Dior Homme Intense Dior 2011

The search for a sweet fragrance that suited me was quite difficult at the beginning. All the comments and recommendations you can find here didn't make it easy. It should be a sweeter fragrance, especially for the last two seasons, but a little sweeter than, for example, Sauvage perfume, which already has a permanent place in my closet. It shouldn't be too floral/floral or have too fruity a sweetness. Thanks to Parfumo and the Souk, a few from the shortlist finally landed in my mailbox. And what can I say, L'Homme Intense turned out to be the revelation for me. I should mention for the sake of completeness that there was also Tom Ford Noir Extreme, Valentino Uomo Intense and Dua Brands Midnight Rendezvous in the mailbox. But of all the fragrance of YSL came to me spontaneously and even later still the closest.

It took only seconds until I was already blown away. It starts sweet, powdery, slightly floral. Immediately unfolds the lipstick note, which in the further course but thank God again withdraws and is henceforth in harmony with everything that was there and comes. In a wonderful way, discreet woody notes combine with slightly clean, musky notes, i.e. the aforementioned virgin cedar with the ambrette seeds, which are also called musk grains. No wonder I perceive and love L'Homme Intense so much, as I also dig the musky scents of Narciso Rodriguez. Blind tested, I would have even guessed Narciso there. It is indeed a simple as well as beautiful composition that I find it hard to believe that it is supposed to be just the three mentioned components in top, heart and base notes. This sweet iris or iris absolute must be made of such unusual irises, I can hardly explain it otherwise.

Durability and sillage are indeed very good, but it never slays me. on the contrary, I just can't stop sniffing my hand. And if I'm ever walking around or outside without thinking about it, I immediately notice this gorgeous scent cloud again. In the end, I'm left with a slightly floral, vanilla, powdery, even minimally smoky sweetness with a hint of musk. I do not care if others say "what are you wearing for a sweet stuff" and no matter if disparagingly spoken of mass sweet plörre.

I'm glad that I could compare L'Homme Intense with the others, because I had already squinted very much in the direction of Tom Ford. And I'm just glad that I have no allergy to mass-market designer fragrances.