Maybe some of the readers see my 10/10 rating for this fragrance and think, "What has he taken?" but another rating just felt wrong for ME - and that's the crux of the matter: It's MY 10/10! And here’s the explanation why:
The first perfume that gave me a serious "wow! I MUST AND WILL HAVE THIS!" moment was none other than Kenzo Homme Night. Admittedly, now after 2 years in the game, I find it relatively boring, but back then it just blew me away. And I'm the kind of person, when I like something from a brand, I want to try the other products too, and by chance I found out that my father used to wear Kenzo pour Homme Eau de Toilette when he was younger! So I gifted him one, and just like that, we had two Kenzo fragrances in our (my) collection. Over time, I tested more and more from Kenzo, and one thing you have to give the brand: nothing smells like something you've already smelled. Even if it might be a designer brand, I find all the Kenzos beautiful and especially very suitable for spring/summer. I was therefore very excited last year when I found out that Kenzo was releasing a new fragrance: Kenzo Homme Eau de Toilette Intense, but when I read that it was just another concentration of an already existing fragrance, my excitement waned and brought me back to reality. It became problematic when I watched a YouTube video about the fragrance from a YouTuber I really like, and he dismissed the fragrance as repulsive and labeled it as pickle water. What can I say, I didn't dare to test it for months because I didn't want to be disappointed (I know, silly, right?). Eventually, curiosity got the better of me, and I sprayed it on a test strip in the blue D. That was the moment I regretted ignoring it for so long. Of course, you can tell it's a blue fragrance, but Kenzo Homme Eau de Toilette Intense had something more mature about it. A fresh/salty-sour all-rounder that really shines in summer. The similarity to Kenzo pour Homme Eau de Toilette is definitely there, but it's not a dull and boring almost identical flanker, but really different. If the pour Homme had been released today (or in 2021), it would smell like the Intense version.
It starts with a very fresh but also peppery note. It smells like washed-up seaweed with driftwood, but in a nice way (if seaweed can smell nice at all, or smell like anything :D) To be clear: It is absolutely not a complex fragrance and remains rather linear, changing very little, but sometimes you need exactly such a fragrance: just spray it on and you're ready to go. And that's exactly how it is with Kenzo Homme Eau de Toilette Intense - you spray it on and feel fresh immediately. I can also understand the parallel to pickle water; there is always a present sourness noticeable, but combined with the woody notes and the fresh, earthy vetiver, it is simply very nicely rounded. In winter, I actually don't wear it that much, but that's mainly because I have other fragrances that are more suitable for winter and I also use them. But in summer! Oh, summer goes hand in hand with this fragrance! Summer fragrances are usually designed (in general) not to last long and not to leave a thick and heavy scent cloud behind, otherwise: headaches. However, with Kenzo Homme Eau de Toilette Intense, you have extremely strong longevity and sillage with fresh-aquatic notes, meaning: it doesn't lead to headaches or nausea; not even at 35 degrees. I just love it in summer!
Around summer, I wore it so often that I convinced two of my friends to get this perfume as well. Moreover, I've actually received the most compliments with it, and even my friend's little sister came into the room and sprayed it on :D.
As for the season, I don't think I need to say much: summer, spring, but mainly summer!
Time of day: I see it more as a daytime fragrance because:
H/S: Longevity and sillage are fantastic: On my skin, it lasts 10 hours even though I sweat like a horse in summer, and the sillage is also very impressive: for me, 4 hours continuously, then it just pulls back a little, but it remains present the whole time. The longevity on clothes is in a whole different league: I could still smell it on my vest weeks later... That's also why I think it's more suitable for daytime. In the evening, I don't want to wear such a loud and fresh fragrance that could even bring the dead back to life.
As for the target audience: I personally think it's a men's fragrance, but younger people can wear it well too.
The bottle is beautiful, like a bamboo stalk cut by a katana, blue, and even the sprayer is the same color as the whole bottle! The sprayer releases a lot of juice, so 3 sprays are more than enough, but I still like to apply more ;) Kenzo itself says that the bottle consists of a certain percentage of recycled glass, which is nice. The cap is made of plastic, and as often as I've used this fragrance, it doesn't hold up very well anymore :D.
Price-performance ratio is also top: you can get 110 ml for €53 and sometimes even less. Of course, you don't need that much, although I've almost used up my 60ml in half a year :D.
These are all the reasons why this fragrance gets a 10/10 from me; it does everything right in its league, so why not give it the best rating?
