The Artisan
The Story of Sarah McCartney
Sarah McCartney spent 14 years as head writer at Lush, writing evocative copy about scent for the Lush Times while educating herself on essential oils and herbalism. She started blending her own combinations in her spare time. When she took a break to write a novel about a problem-solving perfumer, she found herself compelled to create the fragrances she'd described. Finding them proved impossible and prohibitively expensive. So she made them herself. In 2011, she founded 4160 Tuesdays as an independent artisan perfumery. She'd read over 200 books on herbs, cosmetics, essential oils and chemistry, and refused the expert advice to give up and find a real perfumer. Her work has earned Fragrance Foundation shortlistings, multiple CaFleureBon accolades including Best Indie House and Hardest Working Perfumer twice, and a 2025 Art and Olfaction Awards Honourable Mention for No Mow May.
Philosophy
McCartney thinks of fragrance as sound. She hears perfume as musical notes, can see it too, but has no urge to translate it visually for anyone else. She champions the classics unreservedly: Chanel, Dior, Thierry Mugler, the entire canon. She believes modern fragrances too often arrive samey and insipid, and that the classics survived because they work. Her approach rejects the notion that perfume must be complicated or intimidating. She runs workshops, online courses and community spaces where thousands of people discover that scent can be fun and accessible. Her own fragrances often evoke specific times, places and feelings, aiming to make people feel happy and uplifted.
Creative Approach
Patchouli fascinates McCartney. Put it in a blend and it often smells like chocolate, a phenomenon she attributes to the nose communicating differently with the brain than other senses. She gravitates toward bold, evocative materials over trend-driven insipidness. Her fragrances are whimsical, narrative-driven and completely unbeholden to classical perfumery conventions. She works across scales: from intimate personal blends to commissions for Joanne Harris, Google, Samsung, Courtauld Gallery and Oxford Botanic Garden. Her most celebrated work spans emotional landscapes: Eau My Soul, Over The Chocolate Shop, The Sexiest Scent on the Planet. Ever. IMHO, and the Zoologist Perfumes collaboration Macaque.
At a Glance
2011
15+ years of craft
Signature Style
“Patchouli fascinates McCartney. Put it in a blend and it often smells like chocolate, a phenomenon she attributes to the nose communicating differently with the brain than other senses.”
Notable Creations
Eau My Soul
Over The Chocolate Shop
The Sexiest Scent on the Planet. Ever. IMHO
Midnight in the Palace Garden
Mother Nature's Naughty Daughters