This scent is clean, warm, and sweet with the inclusion of a roasted tonka bean note for good measure. I like how dry the composition is and how the amber sort of soaks the iris. JOHN: You’d given me Infusion d’Iris Eau de Parfum Absolue to smell, and it made a big impression. Do you think L’Homme (original or Intense) are related? How about Prada Amber?

Here are some photos of my old 2017 made in Spain by Puig bottle which I bought 4 years ago and the new 2021 made in France by L'Oreal bottle: I think I'll give it some more wearings and further comparisons to give you my final thoughts about it. The powdery iris and the mix of woods, sweet notes, and leather are truly fantastic together. Not a super complicated fragrance in its development, but is definitely enjoyable throughout. MARLEN HARRISON: When I first smelled L'Homme, I thought it was a nice scent...nice enough to try it on my skin and nice enough to be curious to want to smell it again. With Intense, it wasn't quite love. I did try it on my skin but felt it just wasn't for me. What were your initial thoughts about these two scents? How do you explain your own reactions to the fragrances? It does occupy that same sort of space that the Dior Homme’s of the world do, which might prevent me from getting a full bottle in the near future. Though, since Dior has reformulated Dior Homme in 2020, maybe this would be a nice alternative. Update: This Prada is discontinued now, also.

I don't know how big the differences are with those, you may want to find out by yourself if that's one of your favorites. And I want to mention, that when I asked at a perfumery if they have some bottles left and if they could look where they are made, the SA told me that the latest regular Prada L'Homme EdT which they've got is also made in France.

L’Homme Prada is a fragrance of pairs, of doubles, of juxtapositions and layers. The classic codes of the male Fougère are all present in Neroli, Geranium and Patchouli. Yet the interchangeable male/female Prada signatures are present, too, in the shape of Iris and Amber, the principal elements. It is a mix that is both airy and yet purposefully, highly sensual.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. What I can already tell is that I can easily tell them apart when doing A/B blind tests on paper strips. What it ultimately dries down to is an incredibly rich blend of mainly the iris and tonka bean. It’s so classy and smooth, with the leather and amber, being the next most powerful notes.

JOHN: We've talked about the advantages of flankers in the perfume world. Here you think the original is more successful. What quality in the "Intense" made it go wrong? Why is L'Homme right as it is? The longevity for me hits around 9 hours, which is great for just about any purposes. Not exactly top tier level, that goes on for seemingly ever, but this Prada isn’t going to disappoint. Truly, for most purpose Intense is going to work perfectly.

made in France is more zesty, fresher, zingy, closer to the original L'Homme EdT, not nearly as full in the base - BUT it's projecting off the paper strip like crazy, even hours later and you'll get that slightly dirty, almoast "sweaty" patchouli note in the sillage. Many of Pierre Bourdon's submissions to L'Oreal over the years were shot down by her, and she's still with the company today. She probably saw that many older Prada masculines like Amber pour Homme, Amber pour Homme Intense, and the Luna Rossa Sport line (both regular and L'eau) didn't sell well enough to meet expectations, and since L'Oreal is ultimately beholden to produce growth and profit above all else, they cut the weakest links.

So in essence, L'Oreal didn't -make- any new L'Homme Intense, they just finished bottling what had already been made. Any differences in smell are probably due to how the uncut oil from Givaudan was processed. Also, L'Oreal doesn't have Givaudan on their shortlist, (list of oil houses they commission for new scents), which also explains why Daniela Andrier (long considered unofficial house perfumer and hand-selected by Miuccia Prada) is no longer perfuming for Prada and didn't do Luna Rossa Ocean. I'd think deliberate change to formula requests from L'Oréal to Givaudan to improve marketability would be possible, but unlikely if they had decided they aren't buying more oil. As you may have heard there's a fair bit amount of discussion lately about Prada L'Homme Intense being discontinued. MARLEN: You know, I immediately recognized L'Homme as a Prada, and when I smelled Intense I though, "Yup, totally Prada." Here I'm thinking of Infusion d'Iris, Infusion d'Homme, and the Luna Rossa line, especially. L'Homme and Intense are definitely related to the last two, but Parfum Absolue, not as much. And I agree with what you said about the dryness. Even though I mentioned that neroli and amber sweeten L'Homme, and that Intense is even sweeter, I should also add that there is a dryness here that turns me off, especially in Intense. I can appreciate Andrier's composition but for me, it goes a bit...sour? I had the same problem with Infusion D'Homme and Luna Rossa. The only Prada fragrance I wear is Luna Rossa Extreme, and sometimes I even have problems with that one due to the dryness of the pepper and the labdanum.So, today I have another entry from the Prada line of men’s fragrances, and one of the flankers to the original Prada L’Homme: Prada L’Homme Intense. In this post, I am going to cover what’s in it, how it smells, when it should be worn, how long it lasts, and if it is even worth a buy? 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. DESIGNER'S DESCRIPTION: "At the epicenter of the House, La Femme Prada and L’Homme Prada represent a fluid relationship between polar definitions. The family of fragrances draw on both time honored ingredients and surprising compositions, yielding fragrances that defy expectations. 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!