A perfume that needs no introduction. The flanker that eclipsed its originator, in a series whose powdery DNA has a following like few others. For many people, the GOAT of "men's fragrances", or at least designer ones. I shall tread carefully.
It's potent. So when I set to salvage my old sample from years of disuse and enthusiastically squeezed its plastic nozzle not once, but twice (!), that was a mistake. I was oblivious at first, of course.
"Wow, a clear 9/10", I thought to myself. "A scent that punches well above its weight." Only I soon realized that it's my stomach that was about to get punched, through my nose, by a Trojan horse made of gently toasted orris butter and concealing a boatload of powdered sugar. It reminds me of how some dark chocolate manages to balance cocoa powder with sugar in such a way that the bitterness and sweetness perfectly neutralize one another. The sweetness in Dior Homme Intense is similarly balanced, concealed so well that it had me wondering why this innocuous concoction was making me nauseous.
"Okay, maybe an 8/10". I thought it was just the opening that would be this intense, and that surely, things would mellow soon enough. But the fragrance lives up to its name, remaining intense for at least as long as it took me to give up and scrub it off.
"Well, at least a 7/10".
Dior Homme Intense (DHI) features sweet, somewhat powdery orris butter with woody undertones. The orris note reminds me a little bit of Bois d'Argent Eau de Parfum or Black Tie Eau de Parfum, in that it's too strong and/or sweet for me. I prefer gentler orris-heavy scents like Rimbaud or Iris Trousseau, both of which are lighter on the nose, but heavier on the wallet than DHI.
I'll have to give DHI another chance, but until then, that's my preliminary 2 cents.
