The Lover's TaleFloral Chypre Extrait de Parfum

The Lover's Tale by Francesca Bianchi is a niche floral, chypre, and powdery unisex perfume extract. A grand floral bouquet resting on castoreum.

A perfumer from the world of art history

Francesca Bianchi is a self-taught Italian perfumer. A graduate in art history in Florence, she worked in art book publishing before founding her house in Amsterdam in 2016, after reading a book on natural perfumery. She composes each formula by hand in her laboratory — a process that can take from six months to four years, sometimes even longer — before entrusting production to a small Italian artisanal company. The house operates without investors or a marketing plan. Her perfumes are nicknamed “Liquid Emotions,” and her motto can be summed up in three words: “Everything is personal.”

An opening of peach and honey

Bergamot briefly illuminates the opening, then peach and honey immediately thicken it. A fleshy and slightly sticky opening that immediately signals a dense rather than fresh fragrance.

A heart of Egyptian jasmine and Bulgarian rose

Two first-rate absolutes complement each other: the indolic and opulent Egyptian jasmine, and the honeyed and full Bulgarian rose. Mimosa and heliotrope add a powdery touch, while iris butter gives them the rich, floury texture that holds the entire heart together.

A base of castoreum and oakmoss

Castoreum and leather establish the animalic quality, oakmoss the damp forest humidity of chypre, and labdanum the resin. Sandalwood and vetiver close the composition on a dry woody note.

The house's signature

Three noble materials resting on castoreum. Egyptian jasmine, Bulgarian rose, iris butter: each is a pinnacle of perfumery, and most houses would build an entire fragrance around just one. Bringing all three together would already be a bold choice; resting them on an animalic material is another. Floral luxury is not treated as an end in itself, but as the surface of something rawer.

For whom, and for what occasions?

Floral, chypre, and powdery, this extract is for lovers of grand florals who find today's production too clean. From autumn to winter, for evening wear. It is the house's most opulent floral.

With The Lover's Tale Francesca Bianchi, three noble materials serve as the surface of something rawer.