Number One Intense

A classically elegant floral chypre. It's very stylish and plush. The opening green bitterness of galbanum contrasted against the aromatic marigolds is such an unexpected, though not unpleasant, juxtaposition that is almost a shock on first spray, but as it wears on and calms down, works beautifully in keeping this fragrance from veering too sweet. The florals are so creamy, like the finest triple milled soap, and have this dreamy luminous haze to them as if you are looking at them through the diffusion of a filtered lens. As another reviewer pointed out, there is oakmoss in the base, which adds a lovely soft and earthy mossiness, and I think, along with the musk and sandalwood, is adding that soft effect to the floral notes. If I were to visualize this fragrance it would be a contrast of light and dark, like that of the dappled light against the darkness of a Monet painting; or sunlight glittering off dark water; or glittering jewels against black velvet. My mind goes to associations like these when wearing this perfume. It really is quite stunning. I don't get the similarities to Boucheron as some have compared it to in the 'this perfume reminds me' section aside from a few shared notes. I adore Boucheron but compared to this it has a sweet, almost syrupy quality, like florals dripping with amber. This is much dryer, and softer, with the amber much less pronounced. I'd classify Boucheron as an amber floral, and this as a true floral chypre. And while this opens big, within an hour it has gone down considerably to a more discrete level, whereas Boucheron has a larger presence throughout much of the wear. I'm actually surprised by that. Reading the reviews, I thought this would be a big, room filling floral, but it is not. Within a few hours it was almost a skin scent on me. I am wondering if this has been reformulated due to the recent batch of IFRA regulations. If so, that might account for the less-than-optimal performance, though that still wouldn't deter me from repurchasing the biggest bottle of this in the future after this one ounce is done. Though this fragrance does have a classic appeal it is definitely modern and more aligned with contemporary tastes, though I'm sure it would have been appreciated and right at home in the past. And while only the first perfume I've tried from this house I'm sure it won't be the last. It's clear that Patricia de Nicolai is not just a rightly deserved award-winning master perfumer, but an artist of considerable caliber too, as this work of art demonstrates. This is an absolute gem of a perfume.

I love tuberose, I like 'vintage smelling perfumes' and equally enjoy galbanum and all three are present and perfect to describe Number One Intense but but but ... what some of the negative reviews say down below are not totally wrong. This perfume may just require you getting acquainted with it gradually. This could be tricky if not Jicky. So for now it's opening is loaded with orange blossom and tuberose. After 5 mins it became really really green. It's hefty and the galbanum tuberose notes can be jarring. My first impression is surprisingly not what I was contemplating and expecting. 27/9/2025 After a month this has become one of my favs from this House and a solid reference point on Galbanum. The turning point came when I bought Le Sillage Blanc and both fragrances are just awesome in terms of ingredients, sillage, versatility. I was not wrong as Number One Intense does take a little bit of knowing.

Galbanum star-burst with marigold and blackcurrant sparks shooting into my olfactory space. I'm a galbanum junky and could spray this stuff over and over and over again for that amazing firework-show (and did, six times), but what comes afterwards is really just as good. An almost edible blackcurrant with sticky ylang-ylang, orange blossom and a very civilised tuberose so harmonious as to be practically newlyweds. This is luminous and lovely. It's one of the few fragrances I have worn all day and night without any kind of restless desire to be ranging through my perfumery treasure house. The sandalwood in dry-down provides hours of pleasure, balancing those narcotic florals in masterful Nicolai style. Distillation: galbanum star-burst marigold and blackcurrant a sublime fusion

Smooth creamy tuberose, ylang ylang, and hints of jasmine. Very floral, elegant, hints of sweetness. Very natural and high quality...reminds me of tuberose essential oils. Feminine, so not something I'd wear, but I'm enjoying it on a quiet Saturday night in with a movie. If I was a woman, I would consider this...reminds me of L'Occitane's conditioner. Scent: 8 / Sillage: 7 / Longevity: 7

This is a big girl scent and I am here for it. Whoever suggested this is similar to Boucheron was spot on. I pegged this as a 'winter' scent, not because it has anything to do with church, spices or heaviness but because it is a 'warm sweater on a chilly day' type of fragrance. I just love how this all comes together in the most feminine way. i've put it on my 'want' list.

Usually perfumes with prominent tuberose notes are classified as white florals, but Number One feels very much to me like a tuberose chypre. It's balanced quite differently than anything I've ever tried before, green all the way through and mossy-woody enough to balance the huge, rich floral notes. A beautiful, unusual perfume.

This is a deluxe tuberose fragrance with a bit of old fashioned thrown in. It is an elegant floral with hints of amber and sandalwood emerging toward the end. If you love tuberose, this one is a winner.

Nicolaï's perfumes are consistently excellent, in keeping with Patricia de Nicolaï's stellar reputation as a perfumer. I was very keen to try this scent, as it consists of a lush white floral accord, one of my favourite scent profiles. Unsurprisingly, Number One Intense is a beautiful example of the genre - it can be summed up as a white floral bouquet, smooth, sweet and fruit-tinged - heady up top but becoming softer as it develops. I haven't had the opportunity to try the non-intense version that seems to be now-discontinued, but this is undeniably intense initially. NOI opens with a bold tuberose note, sweet, lush and slightly waxy. There is a fruitiness to the opening, with peachy orange blossom melding nicely with the tuberose. A nice cordial-like blackcurrant note follows, adding freshness. The galbanum adds a nice green undertone, complementing the florals. Ylang ylang follows closely, its tropical sweetness and creamy texture marrying seamlessly with the floral accord. Clean jasmine rounds it out, rendering it more powdery as it progresses. As it develops, I get the spicy marigold note, its herbal greenness adding interest to the smooth, sweet white florals. It surprisingly becomes more vegetal, with the woody base notes becoming quite prominent, a nice counterpoint to the sweetness. The intensity of the florals mellow after a while, and clean musk creeps in, blurring the edges. Alongside the soft sandalwood, it brings to mind fancy soap at the drydown stage. Overall, sillage and longevity are moderate, particularly after the bold opening subsides. It is a feminine scent in my opinion, and is transeasonal. An elegant, high-quality white floral scent, NOI is nicely-balanced, its more mellow second act making for a more wearable scent overall. Personally, I would prefer a more sustained intensity and/or a more mossy, prominent chypre base, but NOI is a ladylike beauty. 4/5.

My perfumes have to revolve around white flowers and so I am trying nine samples . Like a lot of reviewers have mentioned , what you think you would like with regards to notes aren’t always the case when you smell it and spray it on your skin. Number One Intense by Nicolai brought me back to my childhood when the scent Charlie was popular . Wow ! What a throw back in time and I believe there are a lot of similarities between the two . However , I was never a fan of Charlie as scent beast! Number One is a beautiful scent but boy does it standout in longevity and silage . Tried it in my wrists before going to bed then washed it off and woke up to the scent still being evident. So wanted to like this based on a lot of reviews but it smells too vintage and the musk gives off powdery notes on my skin . Too grandmashish . I’m already in my 50s so don’t anymore generalisation.

It would appear that I am very fond of white florals. If I hadn't come across 24 Fauberg by Hermes first, I would probably have committed to a fb of Number 1 Intense. Springtime in a bottle. While there maybe other things going on beside the white flowers, I choose to ignore them. I concur with review from Estherica, very much a vintage feeling. This frag would have been quite at home on the set of the original film "The Women". Fragrances like this make me wish we still wore hats on a regular basis. As I sit here typing, with With this fragrance on my wrists, I think this may end up on my want list. After trying a few more times, unless something more wonderful crosses my path, this will be one of my next acquisitions. It is everything I require from a frag. Floral but with some body, not linear.

"Hit me again Ike, and put some stank on it!" - Jim Carrey, Liar Liar. This stuff walloped me right from the getgo. Extremely potent floral with tuberose, jasmine, ylang, marigold, galbanum and black currant. Smells great once it calms down and it's an excellent value if you love these florals. Black Currants can be hit or miss as the natural variety tend to be urinous and animalic but here they're kept in check. I'd say they were using an aroma chemical for the currant but it's multi-dimensional, and I don't know if that's possible to catch the leaves and fruit with a chemical. Perhaps it's an accord or just great perfumery. A great perfumer can bend the notes to their will. In any case, it's great perfumery and super potent. ---------------------------------- Scent 7/10 Performance 9/10

Oh boy. Wild times. This one opens so ferociously, I actually coughed. I'm starting to notice that when Nicolaï uses "intense," she, uh, means it. And more power to her. It just makes this one hard to enjoy for the first 20 minutes. And even though I was prepared to give this a "dislike," I knew better than to judge it based on the opening. So now, a couple hours later, I'm here. I have to say, I really enjoy this, somehow, ha. After it settles down, it ends up being a vegetal spiced scent on my skin. It's beautiful. But there's absolutely no way I'd weather the storm again, even with a dry down this enchanting. Just too much waiting (and coughing, ha). But the final fragrance is definitely gorgeous.

Pollinic floral opening, primarily creamy tuberose plus some jasmine, with a green touch and a light sweetness that permeates the composition. Linear scent. Soft initial projection strengthens through the first hour before fading over 2-3hr and settling into an intimate scent bubble for 4-5hr, longevity 8-10hr.

Cette fragrance ensoleillée, douce, riche en fleurs suaves et absolument exquises laissent étourdi. La tubéreuse odorante et subtilement blanche, ensorcèle par sa beauté. La rose d’Inde embaumée, le jasmin frais et la fleur d’ylang-ylang exotique laissent un long sillage lumineux, tout en envahissant la pièce.

Classic, vintage style, white floral with tuberose and jasmin over a woody amber base. Very French, typical for this house. A bit less complex than Boucheron and therefore a bit more modern, still I prefer Boucheron as it is in fact a bit less floral and more ambery-animalic. Good quality sandalwood.

Strong. Starts very sharp, green, slight bitterness. Intense floral. Kinda reminds me of Estée Lauder’s eau de Private Collection. This would be beautiful, but my skin intensifies herbal, plant aromas. Smells like 1980s perfume, which is not a bad thing at all. It’s classy, not dated.

العطر كلاسيكي بحت واضح فيه نوتات الياسمين و المسك و بالبداية ريحة حمضيات فجأة تقلب للياسمين و بودرة للناس اللي تحب العطور الباودريه القوية، بالنسبه لي اعتبره عادي م رح ارجع اشتريه ريحته عباره عن بودره مع ياسمين و نظافة بس ريحة الباودر احسها طاغية .

A fresh bouquet of flowers, for floral lovers. I can smell tuberose, flowers, and sandalwood. Vintage. 6/10, I am not a huge fan of Tuberose In this brand for winter/fall/spring, I prefer musc intense > number one intense.

Vintage , powdery touch with enormous projection and longevity . Beautiful , soapy florals, not light or soft on my skin. Too hard hitting for me and could be borderline offensive if you aren’t into white florals.

Lust in the best possible way. The darkest white floral I've ever come across. Beautifully blended, great staying power, no synthetic smell. OK, quality lust!!