Dom De Vetta

In 2012 Dom De Vetta, formerly senior Vice President at Chanel and Global General Manager of Jo Malone Ltd, opened his own fragrance house, Shay & Blue, named for his grandmother Grace Shay and for his own favorite color. His boutique, in Marylebone, London is elegant and inviting, the perfect place to spend time exploring fragrance with friends. 

Shay & Blue  perfume boxes Photo © Bob Perkoski       

I have not visited the shoppe but I am familiar with the Shay & Blue presentation. It is flawless.  The blue box, the artistically rendered brochure, the balanced round bottles and the color of the perfume all speak to thoughtful, meticulous craftsmanship and attention to detail.  The young perfumer, Julie Massé of Mane, is a veteran with at least twenty-five fragrances in her portfolio. In order to write this review I purposefully ignored the listed notes and simply lived with Blueberry Musk for an entire week.  In the process I learned something interesting about my own sense of smell, about blueberries and about the fragrance too.

Photo of Gail’s Garden 

I love the northern highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum), but in the past few days I’ve come to realize that I simply cannot smell fresh, commercial blueberries unless I bite right into them, crush them, bake them or apply heat. That being said, the first taste I perceive is slightly tannic, more vegetal than sweet and more like the waxy bloom than the pulp. My first experience of Shay & Blue Blueberry Musk perfume ran parallel to these sensations.  Initially I smelled no rich fruit or berry scent at all, but rather the moderately astringent, tannic effect of a fine British tea, brightened with the light fresh pucker of citrus. Within moments of that first hit, the perfume settled into a pale floral, reminiscent of clear, cool mornings in carefully tended gardens.

         

BlueBerry Days’ by photographer Andre Brito, Porto, Portugal.

 Heated by the warmth of my skin, Blueberry Musk expanded into aura of berries, flowers and woods as if I was on a picnic in the English Countryside.  At this point I began to smell fresh blueberries and musk.  The aroma stayed with me for two or three hours, retreating, at last, to grace the skin with the translucent scent of fresh linens.

BlueBerry Days’ by photographer Andre Brito, Porto, Portugal.

Blueberry Musk a slightly offbeat but still refined, unisex, ethereal fragrance, happily not smelling of muffins or pies.  If you are looking for a cool, refreshing, floral treat, a bottle of Blueberry Musk might be the perfect gift for yourself or a close friend.

Disclosure – A bottle of Blueberry Musk was kindly supplied by Shay & Blue, the opinions are my own.

Gail Gross, Contributor

Editor’s Note: For me Shay & Blue’s Blueberry Musk  is  reminiscent of L’Artisan Parfumeur Mure et Musc which I own, a few precious drops left from a bottle I bought in the early 1980s (first introduced in 1978 by perfumer Jean LaPorte). Blueberry Musk plays on the theme but with a modern flair, less fleeting. On my skin there is a definite blueberry aroma,  but not foody nor too fruity. Longevity was overnight for me.  For Art Direction I loved the photography of Andre Brito, its relaxed elegance and  sensual edginess fit the review and Blueberry Musk-Michelyn Camen, EIC

Thanks to Dom de Vetta of Shay & Blue we have a 100 ml Natural Spray of Blueberry Musk for a registered reader in the EU, USA and Canada. To be eligible, please leave a comment with what appeals to you about Gail’s review, where you live and if you have a favorite Shay & Blue fragrance. Draw closes 8/6/2016

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