Photo by Jamie Nelson©
Ravi Shankar is playing from a tinny transistor radio. Lolling on a mound of mirrored raw silk pillows, shag-haired, kohl-lined mods drag from a hookah being passed around. Sweet, purple-grey smoke curls in clouds in the low-ceilinged tent. Paisley swirls, eyes close, bodies rock and roll. Smoke mingling with aromas of melted dark chocolate bar, sweat on leather, vanilla cream soda and dried leaf. It’s trippy deliciousness. Yeah, baby, this is Francesca Bianchi Sticky Fingers. Take a hit.
Francesca Bianchi, photo Instagram
Described by Bianchi as “a rock-chic patchouli,” Sticky Fingers, produced in extrait, opens with thick, drizzly treacle, with its dark, anisic sweetness and a big handful of moist rolled leaf, uncannily like cherry pipe tobacco that has been lit and puffed once or twice. There’s the same smoky linger, and it intensifies over the next few minutes until I forget all about … patchouli who?
Rolling Stones, Sticky Fingers album cover by Andy Warhol, 1971, MOMA©
Oh, but that patch doesn’t stay shy for long: it edges forward gradually at first – the greener aspects of the leaf present initially – before pouncing forward indolently like a lazy tiger. Fat notes of bitter chocolate and dried earth plunk down, and, in a perfect feat of timing, vanilla-milk tonka bean bubbles up and mixes with them, accentuating the gourmand aspects of the patchouli. A pinch of cinnamon dusts the surface of the notes as the composition begins to take on dustier, drier aspects that balance the syrup. Loamier now, the patchouli’s more edible aspects soften. The night is a smoky-sweet haze. Candles flicker in time to the strains of the sitar.
Mick Jagger, photo by Mark Seliger©
The fragrance grows warmer, slightly sweaty. Animalic must and castoreum emerge languorously and sit back, giving Sticky Fingers a bodily but not overtly sexual quality, while allowing the patchouli-tobacco partnership to remain dominant. A “perversely dirty iris butter” comes through, smelling like soil-soaked pastry, and the worn leather I’ve been waiting for starts to rev its engine. There’s a smudge of motor oil on the lapel, and a small salt tang of sweat in the lining. But just then, a lovely surprise – a trilling, almond breeze of heliotrope – floats over the naughtiness like a lighthearted faerie. A long while later, all those notes coalesce into a meady, heady, mulchy brew. Even at this late stage, I can smell the iris butter, patchouli, tobacco, tonka and cinnamon quite individually if I pull my wrist close. But sinking back in my own nest of pillows, Sticky Fingers clings like the redolence of a night when more than a few rules were broken.
Like many of Bianchi’s other fragrances, Sticky Fingers manages to tread a fine line between raciness and elegance. It is addictive and decadent while also being cosseting and gentle enough to wear in mixed company, in any weather. But, for those of you who love a growl in your perfume, Sticky Fingers is at its best in heat.
And Francesca – that label. You naughty girl.
Notes: Coriander, cinnamon, iris butter, patchouli, sandalwood, heliotrope, musk, castoreum, leather, tobacco, tonka bean.
Disclaimer: Sample of Sticky Fingers kindly provided by Francesca Bianchi. My opinions are my own.
Lauryn Beer, Senior Editor
Francesca Bianchi Sticky Fingers
Thanks to the generosity of Francesca Bianchi, we have a 50 ml bottle of Sticky Fingers for one registered reader, (click here if you aren’t registered) residing in Europe or if you are in the U.S. a 5ml decant. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what appeals to you about Francesca Bianchi Sticky Fingers, where you live and whether you have tried (or own) any perfumes from Francesca Bianchi. Draw closes 7/8/2020
Francesca Bianchi was co named best 2019 Indie House in our Best of Fragrance awards here
This is our Privacy and Draw Rules Policy.
Follow us on Instagram: @cafleurebon @elldebee @francesca_w
We announce the winners only on our site and on our Facebook page, so like Çafleurebon and use our blog feed … or your dream prize will be just spilled perfume.