Who Knew?

It's a wonderful and I think pretty accessible fragrance. Yes, who knew geranium, tea, strawberries and rose would make such a harmonious blend. On the opening you do get quite a blast of the geranium note followed closely by the green tea and a touch of rose. The geranium does quickly ease off. It now has this warm yet dry grassy ambience bolstered by the grass and vetiver. You finally get the woody/resinous base peeking out. I can't say I get vanilla or amber gris but that's my chemistry for you. This fragrance will intrigue those within sniffing distance. It will surround you in a floral, slightly grassy airiness that is backed by warmth from the resins and wood notes. This is one for folk who don't like rose scents. It's for the nonconformist out there. I get good longevity and sillage.

I approached this fragrance with some trepidation as I really dont like the rose geranium note. I have grown them for many years but I still cant handle that so familiar nasal piercing smell! I swear I even smell pickled gherkins with the initial spritz! My fears were unjustified as once more Sarah worked her usual magic. The fragrance very quickly settles and there remains a wonderful dry, herbal, tea, rose creation that lasts for hours. What an imaginative, refreshing new take on the "rose" fragrance. This would be a perfect fragrance for everyday wear.

Absolutely love this, my favourite by 4140 Tuesdays. I love rose and here it is beautifully blended with tea. I don’t get any geranium, which is good for me as I don’t like it, I just get soft rose and slightly smoky tea.

Green tea & geranium... This is my first perfume from the brand 4160 Tuesdays , and from what I've read I quite admire the founder and creator and the attitude of this independent brand, so I had quite a few expectations beforehand. Needless to say that yes I do like this one. The story with Who Knew? is that the person this was created for did not like rose perfumes, so the challenge was to present something which would appeal to her... and it worked! Hence the naming of the perfume Who Knew? The scent opens up with a bitter green blast of bergamot, green tea & cut grass. Immediately it's very masculine and a little sharp and harsh. Going by the opening alone, it may be a little off-putting to some, but slowly a really nice drydown starts to appear. I get the earthy smoky vetiver, and a combination between rose and geranium. This itself is a tried and tested combination in perfumery, as the geranium has spicy, lemony and rose like aspects, so the rose here is given "sharpness" or "crispness" by the multifaceted geranium (or pelargonium). Another perfume with such a pairing comes to mind, Rossy de Palma/Eau de Protection by the infamous house of Etat Libre d'Orange . Here there is no earthy patchouli with the geranium & rose, but rather the dry vetiver which keeps it from becoming too sweet or typically "rose-like" in any way. However it's not completely devoid of sweetness, as I do detect a hint of strawberry which works well with the rose to bring out the sweeter aspects. I find this one straight-down-the-middle unisex. For some it will be too masculine, but I disagree. We are told that traditionally vetiver was once used prominently in female-marketed only perfumes, usually abundant in the "chypre" category. With Who Knew? we again return to this classic green floral mix evoking older creations when "green" perfumes were a trend in female-marketed perfumes (the examples out there are almost endless). I don't think this one will be for everybody, I think the brief for this one was "lapsang souchong tea with rose petals", I would instead venture to say that this is a very bitter, almost over-steeped green tea at play here, with the rose around the edges. Never the less a nice creation and one which I would wear, especially as the drydown is very well done and pleasantly surprising compared to the opening. One to try first, and for people who don't like their rose perfumes too singular.

4160 Tuesdays is a new house to me, so i've only tried two of their scents....so far. This is perfume entertainment at its best. I generally despise ingenue rose, so am happy to report Who Knew is the unrosiest rose I've ever encountered. This opens with the feeling you've just gone back to childhood. The strawberry fields are freshly ready for harvest, so you can't resist sneaking in to craft a few mud pies and snack on a few forbidden strawberries. The breeze is gently wafting around your head on this warm early summer day, and you can just catch a tiny whiff of the wild roses blooming at the edge of the field. You sneak a nap under a nearby tree and awake just as dusk arrives, and the woody grasses and trees around you emit their final goodbyes to the setting sun. Lovely! Ironically, I tried this in my upper arm, next to the late stages of vintage Arpege, and they are exceedingly complementary...like my fun loving child meets the lady I'll become. Both deserve a place on my perfume shelf. Who Knew is decidedly full bottle worthy.