The Dark Side (Extrait de Parfum) by Francesca Bianchi

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The Dark Side Francesca Bianchi 2016 Extrait de Parfum

Ranked 454 in Unisex Perfume

7.9 / 10 559 Ratings

A popular perfume by Francesca Bianchi for women and men, released in 2016. The scent is spicy-resinous. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is still in production.
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Main accords

Spicy

Resinous

Smoky

Sweet

Woody

Fragrance Notes

Spices

Frankincense Honey

Honey

Styrax

Amber

Sandalwood Violet

Violet

Iris

Vanilla

Cedarwood

Patchouli

Vetiver

Perfumer

Francesca Bianchi

Ratings

Scent

7.9559 Ratings

Longevity

8.7486 Ratings

Sillage

8.1487 Ratings

Bottle

7.4416 Ratings

Value for money

7.7264 Ratings

Submitted by OPomone · last update on 02/15/2026.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

The Dark Side Sublime Oil

Under My Skin

Édition Rare - Ambrarem

Bella Freud

Byzantine Amber Extrait de Parfum

Moth

Reviews

36 in-depth fragrance descriptions

06/18/2024

Mlleghoul
476 Reviews

Mlleghoul

Very helpful Review 8

a savage lycanthropic metamorphosis under the full moon of a midnight bazaar

The Dark Side is actually the scent that drew me to this brand in the first place, and I’d been intending to order a sample for some time now. I was expecting darkness, but I was not expecting a savage lycanthropic metamorphosis under the full moon of a midnight bazaar. A whirlwind of feverish spices, the smoky char of glowing resins, the harsh metallic tang of hot breath, and the acrid sting of writhing, burning skin, a feral cocktail of predatory hunger and pitiless urges.

05/15/2018

sebjar
55 Reviews

sebjar

Very helpful Review 5

My Francesca Bianchi The Dark Side Review on YouTube

This is my Francesca Bianchi The Dark Side Review recently shot with Dalya on YouTube. The Dark Side is a dark, woody and resinous perfume but it's brightened by the honey and vanilla notes to make a smooth, creamy woody almost gourmand, delicious fragrance. It's the perfect fragrance and both Dalya and I are big fans of this beauty, The Dark Side from Francesca Bianchi. To find out more about Francesca Bianchi's The Dark Side perfume please watch my review on YouTube. Thank you.

03/11/2025

8.5Scent 10Longevity 9Sillage

Smirky
525 Reviews

Smirky

Helpful Review 4

Unique opening followed by spices and wood

Opening has a very interesting, strong violet scent mixed with subtle honey and something I can only describe as metallic or mineral like. I've never smelled anything quite like it. The spices and incense start to develop as it dried down. Ends up as a strong spicy and woody fragrance which lasts for a very long time. The woody scent is very dry - almost like smelling the inside of some long closed cabinet or drawer - not musty or moldy - but dry, almost with a touch of varnish or shellac. After the opening, strikes me as quite masculine. Very good longevity - going on over 12 hours and still quite noticeable with strong projection and for quite a few hours after application.

01/30/2021

10Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

MariaS
23 Reviews

MariaS

5

Honey, I have the sweetest dark side

I decided to write my first review on this perfume so don’t be harsh on me.

This perfume was a love at first sniff. Usually when that happens I order 2 bottles asap but this time I didn’t because I have already bought 5 perfumes this month (damn lockdown).

Francesca Bianchi Perfumes:
I had the chance to test all Bianchi perfumes before I decide which one to buy. I love all Bianchis because they have an identity. You smell them and you say “this is Bianchi”. I love the fact that you can’t distinguish the notes. You can’t easily tell what you smell. You feel like there’s some leather but there isn’t any. My favorite of all was Under my skin but I believe is mostly for men. But anyways whichever perfume you chose its totally worth it. This woman did a great job and I believe a perfume of her deserves to be in everyones collection.

The Dark Side:
I read that F.Bianchi was inspired by the city of Marrakesh to create this perfume. I have never been there, but friends of mine who have, they loved it and told me that it’s a place that has a weird beauty that makes you want to go back but there’s also some darkness that scares you. And all of them brought back some Moroccan spices. And this is exactly what I get with this perfume. It is called The Dark Side but when you smell it is not Dark at all. It’s so syrupy sweet. With spices.

Onto the fragrance-The smell:
From all the Bianchis, this one was an instant crush. At the opening, you get an intense smell of spices on a soft bed of oud or vetiver, some incense and some flower, maybe the patchouli. When it settles to your skin it becomes spicy honey sweet and you can smell that till the drydown when you mostly get a leathery honey smell. When you spray it the room smells for hours. Please Francesca, make it an air freshener I would buy all of it!

The performance:
This is where I kind of disagree with some comments about the perfume. I was expecting the performance to be from another planet but it didn’t. I am and active person and I move a lot but almost all my niche perfumes smell all day (almost 10 hours). If not on me, at least on my clothes. This one, I wore it everyday for a week from the moment I got it and all the days, almost in the middle of the day, I couldn’t smell it on me. At the end of the day I couldn’t smell it on my clothes either. So yesterday when I returned home I asked my man to smell me and my clothes and tell me what perfume I wear and he couldn’t tell. So I was a bit disappointed in that aspect of this perfume. Is it maybe my skin or because I was very active this week? I really don’t know. When I say activity I don’t mean I am a gymnast, I just don’t have a desk job. I still have a lot of sprays to prove me wrong because I really really adore this perfume.

Season/Occasion/Audience:
This perfume is mostly for cold weather, or at least a weather you need to wear a jacket. As for the occasion I believe it is suitable for any occasion. I could wear it to go for a coffee or at a business meeting. The perfume is totally unisex and can be worn by a man or a woman without getting uncomfortable comments like "you re wearing a male/female fragrance". Also, because its a complex perfume, I believe a person who is not into niche fragrances cannot appreciate the smell. This amazing smell...ah!

Conclusion:
It is a great perfume and its worth a try.

Thank you for your time my fellow perfume lover.

Updated on 01/31/2021

03/01/2025

10Scent 10Longevity 10Sillage

Annahaze
21 Reviews

Annahaze

5

Lilith's signature

I find myself loving pretty much everything from this brand, and, among the ones I’ve tried, this is the most beautiful and powerful iteration of Bianchi’s typical heavy amber-y iris butter DNA.

I find the honey note very prominent on me, but not in its cozy, edible iteration you would instinctively think about: it's an insanely spiced up, sticky, animalic honey, surrounded by smokiness.
The result could be described as a sweet incense, which sweetness has some very big, sharp teeth - hence my adoration.

I see that here it's currently marked as more masculine-leaning, but if I had to assign a gender to The Dark Side, I'd say it's actually extremely female, without a doubt; savage, divine feminine, to be precise.
This is the smell of Lilith, the smell of rightful violence.

-- for more reviews:
@sharpteethstarlet on TT
@saintannahaze on YT