The Lover's Tale
A sweaty summer lovemaking session—his musk and her floral perfume soaking into the couch leather. They are entwined, and this balances out the scent overall.
Bianchi’s intent with this one is clear from the jump: a story of bygone times, a secret encounter between lovers caught between sense and sensibility, prudery and passion. They want each other desperately, but their education holds them back. That tension—that push-pull between restraint and abandon—is exactly what this scent performs.
The opening hits dirty and animalic. Castoreum, leather, and orris butter rear up immediately—there’s no slow build here, no gentle invitation. You’re dropped straight into the scene, into the heat of it. But the drydown begins almost as quickly as that opening salvo. The orris butter takes center stage, rich and buttery, while the leather steps back into a supporting role. The florals never quite dominate—they’re there in the background, like one of the lovers is wearing something floral but their sex is what’s filling the room.
As it settles further, honey and leather share the spotlight. The long trail of this scent is leather, a whisper of floral, and that golden honey note clinging to skin.
Structurally, this is leather-dominant through and through, with castoreum driving the opening’s animalic punch and honey anchoring the drydown. The dirtiness starts off powerful and slowly winds down over hours. The florals and that touch of peach provide a softer edge—they never take center stage, never dominate—but they take some of the spike off, keep this from being purely brutal.
This scent moves on the matrix. It starts at (+1, -9)—Femme-leaning Somatic, where the leather and castoreum rear up immediately for that brutal, visceral opening. But it doesn’t stay there. By the drydown, it settles into (+2, -6)—Entwined Balance. The orris butter, honey, and florals take the edge off, shifting it slightly more toward center/Femme and dialing back the Somatic intensity just enough to feel balanced.
To put it in visual terms: this is what a leather couch smells like after two lovers have made love on a hot summer afternoon. Her flowery perfume keeping some of the edge off, his sweaty musk soaked deep into the seat cushions.
Kiki/Bouba sits at a 5—balanced. The leather and woody notes sharpen it, but the orris butter and florals smooth it out considerably. It has edges, but they’re rounded.
On performance: sillage is an 8, this is powerful. Longevity is an 8—expect this to last all day and well into the night. This is not a scent that fades quietly. It lingers like a memory you can’t quite shake.