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A spectacular perfume that puts me in mind of Melt My Heart, although it replaces oud skank and wood with castoreum skank and leather, and I'm here for it. Real, buttery Orris envelops me, but with that "nasty" animalic edge, very sensual but not offensive. My only gripe would be the colour of the liquid, as you have to be careful where you spray it. Update: a lot of perfumes get labelled 'eternal' but this one really is. I sprayed it yesterday morning and I've had two showers since (climbing session too, very sweaty) and it's still going strong on my wrist! Sprayed on my inner elbow (my favourite spot for revealing the true faces of a perfume, perhaps because of the heat), I get Iris Silver Mist spilled into an exquisite Italian leather bag that's being used to carry mimosas at their most honking and pungent. To compare this to Cuir de Russie, its inspiration, the Chanel has that trademark ethereal sparkle and politesse, whereas Bianchi replaces sparkle with cream and restraint with salaciousness.
Okay let's break this down. Bianchi's fragrances are so loaded and potent that the base notes have top notes if you know what I mean and the clarity in the opening can sometimes be lost. Youmust be patient though because these fragrances shift in tonality as they mature on your skin. The opening of this is sweetly a mixture of sweetly resinous and oriental and huge amounts of animalic notes. Primarily it has that 'cheese' smell you get from real civet (not the non animal replacement) and some oud oils. It's a barnyard connundrum/carcrash...and interesting to me...somewhat of an olfactory psychonaut but is it pleasant perfume...not particularly. However all is revealed and forgiven in the drydown when The lover's tale mutates into the most beautiful, castoreum leather and buttery floral scent (like Cuir de Russie) and just oozes masses of quality. Absolutely sublime. reminscent of a much nicer and smoother experience than Cuir d'Arabie by Montale but somewhat analogous with the harsh opening. It's brilliant though. I want a bottle but I don't want anyone to smell me for the first hour or so?
“A secret encounter of lovers, tightly bound by an impossible passion.” The Lover’s Tale is a romance of a by-gone era, a secret encounter between two lovers at a time when scandal could bring social ruin to your family. It walks the edge between refined and perverse, sophisticated and lustrous. A sweet, powdery marriage of countless florals makes up the bulk of this scent; jasmine, rose and heliotrope, with Bianchi’s signature use of leather and orris following closely behind giving the scent even more thickness. A touch of peach and a whisper of castoreum interpret the contrast between sweet innocence, and filthy desires. It smells like a close encounter between two esteemed members of society who are already betrothed to someone else. I absolutely love it, words cannot describe how much I love it. This scent fits my tastes perfectly - a dense, leathery Chypre with an overdose of vintage-style florals and woods. This is easily my favourite creation I’ve tried from Francesca Bianchi, I would even consider calling this a masterpiece.