I’ve been exploring Francesca Bianchi Perfumes lately and have been most impressed by the clear talent, distinct aesthetic, and good quality materials in the three that I’ve tried. Take, for example, The Lover’s Tale, a unisex floral leather with cuir de russie and vintage Mitsouko aspects.

The Lover’s Tale

The Lover’s Tale is an extrait or pure parfum that was released in 2018. My detailed review:

(Review THREAD) 1. Francesca Bianchi's The Lover's Tale, a unisex floral leather w/ CdR & Mitsouko aspects.

Notes: bergamot, honey, mimosa, aldehydes Egyptian jasmin, Bulgarian rose, heliotrope, peach, iris butter, leather, musk, castoreum, labdanum, sandalwood, vetiver, oakmoss pic.twitter.com/fs8TLydBG9

— Kafkaesque (@Kafkaesque_Blog) January 13, 2022

Retail links are included in the tweet thread above.

If I didn’t already own a number of vintage Mitsouko extraits, I would consider buying The Lover’s Tale for myself.

One word of warning, however, for those who are new to either perfumery, animalics, and animalic musk and leather fragrances: I don’t know how you will react to The Lover’s Tale given the many Fragrantica comments. As I wrote in my review, I personally didn’t find The Lover’s Tale to be remotely like the horror tales of debauched body odors, sexual funk, ass, feces, barnyard cheese, unfettered eroticism, etc. described by most Fragrantica posters. If, however, you’re accustomed to clean, fresh, Bounce dryer sheet white musk fragrances, you may well find The Lover’s Tale to be “dirty.”

All in all, nice job, Ms. Bianchi. You are in the company of talented artisanal perfumers like Liz Moores who make rich, complex, nuanced fragrances and I’m looking forward to exploring more from your line. Readers, if you haven’t tried anything from the Francesca Bianchi Perfumes yet, I recommend that you do. Leather, castoreum, dark musk, and Mitsouko lovers should start with The Lover’s Tale.