Love, Chloe Eau Intense

Love, Chloe Eau Intense, the 2011 flanker to Love, Chloe (2010) is described as a more intense version of the original.  Even me, who prefers her perfumes potent with some sillage, was a little nervous about a much stronger version of Love, Chloe.  And, thankfully, this isn’t what Love, Chloe Eau Intense is about.

Since these names may get confusing I’ll refer to the original Love, Chloe (2010) as Love, Chloe and the 2011 flanker Love, Chloe Eau Intense as simply Eau Intense.  I adore Love, Chloe and now I adore Eau Intense just as much but for different reasons.  Love, Chloe is a smooth, polished powdery floral fragrance with emphasis on a chewy orange blossom floral with a big dollop of cosmetic powder.  In a way, after smelling by Kilian Sweet Redemption, I think of Love, Chloe as a more polished version of Sweet Redemption.  I thought I’d enjoy Sweet Redemption, but couldn’t help but find it juvenile after wearing it once or twice; it was just too sweet for me.  I have worn Love, Chloe dozens of time over the past year and this says a lot as I hardly ever wear anything but my absolute favorites more than a handful of times per year.  Love, Chloe agrees with me, it melts into my skin and even though it does have a good bit of sillage, it still feels like the most pleasant skin scent on me. It’s there but it isn’t obtrusive.  It’s me but better.  

Now along comes Love, Chloe Eau Intense, which turns out not to be a more potent version of Love, Chloe but instead a mellower version with amplified vanilla and heliotrope.  Eau Intense smells like the stereotypical ‘skin scent’ (soft and easy vanilla and musks) but with a little more oriental intrigue.  Eau Intense certainly exhibits the original Love, Chloe impression; this sort of chewy orang-y floral, but this only lasts for about 20 minutes after which it becomes a softer, much less floral and imminently cozy fragrance upon dry down.  In trying to think of a comparison, I vaguely recall Estee Lauder Private Collection Amber Ylang Ylang, but when I pulled out the Estee Lauder for an actual side-by side, I found it to be one dimensional and syrupy while Eau Intense is less sweet with slightly more florals and a more varied (less flat) vanilla/heliotrope oriental base.  I also smell something akin to leather once Eau Intense dries down.  The far dry down of Eau Intense is almost as if I’m smelling the inside of my nicest leather bag, the one with a gorgeous suede liner and my stockpile of far-too-many lipsticks and cosmetics in the side pocket.  Eau Intense is a ladylike scent yet it’s so supremely comforting with the addition of a gorgeous non-foody vanilla and fluffy heliotrope note.  It’s entirely possible to enjoy Eau Intense even if you didn’t like Love, Chloe.  

Love, Chloe and Eau Intense have saved me from “perfume ennui” over the past year.  Both of these fragrances are “permanent collection” status.   By that I mean I’m not just sniffing them, enjoying them enough for a couple days, reviewing them, and then forgetting about them.  I will definitely wear both Love Chloe and Eau Intense frequently.  I have already worn about 1/3 of my Love Chloe bottle since last year and I expect I’ll wear at least as much Eau Intense during the fall and winter months ahead.  An observation occurs to me about Eau Intense which is that this (Eau Intense) is my “Guerlainade.”  I love several Guerlain fragrances but never the ones with the trademark Guerlainade accord.  This Guerlainade accord just doesn’t agree with me, it’s too sweet and a little sickly.  With Eau Intense, I’ve found a comforting Guerlainade-type accord that suits me to a T.