Prada L'Homme Intense
Prada (2017)

Very powdery. A well crafted specimen, if you like modern designer lounger (in lieu of 'clubber'), but linear & powdery.

One of the best "contemporary" designer releases. A Midnight rendezvous under the gigantic firmament, a mysterious Duke enveloped in its black cloak. A princely fairy starry eau de parfum and a quite romantic ambery patchouli with a minimal tad of a refined "minty/green/icy" undertone (a sort of whispered starry freshly spiced amber a la Mugler Angel/Ysl Opium Pour Homme/Nuit d' Issey Polaris and a super classy vaguely anisic-piney languid iris). There is a vague rubbery twist which I still feel cold and "astral". Angular, "modern-retrò" and poetic this is a fragrance for "medieval knights" of the new millennium and story tellers under the stars. Despite its kind of fairy oriental aura I have to say that Prada l'Homme Intense smells surprisingly versatile during the daily "office-affairs" due its fresh aromatic barely hesperidic (I'd prefer Prada l'Homme for the daily occasions). A dark winged moody angel on his white horse, the olfactory rendition of the
Tim Burton's movie Eduard Shissorhands-final scene.

Prada L'Homme Intense by Prada (2017) is a scent that garnered a lot of hype upon word of its demise at the hands of Prada trading between Antonio Puig S.A and L'Oréal S.A. These days it's not entirely known if it is in production or not, as counters here in the US don't really carry it anymore; but Prada's website seems to list it, and a healthy supply of it seems to be found online at prices higher than before, but not beyond the realms of reason. It's at this point, after the zeitgeist has effectively ended, that I decided to finally tackle a review on the scent, as I didn't want uproarious readers taking possible violent umbrage over my opinion of their deity in scent form, then engaging in an online harassment campaign as one does when so obsessed. So now, onto the scent itself; but before I do, be aware that buying into most of the former hype surrounding this stuff results in a rather anticlimactic experience when tested.

For those who have familiarity with Prada L'Homme by Prada (2016), the intense version opens a bit sweeter, with more-evident tonka in the first few moments. From there, we see a dialed-down iris note, with neroli replaced by some aldehydes and a focus on amber similar to Prada Amber pour Homme Intense by Prada (2011). If you've never smelled any version of this scent, know it is a soapy iris-forward fragrance not unlike Deaville pour Homme by Michēl Germain (1999), Dior Homme (2005), Valentino Uomo Intense (2016), and Gentleman Eau de Parfum by Givenchy (2018); meaning if this sort of thing isn't your jam, turn away now. Beyond that difference of opening tonka sweetness and ambery warmth, there isn't much difference in the dry-down between normal L'Homme and this intense variant, aside from less patchouli here once again subbed with something the brand is calling sandalwood.

Performance is good and long, but not particularly loud; I actually found the regular eau de toilette to be quite a bit more boisterous in projection than this eau de parfum. My sampling of this does come from an old Puig travel bottle though, so anyone telling you the Puig version is an absolute beast or whatever hyperbolic claptrap they may use to describe their most-worshipful fragrance, tell them to spray a sock with it and stuff it in their muzzle, the grown-ups are busy talking now. Well, that's about it really; this is a smoother, warmer, slightly sweeter, and somewhat redundant take on the original Prada L'Homme, which itself I feel did more for this micro-genre than any of its flankers anyway. If a slightly easier-going but less-unique version of the scent is what you're after, or a replacement for Prada Amber pour Homme (2006), this may serve for a marked-up price. I like this stuff don't get me wrong, but for me it's redundant to my collection. Thumbs up

In full transparency I must admit that I blind bought this because I heard it was an excellent fragrance that was, unfortunately, being discontinued.

I'm so happy that I did. because It ended up being quite a pleasant surprise.

The initial blast is just plain fresh..no particular citrus, tea, or anything comes to mind, it just smells to me lie what "fresh" should smell like. Then a sweetness quickly appears, a facet of this fragrance that will remain throughout it's life but never becomes cloying or too much to bear. Finally, the tonka and ambers settle in, and they give it a nice clean suede feel, which is fully supported by the powdery iris. It's a rather simple fragrance but the handful of notes that are here are blended very, very well. That said, I do wish it had a touch more of an edge to it, a bit of darkness to contrast all the soft pleasantries this provides. A touch of anise seed for a licorice touch? That would be nice. I am nitpicking, though, as this is beautiful as it is. I'm just a huge fan of darker materials.

One interesting thing about this fragrance is how soft it opens compared to how it awakens and behaves later. On my skin, the first 10 minutes of this fragrance is incredibly soft and I will only catch the smallest little whiffs of it here and there. Then it begins to grow. And grow. And grow. By the 20-30 minute mark it has fully developed and I get wonderful projection. It smells very classy, and very "in charge".

I have been a fan of Prada's Luna Rossa line for some time and I knew they were known for their use of iris to make clean and somewhat soapy smelling fragrances. Given that reputation, I was expecting this too fall into that soapy category as well, but it doesn't. In my experience, the iris is just for that soft powdery touch, the velour that enrobes all of the other notes and makes it very classy. I'm loving it quite a bit. (Don't you love it when a blind buy goes well?).

I definitely see why this fragrance is so respected as it is a winner for sure. I see this as an easy wear for just about any situation. As far as seasons, I'd probably go spring, summer, and early fall. I hate following such rules myself, but I don't think this one is quite bold enough to cut through the colder parts of winter. That said, if you work in an office, you could certainly wear this one year round, I know I will be. This one would be so easy to dress up as well. It's smells quite expensive and I could easily see this matching perfectly with a nice suit. In fact, I think this is a bit more tuxedo-like than YSL's Tuxedo. All in all, this is a fantastic all around pleaser.

9/10

A lot of tonka - that is want I get initially. A nice, intense but quite civil tonka that is neither too intrusive nor cloying. An iris is present too, bit on me it is very much a background accompaniment only.

A bit later a soft and light suede impression is added on; it is not intense but still manages to be sufficiently strong to make a good contribution to the whole.

Further done the track and ambery patchouli is of notice. this is a safe duo, that acts as a counterpart to the sweeter accords, but overall it remains a sweet-ish creation. There are a few moments of whiffs of sweetwood-like aroma being present.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection, and eight hours of longevity on my skin.

A pleasant scent for warmer autumn days, it is is not particularly original or exciting, and at times a bit generic. On the other hand, the notes are quite intense at times, and the are blended very well in a harmonious and balanced way. This is a case where the flanker is better than the original. 3.25/5

Iris, Leather, Tonka, Amber, Patchouli

I love Prada L'homme Intense. The original L'Homme was a bit boring for me, and the Intense flanker amps up the personality of this fragrance in all the right places, but at it's core it's still a fresh, clean Iris scent which just smells "good".

Powdery in the opening, but not to the point of cloying or annoyance, this fragrance exudes luxury to me. It feels high end, but the addition of leather and Tonka give it a playful feel that's much more interesting to me than the original. Performance is excellent in terms of longevity, but it sits pretty close to the skin for me, which makes this ideal for work scenarios. I can go four sprays of this and smell it on myself for 8-10 hours without choking out a room or annoying anyone near me. People around you can smell it, but not in an overpowering way...Hard to explain fully but once you wear it, you'll have it click.

This is wearable any time for me, but my preferred scenarios are work and formal events, as it just smells "dressed up" to me. Fantastic release all the way around, a badass bottle with a scent to match.