Description
In spring of 2014, designer duo DSQUARED² presents a new version of their first and most popular fragrance for men He Wood from 2007. This is its enhanced version called Intense He Wood. The man who is imagined to wear this fragrance is described as a modern hero who lives in a big city and dreams of nature. The fragrance is elegant, refined and strong.
Inspired by escape to nature and freedom it brings, the new composition is composed of the elements of “air”, “water” and “wood”. Air is represented by musk tones that blend with amber and white fir. Water is captured by crystal incense, transparent aquatic accord and leaves and flowers of violet. Wood part of the composition is embodied by rich, sensual and mysterious notes of guaiac wood, sandalwood, vetiver and cedar.
The bottle is made from Canadian Red Alder wood, and each individual bottle is special in its own way, due to its material. The fragrance is available as 50 and 100 ml Eau de Toilette.
AbrahamRV – :
Floral damp forest. The wood is lively, not dry and “woodwork-y” as in Encre Noire. Good longevity and sillage, nice bottle design. Still, I think the composition would be even better with a bit less florals, although they have an important function to soften the wood and make it more alluring and inviting. There seem to be some clashing notes in the top, but they subside quickly. Definitely not a metrosexual scent, but not a lumberjack scent either. My girlfriend likes it. It seems to have a comforting quality. At the same time, it’s quite office friendly.
PES123 – :
Overwhelming wood in the opening, overwhelming liquorice in the dry down. If you want to smell like a lumberjack, addicted to liquorice, this is the fragrance for you.
I can imagine people liking it, but it is just too out of place for a fragrance in my opinion.
Scent: 6/10 (Woody/candy)
Projection: 8/10
Sillage: 8/10
Longevity: 8/10
Versatility 1/10 (Cannot think of an event when I would actually wear this)
Uniqueness: 10/10 (Very unique though)
Total: 7 (Because of performance and affordability)
belshonok-nadya – :
Remind me on Prada Luna Rossa,this one is more flovery.
desislav – :
Alright, I’ve been wearing this for 3 days now and here’s what I get:
Pepper. Cedar. Vetiver. Light florals (violet?). Whatever the combination is, it certainly has this kind of clean, almost sophisticated soapy finish that reminds me of something I’ve smelled before…
But be warned! I was originally expecting light florals and sawdust. Instead, the spicy blast at the beginning threw me off considerably. It was nearly a complete turnoff, but I stuck with it just to see if it would develop. It did – and for the better.
I won’t lie – to me, the overall “effect” of this scent is a spicy, cedar licorice. It’s definitely herbacious, but doesn’t really smell THAT natural. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it smells cheap, because it certainly does not. It’s just harsh up close.
The sillage – 8/10 – I can see how it could be attractive. There are some notes at the end that are appealing to my nose, but only just.
Performance – 7/10 – It’s actually OK. However, this is definitely something that will become offensive if oversprayed. Give it 3-4 sprays, 20 minutes before going out and you should be good. But overall, you may need to “grow” into this smell before you can truly appreciate it.
Longevity – 8/10 – Solid.
Overall – 7/10 – It’s unique, it’s interesting and it’s peppery; plus, the drydown is better than the opening, but I wouldn’t recommend blind buying this. You’ll know what I mean if you do.
#needsmorewood
aist – :
I’ve got the tester today…
Smell’s good…projection moderate…
Another great office scent for me. Love this one.
Aktoful – :
It is not horrible but I could never recommend it. It is woody but the aquatic note ruins it. This could have been a good fragrance. I still prefer the original over this.
andon_muladjikov – :
وقتی در جعبش رو باز میکنید و عطر رو ازش بیرون میارید بوی چوب دیوونتون میکنه
اما عجله نکنید این بو از قوطی عطره که روکش چوب طبیعی داره به جرات میتونم بگم خود عطر اصلا بوی چوب نمیده
حتا بوش نزدیک بوی چوب هم نیست
ماندگاری خوبی داره من که ازش خوشم نیومد اما بودن اطرافم کسایی که گفتن قشنگه
tatev – :
اینتنس رایحه اش نزدیک به هی وود هست و از نت های اضافه شده بهش میشه متوجه شد که با ورژن اپدیت شده هی وود سرو کار داریم و هدف شرکت هم افزایش ماندگاری وپخش بو نسبت هی وود بوده.
به نظر من رایحه اش کماکان چوبی و نزدیک به برادر بزرگترش هست ولی تلخیش بیشتر شده. (در عوض هی وود فرش تر هست)
کیفیت رایحه چوبش مثل این می مونه که به کارگاه چوب بری برید و یه تیکه چوب تازه برش خورده رو بردارید و بو کنید. همونطور که انتظار میرفت ماندگاری و پخشش در مقایسه با هی وود خیلی بیشتر شده
VASIOK666 – :
amazing, smooth woods and violet scent!
Day time in rainy day (just wow!)
more a spring scent (could be a great fall scent but the violet make it lean to the spring)
Low sillage: great for work, school and formal occasion
8/10
obsluzhivanieotprofi – :
Not really “intense”, but I like design of this bottle. Reminds me of Canadian sauna. This scent is in fact lighter, and sweeter than the original one, propably aimed for the younger audience, but very pleasant nonetheless.
immiscusbaf – :
to me it smells like he wood with some fahrenheit dna in it, does nobody else smell it ?
aleksiann – :
Well… I was hesitant about this perfume to say the least. I can’t help the feeling that tells me that It could have been a great edition!
He wood intense is a weird smell… Not very original but unique in a very specific way! It has a huge aquatic note, but, unlike other aquatic fragrances, this one seems dry! It’s a dry aquatic fragrance. I think it’s the violet that saves this fragrance from being another generic aquatic! It doesn’t open citrussy… It’s not sparkly, nor energizing so I am not seeing it as a summer day perfume. It has a heavy woody structure in the dry down which is very good! I think it’s perfect in autumn and early winter (not when snow is falling)!
My problem with this fragrance is that it does not last long on my skin… 3 Hours max… Maybe in the proper weather it will last longer.
All in all, I am still confused about it… It’s a nice subtle scent with a niche of it’s own, but, I can’t see it as intense or captivating as I expected it to be.
My rating: 7/10
Edit: Now looking at the other reviews… I couldn’t agree more with houdini4! I was asking myself, was the violet note necessary? With it, It’s a strange combination that is nice but, replacing the violet with another ingredient may have been better. Maybe not… What do I know… I am not a perfumer!
16180339887 – :
I wrote another review of this then misplaced it and obviously didn’t post it here, let’s try to remember how it went shall we???
What a let down!
Something like that…I don’t know what I was expecting from this new ‘Intense’ He Wood but needless to say it didn’t even live up to my non existent expectations.
Come on DSquared2 this is lame!
I have He Wood which in it’s self took a while to charm me and if I have a collection purge at the end of the summer will likely be one of the first out of the door. Don’t get me wrong I quite like the strange ghostly violet and wood combo but I just don’t love it enough to wear frequently.
Tried this side by side with the original and the similarities are obvious as you’d expect but I have to disagree that it’s ‘stronger’ than He Wood certainly not in sillage/projection or Longevity terms.
Deeper? perhaps yes and less powdered violet which in essence does make it woodier but not nearly enough to warrant the name.
All this being said I think I prefer this version due to the top notes not quite being as intrusive has He Wood but still I’m a little irked at the rehashing of a tired formula when they could’ve given us something new.
Instead all you end up with is a slightly tweeked juice in a more boring bottle than the original He Wood.
Faith_fromAF – :
not up to expectations..to be an intense version is not so intense low duration and light sillage not so different from the original…
titspincplani – :
At first sight the Intense version comprises of He Wood + vetiver. Actually, the new fragrance is so nicely reworked that could be perceived as a self-dependent release. It stars similarly to He Wood but much stronger. In a short time the oily vetiver (Guerlain type of vetiver) livens up with that fir-y lavender-y environment. A remarkable modern green vetiver.
amideo26 – :
Manor in switzerland is also stocking this now. Now that i have it, my review. It smells VERY similar to the original. I cant make up my mind yet what the differences are, but i think it smells more grass-ier. It is still flowery, but i cannot tell whether it is more or less flowery than the original.
On the first try i was getting ‘green’ and it evokes encre noir sport (evokes – not resembles).
My favorite is rocky mountain not orig he wood, so maybe im biased in the sense that im merely neutral about it, adding it to my collection, but not neccessarily raving about it.
Anybody else smelled it yet?
qdt933bedyWelty – :
Douglas (Italy) is already selling it. But you’ll need a little Italian knowledge to navigate the ordering process – which is unnecessarily lengthy for some reason.
Marsiy – :
is this going to be release in Europe?, does anybody has a place and date?….what about the price?
kku394speagoessenda – :
Wow, is this going to be released in the US? I need this!!!
dnn249 – :
Great bottle, I hope this fragrance is as good as it looks.