Seeker78

Although I'm really short on money, I really try to live by a short statement, which in 3 words tells everything there is to know:

'Life is short...'

On 5th of January, 2022 I bought 50 ml of EGOISTE PLATINUM (for more my wallet was too thin) & as a thank you I got 5 quite high quality miniature testers (Givenchy, KENZO,...)

I made it my 'mission' to thoroughly try (test) them all, so that I can post at least a partial review about them on this web site.

I really don't know why I have chosen that KENZO HOMME EDT INTENSE will be my number two on the 'list', but so it happened.

When TESTING fragrances I have a habit to spray the fragrance twice on my left forearm and twice on the right. This is the 1st test & the 2nd one I usually do 2 days later. Same routine, but because usually in the tester is 1 ml (can be also 1.2, but here it wasn't specified), the end result is, that in average I got 3 sprays over BOTH whole arm(s) - in the 2nd test, before the tester was empty.

Now to the main points of my review, which I really shouldn't forget:

From the FIRST spray on, I was mesmerized & I almost immediately felt that I was taken almost 30 years in the past, into my youth and my memory took me somewhere near the beach and I could actually touch, smell and vividly see & hear, what was going on.

Anyway, a very pleasant experience on my couch at home.

If I wanted to exaggerate, I'd use the term lucid dream or dreaming in a state of wakefulness.

No, it wasn't so intense (it is not my intention to deceive you in any way - positive or negative), but it was not very far away from it.

Mainly those memories were 'real' (not a fantasy, because they were substantiated by my mother, because at that age she still had one eye on my whereabouts - well, it seems, that not a lot has changed in 30 years :)

But the main thing was, that at those times and places I was HAPPY, CAREFREE - a stark contrast to the cold winter outside and my pain - which is harder and harder to control, because it comes from the heart, the inside & at least for some time, faded away.

If I take ONLY those aspects of the fragrance, it is worth buying. Period!

So, before I continue: EXACTLY one week later I went back to the store & bought my KENZO HOMME Intense 40 ml (my hands were shaking, because even this tiniest bottle - 40, 60 or 110 ml - I could hardly afford & to be honest, I was sincerely hoping for the 60 ml variant*).

* insider tip from a long time employee there (how is this trustworthy, NO IDEA); so to paraphrase her:

"If you really like this fragrance, buy AT LEAST the middle variant, because the prices will without a doubt go up, not even stay as they are and DEFINITELY NOT fall even a bit."

But there is always something & I'll mention this (ONLY) one negative thing here first:

Someone who doesn't have so much money problems as I do, would probably not even notice, that this EDT Intense (I'm leaning to the conclusion, that the added word 'Intense' actually means something & brings this fragrance closer to the EDP. Said otherwise, IMO this isn't just a marketing stunt) is quite costly.

But don't get me wrong, for example: Sauvage Elixir has (again, just IMO) 'problems' with sillage (I'm NOT even touching the main problem of this fragrance - COST). And this is for such HIGH concentration & LOW content of the fragrance (60 ml) just UNACCEPTABLE.

If I try to compare longevity of those two fragrances, there seems to be a tie. But looking at the BIG picture (you surely know what I'm talking about), Elixir is AGAIN IMO a clear loser.

Why am I comparing exactly those 2 fragrances? KENZO probably doesn't have a question mark. And Elixir I chose because of the 'hype' around it & there is another reason:

In one month I was four times in the same fragrance store & I conveniently used the opportunity, when I bought two other fragrances (2 times I bought nothing, but who cares), to test Sauvage Elixir & attempt to find the 'magic', which people (apparently) see (smell) in it.

When it comes to smell (at least for the first few hours), Elixir is for me (barely) the winner. Yes, it smells REALLY NICE for the first few hours, but for me (especially at such a price) there is really nothing new, no 'WOW' factor & this is what I really miss (and I surely won't be the only one :)

I'm not even mentioning the absence of associations & memories, which are with this fragrance completely missing (AGAIN - at least in my instance and I admit this is one of the most subjective factors I'm describing here).

To continue, what is happening when I'm smelling Elixir and what I really miss and what I DO get, when I do only one quick (doesn't even have to be a 'deep') smell with KENZO HOMME Intense:

The scent(s) start their 'voyage' in my nose, they continue their way to the smell center in the brain (olfactory bulb) and end their (short) route in the amygdala & hippocampus, which are ALWAYS the source for triggering a memory with details and if you're "lucky" even an intense emotion.

A DEFINITIVE 0 : 2 for Kenzo (but again, a very SUBJECTIVE experience, so I'll 'allow myself' giving you an advice in the middle of all this words AND IF YOU CAN, follow it:

It doesn't matter, how adorable words I will still use BELOW for the description, how KENZO smells.
Everything about this review (and majority of others) is to a degree (especially this one, because I'm new here & don't have so much experiences) SUBJECTIVE:

PLEASE, do me a favor and don't make a blind buy. Period.

Now it's out and I can continue:

Although the brain retains its 'plasticity' ALL its life, the odour receptors for Elixir obviously didn't have the need to make any such connection for me. :(

Rather the opposite (my experience) is true for KENZO (the main reason I bought it *), but I must emphasize that the scent is ALSO very pleasing, nice & soft - understatement (my mother used the adjectives 'intrusive' & 'harsh' - probably just to annoy me, because after few days she was nearer to my 'wavelength' :) .

* NOT ONLY just because it triggers a memory on a scale level of movie 'Total Recall' with Arnold Schwarzenegger. No, just kidding... :)

With confidence I say, that durability is way ABOVE the AVERAGE & that the sillage is beyond my expectations, especially for an EDT (Intense or not :)

I'll leave the descriptions, where comparisons are made with OTHER individual fragrances & described with notes, to other reviewers, whose collections of perfumes are bigger and they have much more experience than me, to write reviews in such a way as described in this paragraph.

I have ONLY one request for you ALL:

Please don't be too harsh on me & don't 'tear up' my review. I tried my best to bring you my experience with this fragrance nearer to you all & English is not my 1st language. Besides that, this is only just my 2nd review.

If the review was even a bit helpful to you, a click on the 'proper' button will take you less than a second & the same is with the award. But don't get me wrong:

If you have something to add: A compliment OR the opposite of it, please do so.

Thank You all in advance.

P.S.

You may look up on the web the synthetic substance 'Calypsone'. It is one of the ingredients in this fragrance (only today it was changed from 'Sea Breeze' - I think / hope, that my proposal in the forum had at least something to do with this) & I have the feeling that it gives some of the magic to this fragrance, which caught me in its net.

After a long time, I decided to buy myself a new perfume. I get into the shop where the fragrance department is not much bigger than my living room. There were 5 shop employees & I described to them accurately what I like from perfumes & expect from them. A fresh, fruity scent and all other 'stuff', which you can read on the page devoted to me on this website. I was also very explicit in my statement, that my signature scent was LONG AGO (10 years +) 'Magnetism' from ESCADA for men, but those sellers didn't have the slightest clue what I was talking about.

But NO! I was there for more than one hour, tested around a dozen perfumes, but not a SINGLE one was remotely related to what I was asking for.

As I already wanted to go home, the only male employee persuaded me to try on my skin (which was still 'reserved' for the right scent) EDT 'Valentino Uomo Born in Roma Yellow Dream'.

Believe it or not, because I'm not exaggerating, I was already a bit dazed & felt slightly nauseous from trying out so many scents, but still he had chosen the best fragrance of the day based on my description of what I like.

I chose to follow his advice and I must say that in spite of being (only) an EDT, this fragrance has a very strong scent. (YES, I DO know that many other factors are at play here!). In spite of the fact that this 'Yellow Dream' smelled quite pleasant, it wasn't quite what I was searching for. If I were a more impulsive person (also read younger :) & my wallet would be thicker, I'd buy this fragrance instantly. Yet I chose to come back tomorrow and see how the scent will develop and IF this was really the fragrance I was looking for.

On the first glance everything seemed alright:

The scent was the closest match to that I was looking for and it was in my price range (even BELOW).

And yet as the popular saying from Aristotle goes:

'The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.'

, could be applied here perfectly.

I said to myself: 'Enough! You don't always get EXACTLY what you're looking for!' But after having enough of everything, I was prepared to pay and leave with a thinner wallet.

I really don't know what STOPPED ME from making the purchase almost at the time, when I wanted to take the wallet out of my pocket.

I decided to come back tomorrow or in the following days - the stock of the perfume was plentiful, so there was practically no chance that people would buy all of them - think about everything a bit more and enjoy (or not ?!) how the scent, according to the 'pyramid' and the info on the net, will develop.

In next hours at home I was rather disappointed, because obviously the perfume had reached it base notes rather quickly and didn't change anymore (though it smelled nice - not fabulous, where you can say 'WOW!', it was nevertheless a pleasant experience to put my nose in the vicinity of my arm, where I originally applied 'my' fragrance.

Next day in the morning, when I woke up (17 to 18 hours later), the scent was still there. Of course much milder, but if you put your nose not more than 1 inch or 2,5 cm away from the original 'spraying point', you could perceive the milder but the SAME scent as yesterday & it went away only through my morning wash routine with a touch of a liquid soap.

Although the next day the shop was open to 9PM in the evening, I had ABSOLUTELY no more impulsive desire to spend quite a lot of money for something that is OK, but nevertheless misses something, that I can't define with words, but after the FIRST spray on your skin I could say without any hesitation:

"That's it!" (& you also go with almost no regret OVER your predefined budget).

And so my story with the first perfume (which I even wasn't supposed to review :) ended.

Around 2 or even 3 weeks went by & I have completely forgotten my negative experience in the perfume shop and decided on the weekend the 30th October - it was Saturday, to give it another try.

It was a spontaneous visit, without ANY expectations, maybe more to just get acquainted with new fragrances. I brought to shop a small paper notebook, to write down my experiences with individual perfumes, so that I could later check on the net (in my country we have ONLY one online shop devoted EXCLUSIVELY to beauty products and original (VERIFIED!), newest perfumes - and most importantly, they sell them for a minimum of 30% lower price as in the 'physical' shop and sometimes the difference can be even bigger), what of interest I found.

But a surprise was waiting for me.

After 20 or 30 seconds a female employee stepped to me (I didn't ask for any help) and nicely offered me her help by asking me what I was looking for. I wrote above why I was there, so I must have looked somewhat uninterested and told her what I was looking for very fast & left out my Escada experience. Everything lasted maybe even not a whole minute - a total opposite to my first time.

But she remained her composure, was calm and smiling (NOT 'artificially').

And there I was:

There were only 2 bottles of "YSL L'Homme L'Intense" 60 ml left & I didn't even check the price (fortunately or maybe it was meant to be, that it checked out perfectly) & in the tester was only a small amount left (15%?).

I really don't know why I offered my hand to spray the perfume on it (usually I reserve this to the last, best 'candidate' and other scents that come first are tested on paper test strips).

I really don't know how to start with the description of the scent. It is strong, yet discreet & not too heavy and doesn't go into the nose 'forcefully'. There's something mysterious about it & I fell in love INSTANTLY & I was mesmerized. Even if you don't find it special, there's a big chance that you won't describe it by using negative adjectives.

Without ANY thinking I bought it & I don't regret it a bit.

At least on my skin, EVERYTHING: sillage, longevity & projection are quite above average.

As I got home, I tried it out, by putting 1 spray behind one ear, the 2nd one behind my other, the 3rd & 4th on my collars of the shirt and the last 5th spray was left for the back of my neck.

PROJECTION: As my mother came home and was still more than 1 meter away, she INSTANTLY asked me, what smells so nice? But whatever she tried, she couldn't accurately define the smell.

She went past me & I felt that a pair of eyes was looking at me, but as soon as I turned to her, she acted as she was doing her usual errands. I'd say, this is a good measure of SILLAGE, because in 3 days this happened twice to me (my mother & a female colleague of mine).

Back to my mother:

On the day I bought the perfume, I couldn't get enough hugs from her & she said the reason is that I smell so good, but not too 'intrusive', because she couldn't get enough of her nose on my head. :)

Let's go to LONGEVITY:

I don't have to write a lot here. On the day I bought the perfume I was quite tired & have fallen asleep in the shirt I had on in the shop & at home.

I know, a bad habit, but this was an exception. Yet in this case it helped me, because the collars smelled excellent (the shirt had to be washed because of the scent) & only AFTER a LONG shower the scent of the fragrance disappeared.

Only 2 comments more, before I run out of space:

In this instance (or is it my skin?): 'LESS is really MORE.'

And IMHO, this is a fragrance that may seem too casual or dull to you, but there is a GREAT chance, that whatever the END impression, it'll be in worst case NEUTRAL, but not BAD.