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.
The absence of plum is refreshing :) By the way: Tulips have a scent. It's a deep, muted, and reserved fragrance that comes from the green of the stems, the scent of the petals (they smell quite strong in tulips), and the subtle smell of the pollen.
I completely agree with you. Tulips smell subtle but beautiful - the best time to appreciate them is at the florist just before Mother's Day when they’re offered in packs of 25.
Hey there, I'm glad you wanted to read my review, especially since it's a bit older. It's always nice to see that even older reviews can still be interesting. About the tulip scent: Well, when a flower is listed as a note in a pyramid, I don't assume it's mainly referring to the scent of the stem or the smell of the petals when you might rub them. I think of the nectar that’s meant to attract pollinators, even though I know what you mean.
Wow, cyclamen and white chocolate. That should really hit hard. I haven't had a nice cyclamen scent in a long time, and plum is also very fleeting for me. Maybe plum only works with a lot of sugar?
I find the brand interesting: even though I don't like berries in fragrances, I can wear "Framboise Noire" - and "Blood Oranges" is the best orange scent for me. Now I have to test "Black Tulip"!
By the way: Tulips have a scent. It's a deep, muted, and reserved fragrance that comes from the green of the stems, the scent of the petals (they smell quite strong in tulips), and the subtle smell of the pollen.