Salty citrus aquatic with a subtle, polarizing oud
Intense French Riviera takes Mancera's best seller from around 2020 to 2022 and makes it richer, darker and a bit polarizing. It opens fresh, citrusy and aquatic, then dries down a little green and darker.
The notes are Sicilian lemon, tangerine, orange, ginger and black pepper on top, sea spray, iodine accord, mimosa, tiare flower, Cambodian oud, Virginian cedar and vetiver root in the heart, and sea salt, ambergris and white musk at the base. Having oud in a fresh, salty aquatic fragrance is what makes it polarizing. For someone like me who likes oud, it reads as a subtle oud fragrance centered around an aquatic, aromatic, citrusy scent, and that is still the most appealing part. Next to the real oud fragrances on my shelf it does not compare. It is still fruity, citrusy, aquatic and salty, with a tad of green woodiness at the bottom.
Do not take this as a recommendation to blind buy. Test it first, because the Cambodian oud may stand out more to some people than it does to me. It is not a bad fragrance at all, and I think Mancera made an amazing improvement on this scent profile, since I was not a fan of the very first one.
