When I got the M&S advent calendar last year the mini size Shay and Blue Blood Orange perfume was behind one of the doors.
Shay and blue is a boutique perfumery that was started in London. When I went cruelty free one thing I struggled to find was high quality perfume, I tend to stick with Zara fragrance and whilst they smell amazing and are an absolute bargain they don’t have the staying power I wanted for a special perfume so I couldn’t wait to try this out.
They have a range of different of fragrance and work hard to ensure they have unique scents. Shay and Blue put time and expertise into there frangrances and use skilled craftsman and women to blend the scents and who understand the balance of real flowers, fruit and spices.
They are made in London and the oil blends are left to stand and mature for 3 months before they filled by hand into the gorgeous bottles. I love that they are a UK brand that is made by hand.
Everything about this brand feels luxe, the box tied with a ribbon and
the gorgeous blue bottle, the gold lid and the simple white, blue and gold labeling, it just looks simple and elegant.
Blood orange wouldn’t be a fragrance I would automatically choose, in general I go for more oriental fragrances with a bit of floral and being honest at first I didn’t love this fragrance. I sprayed it into the air and thought it smelt too citrus for my tastes so put it away in a drawer for a few months until I needed a perfume sprayed it quickly and left the house. On my skin this scent changes so much and I love it.
Heads up I’m terrible at describing perfume scents. It has the freshness of the blood orange when first sprayed but warms on the skin and you can get the depth of the leather and amber base. As it’s a perfume and not an eau de toilette this also has the staying power.
When my birthday was coming up after quickly getting through the mini version I asked for the full size bottle. It’s available in M&S so I used my birthday sparks voucher and got some money off as well. They retail for £55 for 100ml which for a high end perfume I think is pretty reasonable, as well it’s handmade in the UK, cruelty free and well worth it.
I’ve been searching for my new me fragrance for a while and I’ve finally found it.
Have you heard of or tried Shay and Blue? If not you definitely should and they’re definitely one to spray on the skin to really see how the fragrance develops.
