L'Homme Intense Prada 2017

L'Homme made a huge impact in the mainstream market over a year ago and showed that there are still really great fragrances under €70 that smell unique and very high-quality, meaning...they have their own style! The success of L'Homme was justified, but somehow also expected. I'm not familiar with running a perfume brand/company, but when an Intense version is released so quickly, it must have been planned from the start with such a large budget and campaign, likely following a strict timeline. I believe less that the brand reacted to consumer feedback here, as L'Homme already had enough spice and power...at least for me.
Since the people responsible at Prada or Puig are probably not working out of charity, this is legitimate, but it takes away a bit of my perfume romance, robs the craft of perfumery of its soul, and turns it into an industrial product, like soulless mass-produced wines from the steel tank.
Enough crying...how does it smell now!? Well, L'Homme Intense smells quite intense;-)! It has a great spicy scent with iris and tonka bean. I also think I smell lavender in the Le Male version. Still, you can perceive the original freshness and lightness of the normal L'Homme. The soapiness has been dialed back a bit, replaced by a sweet spiciness in a light leather form. Nothing here smells sticky sweet, like what feels like 98% of all new releases, and it doesn't remind me of Valentino's Intense, which I personally find significantly sweeter and powderier. For me, it’s simply a less polished evening and autumn/winter version of the normal L'Homme, where the clean aspect has been reduced in favor of more sexiness. Darker, more intense, and also more interesting, it will likely be perceived and rated just as well and pleasantly by those around. It simply has more style and class in direct comparison to many other similar fragrances, not quite as exaggerated and overwhelming. L'Homme was a bit too tame for me over time, like Infusion d'Homme, but the Intense has simply more punch and spirit.
The longevity is sensational for me; sprayed on at 8 PM, I could still smell it the next morning at 9 AM, which even Black Afgano couldn't achieve;-)! Well dosed, it is also suitable for everyday wear and the office during the day, but it doesn't handle warm temperatures very well due to its spiciness, which is suboptimal. To be honest, I wouldn't really want to smell something so intense at 25 degrees, so I'm already looking forward to the cooler days, as it will fit perfectly then.
To maintain a bit of perfume romance, I hope that Acqua, Sport, or Ultra won't follow now. Please also skip Ultimate, L'Eau, and Cologne, just let the two fragrances stand on their own, dear Puigs, let others do the nonsense...not you, please...okay!?