expertly blended and most of the time, I find it difficult to pick them out. Sometimes I smell honey, sometimes the prevalent note is sandalwood, sometimes iris, sometimes it's boozy - and so it carries on. Eau My Soul is ballsy and courageous; it's modern, soft and pretty; it's vintage, cool, professional and detached; it's warm and voluptuous and oh! so sexy. Theoretically, it probably shouldn't work, but it does. The only other perfume I own which is so full of contradictions (and I do not mean that there are any similarities in smell) is Womanity. Eau My Soul rocketed straight toward the top of my list of favourite scents. If I'd known how much I was going to love it, I would have invested more and bought a 100ml bottle... hindsight though, eh? ETA: I tried this during the extreme heat and humidity of summer in SE England this year - this was the first time I experienced honey as being "urinous" on my skin! I was horrified and couldn't wash it off quickly enough. Now the weather has cooled considerably, I can wear Eau My Soul again (thank goodness).

This perfume is significant for a few reasons: First, it was the brain-child of Christi Long working closely with perfumer Sarah McCartney as a crowd-brain-trust perfume idea, which has rarely been done (and done so successfully.) I also was fortunate to meet Sarah recently and try the perfume "in house" so speak. I'm finally able to have some time to give it a serious wearing on its own. I really like to experience perfumes without the pyramid structure. Particularly in this case, I knew there were a lot of notes that went into this, and many opinions (I even voted as well!) so there had to be a kind of democracy of process which could not have been easy to translate into perfume. Yet the final product is sublime. You would not imagine that this is stew-pot of many flowers and woods, etc. But rather, Sarah has used the note-voting mechanism to enable inspiration to guide the making. What particularly strikes me about the smell of Eau my Soul is its velvety texture. It has an interplay between soft pale violet-color floral (a very gentle neroli and what seems to be white and blue flowers) and dark labdanum/benzoin/booze where neither predominate but both support each other. There is so much happening with this scent, but there are no rough edges, its gently smoky, leathery and floral, with just the barest hint of sweetness, and it also takes a slight nod to vintages. That hint of oakmoss-ish sour wood smell is addictive and so familiar. In the end, this is insanely comforting, sophisticated but in a really approachable way, evolving into a very personal scent. Sarah has enabled many components to co-exist in order that we can find ourselves in this perfume. I do believe there is something here for everyone, the wood lovers, the floral lovers, etc. In short, I'm damned impressed.