Shay and Blue Blacks Club Leather

[Prof. Moriarty]

Shay & Blue are a Boutique Perfumer founded in 2012, and located in London UK. A few years back I was strolling through London, when I found their shop and decided to take a look. Staff were very friendly, and they had some beautiful perfumes. I settled on their Blood Orange, a great scent which I will buy again soon.

I am not a collector, I generally have a summer, and a winter fragrance, and that is it. I ran out of perfume, and needed something. Initially I wanted to order Blood Orange again, but then I saw that they had a fragrance I hadn't seen before... Blacks Club Leather. It is meant to be a reminiscent of the scents found in Blacks Club, for those wondering what that is here is a link http://www.blacksclub.com/

The scent profile intrigued me

A perfectly smooth and unisex leather fragrance. Round, full and rich, the scent of the fireplace mingled with leather, antique furniture wax, old books and a warming brandy.

so I bought a sample to try it out, as the bottle is not cheap; 100ml for 85GBP.

The sample was wonderful so I decided to order a bottle, and today a box arrived




I quickly dug through it and uncovered this lovely box





Another picture of the lovely presentation box





Opening up the presentation box, the packaging is just top notch on this





And finally the bottle itself





Packaging is top notch on this, I like the gold label, and the bottle itself. My only criticism is I wish the top cap was made of metal rather than plastic.

Now the scent itself. Here is a full breakdown from the Shay & Blue website

• Top Note - The comforting richness of English leather.
• Heart Note - The aroma of a round and warming fine cognac.
• Base Note - Notes of firewood and mahogany rubbed with beeswax anchor this sophisticated blend.

The perfume smells pretty much exactly like that, so it is wonderful. Lots of leather, wood, and just a lovely warming fragrance. Longevity is excellent, I can smell it still after 12hours. Due to it being an EdP rather than an EdT only a couple of sprays are needed to smell great for the rest of the day. It is a unisex fragrance, but it certainly does smell "manly" although I am sure it would smell lovely regardless of gender.

Just a wonderful fragrance, and one I am sure to keep in my rotation. Shay & Blue continue to impress.

 

[Mr. Styptic]

I agree. A full, rich scent. But it makes me want to put on a coat and tie.
Have you tried the Salt Caramel? What's your take on that?
Thanks.

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

I agree. A full, rich scent. But it makes me want to put on a coat and tie.
Have you tried the Salt Caramel? What's your take on that?
Thanks.

Have not tried it yet, but there are loads of their perfumes I want to try. Have you tried it? What do you think?

 

[mdevine]

Great review.

 

[musicman1951]

Thanks for the review. Another one on my growing list.

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

Thanks for the review. Another one on my growing list.

Put the blood orange on there as well, it is fantastic

 

[pbfde]

Reviews online are not so good. Also $140 for 100ml plus shipping is high for me. The big question for me is, is it better than Knize Ten? Answer from reviews i read online is.. not even close, and Knize Ten is less expensive, per oz. Dont want to burst anyones bubble and YMMV but i read enough in online reviews of this and the other scents from this producer to skip them all. Its a high publicity co. by former people associated with Jo Malone. Ingredients are more synthetic than descriptions would indicate. Cognac note isnt close.
What id really rather do is join Blacks Club and met Keira (sp? )Kneightly but even if i did that might be disappointing to because i like the one from a movie. So im still looking for a signature fragrance and Knize Ten and SMN fragrances still prevail.

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

That's fair enough, to each their own. Thanks for the extra info, will have a further look into the company.

 

[rickcharles606]

That's fair enough, to each their own. Thanks for the extra info, will have a further look into the company.

Thanks, Prof. I will try them out for sure. I don't put much stock in "online" reviews and only see them as one person's take on the fragrance. It's my nose that matters most to me, and I use suggestions like yours to find new and interesting juices. So, thank you for taking the time to tell us about your experience.

 

[rickcharles606]

Reviews online are not so good. Also $140 for 100ml plus shipping is high for me. The big question for me is, is it better than Knize Ten? Answer from reviews i read online is.. not even close, and Knize Ten is less expensive, per oz. Dont want to burst anyones bubble and YMMV but i read enough in online reviews of this and the other scents from this producer to skip them all. Its a high publicity co. by former people associated with Jo Malone. Ingredients are more synthetic than descriptions would indicate. Cognac note isnt close.
What id really rather do is join Blacks Club and met Keira (sp? )Kneightly but even if i did that might be disappointing to because i like the one from a movie. So im still looking for a signature fragrance and Knize Ten and SMN fragrances still prevail.

I stopped wearing Knize Ten after I tried Dior's Leather Oud.

 

[Lmarkow]

Samples in-bound! Can't wait!!

I sampled Knize 10, which I didn't care for. Leather Oud, however, I could swim in.

 

[rickcharles606]

Samples in-bound! Can't wait!!

I sampled Knize 10, which I didn't care for. Leather Oud, however, I could swim in.

Same here, Leather Oud has been fun to wear even in the Summer heat, and I'm looking forward to try it in cooler weather. I have a large-ish decant that is almost gone and before I run out of it I'll snag a full bottle of this one.

 

[pbfde]

The most significant insighful review online, in my opinion, is on www.kafkaesqueblog.com of this and two other scents from same provider. He references some other reviews too. What i got from this and a couple of other reviews, one on basenotes, is that to a sophisticated reviewer theyre not impressed, its like overblown hype using synthetics that dont hit the mark and dont hold up well. To most of layperson reviewers they think its great. Im not a sophisticated, pro reviewer so i think if i bought this it might take me sometime to smell through the hype. One thing i note is this is a combined promotional effort between Blacks Club and the fragrance producer. So to my mind its like double-hype. An upstart spinoff co. from Jo Malone, a well hyped trendy London perfumery, paints more of the picture. Its just not real, old school. From what i garner its a poltically correct, trendy mostly synthetic rendition of what it purports to be. Most of the reviews dont catch this.

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

The most significant insighful review online, in my opinion, is on www.kafkaesqueblog.com of this and two other scents from same provider. He references some other reviews too. What i got from this and a couple of other reviews, one on basenotes, is that to a sophisticated reviewer theyre not impressed, its like overblown hype using synthetics that dont hit the mark and dont hold up well. To most of layperson reviewers they think its great. Im not a sophisticated, pro reviewer so i think if i bought this it might take me sometime to smell through the hype. One thing i note is this is a combined promotional effort between Blacks Club and the fragrance producer. So to my mind its like double-hype. An upstart spinoff co. from Jo Malone, a well hyped trendy London perfumery, paints more of the picture. Its just not real, old school. From what i garner its a poltically correct, trendy mostly synthetic rendition of what it purports to be. Most of the reviews dont catch this.

I found that reviewer, and certainly is interesting to read. I do not proclaim to be a "pro reviewer", I buy a fragrance that gets my approval, and the approval of the missus.
I have not noticed any hype, it's just a perfume house I stumbled upon while walking through London a few years back. I also do not find much hype for Blacks Club, maybe I just am not looking in the right place.

Do you have any evidence to back up that it is a spin-off company run by Jo Malone? The only link I can find is that the founder of Shay & Blue used to work for them.
No Shay & Blue certainly isn't old school like Penhaligons, Floris, Czech & Speake, and so on... but I never got the feeling that they purport to be.
But to each their own

 

[pbfde]

Founder used to work for vs. spinoff of, by my using word spinoff i didnt mean to imply anything diff than founder used to work for.

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

Founder used to work for vs. spinoff of, by my using word spinoff i didnt mean to imply anything diff than founder used to work for.

Fair enough, simple misunderstanding then.

 

[pbfde]

Blacks Club apparently is a co-promoter of this fragrance and other things with same scent ie candles. Aside from that where the hype comes in my opinion is the apparent heavy use of synthetics in the fragrance thats obvious to sophisticated reviewers but not lay people, that have scent notes not close to matching the scent notes described by the producer (ie cognac) and that apparently cause immediate scent intensity and effect longevity but apparently dont result in a "real" old school scent note mix and dry down effect. In other words the use of synthetics is gimmicky and trendy but not well reviewed or perceived by sophisticated experienced fragrance reviewers. They recognize the synthetics and gimmicks and are put off.

 

[pbfde]

It seems to me if you're going to create a fragrance to emulate the scent of a 200 yr old club with old woods, leather, and liqour, I expect general old school aspect to the fragrance too, to match. Here with have a club that was recently bought by new owner and a trendy scent comprised at least partially of synthetics. Its disappointing and not what i hoped for in thinking this could be my signature fragrance. Im looking for something classic and old school, more like Penn.

 

[Prof. Moriarty]

It seems to me if you're going to create a fragrance to emulate the scent of a 200 yr old club with old woods, leather, and liqour, I expect general old school aspect to the fragrance too, to match. Here with have a club that was recently bought by new owner and a trendy scent comprised at least partially of synthetics. Its disappointing and not what i hoped for in thinking this could be my signature fragrance. Im looking for something classic and old school, more like Penn.

That's fair enough mate

 

[Lmarkow]

My S&B samples arrived yesterday. I tried BCL. Great stuff. I don't have anything to add to Prof. M's review, for which I am thankful!