Play Intense

At launch, Givenchy gave bergamot and mandarin at the top, Caribbean amyris wood, pink pepper, and coffee flower for the heart, and labdanum, tonka bean, vetiver, and patchouli in the base.

Amyris wood, drawn from a Caribbean tree, is the material the house puts forward: a soft woody note, close to sandalwood and cedar, shared by both Plays. Coffee flower does not enter the list of notes and remains described in prose.

What Kevin perceives

Kevin, of Now Smell This, smells Play Intense turning up the amyris wood note and adding a good dose of tonka bean. In mid-development, the fragrance strikes him as almost edible, like a vanilla-rich nougat, with less citrus than Play and more character.

What stays out

Lavender, apple, pineapple, and black pepper, like the bitter orange and grapefruit specific to Play, do not appear among the notes Givenchy gave for Play Intense.