Francesca Bianchi The Dark Side Extrait de Parfum

bianchi again, and another one that works. this is starting to feel less like a coincidence and more like a structural fact about my nose: bianchi's base DNA and my skin agree on something essential.
the opening is incense and vintage-style musk. not the new clean laundry kind of musk, the old kind, the slightly animal slightly medicinal kind that smells like it's been in a drawer for fifty years in the best possible way. powdery and leathery, but the powder is dark and held down by resin rather than floating around looking for something to cling to. it felt like walking into a darkened apothecary. warm stone, incense at night, dried things in jars, the whole atmosphere.
i kept thinking of moth by zoologist, same family, both leading with dark resin and styrax over a musk base. moth is stranger and more animalic up front. the dark side is warmer and honeyed from the start, which is why it reads apothecary rather than attic. someone online apparently called it a goth dipped in honey and i wish i'd written that, because that's exactly what it is.
then, hours in, it converges on under my skin territory. soft, warm, intimate, skin-forward, that same quiet pulsing thing the base of bianchi's line does so well. she's using the same iris butter and castoreum and sandalwood signature across her catalogue and it's working on me every time. i want to wear this through a full day in winter, somewhere cold enough that the incense and honey register properly, and find out if it's a genuine bottle contender or whether it's just a beautiful sibling to a signature i already own.

This is a beautifully sweet honeyed incense - a little bit smoky but softens up by the honey and violet notes.

Very sexy and intimate, it opens up with a dark, raw honey that feels slightly animalic but not cloyingly sweet. It’s more like a smoky incense that blends beautifully, but beneath that there’s a resinous amber core that’s deep and balsamic. In the background there’s a cold spiciness that softly lingers, the flowers contribute to the powdery notes but in a very vintage and eery way. Like dusty, dried flowers abandoned in an old display cabinet. Hauntingly beautiful. The spices and incense deepen as it dries down and become more prominent and the iris evolves into a waxy velvety texture that harmonises everything together. The animalic quality evolves but never becomes stinky nor offensive, but rather sensual, carnal and alluring. There’s warmth in this fragrance, but not the heavy kind. It feels like the warmth on skin after a long evening, a quiet sort of intimacy that lingers.

This is a very complex scent and there’s a lot going on but it works so beautifully together. Each note shines on its own, yet nothing overpowers the rest. It doesn’t demand attention but naturally pulls people in. I’m going to be so devastated when my sample runs out, I need a full bottle because this is intoxicating.

Didn't expect it much but turned out to be a really nice scent with the warm, floral, honey, incense nots really well combined.

Normally I’m not a fan of patchouli notes, but this perfume is gorgeous. Once it sinks in, it’s warm, sweet, and spicy.

Amazing quality ingredients. It goes a bit on the vintage/powdery direction and it has some layers that remind me of Interlude Man by Amouage. Definitely a must try from this amazing perfumer.