Orris Soyeux

I smelled this at Stéle in New York and wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it. But it stayed with me. I kept thinking about it after I got home, which is ultimately why I had to buy a bottle. There’s something almost fizzy about the opening to me, like tonic water. The patchouli feels green and lifted rather than dark or earthy. The orris feels young, almost not fully developed, and the leather is pale, soft, almost white. At the same time, there’s something distinctly vintage running through it that I can’t quite place. The aldehydes and ambroxan seem to keep everything suspended, lifted and strangely separated rather than allowing the notes to melt comfortably into one another. It’s confusing, but I think that tension is exactly what makes it so compelling. Someone described Orris Soyeux as “sad,” and I understand that completely. There’s a melancholy to it. Edit: This fragrance stands still on paper but evolves on skin. They’re almost two completely different perfumes, in my opinion. On paper, I wasn’t sure I even liked it. On skin, I do. Very much.

Orris Soyeux by Annindriya x Francesca Bianchi is a retake of Cuir Soyeux (2019). Cuir Soyeux was a limited edition released for Perfume Lounge’s 10th anniversary. Orris Soyeux a refined version, sharing the heart and spirit of its predecessor but with a more mature top and base. The powdery orris note takes center stage, with a touch more patchouli.

something about this fragrance smells like a lasting sadness. it smells like what i imagine franz kafka or vincent van gogh would smell like. it also reminds me of abstract art. i find it somewhat reminds me of habit rouge spirit due to the iris patchouli combination however this is more elegant and wearable.

Just as I remember it. Flush of dark leather and powdery iris cloud. Deep and seductive. I was lucky enough to know the original anniversary edition and they are close upon side by side comparison. Really marvellous work from mademoiselle Bianchi

Very nice. The orris really stands out, but there is also something bittersweet and oddly fresh running through it, almost like a bitter orange-patchouli effect. Perhaps that comes from the narcissus? I’m not sure. What surprises me most is that this does not feel like an extremely recognisable Francesca Bianchi DNA scent. I usually associate her work with darker, more leathery and animalic compositions, but there is none of that here. Instead, this feels softer, cleaner and more luminous. The orris root and heliotrope give it a lovely powdery elegance, while the patchouli, labdanum and ambroxan add structure without making it heavy or outdated. The aldehydes, bergamot and magnolia bring a fresh and sweet polished lift. Well blended! I think its a refined and slightly unexpected take on orris: elegant, bittersweet, fresh around the edges, and far less shadowy than I expected. Actually like this one! Would I buy a full bottle? Maybe even so! It's a bit odd, definitely different and actually quite addictive to my nose. Unisex for sure.

I love her work and this is absolutely unique but on my skin it goes piney/cleansery

It is currently on my wrist, in chilly late December. There is a note or a combination thereof that I have never, ever smelled in my life, a feeling, I’ve never experienced in this humble life, and I am quite experienced in olfactory pleasures. It is so oppressive and sensual at once. So somber and serene. Lucid and mournful. It conjures of a young Victorian lady at the funereal of her husband which was truly kind to her, but so old, and smelled sour, and had rotten teeth. And while she loved him in some way for his provision and tenderness, the musty scent of his wrinkled skin disgusted her, and she yearned for this very moment seeing his pale body drowned into the dry earth, since she met her young lover, who promises her false dreams. The bed she shared with the old man smells like this fragrance. Heavy, somber, musty, dusty, powdery, a closet full of old linens of the old man’s lineage, an dim wooden house in England, immensely dark, pregnant with grief, and so irresistible to a woman of a melancholic, lucid, disposition. This fragrance is one I know for an absolute fact most people would hate. It smells “like a dead grandma” ... by god are you trying to seduce me...? I AM a dead grandma.. the woman sobs day and night, this woman sobs for the original lover which left her to cry to the void, this woman wears her mourning dress for years, this woman is childless and lonesome, and she has feline eyes, and a gravid, disturbing sexuality about her, But, more recently, This perfume directly is pure Asia wevill— ..” She fascinated you. Her eyes caressed you, Melted a weeping glitter at you. Her German the dark undercurrent In her Kensington jeweller’s elocution Was your ancestral Black Forest whisper - Edged with a greasy, death-camp, soot-softness. When she suddenly rounded her eyeballs, Popped them, strangled, she shocked you. lt was her mock surprise. But you saw hanged women choke, dumb, through her, And when she listened, watching you, through smoke, Her black-ringed grey iris, slightly unnatural, Was Black Forest wolf, a witch’s daughter out of Grimm.... ...She was helpless too. None of us could wake up. Nightmare looked out at the poppies. She sat there, in her soot-wet mascara, In flame-orange silks, in gold bracelets, Slightly filthy with erotic mystery - A German Russian Israeli with the gaze of a demon Between curtains of black Mongolian hair”.... (As told by Ted Hughes) And her loneliness as a jewish woman in diaspora, an artistic woman who is encumbered with so much terror, a diaspora of the soul, and the illness of sexuality which conceals you, renders you a victim of mythic proportions of cruelty from women and men at once. Francesca..... once again, you represent and materialize the many facets of the female experience.... Once again I am brought to tears by your perfume!

This might just be the most beautiful leather fragrance in the world. It's a deep, rich, soft, powdery, nightbloomish, romantic, cool, feminine beauty. I agree with Grimdeux that it feels like there's a hint of quinine (which I assume are the aldehydes+ambroxan) tempering the composition and giving it a cool water touch. The leather is there as a rich, sobering note without a trace of sourness. It is softened by the orris and nightblooms and then given a lift by the citrus, aldehydes and patchouli/labdanum. Absolutely stunning. Next on my list.

Francesca is a beast. She has won me over for years now! She's brilliant. My nose has grown so much because of her creations. I've been through THOUSANDS of samples from hundreds of brands. Francesca Bianchi has the largest amount of 10/10 frags than any other brand I know so far. Mad respect

I will buy this blind out of curiosity because I love Francesca Bianchi. Take my money!