Projection wise, I find the sillage to be on the upper end of moderate. It’s not a heavy scent, but it projects well, just not crazy so. The performance is very good, regardless, and you or other people will notice this juice on you. It’s really at this time, that I am reminded of Dior Homme and Dior Homme Eau, as L’Homme Intense fits right in line with that series. However, this is stronger on the iris and doesn’t have the leather to the same extent, nor any cacao. The overlap isn’t too extreme. The long answer is: L'Oreal has their own internal evaluation teams that do not involve the input of designers when choosing fragrances to develop, release, or retain when taking over from previous manufacturers. Yvonne Anekwe was named in particular in the book for being especially brutal and commercially-minded with her job of developing and maintaining fragrance portfolios. JOHN: This is an interesting question, and nice to put to me! I was thinking of one artist, but two different paintings. Henri Matisse, the French painter, has a painting in the Museum of Modern Art in New York called The Piano Lesson - this to me is Prada L'Homme... there's a certain quiet, proportioned simplicity to the scent perfectly captured in this painting. The grey color also matches this kind of iris. Another painting by Matisse is a perfect match to L'Homme Intense, it's called The Pink Studio, and is owned by the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, Russia. The painting isn't about the color pink but rather this bold blue and turquoise in the center that takes all the attention. This is the "intense" that I feel when smelling L'Homme Intense. Those rich ambery notes flavored with iris are well-represented in this painting.

Although I recognize a certain perfection in L'Homme Intense that can also be appreciated, it is not a perfume for me that I can wear with pleasure. The Drydown annoys me even more, because there even more of the foundation of the fragrance is lost, and it reduces even more to this too funny sweet core component. This Prada cologne, does have a more mature profile, which isn’t to say that younger guys cannot wear it. However, it’s one that works extremely well dressed up, or out for an evening on the town. It is fresh and elegant and doesn’t have any of the overly youthful sweetness. For example, John Varvato's Dark Rebel. Here the sweet aspect is never exhausting, although enriched with rum! There is simply enough counterweight to keep the ship from shaking.Or it could be possible that some ingredient was substituted to another by Givaudan themselves (owners of the formula) due to supply chain issues on raw materials? This Prada is a clean, classy scent and the iris note is simply great. It’s not one to get, if you don’t really enjoy floral or powdery fragrances. The leather and patchouli rough it up and masculinize it, but there is a very good balance at play here. Ultimately boils down to industry politics and cold unfeeling marketing sociopathy driven by evaluators and directors at L'Oréal. And here I would like to throw myself at the description of my personal impression of L'Homme Intense by Prada.

The recent book about Creed actually goes into detail about how designers, big oil houses, and intermediary cosmetics companies which hold manufacturing licenses for said designers actually work. Prada L’homme Intense starts off with that familiar iris note, with its powdery aroma, and a warm amber plus smoothly rich leather. It’s very nice and has a noticeable darker profile than does the original L’Homme. JOHN: I can only really suggest L'Homme as a very basic, everyday scent that one would use to be very discrete. When I say that, it sounds like code for "office wear," and perhaps that's true. Even then, it will be very mild. L'Homme Intense, on the other hand, is bolder, as you noted, and darker. It strikes me as what you would spritz on when you're leaving the office to go out afterwards for drinks with your friends. Not really a weekend scent, but something for on the town when you want to smell well-put-together, professional, positive, and confident. Summary: In their search for the ideal iris fragrances, Fragrantica editors Dr. Marlen Elliot Harrison and John Biebel discuss Prada's L'Homme & L'Homme Intense. We hope you enjoy this unique new format!NOTES: L'Homme: L'Homme Prada is a modern scent that combines the classic Prada ingredients - amber and iris. There are also notes of neroli, geranium, violet, cedar, pepper, and patchouli.