L'Homme Ideal L'intense

A prickly peppery yet sweet opening, later turns to a smokey vanillic nutty flower bed. The spices never fully dissipate, but on the drydown they take a backseat to the smooth blend of almond, vanilla, tonka and floral notes. I surprisingly get a lot of realistic Chilli Pepper, which is lovely and not something I've come across in many parfumes. The patchoulli is really subtle here, which i enjoy, it support the scent by adding a slight aromatic feel, but without the sour balsamic qualities that I've noticed sometimes come with a more prominent use of patchoulli in fragrances. The leather mostly blends with the base notes and isn't easy to pick out, I'd say it's more of a "leather essence" as opposed to a realistic depiction.

My second favorite from the ideal line behind only the EDT. Only reason I give the EDT slightly higher (although both rated love) is that the EDT has slightly better performance. Intense is great it's spicy, masculine and still keeps a portion of that DNA. It's a nice twist on the original. Good for fall day/night wear, intense is just a solid overall choice. Love the slight heat, the subtle smoke note and the blend of vanilla and tonka while remaining masculine. I know extreme is probably the most popular (along with EDP), but it's probably my least favorite out of the 5 I've tried. Here's how I would rank them:

This is my second review and the reason i’m coming back is I just find this fragrance masterful. It’s just simply beautiful the way this juice comes together. I really think the dry down is one of the best i’ve had the chance to smell. I’m always in the mood for this scent I find it addicting as hell. I may be going anosmic to it unfortunately but my friend told me he could blatantly smell this on me. I’ve actually noticed this blossom with time… with maceration I swear it’s gotten even deeper and more rich. I have a newer batch and I think it preforms decently. Love this sh*t for real … Try it.

I feel like this one is a little underrated, this and the EDP are my favorites of this line. The EDP is a sweet crowd pleaser with a delightful cherry accord and a broader age range. L'intense takes the DNA in a very different direction - it's refined, elegant, dark and smoky. It's not an easy sweet crowd pleaser but I wouldn't say it's difficult or polarizing either. Probably more tuned towards mature, older types, it begs to be paired with a sharp suit or other dressy getup. Adventurous yet classy and not loud.

Phenomenal scent, it is pretty mature though. I don’t really get the Coca Cola comparison, it’s there but honestly it’s more like Dr Pepper with more spice and darkness maybe from the smoke? I love it