The Essence

oh my effing gawd this is so beautiful! might be the best from her yet. its candied violet with leather. iso e super lends to the airiness. it really is beautiful! edit: this is basically a tool for sexying up any fragrance (is that even a word?) i layered this with viw by creed and suddenly im in a tropical island getting my backside rammed

accidental layering combo: this and cheirosa 59 from sdj. animalics with sandalwood? and the violet in both? u simply have to try it!

Received it today and I was excited to spray it on skin. I sprayed maybe a quarter of a full spray on my wrist and this blast of furriness overwhelmed me. Seconds later the scent gets an accord that I can only describe as some violet essential oils drops from decades ago stained a some old book pages that you only realise after opening it. It is extremely interesting and i am looking forward to layer it with Black Knight and the Lover's Tale. I will probably make an attempt as well with Hedonik's Divine Perversion and see how it goes. As a stand alone I find it very challenging to pull off in public as it is a strong, strange and very unique scent. When I am on my own, I can see myself reaching out for it as it is kinda intoxicating (I tend to sniff my wrist every few minutes) particularly during the colder days and cozy. I do not suggest trying this as your introduction to Francesca Bianchi, especially if you are blind-buying it. Overall, I am happy to have it, even though I am not sure whether this is going to be a staple for any of my public appearances and interactions.

This fragrance is the DNA found in Francesca"s production. That is to say a leather, but with tawny notes, which means that apart from the purple that I don"t perceive at all, I have a smell of fawn leathered all day long. Initially, this juice is used to boost other flavors, especially those oriented towards leather, so I don"t think you can layer it with all flavors. I don"t layer any juice, and I won"t experience it, I use it as it is: something out of the ordinary that is not intended for compulsive buyers of current trends.

The Essence is a strange fragrance, I’ve owned it for a few months now and I’m still undecided if I actually like it or not. It’s marketed as embodying Francesca’s signature style of scent, and yet it smells nothing like any of her other work - in fact, it smells like nothing I’ve ever encountered before. It’s lead by this overwhelming barrage of Iso E Super which is a bit rough around the edges, undoubtedly very dry, woody and airy. It’s paired up with a powdery violet and an accord of ‘animal notes’. However this doesn’t smell like any civet/castoreum/musk etc., instead it comes across almost like animal fur; dry and fuzzy, a little sweet and scratchy rather thank stinky. It smells weird, and I can’t really get over that - like a musty old piece of paper left on a dusty table for 200 years. I just can’t see myself reaching for it, it’s not something I’d want to smell of and it overpowers anything you layer it with. Unfortunately this didn’t live up to my expectations. One thing I will give it though, it’s ridiculously strong, it easily powers through 2 showers and 48+ hours on my skin.

Not my favourite from FB. Violet, Iso-E, suede, her animalic accord... nothing new from her. I'm a bit bored. I would pass on this limited edition. Go for her other ones, thank me later.

Bought this blind because, even though I rarely layer, I liked the concept and the house, and I've liked all the listed accords, incl. Iso-E Super, in the past. My initial spray smelled distinct, and different, but promising, on wrist. However, I've now decided to go 'full wear' , layering it with SJP Stash in the hope of extracting improved performance from that piece. I can barely smell the Stash, if at all. It's early days, but the strength of this juice - a surprisingly strong (and long) Iso-E Super hit, with animalic and leather, that can be seriously headache inducing - has me wondering about its utility if it overwhelms the scents that could do with a performance uplift. I'm wondering if simply layering with Molecule One would suffice, and at the same time wondering how I can love Molecule One (and Terre d'Hermes) while this becomes too much. So maybe its more than simply Iso-E Super that is the issue (?) Anyway, these are first impressions only. Perhaps the layering combo wasn't ideal. There's absolutely no doubt I sprayed too much of this, in hindsight. Once it dries down it becomes more tolerable. After a (long, long) while on clothes, which I admit is when it's at it's best, I sensed the 'chassis' of The Lover's Tale. You should be prepared to wash jumpers after wearing this. It won't go away in a hurry. Lesson learned - be careful with the sprays. The atomiser is great in applying a wide and diffuse coverage, and so next time I'll try one spray only, and give greater thought to what it's layered with. I'll need to give myself more time with this - at the mo I'm a little (POST EDIT: a LOT) disappointed. POST EDIT: I love FB and her fragrances, don't get me wrong, but this is a hard sell and a bit cheeky I think to suggest it is "experimental" when the basics of pre-product evaluation would well know its shortfalls. I read that FB was looking to take (well-earned) profit and bring in a larger conglomerate to partner with, incl. a new chief nose. In the absence of FB giving us thorough guidance on specific fragrances this might actually layer with, my cynical mind wonders if it wasn't a 'cash-grab-and-clear-the-oil stock' before she sells a portion of the biz.

A stand alone perfume and a booster as well for use over other perfumes (A layering concept is ofcourse nothing new) What does this - really- ad to her collection (again leather/ iso super) Gradually FB becomes a bit commercial I'd like to see her explore different scent directions (rose by example)

I do enjoy most of her work but this one is boring & full of straight frankincense

It seems to be a perfume that resembles her DNA !!