Thursday, October 20, 2011

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.

4 comments:

queen_cupcake said...

I love the Guerlinade but also find it a bit difficult to just wear. And so I really appreciate your review. I haven't tried either of these perfumes but you can bet I will now.

GeM said...

Abigail... I'm absolutelly excited about this review. I don't know if you remember me: I'm the 'LouLou fan', and these Chloé ones are my new two loves as well. I 100% agree with the 'chewy vibe' you find in Love,Chloé (me too!) and with the Guerlainade association of the Eau Intense (when I smelled it I thought the same!). The fact is that I couldn't decide between the two, I simply can't say which one I like better... Since a few days ago I was a happy owner of Love, Chloé, but accidentally, last monday I happened to test the Eau Intense and oh my dear ... since then I can't stop thinking about it. Are you still enjoying and wearing them all toghether? (one on each wrist) haha, that was funny and I'm one of that crazed perfume nuts who understand it. So would you recommend me the Eau Intense purchase as well? Is it more of a fall/winter fragrance rather than a spring/summer one? I'm wearing Love, Chloé right now as I find it perfectly adequate for summer, at least in a moderate heat >25ºC (in general terms I do think every talcum powder 'evoker' is perfectly adequate for summer, I usually spread a SMN's scented one all over the bed and pillow, as a refresher anti-sweating). Of course I don't mean that Love, Chloé is just a talcum powder, this is not Teint de Neige. Love, Chloé doesn't bore you, is interesting enough to keep you enamored, and at the same time it's comforting familiar enough to keep you satisfied. Well, in short: isn't that the true meaning of love? :P

GeM said...

PS: I forgot to say that I'm torn between two fragrances: Chloe's Love Eau Intense and Guerlain's Chamade which I also find sublime in a similar way, maybe due to the hyacinth/iris/lilac notes they have in common? (as far as I know there's no blackcurrant/cassis in Eau Intense, but it also seems a bit to my nose!). So well I'll must choose, what a hard task. :))

Anonymous said...

Despite the time which has elapsed since you published it, I found your review most informative, though marred by the dreadful "Even me, who prefers..." which I imagine was supposed to read "Even I, who prefer..." My belated thanks, Abigail