Our take
What does Dior Homme Intense smell like?
Dior Homme Intense pushes the founding idea of Dior Homme even further: making iris the heart of a masculine. Everything here is denser, more powdery, more sensual. The opening is brief, carried by an aromatic lavender that quickly gives way to the main event. The heart is a sumptuous iris, buttery and slightly earthy, enriched by musky ambrette and a discreet pear that adds fruity roundness. Cedar and vetiver bring a dry woody frame that stops it from turning too cosmetic. It evokes lipstick, grey suede, a silk shirt. It remains one of the most admired masculines for sheer refinement.
When to wear it
For autumn and winter evenings, dates and dressy occasions. It suits men who love powdery elegance and women who happily borrow it.
The story of Dior Homme Intense
To understand Dior Homme Intense you have to go back to mid-2000s menswear. Hedi Slimane was running Dior Homme and pushing a very narrow, pale, almost adolescent silhouette. The 2005 Dior Homme fragrance put that look into scent with a cocoa-tinged iris that ran against the aquatic and sporty masculines of the time. In 2007 Intense took the idea as far as it could go. Where the original kept sage, bergamot and a touch of leather, this version narrows its focus to iris and ambrette with a discreet pear. Its woody frame is reduced to cedar and vetiver. Slimane left the house that same year, which makes the scent one of the last products of his tenure. No perfumer is named in our data, so we don't name one. Later the line gained a face in Robert Pattinson, who has fronted Dior Homme fragrances since 2013. To us, Intense is the reference version of the family, ahead of the original.
Our detailed review
Lavender lasts about as long as an espresso, an aromatic curtain that lifts almost at once. Then iris walks in and stays. This is root more than flower: buttery, a bit earthy, with the dry texture of rice powder. Ambrette adds a musky, almost bodily warmth, and pear gives a fruity flicker you sense without being able to name it. Around hour three, cedar and vetiver firm it up without drying it out. By then it smells of grey cashmere and clean skin at the collar of a sweater. We think it is a rare beauty for a mainstream masculine. It has limits, though. After hour two it barely evolves and stays a variation on one theme. Its powdery softness can also read as melancholy to anyone expecting something fresh. It suits men who like skin scents and fine materials, and plenty of women too. Fans of sporty freshness will be bored, and anyone who hates anything reminiscent of makeup should steer clear.
Dior Homme Intense vs its rivals
The 2005 Dior Homme shares the lavender, iris and vetiver. It adds cocoa, amber and leather, with a fresher sage and bergamot opening, and the result is drier and easier at the office. Intense is denser and more powdery, clearly built for evenings. Givenchy's Irresistible has a surprisingly similar pyramid, with ambrette, pear, iris and cedar. It is a rosy, musky feminine take and much lighter. Smelling the two side by side shows just how dark the Dior iris is. Maison Margiela's Replica Lazy Sunday Morning also shares iris, pear and ambrette. Its version is cottony and aldehydic, pure clean laundry. For an elegant evening masculine, go with Intense. For a quieter everyday iris, Dior Homme. Lazy Sunday Morning suits men who want softness without the powder.
Longevity, projection and use
Sold as an eau de parfum and rated 4 out of 5 for intensity, Dior Homme Intense lasts well, usually eight to ten hours on skin. Its projection is more modest than its reputation suggests. After two hours it sits at conversation distance. Two or three sprays are enough: one on each side of the neck and one on the chest under the shirt. The iris opens up better with body heat than in open air. It is a late-autumn and winter scent for evenings, dates and dressy occasions. It still works on cool spring nights. In summer the powder turns heavy.
It belongs to the Floral, Woody family. Dior Homme Intense is one of 15 creations by Dior in our encyclopedia.
