As you might know, my main passion is jewellery, but I also have a soft spot for fragrances. I recently got an exciting opportunity to collaborate with a wonderful, London-based boutique perfumery, Shay & Blue.
Shay & Blue have a selection of lovely natural scents, made with real flowers, fruit and spices. I love the fact that they are very transparent about the ingredients that go in each bottle, and all the perfumes are very well priced. The bottle has an elegant and simple design, and the size is perfect to travel with.
Watch my short video and read my interview with Shay & Blue below.
Stay tuned for the the upcoming Shay & Blue giveaway on GEMOLOGUE Instagram.
Do you have any nostalgic associations with perfume?
I often associate perfume with my childhood. In the Russian Far East where I was born, my first childhood memory was my mother’s habit to walk through a cloud of perfume before leaving the house. Every morning when I would open my eyes, I knew if my mum had gone to work or of she was still at home. I also knew her mood as she never stuck to only one fragrance: she had over 20 bottles of scent on her beauty table. Since a young age, I associated every trip with a new fragrance, and every time I smell a certain scent either at a party or in passing, it brings back happy memories of different trips around the world.
Is there a particular type of fragrance you like?
My preference of fragrance depends on my mood, trip and time of day. There are unsaid rules about which scent is acceptable at what time of day. I have been wearing floral fragrances while travelling in warm locations. I feel that not only time of the day matters but season as well. Wintertime, as a Russian I always wanted to have more powerful full body fragrance. I collect rose scents across different brands as it is my favourite go-to fragrance. I love niche brands, nothing commercial. I look out for brands who care about ingredients. I don’t wear mass produced perfume brands as I want to smell unique and unusual.
How does fragrance make you feel – e.g when getting ready to go out?
Perfume is not only about how it makes me feel, but also how makes others feel next to me. By putting on a scent, I wish for my perfume to arrive a fraction of a second before me! I feel ready to conquer the world and people recognise me by my fragrance. And if all over sudden I don’t have the right scent on, it makes me feel naked. I feel the same way about jewellery! I always get a compliments about my jewellery and choice of perfume.
Does perfume change your mood when you put in on?
It could make me happy as well as bring me a headache. I am very careful selecting the fragrance. My girlfriends love taking me shopping for perfume: they call me “a nose”. I love to see a woman and guess which fragrance she will fell in love with. And perfume definitely improves my mood after I wake up as am not a morning person. I often need to use all the tricks to cheer myself up in the morning: reading a book, meditating, exercising and eating something delicious.
How does perfume play a part in your style?
Perfume is not a finishing touch, it is an essential in my life. I always travel with perfume. If I am travelling only with hand luggage I travel with mini perfume bottles. I absolutely love perfumery pendants crafted as jewels, where you can have a few drops of perfume to travel with. I have always dreamt about taking a perfumery course in Paris as I would love to become much more knowledgable about perfume creation. Something similar to the Perfumery exhibition at the Somerset House. I am very experimental with my fragrances and I am always on a look out for a new scent to add to my collection.
How do you style your perfume on your dressing table? Is it like an accessory/jewellery?
It is an essential and part of my daily routine, I feel naked without a perfume. It is a part of my dressing table, as well as my travel pack.
How do you wear perfume? Where do you spray it?
If after shower, then on my bare neck but always away from my jewellery as it can damage it. If I am already dressed, then only on my hair behind my neck. I don’t walk through a cloud of perfume like my mother does.
GEMOLOGUE by Liza Urla features exquisite global discoveries, trendy urban street style, exclusive interviews and rare jewellery reviews – a celebration of fine jewellery, fashion jewellery and vintage jewellery.
*Styling and Art Direction by Liza Urla. All photos belong to GEM Kreatives for GEMOLOGUE.
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