I grew up in South Florida where people would drive two blocks instead of walking to the store. I have never lived in Southern California but I’ve been told it is the same. It is a silly thing, of course, to live somewhere for the weather only to avoid it by finding ways to stay out of it. On a visit to Scent Bar, in Los Angeles, independent perfumer Sarah McCartney seemed to also pick up on this. Which then turned into a perfume, 4160 Tuesdays Freeway.
Throughout 2018 in celebration of their 15th anniversary Scent Bar/Luckyscent has been commissioning a number of perfume brands to create something new. Ms. McCartney on her visit was interested in trying to capture the intersection of orange blossom and hot asphalt for Freeway. Which is a good description for the first two-thirds of Freeway. The final third turns out to be the ice cream shop nearby.
Sarah McCartney
Freeway opens with a mandarin petitgrain out front. This is not the typical lemon-tinted petitgrain which most are familiar with. Manadarin petitgrain has a completely different scent profile it comes off as a focused style of fruitiness with a bit of turpentine in the background. As Ms. McCartney allows the orange blossom to blend with the mandarin petitgrain she creates a kind of LA orange blossom accord of brilliant sunlight, orange blossom and the smell of car exhaust. The heart is composed of a sun-warmed leather car interior. Ms. McCartney uses a nice refined leather accord which she scorches with some cigarette smoke. As the top and heart accord combine the exhaust and cigarette smoke provide the hot asphalt accord. There is a pungency over the middle part of the development that is going to be off-putting to some. I am a sucker for these kinds of urban accords when done well, which it is here. What really captured my attention on the days I wore Freeway is the final accord as we have driven to an ice cream shop which only exists in LA where they make boozy fruit sorbets. Ms. McCartney adds in vanilla, rum, and more orange blossom to form a crazy so-good I hope it exists rum orange sorbet accord. This goes from urban sprawl to hipster foodie in an LA minute.
Freeway has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.
A word of caution especially if the top and base accords are whetting your appetite for Freeway. The middle accord is a classic indie perfume unique accord. It was mentioned by two different people on the days I wore Freeway that I smelled like a used ashtray during the time the heart accord is on display. When it was mentioned, I sort of get that but it still felt like hot pavement to me. This is one to definitely test to see what you experience. For me it was a perfect pivot from intensely floral top to the decadent sorbet base just a couple blocks away.
Disclosure: This review is based on a sample I purchased.
–Mark Behnke
What a wonderful and vivid review! I am a huge fan of 4160 Tuesdays and I'm always happy to meet another! xx
This is an excellent review of Freeway! I, like Samantha Scriven, am a huge (I guess that's an understatement) of Sarah and her work… I have a bottle of Freeway and it is just amazing! That petrol note in the mandarin petitgrain is what really won me over!
This sounds fantastic. I get ashtray momentarily with untitled by Madison Martin Margiela and I dont mind it. Not sure others detect it. That could be problematic. BTW I’m going to visit the fabulous Sarah next week in London!