Tuesdays 4160 - perfume

[LavenderLewis]

Following a recommendation on MN I ordered a sample box of seven Tuesdays 4160 perfumes. To be honest I have never before really disliked a perfume to the extent of wanting to wash away the smell but I felt like this with all seven samples. Really hoped to find a nice fresh new scent. Am I alone in not liking them? - Guess I must be because they seem popular.

It’s a really interesting, creative perfume house and I am a big fan of Sarah.

I can see why people find 4160T’s fragrances a bit samey, though - there is definitely a base in a similar way to Guerlain’s ‘Guerlainade’ in a lot of them.

I really like the easier to love, more typically femme fragrances from this house. Sexiest Scent, Tart’s Knicker Drawer, Tokyo Spring Blossom, Doe in the Snow. I think they do very good, quirky fruity florals.

I also like some of the perfumes with gourmand elements - Sunshine & Pancakes, What I Did…, Centrepiece, Midnight in the Palace Garden.

It’s not my favourite or most worn perfume house, but overall I’m a fan.

All the ones I tried gave me a headache. I really wanted to like them, based on the names alone!

I want to like them more than actually do, unfortunately.

I'm another who has tried many samples and haven't loved any of them. The Lion Cupboard is my favourite and though I've always intended buying a full size, I've never got round to it. I suspect that tells me something.

The only full size I have bought (blind!) was The Dark Heart of Old Havana. I liked it at the time but it now seems too sweet and a bit hard going. 😬

I wanted to love Court of Ravens and it is very similar to Portrait of a Lady - which I have and really like. But there's a screechy note in there which I don't like at all. Is it the peppermint? I don't know, but that won't be a purchase for me.

I'd like to know as I have both. I'd never made a connection between them but have just checked. I think it's a sweeter smell of some sort. I can't pinpoint what it is. It's almost overpowering overall.

Meet me on the Corner disappears after ten seconds on my skin, can't smell that at all.

The same for me. It's a lovely subtle smell, but it needs to be reapplied often.

I also like Clouds and Clouds illusion. Though I use those sparingly, and rarely, as I think they were limited editions? Tart's Knicker Drawer is lovely, too.

I used to be a member of the Facebook group mentioned above but felt increasingly uncomfortable at Sarah's personal rants (I'm going back some years now- and I finally left the group after there was a notable rant over how she was closing the company because she couldn't pay the rent or something. I do get that as the name behind the company - and this was way back when literally there were, I think, 2 people working there) that she perhaps felt/feels able to do that with her customers, but it left me uncomfortable)
Interesting too what pp says about selling their "mistakes" as it were. Again, all well and good, though it does explain how such a small outfit manages to produce so many perfumes in such a short space of time.
I will defend Ealing Green to my deathbed though 🤣 though I can see the Radox similarity now!

Ah yes, the posts about how they are very poor and can't afford anything and had a leaking roof so asking for handouts

She then appeared in a magazine article entitled 'women in business earning 100k a year' so had to do some real back-pedalling and say that no, no, she had no idea it was about that and no she doesn't earn that at all

Wasn't some money for the roof raised via a crowdfunded perfume? @ChocChipOwl

You know, I can't remember the details to be honest so you may be right. Hadn't heard of the article.

I do like that they seem (Sarah and her husband) seem really passionate about what they do. The customer service is always above and beyond and they're quite indulgent when it comes to requests for scents from us customers.

@ferretface

It smells like a Turkish delight had a war with a Christmas candle and then someone came in and dumped a stinky old leather saddle in the middle of it all. (I do like leather fragrances too!)

Be still my beating heart!!

"Ah yes, the posts about how they are very poor and can't afford anything and had a leaking roof so asking for handouts
She then appeared in a magazine article entitled 'women in business earning 100k a year' so had to do some real back-pedalling and say that no, no, she had no idea it was about that and no she doesn't earn that at all"

It wasn't handouts. Crowdfunding means that those who donated got perfume. Also, she employs at least six people so the 100k might not go that far and could be turnover.

Sorry, but I like her and I don't like seeing her slagged off.

Really interesting to read the various views on 4160 Tuesdays. A part of me agrees with the view that there are too many, somewhat oddly named, randomly put together perfumes in the hope some will sell well. Very different to some independent houses, like Papillon say, who take a long time over each fragrance and only have small number of releases in total.

That said, I do like, own and wear some 4160Tuesdays scents. I really like Shazam, but love Rose Ribes which is a lovely, light, modern chypre. I also agree Court of Ravens is similar to POAL, but I don’t find it screechy and do enjoy wearing it too.

I do think some perfume houses just work better for some than for others. For example, I know they are popular, but I have yet to find a Maison Margiela perfume I want to buy.

@MissBattleaxe I know you're a personal friend of hers, and I do get you want to support her, but people do have the right to comment if they don't like the perfume and also if they have found some of Sarah's past actions and outbursts questionable.

She absolutely definitely 100% went off on one on her page years ago about "right, this is it, this is the last you'll hear from me, we're shutting down" Everyone was wtf? Especially when then everything just carried on as though nothing had been said. I honestly don't remember how long ago it was- but I think it was before you became a full time blogger (I've followed you for years and we've often talked perfume here and elsewhere)

Unfortunately (for Sarah) if you put yourself out there as the name behind your company, then you will be called out if there are inconsistencies in what you say and do and you need to accept not all reviews are going to be glowingly positive. The punters do have that right.

Who is slagging her off?

She DID appear in a magazine article about women earning 100k and then had to say she didn't realise the slant the article would take

And they crowdfund everything. Literally everything. What other established business, small or otherwise, do that?

It's sometimes less a business and more some sort of slightly odd enterprise

I don't mind what people say about her perfume and I don't think she does either. But some of this is not very nice. She has a lot of integrity and is very kind

I'm with @MissBattleaxe here. I don't know Sarah personally, only via the FB group relatively recently, but I don't think it's right to criticise her personally on here. The fragrances, fair enough, we all have different tastes and it's fair game to say exactly what we think about them, but personal remarks about someone aren't exactly in the spirit of MN.

I had the same experience recommended on here and just not worth it - I got one big and lots of little samples all went in the bin in the end, they turn very quick as well the big one was rotten 12 months on

Where are you storing them ? I store my perfumes in a cool, dark space, and have some 4160s years old so far (along with vintage scents from the 80s).

I think crowdfunding is quite usual for small, niche businesses @ChocChipOwl It makes some sense, in my opinion, with something like fragrance especially.

Where are you storing them?

Never really considered storing perfume, always just had it out on the dresser, never have a big collection, got about 10-12 currently in circulation.

That's probably why then.

Mine are kept in a large lidded basket in a wardrobe, out of sunlight and away from heat.

I keep mine on a floating type shelf, no direct sunlight and no heat. Wearing CK one summer from 2008 and it smells exactly the same!
I've never actually had a perfume go bad but my house is usually cool and the shelf is at right angles to the window and about 3ft away from it

I have underlying mobility issues and a heavy box would just be a PITA for me

Keeping them in the original box helps a lot rather than having the bottle out, I do that with most of mine

I went back onto the 2 FB pages yesterday to have a re-read and agree with the above even more. So much crowdfunding. And we know what crowdfunding is. We aren't daft. Crowdfunding = something for the funder + funds for the fundee. And if both parties are happy, that's fine. You can choose to participate or not. But it's disingenuous to infer it's something it isn't and anything other than moneymaking.

I'm also uncomfortable with the shutting down of discussion about what people think about a BRAND on the basis of the owner of the brand being nice. And I agree she is. I've had many email conversations with her over the years when I was still buying the products to try. And she's lovely. Absolutely.

Nobody on here has "slagged" her off. They've said they don't like the perfume. That they don't like the whole crowdfunding emphasis (one thing is Mrs Gloss type stuff where the funder approaches the fundee- another is "anybody fancy crowdfunding this for us"

It might make some people feel part of it all- which again, is fine. If it makes others feel uncomfortable with the company's ethos, that's fine too.

@EineReiseDurchDieZeit I've never had 4160 samples turn- in fact, on the back of this thread I got mine out again yesterday for a re-sniff. I keep samples in an old biscuit tin and my summer/winter full bottles in a wicker hamper. I do have the full bottles out when it's their turn, but in their boxes. The only ones in recent years I've had "go" have been some very small ones from Nose. Think they were 1.5ml and the packaging of their samples has never been very robust.

I took part in crowd funding for waft from the loft- on paper it should have been right up my olfactory street so to speak. When the bottle finally arrived o was very underwhelmed.
I have bought many bottles from 4160 over the years and the I find that they just all smell the same.
for me personally there are too many perfumes and too many discontinued or altered ‘lines’.
I did like Shazam- or should I say others liked Shazam on me- I gave it away to my mum though.
I am currently trying to get through an old bottles of maxed out. Sometimes I use them as car air freshener.😳

They crowdfund because it guarantees the money in a way that making a product and selling it via the usual means doesn't.

And like @PAFMO says, there's nothing wrong with that per se.

But it's clear these perfumes are just knocked out one after the other and are, almost without exception, just sold to the specific fan group really