Sì Intense 2021

I have a strong love of the Armani Si line. I own five of the flankers, and a travel size of the original Armani Si, which is where my obsession began. It was not a love at first sniff for me. Based on reviews, I was expecting a deep sweet vanilla, more simular to Roberto Cavalli Eau de Parfum. But what I got on the card, was a light beer scent. It was shocking, as none of the reviews had mentioned it. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't think I would grow to love it. But the scent haunted me. I kept going back to the card like an alcoholic, and finally got around to trying it on my skin. On my skin, the beer scent is seamlessly intermingled with the cassis and vanilla, so it doesn't shout BEER. It's more of a sexy hint of beer, but still classy and expensive smelling. I received so many compliments and inquiries when I wore this, and just fell in love with the scent aura that surrounded me. Since then, I have fallen in love with many of the flankers, but this new Armani Si Intense, is at the top of them all. I own the black bottle Si Intense, and to me that one was very close to the original, but stronger and longer lasting. Basically everything you hope for when you purchase an intense version of a perfume you like. However, this new 2021 Intense version is MORE. It is darker, stronger, sexier, and MORE delicious. They never need to make another flanker, and they can discontinue all of the other flankers, as long as I can have this 2021 Armani Si Intense. At first spray I get the deep black currant, patchouli, and a dark beer scent. That deep black currant smell is addictive, and it lasts for a long while. Black currant is one of my favorite fragrance notes, and in this perfume it is everything. I get a hint of rose, but eventually this settles into a beerlicious deep black currant sexy vanilla. A very classy sexy. Makes me feel...dangerous. Like a James Bond villain. Projection and lasting are amazing. This perfume is heavy fragrance bliss. A must have.

This is amazing stuff. I recently acquired a bottle of this formulation from Depop (if you're in the US and don't know about Depop yet, it's definitely worth checking out...like anywhere else, there are fakes floating around but if you do your due diligence, you can avoid ending up with one...free shipping promo right now and sellers are using much lower prices because they aren't charged all of the seller fees like eBay/Mercari, etc.). Back to Si Intense 2021: this is a fabulous perfume. As someone who is totally into these types of deep fragrances, I knew I'd love this and I do. Like others have said, it has a deep and dark wine type of nuance to it. I was not a fan of any of the Si collection or any of the flankers. There was always some scratchy background muskiness/woodiness that I couldn't get with. I don't smell that here. Performance is good. Sillage/projection is moderate. Going by the notes alone, I was expecting a typical rosy patchouli type of fragrance which I love and can never own enough of...I would've been happy had that been what I got with this but I don't. This is a deep and resinous wine. Like a blackberry wine. I layered this today with one of my other faves, Paco Rabanne Olympea Legend. They work beautifully together as I get a heavy wine nuance with OL as well. If you can find this for a decent price (it's DCd) and if you enjoy frags like Olympea Legend, FM Portrait Of A Lady, Mancera Roses Vanille, Lancome La Nuit Tresor, I highly recommend snapping it up. It doesn't smell like any of those but I get the same type of feeling with it.

I received a small sample of Armani Si Intense last year, and occasionally, when I’d read a positive review of it, I’d spray it once on my wrist. Each time I’d be taken aback by the syrupy sweetness in the opening phase. It didn’t seem like something I’d be able to tolerate. Recently I rediscovered this sample and decided to spray it a few times to get a more accurate impression of it, so I could put the Armani Si dilemma behind me once and for all. Lo and behold, it turns out that, once the fog of blackberry syrup dissipates a bit, Armani Si Intense hides in its middle notes a slightly aromatic and contrasting heart, reminiscent of an expensive body lotion or lipstick. Maybe it’s the original’s DNA, maybe it’s the davana, I wouldn’t be able to say, but it’s certainly fascinating and addictive, and it lifts this fragrance from the crowd of nondescript gourmands, into the sophisticated and quintessentially feminine category. One small caveat is that, in the dry down, a less than exciting and slightly synthetic sugared rose accord tends to dominate the whole composition, this is when it reminds me a bit of a Lancôme fragrance - one of the La Nuit Tresors, a line which I really don’t care for. All in all, I’d give it a 7.5/10. Edit: sadly, the sickly sugary rose became all that I could smell in the dry down. I had high hopes for Armani Si, but it wasn’t meant to be.

After armani reformulated Sì its been a shadow of its former self, nice, mildly sweet, but overall underwhelming. This new intense is very similar to the reformulation but smells like Sì EDP's more glamorous expensive older sister. If Sì EDP is the everyday, Sì intense is the night. It projects well and lasts 12 hours easily. I sprayed my scarf with it and can still smell it a week later. On skin it eventually turns into a skin scent but projects for quite a while beforehand. I get amber perhaps from the benzoin, not much rose but it has a nice deep vanilla scent that lasts and lasts. The blackcurrant is well blended as is the patchouli. I have never smelt davana on its own, but if it smells fruity, then I detect it. The top notes are a little sharp but after an hour it settles down into a warm scent that lasts. This perfume is a delight from start to finish and is easily the best Sì flanker made so far. The only other rival being Sì Rose Signature II just for the focus on roses instead of blackcurrant but its longevity is nothing like this one. I feel expensive when wearing this and therefore its not for all occasions in my opinion. But I love this one and will probably use/sell all other versions of Sì for it. It is 10 times better than the 2014 black Sì Intense, that one was very medicinal and screechy and dried to plastic.

Armani you should never discontinue this beauty! Among the Si flankers I've smelt, this is the closest version to Si Le Parfum, which dare I say has the niche quality, but has also been discontinued unfortunately. Si Intense 2021 is fruity, syrupy, boozy, ambery with a rosy undertone. Despite being very sweet, it never gets juvenile. I'd say this is a younger sister of Le Parfum. Le Parfum is boozier, more ambery and less floral, which is my favourite in the Si line. I can easily tell the difference between the 2023 intense version and this version. The former is more vanilla forward, which to me smells very similar to La Belle. This version has more depth, more grown-up, maybe thanks to the resinous quality from the benzoin and booziness brought by the fermented fruits. Not saying the 2023 version is bad. It's still pleasant, but I definitely prefer the 2021 version. I was almost about to sell it before knowing it's been discontinued and luckily changed my mind. Now I even just bought a backup lol. Please get it when you can at a reasonable price. The only problem for me is it doesn't project much, but has good longevity.