Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
07/30/2015
ColinM
516 Reviews
ColinM
2
Flowers, spices and orange (and vanilla)
I was ready for a (likely boring) blast of pure vanilla, but Nicolai’s Vanille Intense does contain way more than simple vanilla. Actually, if it wasn’t for the name, I would not have called this a “vanilla” scent at all. This seems to me more a sort of really pleasant, albeit sadly slightly cheap sort of neroli-bergamot-musky fragrance with some pepper-cumin, a whiff of herbal aniseed and quite a bold presence of orange-fruity notes, with also a really graceful smell of orange flowers. Not overly sweet overall – actually, barely sweet. There’s some sweetness but it is dry, austere, dusty, elegantly floral. Vanilla is there just to soften and sweeten the base notes, and it even almost disappears after a while. The drydown seems in fact mostly peppery-ambery still with a balsamic whiff of orange and herbs (with a persistent nuance of aniseed for me, which may be an aldehyde though). Kind of similar to the same concept of Fendi Theorema for women, just a bit louder and cheaper here, less heavy on cinnamon and heavier on both pepper, amber and orange-herbal notes.
Quite pleasant overall: a tart, refined, really aromatic fragrance, and for once it’s aromatic in a slightly unusual way – not many fragrances use orange notes this way. Vanille Intense kind of explores orange in some of its nuances – you get the leaves, the blossoms, the fruit. The rest – spices, amber, vanilla, some musk – just acts as a background enhancing the main notes. Sadly the quality doesn’t seem that high as regards of the materials (thus affecting the richness and the vibrancy of the notes), and despite you get a nice evolution and some really nice nuances, overall I find Vanille Intense a bit cheap – in the “flat/synthetic” meaning. You feel it could be way more sparkling and charming than this. I wished they had a bit more budget for it, as Vanille Intense had all the potential to be a really good fragrance. Anyway as-is it is still undoubtedly pleasant, warm, comforting and easy to wear, also with excellent projection and persistence... just a little overpriced for the quality for me.
6,5-7/10
Quite pleasant overall: a tart, refined, really aromatic fragrance, and for once it’s aromatic in a slightly unusual way – not many fragrances use orange notes this way. Vanille Intense kind of explores orange in some of its nuances – you get the leaves, the blossoms, the fruit. The rest – spices, amber, vanilla, some musk – just acts as a background enhancing the main notes. Sadly the quality doesn’t seem that high as regards of the materials (thus affecting the richness and the vibrancy of the notes), and despite you get a nice evolution and some really nice nuances, overall I find Vanille Intense a bit cheap – in the “flat/synthetic” meaning. You feel it could be way more sparkling and charming than this. I wished they had a bit more budget for it, as Vanille Intense had all the potential to be a really good fragrance. Anyway as-is it is still undoubtedly pleasant, warm, comforting and easy to wear, also with excellent projection and persistence... just a little overpriced for the quality for me.
6,5-7/10
