Who is Francesca Bianchi
Francesca Bianchi is an independent perfumer, self-taught after studying art history. She founded her line in Amsterdam, the city where she lives.
Her method is clearly stated. Each fragrance starts from an idea or an emotion to be translated into scent, and development can take anywhere from six months to a few years. She uses natural materials and synthetic molecules side by side, with no hierarchy, choosing each for the effect it brings. The finished formula goes to Grasse, to a family company specializing in raw materials for fine perfumery, and the concentrate then returns to Italy, to Milan, for maturation, filtering and packaging. She herself acknowledges that her perfumes are often described as sensual or provocative.
The fragrances in the collection
Ambers and orientals
Byzantine Amber is her take on the amber accord: it opens with cinnamon and geranium over a dark, animalic and mineral base. The Dark Side is an oriental inspired by the markets and streets of Marrakech, with honey, spices, iris, amber and incense. In Encounters the perfumer pairs two materials that stand for East and West, oud and iris, to create a voluptuous and deliberately dirty iris. For this formula the house specifies that there are no ingredients of animal origin.
Musks, powder and leather
Unspoken Musk is the perfumer's personal musk, sweet, velvety, floral and deliberately a little dirty, with accords of musk, tonka bean and orris butter. Angel's Dust recalls an old-fashioned boudoir with powder, rose, talcum musks, woody paneling and balsamic notes. Sticky Fingers is the rock side: patchouli takes the lead, with a spicy opening followed by leather and tobacco over orris butter.
Sea and salt
Sex and the Sea is a marine scent without ozonic freshness, smelling of warm skin, coconut sunscreen, salt and sand. The Sex and the Sea Neroli version takes up the same theme with a sparkling neroli opening, still with coconut and an amber base with animalic facets. The Mariner's Rhyme is inspired by a sailor caught in a storm, with metallic and ozonic notes: it is fresher and more transparent than the others, but shares the same dark base.
Smoke and darkness
The Black Knight is inspired by Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, a Renaissance condottiero. It opens with the atmosphere of a military camp, made of wild shrubs, campfire smoke and the smell of leather harnesses, and moves on to a powdery rose around a vetiver heart. Tyger Tyger also comes from a precise reference, William Blake's poem The Tyger, and has a smoky, somber mood built on the contrast between beauty and terror. The house describes it as a fruity woody chypre, with oud and leather.
Extrait: what it means here
Every fragrance in the collection is an extrait de parfum, and for The Black Knight, Tyger Tyger and Sex and the Sea the house states a concentration of 25%.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Francesca Bianchi?
Francesca Bianchi is an independent perfumer who personally creates and formulates every fragrance in her own lab. After studying art history she taught herself perfumery, and she founded her line in Amsterdam, the city where she lives.
What style are Francesca Bianchi perfumes?
Francesca Bianchi perfumes have a sensual, intense style centered on skin and intimacy, and the perfumer herself says they are often described as sensual or provocative. The collection leans toward dark ambers, carnal musks, leather, powder and smoke, with animalic notes in many compositions and a precise idea behind each one.
Is there a fresh Francesca Bianchi perfume?
Yes, The Mariner's Rhyme, the extrait the perfumer herself describes as fresher and more transparent than the others in the collection. It is inspired by a sailor in the middle of a storm and has metallic notes, like a razor blade, and an ozonic quality that recalls cold winds, yet it keeps a base as dark as the ocean depths.
What does Unspoken Musk smell like?
Unspoken Musk is Francesca Bianchi's personal musk, a sweet, velvety and floral extrait, deliberately a little dirty, which the perfumer places in the olfactory region closest to humanity and sensuality. At its center is the contrast between innocence and sin, which for her defines what it is to be human.
Which Francesca Bianchi perfume has leather?
It is Sticky Fingers, the Francesca Bianchi extrait built on leather, which the house calls a rock-chic creation. The lead is a sumptuous, elegant patchouli, with a spicy, sparkling opening followed by leather and tobacco, all infused in orris butter.
What is The Black Knight inspired by?
The Black Knight is inspired by Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, an Italian Renaissance condottiero. The opening recreates the atmosphere of a military camp, with wild shrubs, campfire smoke and the smell of leather harnesses, then moves on to a powdery rose around a vetiver heart, the leading note. It is a gothic, intense composition.
Which Francesca Bianchi perfume should I choose if I love amber?
If you love amber, the one to start with is Byzantine Amber, a dark take on the amber accord with cinnamon and geranium in the opening and an animalic, mineral base. Alternatively there is The Dark Side, an oriental inspired by Marrakech, or Encounters, which pairs oud and iris over a spicy, woody base.
Which Francesca Bianchi perfume has rose and powder?
The rose and powder perfume from Francesca Bianchi is Angel's Dust, an extrait that recalls an old-fashioned boudoir, with a lover putting on her lipstick. It has roses, talcum musks, woody paneling and balsamic notes.
