Francesca Bianchi
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Cinnamon arrives with real bite—almost nutmeg-adjacent in its spiced warmth—whilst bergamot cuts through with citrus clarity, creating an opening that feels almost savoury. The combination has an almost culinary quality before the composition's darker intentions reveal themselves within minutes.
Geranium emerges as a subtle green pivot, preventing the fragrance from becoming purely resinous. The ambergris and benzoin begin their slow, deliberate foundation-building, transforming the initial spice into something warmer and increasingly smoky, whilst leather notes become distinctly discernible.
What remains is Byzantine Amber's true character: a dense, almost leathery amber infused with frankincense and labdanum, creating an intimate, skin-scent experience that hovers between incense and aged hide. The resinous base deepens into something archaeological, as though you're wearing the scent of precious materials recovered from ancient trade routes.
Byzantine Amber is an exercise in controlled decadence—a fragrance that smells like stepping into a dimly lit antiquarian library where leather-bound volumes share shelf space with precious resins. Francesca Bianchi has constructed something deliberately austere, where the cinnamon and bergamot opening refuses to sweeten the composition. Instead, the citrus acts as a clarifying agent, sharpening the spice into something almost medicinal before the heart settles into a geranium that reads less floral and more green-herbal, grounding the increasingly resinous base.
What emerges is leather as protagonist—not the fresh, sporty leather of contemporary fragrances, but something closer to aged saddle leather infused with church incense. The ambergris, benzoin, labdanum, and styrax create a dense amber accord that avoids gourmand territory entirely; this is amber as ancient material, warm and slightly animalic. Frankincense threads through everything, lending a spiritual, almost liturgical quality that justifies the Byzantine reference. The result is smoky and austere—genuinely resinous rather than merely scent-marketed as such.
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4.1/5 (167)