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The opening reminds me a lot of Lover's Tale due to the strong, buttery, natural smelling Orris, but then it becomes more dank and green. It's great, but I don't need both. Still, every fragrance I've experienced by this house has been excellent, a real coup de cœur for me.
This is fantastic. My favourite from Francesca's line I think? Even though it smells incredibly familiar, perhaps I'm just a creature of habit? It's pretty classical chypre/fougere bizness and has the opening of eau de cologne, sharp bits but with great materials. Namely citus in the opening, green, herbal bergamot into oakmoss and that orris and more prominent vetiver woods. Francesca is a master of leather feeling accords and pretty much each fragrance has an entirely different look of leather. Estruscan water is more classically in the aromatic VC&A, aramis, safari...sort of territory. It's light on it's feet though and perhaps a touch more rugged and real or just less refined than classic designer fair of a similar ilk. I think the freshness in this really elevates it and gives a welcome breath of fresh air from some of the more claustrophobic creations in her repertoire.
Etruscan Water takes inspiration partly from citric moss-heavy colognes from the golden age of men’s perfumery, but also Bianchi’s personal memories of an Italian summer growing up in the South of Tuscany. It’s a scent which whisks you away to a place free of worry and doubt, and as someone who has spent many summers in the Mediterranean, feels very special to me. Bianchi describes a brief walk through the woods to get to a small cove beach, with the overwhelming smell of dry Mediterranean vegetation reacting with the heat - this is not a smell you can describe, but only experience for yourself, however Bianchi has recreated it beautifully here. An array of invigorating citrus fruits and ambergris represent the subtle salty spray of the sea soothing your sun-kissed skin. All this rests on a beautiful base of leathery labdanum and a hefty dose of oakmoss. This scent is absolutely sublime, a significant step away from Bianchi’s usual dark, heavy and erotic fragrances and yet, it’s one of my absolute favourites. I would even go as far to say it’s an absolute masterpiece, perfectly recreating such a special memory which many of us in Europe can link to a specific time and place in our memories.