Francesca Bianchi Tyger Tyger Review — Baroque, Sweet and a Little Dirty

Francesca Bianchi Tyger Tyger had me at the first spray. My notes could have ended there.

First spray. I love it.

End of review.

Unfortunately for my wishlist, I wore it twice more.

Tyger Tyger is another sample from the discovery kit Francesca Bianchi kindly sent me. A cold interrupted my testing after the first wear, so I gave my nose a few days off and came back to it once I could smell properly again. I saved the official notes until after I’d written down my own impressions. This is how I managed to be genuinely surprised by a tuberose perfume, which, given my track record with tuberose, is quite an achievement.

A sugar-grain opening and a touch of decadent Baroque

The sweetness was the first thing I wanted to put into words, and I kept coming back to texture. I could almost feel grains of sugar on the tip of my tongue. There was a little sparkle to it, something playful against the richness of the perfume, and a softness underneath that made me want to stay with my wrist for a while.

That opulence reminded me of elegant French perfumes from a few decades ago. I couldn’t give you a particular bottle or even a particular year. The picture that came to mind was decadent Baroque. Think heavy velvet, gilt catching the light, a room furnished by someone who saw space for one more ornament and took it as a personal invitation. I mean all of this as a compliment.

There’s something almost disarmingly cosy about that first stretch on my skin. I love a fragrance that can feel this rich and still have that little flicker of mischief. At this point I was already mentally making space for the bottle, which is a wildly premature thing to do while the opening is still opening.

Thirty minutes in, something leathery

On my third wear, about half an hour after spraying, I noticed a slightly dirty edge beneath the sweetness. It gave me the impression of leather, with a faint bitterness that made the perfume feel darker and more intricate. I’d noticed the sugary quality from the first test. The leather came into focus on that last wear.

What I liked was how the two sensations sat together. I could still pick up that sweet, almost granular quality, but the scent had grown more sensual. The softness was still there, too. It felt like a warm embrace that had started to make its intentions a little clearer.

I’d already had a run-in with Bianchi’s honey in The Dark Side, where I picked up spices, dried herbs and something almost tea-like. With Tyger Tyger, the shift I kept going back to was the one from sugar to leather. My review of Francesca Bianchi’s The Dark Side

Francesca Bianchi Tyger Tyger notes and inspiration

After writing my impressions, I finally opened the official page. And there she was. Tuberose.

Francesca, we haven’t even met in person. A little restraint would have been appreciated.

Bianchi describes Tyger Tyger as a 25% extrait de parfum built around white flowers, including tuberose absolute. The official notes include honey, peach jam, leather, oakmoss, patchouli, sandalwood, oud and heliotropin. The name comes from William Blake’s The Tyger. Bianchi’s own image for the fragrance is of someone in a shimmering dress walking through a smoky, ruined world. I’d pictured velvet and gilt. I like that we both ended up imagining someone rather overdressed for the surroundings. 

Longevity, projection and sillage on my skin

Even from the discovery kit sample, Tyger Tyger gave me about two hours of strong projection and a noticeable trail. I could still smell it distinctly on my skin for a good six hours. The half-hour mark on my third wear was my favourite part, when that leathery edge showed up while the perfume still had plenty of presence.

The wishlist verdict

Francesca Bianchi Tyger Tyger went straight onto the wishlist. The first spray was enough to put it there, but the third wear gave me the reason I’d want a full bottle. I want to see whether I’ll catch that bitter, leathery edge again, right at the point where the sweetness has me feeling perfectly at home.

And yes, I think the bottle is gorgeous. I was hoping to find at least one reason to exercise restraint.

Some perfumes win me over at the first spray. Others make their case somewhere around the third wear. Here’s what I’ve been testing lately. Explore Fragrance Reviews