Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme Intense Eau de Toilette 125ml

Issey Miyake L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme Intense was launched in 2007, created by Nathalie Lorson — appearing here for her second fragrance in the session, having also co-created Paco Rabanne Invictus (2013). The Intense is a darker, warmer, more meditative flanker of the original L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme (1994), created by Jacques Cavallier — one of the most important Japanese-house masculine compositions of the 1990s and the fragrance that established Issey Miyake’s approach of combining Eastern and Western olfactory traditions in a single mainstream commercial composition. Where the 1994 original is characterised by aquatic freshness, transparent woods and a clean, architectural quality that reflected Miyake’s fashion philosophy directly, the 2007 Intense replaces the aquatic clarity with spice, darkness and incense: the Yuzu top remains as a marker of the composition’s East Asian orientation, but the heart and base move decisively into woody spice and smoky resin territory. Issey Miyake — born in Hiroshima in 1938 — is one of Japan’s most significant fashion designers, and the L’Eau d’Issey franchise reflects both his design philosophy (structural experimentation, material exploration, the meeting of Eastern and Western aesthetics) and his personal history. The Issey Miyake range at Oh So Luxe: L’Eau d’Issey EDT 50ml, Pour Homme Vétiver Intense EDT and the L’Eau d’Issey Pour Homme Gift Set.

The opening of Yuzu, Bergamot and Tangerine is the most distinctively East Asian citrus opening in the masculine collection. Yuzu — Citrus junos, primarily cultivated in Japan, China and Korea, first appearance in the session — is one of the most complex and distinctive of all citrus materials in perfumery: it has a simultaneously tart, slightly floral, slightly herbal character with a unique aromatic quality that combines elements of grapefruit, mandarin and something entirely its own that is impossible to fully describe by reference to other citrus materials. Its presence here is not decorative — it is the compositional marker of the fragrance’s Japanese orientation, the material that most directly connects the composition to its maker’s cultural context. Bergamot providing the familiar Mediterranean citrus brightness; Tangerine the warmer, riper citrus sweetness that rounds the opening without obscuring the Yuzu’s distinctive character. The heart of Cardamom, Cinnamon and Nutmeg is the most densely warm all-spice heart in the session, denser even than the Spicebomb heart, because here there are no aromatic or floral materials (no Lavender, no Jasmine, no Elemi) to soften or lighten the three spices — just Cardamom, Cinnamon and Nutmeg in direct combination, each returning from earlier appearances in the session but here in their most concentrated, unmediated cluster. Nutmeg — Myristica fragrans, the tropical seed from Indonesia’s Banda Islands, first appearance in the session — is warm, slightly sweet, slightly medicinal, with a rich spicy character both related to and distinct from Cinnamon: where Cinnamon has a clear, warm sweetness, Nutmeg’s warmth is denser, more resinous, with a faintly heady, almost narcotic quality that deepens the heart considerably. The base of Black Incense, Sandalwood, Amber and Papyrus is the most meditative and distinctively non-European base in the masculine collection. Black Incense — a darker, more resinous, smokier incense character than the cleaner transparent incense accords found in Western oriental masculines, closer to the heavy, intensely resinous burning incense of East Asian temple traditions — gives the base its contemplative, deeply smoky depth. Papyrus — derived from Cyperus papyrus, the reed of the Nile delta, first appearance in the session — has a dry, slightly smoky, slightly woody, distinctly papery, almost parchment-like quality that is one of the most unusual and recognisable base materials in this section of the collection; alongside the Black Incense it gives the drydown a simultaneously ancient and architectural quality. Sandalwood providing the creamy warmth; Amber the resinous depth and longevity.

How to Wear

Apply to pulse points — wrists, neck, chest. Two sprays; the Intense has good projection and excellent longevity from the Black Incense and Amber base. The Yuzu and Bergamot opening is immediate and complex; the Cardamom, Cinnamon and Nutmeg heart arrives within fifteen minutes in its most direct, unmediated form. The Black Incense, Papyrus and Sandalwood base lasts eight to ten hours on skin — one of the most distinctive and long-lasting drydowns in the masculine collection.

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