Black Tulip Shay & Blue 2018

Black Tulip. A typical fantasy title. We know that tulips do not have a scent. So that’s not worth much. But the Shay & Blue fragrances piqued my interest, and so I ordered a sample of "Black Tulip" along with a bottle of "White Peaches" from Essenza Nobile. The pyramid reads well: No musk, no jasmine, no gardenia, and no other problematic candidates. Instead, it features the rather rare cyclamen in fragrances, which I really like, even in nature. Unlike tulips, some cyclamens have a very intense scent, quite peculiar and uniquely herb-powdery. I absolutely love that! Then there’s plum - one of the fruit notes in fragrances that has never struck me as negative or unpleasantly fermented, but rather soft, lush, and wonderfully vibrant, and then - white chocolate! Yes, I am still searching for a fine chocolate scent that is a bit less brutal and intensely overwhelming than Montale's Chocolate Greedy. White chocolate also differs from darker varieties. So that was one of the samples I requested.

Then I read the existing statements and the comment from Franfan20, and I should have suspected it already; this confusion, this tulip mania that the fragrance would evoke in me, was indeed very contradictory: Sometimes squeaky-piercing, sometimes powdery, sometimes herbaceous, sometimes floral, then again without flowers, plummy, and then again not... so what is it now?

And I will give you my preliminary conclusion upfront: It’s all true! This fragrance literally leads you by the nose!

Tulip - yes, that’s somewhat right, because some things in this scent simply do not smell, you can’t detect them. For example, I do not smell any plum, not any fruit at all. Others do not smell any flowers, but I intensely smell cyclamen, which is dreamy! But that’s not all. I have had the sample for a week now and have worn it fascinatedly for at least 6 of those 7 days. And each time I smell something different.
What is fixed for me is only:
1. Presence of cyclamen.
2. Absence of plum.

On the first day, I smelled the piercing note and suspected a hidden jasmine component. Then the whole thing transformed into a wonderfully powdery cyclamen scent with subtle white chocolate, just as I had hoped.
On one of the following days, I found the heart note to be marked by something oddly uncheerful; I feared it could be a secret addition of gardenia. This time, the chocolate came late and even more delicate.
Another time, I distinctly thought I could detect saffron in the top note. That hadn’t been there before. Fortunately, there was neither a jasmine nor a gardenia hint present.
Today, I again have a slight saffron nuance followed by wonderfully intense white chocolate.
Only cyclamen is always present.
At the end, a fine, dry wood note also appears quite regularly, sometimes more and sometimes less distinctly, which reminds me just a little of that subtle and extremely dry scent of Beach Hut Woman. And that, in turn, made me wonder if there isn’t a perfectly balanced and artfully integrated hint of cashmeran in Black Tulip.

Well. The crazy thing is: I love this cyclamen, and I hope with each use that the white chocolate will come out as clearly and yet unobtrusively as it did a few days ago. And then I look forward to the dusty, dry praline-cyclamen-powder-wood finish.
What else my led nose smells is obviously at the mercy of the daily whims of Black Tulip.

One last question remains: Do snowdrops have a scent? I believe not. In any case, I don’t remember ever smelling snowdrop fragrance. But maybe that’s because I usually don’t walk around with my nose close to the ground in January. They are probably included in Black Tulip, as you can’t smell them there either.

I sold a fragrance in the souk. The money will now be used for an order at Essenza Nobile: "Black Tulip". This time I am taking "English Cherry Blossom" as a sample. From Shay & Blue.

Some fragrances are like a long calm river. You travel along this river in a small boat, and it doesn't move quickly, but rather slowly, almost leisurely.

The river I navigate with Black Tulip is long. It is calm. And it is rather dark. Its water is almost black and opaque, offering no opportunity to get even a hint of what the bottom might be like.

It is mysterious and seems a bit aloof. No distractions, no surprises await me on my journey. No big jumps, no sudden waves or sharp turns.

Nothing that diverts my attention or interrupts the tranquility. Just me and the river. This may sound boring, but on some days it is simply pleasant and relaxing.

On the banks of the river stand nougat violets. Many, many nougat violets. In different sizes. These are - unromantically and reasonably considered - probably a mix of cyclamen, black tulip (??), plum, and white chocolate. In my mind and my nose, however, they are nougat violets. I see them before me, with their many differently sized leaves, delicate lilac, though this is hardly recognizable because it is covered by a thin shiny layer of nougat, everywhere. All around.
So these nougat violets stand on both sides of the river and line my path. They exude an irresistible, magical scent.

The longer the journey lasts, the rarer they become. The distances between them grow larger. Their scent fades. What remains is the long calm river. A silent force with the scent of tranquil water. And noble wood. Gloomy and almost majestic. It is self-sufficient. And rests within itself.

My journey is at an end. The river remains behind. Its dark secret has not been revealed to me. That it is worth searching for is certain. Perhaps on the next attempt. Or the one after that.

... evening as dessert. I bought edible violets, snowdrops, and tulips. What should I do with them? In the cupboard, there is still some plum puree. I take this and dip the flowers into it. I set them aside and melt some white chocolate in a water bath. Then I dip the flowers in the chocolate, let them drip off, and repeat this until they are completely coated.

When applying this fragrance, the nose first perceives the floral notes. The scent of the tulip blends in. This is then framed by the fruity accord of the plum. To give it a sweet and cocoa note, the white chocolate makes its appearance, which it masters with flying colors. Now add a bit of woodiness, and voila, the scent is simply wonderful. The feminine notes at the beginning are pushed aside by the plums, chocolate, and wood. The perfumeries Julie Massé has created a little masterpiece here.

The longevity and sillage are good.

Here we have an adult unisex fragrance that I find suitable from around 21 years old. I can't really imagine it on younger individuals. It is an all-rounder that can be worn on both cold and warm days. It can be worn well in the office, during leisure time, while shopping, or in the evening at a bar, club, or dinner.

Anyone who enjoys a sweet floral scent that is still not overly feminine, with a certain spiciness, will find exactly what they are looking for at Shay & Blue London.

When I took the bottle out of the box, the inside smelled of real tobacco with a plum note, even though tobacco is not listed in the fragrance pyramid. And when you remove the cap, it seems as if tobacco and "dried plums in chocolate" have been sitting together in the same compartment.

The first spray is a little plum pop, gourmand and juicy. Presumably, the white chocolate is making its presence known, but I also perceive dark chocolate.

Over time, the scent becomes plum-floral, rather airy, with a hint of tobacco in the background. The tobacco is never heavy or overwhelming, but rather perfectly balances the sweetness of the flowers and plum.

The fragrance is unusual and not artificial. It is sweet, but not sticky.

For me, it is a scent for autumn and winter.

Black Tulip has of course nothing to do with tulips (due to the lack of fragrance compounds in those flowers). Here, a rather sour plum hovers over a calm light chocolate note. For me, the components don't quite come together into a cohesive whole, but the scent is still interesting. It is a quiet, yet perceptible companion. The longevity is neither outstanding nor terrible.
Anyone tired of typical designer notes like jasmine, orange blossom, and vanilla should definitely give Black Tulip a chance.