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Re: Article: Interview with Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays

Hi Josh,
Just dropped in to answer your questions below. Sorry it's taken me a whole but I've just kicked off a new project, of which more later...
1. Absolutely. At Lush I had to learn to recognise and describe scents and I also learned about the natural ingredients' aromatherapy benefits. Lush are very open and honest about what they use. They never pretended to be 100% natural and are open about using synthetic materials to help the naturals work better. But they are also mad passionate about using natural materials whenever they can. For most Lush products it's the therapeutic benefits which are important, and the scent comes second (although now Pia's on the case, I think they've started to smell a lot more sophisticated). I only make scents, not any other products, so I concentrate on the smell, but the effect also interests me a great deal.
If you look at a GCMS analysis of a synthetic rose compared with a natural rose, you'll see that the natural is a great deal more complex; there are molecules in there that don't have a scent, but who knows what else they do to the body and mind? I'm interested in that, and my 14 years at Lush definitely helped provoke my curiousity.
2. I think having an extensive vocabulary help with creating everything. I still run writing workshops, partly because I love it, and partly because I've a mountainous mortgage to pay off and 4160Tuesdays is very small. Learning to define your thoughts in a precise way, and express them fluently give you a way to get where you are going faster. It doesn't make you more creative or more intelligent, but it gives you more options. I think. But I also think that knowing how to play music has the same effect. The more ways you have to express yourself, the clearer your thinking will be. Clarity gives you a smoother ride to where you're heading.

(And very soon, I'll be taking away the warnings as I'll have my safety certificates in place.)
Long live oakmoss, the king of chypre.

Originally Posted by joshuaang

Hi Sarah,

Just read this interview and had some questions for you! (if you're checking back on this space!)
1. How do you think your time at Lush has influenced you as a perfumer?
2. Does writing about perfume and having an extensive vocabulary about perfume help you when creating perfumes?

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Originally Posted by Nosebud

Oh wow I feel so special! I live pretty close to San Francisco if you are ever doing something in the area let me know. In the meantime I will just have to order some samples to feel closer to you (I am not a stalker I promise- maybe just a little infatuated.)

I would LOVE to come back to San Francisco. I was there for my birthday once, met the delightful Lush forumites, and found myself engaged to my wonderful husband, Nick. (He just gave me a ring and giggled, so as it was my birthday I really wasn't sure if he was asking me to marry him or not...)

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One more little thing while I'm here. I've got a crowd funding project going for my next perfumery adventures. Do take a look if you get a moment: www.sponsume.com/project/10-scents-worth

Oh wow I feel so special! I live pretty close to San Francisco if you are ever doing something in the area let me know. In the meantime I will just have to order some samples to feel closer to you (I am not a stalker I promise- maybe just a little infatuated.)

Hi Sarah,

Just read this interview and had some questions for you! (if you're checking back on this space!)
1. How do you think your time at Lush has influenced you as a perfumer?
2. Does writing about perfume and having an extensive vocabulary about perfume help you when creating perfumes?

I've read your blog (the one about attending Karen Gilbert's masterclass) and think it's absolutely wonderful that you're so humble and willing to keep learning! And looking at your website I'm thinking of getting some samples to try out! Despite your warnings about not trying out on skin, I'd say I'm passionate and foolhardy enough to risk a skin rash to experience beauty. It's also great that you mentioned your love for chypres - they are most certainly my thing as well!

Hello,
Thought I'd just drop in to say hello.
Nosebud, where are you? Maybe I can visit.
Hi Nukapai, you lovely talented creature. Cheers Francop.
My dear MichailG. Don't get your knickers in a twist.
Do I make it sound easy? It's not. A lot of my attempts go into the jar named 'general air freshener' when they don't work out the way I wanted. And yes I am very fortunate after a long time working at other things, to find myself in this position. It's not for me to say whether or not I'm talented, but I do love it when people enjoy wearing my scents.
I read the interview again very carefully and I mention beauty just the once, not often. And I used it specifically to describe scents that I find to be more than just 'nice', like many of the fashion scents around today. (Not the entire western concept of beauty.) For me a beautiful perfume is one that has a depth of feeling beyond just smelling nice. I stress, for me. I don't expect people to like exactly what I like. As for perfume snobbery, perhaps you've read a little more into my views that I intended.
Of course we all have different tastes in scent. I love a dash of gamma undecalactone or alpha ionone, I love rose, I'm not so fussed about jasmine; most of the scents I adore are chypres. But I only found that out thirty years after I first bought one. I've always bought them because they make me want to hug them, or for reference.
I can't stand Diorissimo, and that's an olfactory treasure. I'm chuffed to bits with Une Rose Vermeille and that's ultra modern. We lose some treasures, we gain some more. Some lose their character when they are reformulated to keep up with the regulations. For me, the regulations have been a pain in the backside, but watch this space...

A very nice article indeed. I am not convinced that perfumery is as easy as Sarah McCartney makes it sound. Or if it is for her she must be very talented and/or fortunate. One observation: beauty of which McCartney often talks is very much socially constructed. Snobbism apart olfactory perfumes may be more desirable to perfume lovers because they are more true to some notes that are difficult to compose nowadays due to rarity of raw material or regulations. Many may find some of these olfactory treasures "ugly" and unwearable.

I live in Manchester and will not make it either but am sure it will be a memorable one...keep us posted with photos and a short chronicle please...thank you :-)

As a former colleague and a fellow fragrance lover, I am delighted to see Sarah's current success with her venture and wish her all the best! I may even be able to attend the event in January (but it's impossible to plan my diary that far ahead as Sarah would very well know ;) ).

I wish I could be in London to meet her! She sounds awesome.

Re: Article: Interview with Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays

What a Brilliant Article ! Go for it Girl! Thanks very much :-)

Article: Interview with Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays

You can view the page at http://www.basenotes.net/content/136...4160-Tuesdays?