What I Did On My Holidays

This one does EXACTLY what it says on the tin - I grew up by the seaside in the UK and I miss it so much not being able to travel at the moment, but this scent really nails it - salt, mint choc chip ice cream, candyfloss and sun cream. I think it's so particularly the British seaside that it might miss the mark if you're looking for a more typical 'beachy' scent (they're one of my obsessions but others tend to smell much more of a fantasy, tropical beach than the one I know and love!) but if you've ever been to a bank holiday at Scarborough, Southend, Barry Island this will take you there. At first I was more into it as, I guess, a work of art than as a perfume as it's so far from a traditional scent structure it doesn't quite smell as if it's meant for humans, but I've come to really love wearing it. I got used to the smell of it on myself by layering it with other more 'normal' scents which it plays really nicely with - 4160 sent a sample of Mrs Gloss' Lemon Sherbet with this which worn together just takes you into pure sweetshop gourmand territory, while over a sample of Dior Joy, which is basically the safest, insipid floral musk imaginable, the extremely safe and really out-there elements balance out into something really charming and wearable. KKW Body II also works well with it, pulling it into the traditional 'beachy' stable. But after all that mixing the strange, milky minty ozonic character has really grown on me and I've started to love it on my skin in its own right! I haven't tried wearing them together because I think they're both too powerful in their own right, but in my collection it stands out alongside Mugler Aura as scents that really capture hot summer air - 'solar notes' in perfume tends to mean sweet white flowers or just straight coconut/suncream, the latter of which is obviously here but there's more to it than that - something about it captures that contrast between the heaviness of heat radiating from the ground on a summer's day with the crisp coldness of the sea, while Aura is more evocative of the thick humidity of a hot day just before a thunderstorm. Both are also very strange slightly alien beasts to wear on one's skin but very special for it!

This one intrigues me to no end. I'm purchasing a full bottle next week, to have it shipped to Australia... along with three other bottles, and the nine millilitre bottles. As I haven't tried many of Sarah's scents before, I decided to go for the ones that I could relate to most (or at least allow to paint the easily recognisable pictures). Having only tried a small sample of Sexiest Scent, I got only a brief insight to the Sarah McCartney style and the 4160T outlook. The idea that scents can trigger memories or create new ones is beyond fascinating and is really making me want to use these fragrances mindfully, and not just willy nilly. I will be purchasing the Eau My Soul scent as well, which will be a great scent for reminding me of the lovelies to be found in the fragrance community. This scent I can imagine to be exactly what a waterfront carnival would be like. Only seeing them in television shows, I can only imagine sadly. But just looking at the notes, I can hear the cheery music and the joyous screams of people on a scary ride. Truly exhilerating. I'm not usually one for sweet, sweet and more sweet scents but this just sounds innocent and playful, like a carnival would be. The mint confuses me a little, but I shouldn't judge before I try it. There's got to be a purpose for that mint, just like every other note. It seems that as a young, non- Brit I'll never truly understand this but by golly I'm going to try.

I got a sample of this in a 4160 Tuesdays London discovery set. Reading the other comments I think you need to be a Brit, and one who has experienced seaside summer holidays as a child to understand this fragrance. Candy canes at Christmas wasn’t/isn’t really a thing in the UK and ‘holidays’ means summer (6 weeks off school) to us rather than Christmas. This takes me back to my childhood but also the days of taking my kids to the seaside when they were little. They’re adults now and they had the same happy nostalgic experience as me smelling this scent. First spray is like being slapped around the face with a big fat stick of Brighton rock. It’s a bit shocking tbh and I swear the rock has the words Fu<€ ¥0u running through it. I don’t dislike it but it was a shock (still is!). But, that calms down within about 30 minutes and then I get fresh sea air, salty seaweed, candy floss, vanilla ice cream, hot toffee, and toasted nuts. Just like walking along Brighton Pier on a hot sunny day. My skin loves it and it lasts all day on me with my nose never tiring of it. Needless to say I bought a bottle.

I read the notes on the Olfacif card before I put this on and I thought that the mint note does not belong in a beach fragrance and would spoil everything. How was I wrong.The mint note is what distinguishes this from other seaside perfumes and makes it special. I've never been to the english seaside but I spent the summers of my youth on the beautiful Adriatic coast (ex-Yugoslavia). This fragrance took me back to those evenings in the camps crowded bathrooms: everybody coming in the same time, around sunset, waiting in line to take a shower, suntan lotion going down, toothbrushing and shaving (the mint note), and the salty marine air coming in from the open door and from the windows high up, under the ceiling. Anticipation is in the atmosphere 'cause we are going out and we'll have fun. Ah to be young again. Congratulations to the perfumer and to the house for being able to recreate memories like this. After several hours of wearing the dry-down is just salty air and creaminess almost same as the ones in the FM Lys Mediteranee. Mhhm, mhhm, beautiful.

Sarah McCartney strikes again with an eclectic and super fun fragrance. Yes, the dry-down does smell like ice cream. I get the chocolate chips ice cream note. On the opening you get something fresh and marine. Then it becomes more sweet and mellow but you still sense some freshness in there. The mint ? The sea notes ? lavender ?. Ok it is very bizarre but it works. You've been warned. I never smelled anything quite like this before. I cannot get enough of this one. A spray puts a smile in my face and I'm happy with that. I don't consider this one as a "vacation" only fragrance since the dry-down is gourmand and really pleasant. It might be great in Winter actually. I not from the UK so I cannot comment on the British seaside association. Longevity is great as most 4160 Tuesdays fragrances. They last for hours on my skin and most modern perfumes don't. To me it is full bottle worthy and this is actually one of my favourite scent at the moment. I'd smell like that all the time if I could.