Polo Red Intense

Initially bought a sample of this off of FragranceNet, not realizing when I initially purchased the sample that there were no larger sizes available. When I first tried this cologne on a sheet of wafting paper I wasn't really impressed with it. I just tossed the paper in the trash and threw it in my "meh/wear at home to test" pile along with a bunch of other samples and just kinda forgot about it... Until one day about a month or so later I had a day off and picked it out of my random sample bag and decided to try it on. I was absolutely blown away. Obsessed. I couldn't stop smelling my wrists all day. It starts with a wonderful opening of leather, grapefruit, lavender and saffron followed by the spicy ginger and deep cranberry in the middle, finishing off with a crispy fresh cedar and sage ending. About thirty minutes to an hour in the coffee really starts to take hold, giving it a really rich, robust scent that just rounds it off perfectly. The sillage is fine, it lasts about 7 to 8 hours at a moderate sillage... not overpowering at all. But wait! There's more. After the moderate sillage phase is completed, it turns into an intimate scent that'll last you the rest of the day... It becomes a very wood-forward scent, primarily being the cedar that really kicks with a hint of amber and leather that were at one point stronger than the cedar. It's PHENOMENAL. Very complex and I love how the scent fully dries down. Incredible. The very next morning, I hopped on to FragranceNet determined to buy a full bottle. It was to my dismay that I discovered that this cologne was discontinued, and it has been for a while. Fortunately I found a couple of new (no box) bottles on eBay from a reputable seller not too far over the $100 price point, I pulled the trigger on them immediately. New in box this stuff is reselling for almost double that and I wasn't quite ready to drop that much.... it was probably a now or never opportunity. For that reason I can't say this stuff is a good value. It's definitely expensive, but I wouldn't call it overpriced because it really is phenomenal. It's still an okay value. I really hope they decide to bring this stuff back one day, it's a crying shame that they discontinued such an amazing scent.... I'm definitely going to try the rest of the Polo Red collection after this. The only con that I can really think of (besides the fact that it's discontinued and has resale prices if you want it) is the fact that I can't imagine this is an all-purpose cologne. It's definitely a scent for cooler months, the cranberry and ginger almost give it warm holiday vibes. I will test this tomorrow when I work outside for 8 hours in the summer heat... But I think Eros will be a better cologne for that. If it worked any time of year for any occasion I'd consider this my signature cologne.... But I think Eros keeps that spot even though I like the smell of this way more. It's probably the closest thing I've ever smelled to a 10. Will I ever find this stuff at a reasonable price again? Who knows. But either way, I will always keep this stuff in rotation as long as I can find it, even up to the price it is right now... because it's just THAT good. 9.8/10 *EDIT: I tried this cologne working outside all day in the summer heat for 10 hours and it held up! The intimate woody scent just kicks in a lot faster... About 2 hours or so in. Eros is still definitely a better pick for the occasion, but it still pulls through in any situation. This is definitely my new signature fragrance for cool months, alongside Eros for the warmer months.

Ralph Lauren Polo Red Extreme opens with a moderate projection of sweet fruity, ambery, and spicy accords. The cranberry and grapefruit join to create a very aromatic, sweet, fruity, and delicious tone, evocative of sweet cranberry juice; the lemon and saffron are just a soft touch. In just a moment the ginger is noticeable adding its sharp and spicy accord, the coffee is just a touch and it does not change the so far sweet fruity character of the fragrance. Both, the lavender and sage are also soft touches. As the fragrance dries down, the amber joins the blend with a resinous and honey-like accord, the red cedar adds a fresh woody touch and the leather a whiff for depth and projection but not prominent. The most noticeable change from the opening to the dry-down is the partial dissipation of the fruity accords, particularly the grapefruit, however, the sweetness remains strong, also the initial moderate projection drops from moderate to low very quickly. Once Ralph Lauren Polo Red Intense has reached its full dry-down, it can be summarized as a moderate to low projection, very sweet, cranberry, ginger and amber fragrance with soft floral, coffee, woody and leather accords. The fragrance feels comforting, delectable, delicious, fruity, gourmand, inviting, masculine but not for much, modern, natural, rich, sweet, syrupy, warm, and very pleasant. BATCH REVIEWED: 2020 WOW RATING: 6/10. Ralph Lauren Polo Red is a sweet fruity pleasant fragrance. DISLIKE RATING: 1/10. The fragrance is very sweet; some people could find it overly sweet. UNIQUENESS: 9/10. The cranberry tone makes Polo Red relatively unique. MASS APPEAL: 9/10. This is a very likable fragrance; it will please most people. PROJECTION: 3/10. About 3 feet around the wearer. SILLAGE: 3/10. Low, about 3 feet behind the wearer. APPLICATION: 4 or more atomizations. Polo Red is a short-live fragrance, spraying clothes seems a necessity to maintain projection and longevity. LONGEVITY: 3/10. Moderate about 3 hours. It projects well for less than 1 hour. SEASONS: This fragrance feels very versatile, however, it is better suited for the colder/milder months. OCCASIONS: Outdoor gatherings, casual, holidays, romantic, dating. VERSATILITY: 4/10. Low, this fragrance is better suited for casual wear, in colder weather. GENDER: Masculine. However, most of the notes are neutral, which makes the fragrance unisex. AGES: Any. RECOMMENDATION: This fragrance can be found discounted for about $50. Its performance could be better but it is a pleasant, sweet, relatively cranberry unique fragrance ideal for those unique occasions that require a delicious and appealing fragrance. If you don’t have one, this is a good option. BLIND-BUY: Yes, the notes are very pleasant. SIMILAR: These are examples of fragrances in the same genre. Paco Rabanne 1 Million EDP is a very sweet, spicy, cinnamon, citrus, and amber fragrance; Armaf El Cielo Men EDP is a sweet, citrus, spicy, and woody scent; Azzaro Wanted by Night Men EDP is very sweet, spicy, fruity and woody; Cuba Prestige Gold Men EDT is a very sweet, amber, woody, and spicy fragrance; Paco Rabanne Pure XS is a very sweet, ginger, and grapefruit fragrance; Yves Saint Laurent Y Live Intense is a great very sweet, spicy, citrus and woody scent. SUMMARY: A very sweet, cranberry, ginger, and amber fragrance with soft floral, coffee, woody, and leather accords. The fragrance feels comforting, delectable, delicious, fruity, gourmand, inviting, masculine but not for much, modern, natural, rich, sweet, syrupy, warm, and very pleasant.

***I still want to try the others in the Polo Red lineup, so if you've got a sample of Red Rush, Pride, EDP, or Remix, don't hesitate to DM me!*** I first smelled this in a store years ago and immediately knew I HAD to have it!!! Fruity, warm, and a little spicy, Red Intense makes you salivate and wish you could take a bite out of it! It's my signature scent, my usual go-to, and it's been my favorite fragrance of all time. I'm obviously a little biased, but I think that this would be perfectly fine as a blind buy that most people would really enjoy. I've gotten so many compliments over the years, and my partners always love it so much they want it sprayed on the hoodies they borrow from me so they can snuggle them when we're apart! I think the perfume is suitable for any occasion, any time of year, and would be a great head-turner of a scent on people of any and all genders! Notes: The bottle classifies it as an Oriental/Spicy fragrance, but I would really disagree. It's more warm, fruity, gourmand, and comforting to me, with a little bit of spice. The bottle also lists the main notes as ginger, leather, and saffron, but I don't get the saffron, and besides, this scent is SO much more than just ginger and leather. To me, the fragrance starts off with grapefruit and red berries, like red currants or cranberries, and then is uplifted by the ginger before mixing with a soft, animalic scent, kind of like cedar, leather, and musk. This fragrance is super well blended since it's honestly difficult to pull apart any of the notes, and the only thing that I've found that's even remotely similar to it is Baccarat Rouge 540 because it also shares the same fuity gourmand-ness, but is much sweeter. Sillage: 7/10 - around a 6 ft radius, and stays like that for a few hours before becoming more like 2 ft Longevity: 8/10 - this stuff LASTS, especially on clothes! Scent: 10/10 - I really can't say enough good things about it! Value: 9/10 - $120 is nothing to sniff at (pun intended), but for a 4.2 oz bottle that'll last you years, I think it's SO worth it, especially when compared to other brands like Amouage, Parfums de Marly, or House of Oud that will charge you multiple hundreds of dollars for much less volume. Value is such a subjective thing, but Red Intense for sure smells like it should be so much more expensive than it is. Comparisons to Red & Red Extreme: Because I love Red Intense so intensely, I recently bought samples of Polo Red and Polo Red Extreme, and I'm shocked that I dislike the two of them so much! Red shares a lot of the same DNA but is more citrusy and doesn't have the same berry, leathery-ness that I love and, because it's an EDT and not an EDP, doesn't last nearly as long as Intense. Extreme has the same kinds of fruit in the opening as Intense and has a stronger coffee note, but the fruits smell like they're rotting, and with Extreme's Perfume-level concentration, I don't want to smell like rotting fruit for hours on end, or, even worse, inflict that pain upon others around me! ***I still want to try the others in the Polo Red lineup, so if you've got a sample of Red Rush, Pride, EDP, or Remix, don't hesitate to DM me!***

FIRST INITIAL WEARING REVIEW : So far I love this ! It does smell very similar to Polo Red but they took what was great about Polo Red and made it a lot better !!! What I loved about the original Polo Red was the fruity opening but unfortunatly that opening only lasted about 20 mins. In Polo Red Intense however they took that fruity opening and made it smell even better as the opening with Red Intense smells a little less synthetic and a little more rich and rounded as it adds some citrus notes. The fruity opening actually lasts a good 1 hr and a half which I love ! In the mid and drydown the fruity notes are still there but then thats when the amber and coffee comes in and blend beautifuly with the fruity notes. This truly is a great scent and I look forward to wearing this more ! This is also 1 of the very few scents Ill be hitting the love button with. Performance is really good and you only need 2-4 sprays (4 SPRAYS MAX) 2 for office wear and 4 for going out on cold nights. This lasts me a total of 6-10 hours which is an improvement from the original As far as projection goes this is strong for the first hour and then dies down to a scent bubble that stays around you extending about a foot away for 6-10 hours. Any more sprays than 4 and you will annoy people so please be careful Overall id rate this an 8.75 out of 10 !!! ------------- Comparison between the original and intense The opening is better in the intense as its fruitier and the slight citrus touch mixed with coffee makes for a well blended fragrance. The opening also lasts longer in the intense. The original however had more coffee so if you like coffee more than fruity notes id stick with the original. The biggest difference to me is that the original went from being a fruity scent straight into a coffee scent whereas the intense keeps the same smooth fruity scent but in the end the fruit dies out a little bit but not all together

Speaking as a woman: this is my favorite cologne of all time, only rivaled by Aqua di Gio which is also wonderful but in an entirely different way. I love this scent to the point of buying a tester to experiment with wearing it on myself; the verdict is still out on that. It smells really herbal on me which is nice but I might just smell like a really hot guy, I can't tell. Definitely not a feminine scent but it *may* be unisex, leaning masculine. It's a punchy, energetic scent with an inviting semi-sweetness. The best way I could describe it is casual but classy, polished but not pretentious. If I smelled it on a man I'd think he was an easy-going, refined guy who knows how to have fun. Aqua di Gio is very suit-and-tie to me but this is more approachable. The regular Polo Red is also really nice but this is phenomenal. I can't speak to longevity or sillage or anything like that but it is a great cologne. If its scent on me is anything to go by, definitely get a tester because this one does seem pretty body-chemistry-reliant because it smells way more fruity/coffee-toned out of the bottle than on my skin, where its literally all sage, saffron, cedar, and amber on me. Edit: After a couple of hours of wear it's definitely too masculine for me to wear. Reminds me of a cedar-scented candle. Very odd how pronounced the cedar is on me but as a whole still an excellent scent. Will be washing off though.