It seems crazy to buy a perfume you’ve never smelled.
But last week, ‘Goodbye Piccadilly’ waved hello to me.
Violet, iris, lavender, leather, vanilla and patchouli.
Three reasons I jumped in:
1. The story behind this scent is that it was made for the London Transport Museum; made exclusively with materials available in 1914, it’s ‘a scent for suffragettes’. Got to support the sisterhood.
2. This is a leather scent. Leather sends me a bit crazy.
3. It was half price (4160 Tuesday’s Scent of the Week). Yes, we’re all suckers for a bargain, but seriously, 30ml for £20? You can barely get Katie Perry’s latest unicorn juice for that. And not just EDT – this is perfume strength.
So blindly, I pressed the BUY button.
As per 4160 Tuesdays usual charming arrivals, it turned up a couple of days later, nestled with the customary layers of scented tissue paper, hand-written letter and cheeky extra sample (Tokyo Spring Blossom – thank you!)
So, first impressions….
There’s no initial ‘burst’ of fragrance with this one, as if it skips the opening and goes straight to the heart notes. It’s incredibly soft, becoming pervasive. There’s a strong leather, a short-lived gleam of citrus, and a fresh lavender – not a dried, grey National Trust gift-shop kind of lavender; a garden lavender with bees buzzing round it.
As the lavender deepens and the scent settles, I realise quite how softly blended it is.
There’s a rubbery note in here – an almost petrolly smell – that reminds me of dolls. I’ve recently discovered ‘doll’s head’ is a proper perfume note. A mix of vanillin and heliotropin – an aldehyde that can appear to have a cherry or almond lilt.
Then a little while later, a surprising sweetness creeps in. It’s a defined candyfloss note and it gives the scent a lift that continues as it dries down. And the dry down lasts FOREVER. Super staying-power.
There’s an excellent and evocative vlog review by Smurfygurly where she describes Goodbye Piccadilly as a ‘hot wet pavement with a lavender bush nearby’. But for me, this is most indefinitely an indoors smell. A drawing room with dust catching the light coming in from a crack in the heavy curtains, or maybe even a library – there’s a paperiness in this scent too.
This feels very vintage – but it’s definitely not an old lady perfume. This feels wise and serious. It’s warm and dusty. Like snuggling into cats’ fur or being wrapped up in an old coat… Moquette bus seats.
That’s it! This is a fabric smell – like scent trapped in the pile of velvet. And the colour’s definitely a dusky blue.
This is a really unusual scent, and a great example of Sarah McCartney’s signature transportation through time and space.
This is not a perfume, it’s a costume.
I’m glad I tried it on.
Goodbye Piccadilly is available from 4160 Tuesdays. Samples from £4 up to 100ml for £90, with lots of options in between.
Nose Dives 