Jo's Scent Notes: 4160 Tuesdays Vianne's Confession
On Saturday, I spent a joyous day at the Barnes Fragrance Fair, where 30 or so brands gathered together in a former church hall, on simple, white tablecloth-ed trestle tables manned by founders and/or perfumers from niche brands, with 1900 visitors sniffing and shopping to their heart’s content. ‘Euphoric,’ was the phrase I heard most often about the Fair’s vibe.
I smelled some amazing new fragrances – incoming will be a review of NYITA’s debut collection of eau de parfums – but the one I’ve been spritzing compulsively is Vianne’s Confession, by perfumer Sarah McCartney. My friend Alice du Parcq refers to a particular style of perfumes that she loves as ‘sexy church’, and that’s what Vianne’s Confession really is. Imagine standing in the cool of a cool church that happens to be right next to a chocolatier’s shop, which is wafting the scent of its wares into the nave. To be precise, of a bar of seasalt dark chocolate.
Technically this is a preview, because this fragrance only launches on Thursday (22nd May), the same date as Joanne Harris’s new book – Vianne, a prequel to Chocolat – and indeed, the fragrance is a collaboration with Joanne, a true scent aficionado, and regular at judging sessions which we take part in for the Fragrance Foundation Awards.
Joanne spent a day with Sarah in her studio, writing afterwards on her website: ‘You all know how I feel about scent. Well, a couple of weeks ago I went to see perfumer Sarah McCartney of 4160 Tuesdays to help create a bespoke scent to illustrate the new book. I had a wonderful time in Sarah’s lab, trying different scents and raw materials, talking about the background to the book; the location (Marseille in late summer and autumn) and the pictures I wanted the scent to paint. The result is called Vianne’s Confession: part chocolaterie, part confessional, with all the darkness and light of the Old Quarter of Marseille, and the basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, sheltering the city.’
Accordingly, this swirls with incense, cacao, salt, rose and geranium, along with a sort of cleaned-up patchouli note by the name of Clearwood. We’re not talking sugary chocolate, but rather a really high cocoa solids version. According to Sarah, other notes featured (which I can’t say I specifically make out, but all contribute to the ‘sexy church’ miasma) are tomato leaf, oakmoss, cypriol, musks and a fascinating ingredient called attar mitti, which is actually distilled from clay, in India, for an earthy scent.
There’s absolutely loads of smoky labdanum in there, evoking clouds of incense – so much so that the fragrance this truly reminds me of is the signature scent that used to be sold by Norma Kamali (launched 1985), which in the 80s I’d bring back from New York, because I loved it so much, and which was sadly discontinued. The incense thread dominates, at the start, before it softens and smooths on skin, when it becomes almost lickably salty. (Although I wouldn’t advise it.) Staying power is amazing; I can still smell it clearly the morning after the spritz before.
Sarah McCartney, of whom I’m a long-term fan, is pretty unique in that she is essentially self-taught, rather than having gone to perfumer school – but she brings beauty and a real sense of playfulness to her creations. She also shares that knowledge readily with others, offering several different perfume creation workshops, for those wanting to follow in her career footsteps, or just have fun, making their own scents, while deep-diving into the world of ingredients. Do check out the courses on Sarah’s website, below.
You’ll also be able to smell Vianne’s Confession on Joanna’s book tour, meanwhile – dates here. (Busy month coming up!) And personally, I can’t wait to read the book – who didn’t love Chocolat? (and indeed, Joanne’s other novels) – because if it’s even half as good as this fragrance, I’ll be bewitched from the first page.
£75 for 30ml eau de parfum – buy here
For info about courses, click here
