Mainstream Monday – Sniffing a Popular Perfume
After the success of Guerlain Homme, the world was given Guerlain Homme Intense. It’s the same idea but it’s supposed to have more depth and last longer, blah, blah. It’s not a bad fragrance but it isn’t a good Guerlain. Maybe I’m just being harsh like the top notes of this fragrance.
Homme Intense opens with a minty freshness and garden greens. It’s very sharp and harsh in my opinion. It has something in it that reminds me of what citrus juice smells/tastes like when it’s in a can. There’s something aluminum. After 5-10 minutes, this top settles and this is a good thing. I get an iced mojito with an under-ripe mango. This isn’t bad. The mint mingles with a licorice-like Thai basil. The dry-down is pencil shavings and vetiver. The rest of the fragrance isn’t bad. It’s that sharp metallic top that I don’t like at all.
Notes listed include peppermint, rum, rhubarb leaf, floral accord, geranium, patchouli, cedar and vetiver. PERFUMER – Thierry Wasser
Give Homme Intense a try if you are looking for a fresh, minty masculine or if you are looking for a “safe” fragrance. This fragrance takes no risks other than possibly ruining the brand integrity of Guerlain. OK, I apologize. I really don’t mean to come across as so negative. This fragrance is OK. Give it a try if you like scents like Cartier Pasha, Kenzo Homme Woody, Jean Paul Gaultier, Armani Men Code Sport and/or Davidoff Cool Water for Men. A fragrance like this would be good in a warm climate or in the summer.
You can find Guerlain Homme Intense at discounters like Perfume.com. It isn’t so easy to find these days. Check out discounters.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Peppermint, aluminium citrus, iced rum with a boring woody base. Guerlain playing by everyone else’s rules. Boring.
Want more reviews? Try…
Basenotes (member reviews)
Fragrantica (member reviews)
The Scented Salamander (more info on the fragrance, bottle, etc.)
i’ve only tried GH, not GHI, but I think you nailed it with this:
“Guerlain playing by everyone else’s rules. Boring.”
Maybe I’m judging this perfume harshly because it’s Guerlain. Maybe I’m not being fair. Maybe if some soccer player had their name on this and sold it in a drugstore, I’d be nicer to it. But, it saddens me that this is a Guerlain and that Wasser made such crap…on purpose.
So, the original GH is better. The GHI seems “blockier” in my opinion, not as smooth.
[…] vetiver. Or if you like perfumes like Atelier Cologne Bois Blonds, Odin 01 Nomad, CdG Amazingreen, Guerlain Homme Intense and/or L’Artisan Timbuktu. Like many vetiver fragrances, Umbra is *technically* unisex. […]