Byzantine Amber (Extrait de Parfum) by Francesca Bianchi

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Der ledrige Geruch eines Schulranzens oder die Ahnung salziger Luft eines ersten Urlaubs am Meer.Oder - Am Brunnen vor dem Tore.10.04.2023 😅 Lieben Dank (by Seejungfrau)

All die östlichen Köstlichkeiten in der Truhe wurden von diesem rauchigen Gischtkegel geflutet. Die Styrax Schmetterlinge tanzen nocheinmal. (by Seejungfrau)

Essentials

Byzantine Amber Francesca Bianchi 2023 Extrait de Parfum

7.9 / 10 220 Ratings

A popular perfume by Francesca Bianchi for women and men, released in 2023. The scent is leathery-smoky. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Leathery

Smoky

Resinous

Spicy

Oriental

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Cinnamon

Bergamot

Heart Notes

Geranium

Base Notes

Benzoin

Labdanum

Styrax

Leather

Ambergris

Frankincense

Perfumer

Francesca Bianchi

Ratings

Scent

7.9220 Ratings

Longevity

8.6183 Ratings

Sillage

7.9183 Ratings

Bottle

7.2166 Ratings

Value for money

7.2122 Ratings

Submitted by TheBladi11 · last update on 02/12/2026.

Source-backed & verified

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Essentials collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Amber Kiso

Le Lion de Chanel

Ambra Aurea

The Dark Side Extrait de Parfum

Beach Klub

Parfum de la Nuit 1

Reviews

9 in-depth fragrance descriptions

03/05/2023

8.5Scent 10Longevity 8Sillage

Darkbeat
386 Reviews

Darkbeat

Very helpful Review 6

The leather that wanted to be amber

I have been with him for several days and, despite the fact that it is not what I expected from notes, I like it more every day, I cannot be happier with this acquisition.

When I bought it I thought it would be a dense and deep amber, where amber would be the absolute protagonist, but no, I was wrong, here there are two protagonists and not just one, leather and amber.

The perfume is an amber leather that is somewhat dirty and animal, precious, it is as if we were to change the incense for Ambra Aurea with leather, and with that idea in mind, you can get a very real image of what the perfume would be like.

The performance is very good, of extraordinary duration, but with moderate wake or projection.

It is a perfume for cool climates, and for special occasions, it is not very versatile, but if you are a lover of resins and leather, you must have it.

05/20/2025

ClaireV
969 Reviews

ClaireV

Helpful Review 4

Indie version of Le Lion

I love amber in all its forms and so really enjoy Byzantine Amber, but even I was surprised at how straightforward this was. Its simplicity makes sense when you consider that it is part of Francesca Bianchi’s ‘essential’ line, which feature her takes on the essential bedrocks of perfumery, such as neroli (I loved her Neroli Libertine), amber, oud, and musk. But I know Francesca Bianchi and I’m not sure how she resisted the urge to do something perverted and weird to the amber accord here.

Resist she did, though, and the result is a beautifully thick, dry, incensy amber that smells like an indie version of Chanel’s Le Lion. It has the same initial brightness as Le Lion, though it uses the minty-rosy sting of geranium to achieve it rather than Chanel’s lemon, but the main idea is similar. It should be noted that Le Lion improves upon the incense-amber templates of both Ambra Aurea (Profumum Roma) – by being far drier and more leathery – and Amber Absolute (Tom Ford) – by being more wearably sheer in texture. As such, it follows that, by being closer to Le Lion than to any other similarly styled incense amber on the market, Byzantine Amber is an improvement on those older models too.

On the other hand, the thick dustiness in Byzantine is that of a fuzzy woolen blanket and old woods, while the dust in Le Lion comes sheared off a lump of frankincense and is more austere. The dollop of leather in Le Lion is quite animalic, similar in fact to the horsey, saddle soap, and poo funk of Cuir de Russie, while Byzantine Amber remains warmly inviting, non-confrontational, its leather a texture more than a smell. Le Lion is directly related to Shalimar (without the powder), while there is no familial connection there with Byzantine Amber.

Anyway, I didn’t mean to spend 90% of a review of Byzantine Amber comparing it to Le Lion, but I guess the fact that I just did means that I think highly of an indie perfume’s ability to orbit this closely to a Chanel. Personally, I enjoyed Byzantine Amber a lot, don’t think it’s essential for anyone who already owns any of the resinous ambers mentioned above, but would be happy to steer people who are still amber-curious or Chanel-avoidant in the direction of Francesca Bianchi.

12/29/2023

SmellGoodGuy
83 Reviews

SmellGoodGuy

2

I've been DUPED!

I'm mad.

You see what feeding in to the hype gets you? -_- Ok, so I wanted this, not only because I (convinced myself) "needed" a straight amber fragrance, but also because of the perfumer. I have Etruscan Waters and really like it. Also, I needed something to complete my cart and I told myself, hey, why not.

Any how, now I have it.

I opened the box, spritzed the back of my hand; Sniffed. Yes!

Sniffed again. This is good, but why does it remind me of something I have or have sniffed before.

Sniffed again. Wait a min...

Opens spill-over drawer and pulls out Leather by Commodity. Sprays on forearm.

-_-

Not only does Byzantine Amber smell almost identical to Leather by Commodity, but PALES in comparison. With Leather by Commodity smelling more niche, better blended, and of better quality.

I've always really liked Leather by Commodity, but as it was one of my early purchases I kind of put it in the back and just never really touched it in years. Opting for the latest and greatest as I started over purchasing. Embarrassingly so.

Also, years ago I considered labeling over my nose. If it said leather, so be it. It's leather. Fast forward to today, this very day, with Byzantine Amber on my hand and Leather inches away on my forearm, I now see that Leather, altho leathery, is really Amber. Or more to the point: labdanum forward. Both leather and amber are accords, with labdanum being the star of the show.

So, yeah, if you don't have Leather by Commodity, this is more than worth it. If you do and, like me, own both; compare. 101 percent you don't need Byzantine Amber.

Commodity's Leather is all you need. Albeit more leathery and more animalic.

Being as this is a new acquisition, I will be updating if I feel there are substantial delineations between the two, which I doubt.

UPDATE:

Ok, so the juxtaposition of Commodity's Leather reveals the existence of oud in here. A note you'll see an increasing amount of perfumers omit due to the connotations oud brings to the imagination -- e.g. "challenging", "stinky", "fecal". However, here, it's very light handedly applied to bring a rounded depth to the fragrance. But without a doubt, there's oud in here. And iris (of course). Again, as with the oud, it's only there to round everything out and create depth, nothing to highlight. Finally, I've noticed this has greater longevity than Leather and, in the dry down, beefier.

Updated on 12/29/2023

08/23/2024

9.5Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

Gorin
50 Reviews

Gorin

1

Xerxes' from 300 personal leathery (not ambery!) juice

Rich and intoxicating, dramatic, bold, dark and spicy, imposing, alluring, sexual and a lil mystical.
Xerxes kinda was I guess but I'm talking about this perfume rn.

Special stuff from our friend Bianchi, imo this is her most underrated smelly water, and her easiest to wear.
If you overspray or get your nose right up in there it's a bit animalic.
So unless you're getting freaky at the office you can pretty easily wear this to work.
Overspraying is getting freaky too btw. U little hedonists wearing 5 sprays >:)!

btw if you're expecting another straightforward boring amber perfume, it rly isnt.
i get more leather, spices and incense than amber.
'oriental' is a dumb and vaguely racist way to describe perfume notes - but this one rly is oriental.

Idk who is giving this 8/10 for sillage but 2 sprays of this stuff is PLENTy, and will easily last 10 hours.
One of the best niche perfume houses available, for the price of peanuts.
Seriously I'm considering buying the 100ml bottle of this just to support Francesca bc I would legit pay double what she charges for 30ml.

I must own this juice.
and YOU must try it!

Updated on 08/23/2024

06/05/2025

8.5Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

Avantcrap
34 Reviews

Avantcrap

1

A dusty old box of resins, warmed for the first time in a century

Byzantine Amber is a wonderful, no-frills take on a classic amber accord that is cold, dusty, and ‘historic’ yet very much alive - from the ancient halls of long-fallen empires to modern spice markets. It departs from the typical contemporary approach to amber with, notably, the omission of vanilla, which in combination with the geranium note can read a bit 'leather accord-like' to some noses (somewhat in the Papillon Anubis direction).

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