Francesca Bianchi The Code of Emotion, AI image by Nicoleta
There’s something deeply personal, almost voyeuristic, about experiencing a new Francesca Bianchi fragrance. Each one feels like reading a new diary entry, that draws you into a dream-like-sequence – where the lines blur and things are not always what they seem. She calls her creations –so appropriately – liquid emotions, and with her signature intensity, she dances on the knife-edge between comfort and discomfort, light and shadow, making every composition feel like an intimate secret you had the privilege to be allowed to get a glimpse of. And the thrill of discovering a new chapter! Oh, boy, few things make me so giddy, these days 😀
I’ve never been into watching sports, but I think I finally get what it feels like when your team wins the championship. That rush, that Campioni del mondo! moment. Well, that’s exactly how I feel watching Francesca Bianchi’s perfumes being discovered by the new wave of fragrance lovers, both online and in real life. Francesca is a Millennial adored by the Gen Z #perfumetok crowd – an unfiltered, enthusiastic, emotionally charged crowd of young scent enthusiasts who live for goosebumps-inducing experiences. The fact that her perfumes are so loved feels like poetic justice. Because if there’s one perfumer whose creations were made to be felt, dissected, and obsessed over with songs, mood boards, and appropriate “aesthetics” – it’s her. So I’m cheering along while everyone falls head over heels for the seductive, moody, and unapologetically human world of Francesca Bianchi. And honestly? It’s about damn time, as it’s not about hype but well-deserved recognition.
Francesca Bianchi, photo via Instagram
Francesca Bianchi’s latest release takes a sharp turn from what we’ve come to expect from her. No iris, no powdery whispers, not even a hint of that tactile buttery facets she usually plays with. And the animalic bite? Practically dialed down to a soft purr, with just a couple of clean musks keeping things from feeling too polished. It’s a bold move, stripping back some of her usual signatures, but in doing so, she shifts the focus – giving us something fresher, youthful, yet still unmistakably hers. If there’s one scent in her lineup that comes close in mood, it’s Libertine Neroli. That one had a full-on cinematic sun-drenched, carefree vibe – think tanned skin, white linen shirts, and the glint of a cocktail glass on a lazy Italian afternoon. It was a whole Italian-arthouse-art-movie aesthetic, where everything is just the right amount of glamorous and undone.
IMDb, Moonrise Kingdom (2012)
Now think of the same setting but Francesca Bianchi The Code of Emotion could have been easily storyboarded by Wes Anderson himself. Less of a dreamy, spontaneous montage and more like a carefully composed shot where every detail is intentional. The framing is tighter, the mood more controlled – she’s playing with symmetry, contrast and saturated frames. It’s not about excess or that signature Francesca sensual overload – this is about razor-sharp precision in triggering just the right emotions. I can’t escape the feeling of an emotional domino, set to tip over precisely when intended. And I’m smiling at every move.
In Francesca’s words: “Even before I launched my first perfumes, I was obsessed with the idea of an “Emotion Generator Machine”. This is what drives me during my creation process: building fragrances with the specific purpose of igniting an emotion. Like a mechanic fine-tuning a powerful engine, I carefully place each note in order to trigger specific emotions — i.e. the intensity of passion of lovers, a memory of the smell of skin, a sense of nostalgia for an imaginary place, etc. For this particular creation, my focus was to dig deeper into the very mechanism of the emotional response to my medium of expression, the art of perfumery. How can I make it work? Are there methods that can be replicated? And can they spark the same emotion in different people? I experimented in different directions, focusing on a method that I used many times already, but this once with more focus and intention. The goal was to decode an emotion, to deconstruct the input that ignites it, in other words to write a ‘Code of Emotion’.’
AI photo by Nicoleta
In composing Francesca Bianchi The Code of Emotion, I see Francesca more as a programmer – rewriting the code of a classic fougère, breaking it down, and injecting something unexpected into the system. She starts with the familiar green-aromatic-woody backbone, a structure that’s been around forever, but instead of following the standard blueprint, she throws in a wildcard: a punchy, juicy tropical fruit accord, with mango at the heart. It’s like hitting refresh on a genre you thought you knew – suddenly, the predictable becomes glitchy… in the best possible way. The contrast is what makes it addictive. That classic barbershop DNA is still there, but it’s rewired, disrupted just enough to make you do a double take. It’s both grounding and exhilarating, a scent that plays with expectations, keeping you on your alert on your toes – deep enough to keep things interesting, but never pressing any pedal to the metal.
Francesca Bianchi The Code of Emotion, photo by Nicoleta
Juicy and mouthwatering, but not in a “let me grab a spoon – gourmand” kind of way – but just a fun, carefree and effortlessly cool scent for spring and summer – and the optimism here is coded deep, but it never feels naïve or shallow. It’s a… well-informed optimism – the kind that has seen all the dark corners of the human experience but chose to dance anyway. You’d think the fougère backbone would make it lean a little masculine, but nope – the mango comes in, throws on a pair of bright happy yellow sunglasses, and kicks it right back into perfectly unisex territory. Delightful!
Notes: Bergamot, Pink Pepper, Exotic Fruits Accord, Lavender, Geranium, Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Oakmoss, Vetiver
Nicoleta Tomsa, Senior Editor
Disclosure: A bottle was kindly offered by the brand, opinions are always my own.
Francesca Bianchi The Code of Emotion, photo via the brand
Thanks to the generosity of Francesca Bianchi we have a 30 ml bottle of The Code of Emotion for one registered reader from the EU or USA. You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest based on Nicoleta’s review and where you live. Draw closes 4/2/2025
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