Midnight in the Palace Garden

The opening is fantastic - a juicy and non-sweet citrus with white florals. As the woods come through with the coffee, it feels almost incensy, and it gives this fantastic atmosphere of space, stillness and a night sky (not unlike the feeling I get from Tauer's L'air du désert marocain but with different notes). The drydown is quieter, sadly, but still an enjoyable softened wood base. This is not what I was expecting this to smell like, and it is not as floral or as sweet as the note pyramid suggests. The strongest players for me are the citrus, jasmine, coffee and wood (and the imagined incense I smell). I love this. It is vivid yet dreamy, mysterious but assertive and suits any occasion. I have been exploring the house quite a bit and this is one of my favourites and different from the vintagey florals and fruits of many of their other compositions. One recurring element in 4160 Tuesdays is a terrific citrus, however, so be sure to explore if you like a citrus top note.

This is all potent sweet flowers of the night and spicey woods. The sandalwood stands out on me. It has the same sort of expensive quality of an Amouage fragrance. I have a decant of Amouage Fate that I love and this is up alongside it in power and quality. Yes, I get the coffee, the vanilla, the orange, jasmine, neroli and the frangipani. Glancing at this list of notes makes you wonder how could it combine so well to make this gloriously decadent fragrance, On me the middle notes are all about the flowers and on the dry down the woods come to the fore. This will definitely appeal to the Middle Eastern market. Its all about a heavenly Persian garden filled with the mesmerizing fragrance of night blooming blossom. Water dancing from a small fountain and water rippling along rills surround me. It has serious sillage (please take into consideration that I am testing in a warm room). Sarahs successfully weaved her olfactory magic once again. The longevity is long.

Another beautifully evocative perfume name from 4160T, and happily, another first class fragrance to match. The blood orange note listed in the pyramid smells more like a night walk through a grove of lemon trees to me. Mesmerising from the first spray. This stuff is pungent for the first few minutes on my skin, and a little goes a long way, but it gets softer and smoother quite quickly. A delicious unfolding of jasmine and frangipani follows the citrus opening and then an almost chocolatey vanilla and coffee combination come into play. The dry down is heavenly - honey and yellow flowers, sitting close to the skin. Imagine Cleopatra waiting for Mark Anthony on the terrace of their Roman villa love nest, the scent of night blooming flowers heavy in the warm air, a silver tray of exotic, spiced sweets served to her while she awaits her lover. A very special offering from this fabulous British perfume house.

I'm in love....MITPG is something very evocative and special. Throughout the life of this fragrance the blood orange is prominent. This doesn't smell like midnight, it smells like 5 in the morning when you have stumbled across a marquee made from red silk saris. On a hand carved wooden table there are orange peelings just beginning to dry and harden around the edges, spilled dark coffee and cardamom perfumed sweets. On a beautiful round bed with raw silk linen, mahogany red rose petals are scattered around. You lay on the crumpled sheets, which are still warm from bodies scented with sandalwood oil. You breathe in, and you wish you had been there at midnight, while you look at the brightening sky above.

The first time I wore this I oversprayed it to the point of feeling WHAT DEMON SCENT IS THIS GET IT OFF GETT IT OFF, put it back in my perfume cupboard and didn't smell it again for well over a year. When I finally did (and used a very small amount, a little goes a long way) it was the loveliest scent, both rough and smooth, sweet and spicy. It quickly soared up to become one of my favourite perfumes, despite my initial reaction definitely brought on by user error.