Is This Light Floriental Right For Me? Use Your Intuition!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Lovely fresh and light scent

Cons: Cap a bit fiddly

The Bottom Line: 
I can recommend this as an attractively priced fragrance that most women will enjoy, and men appreciate. Lovely bottle design hints at the pleasant, clean scent inside.

Author's Review
My first bottle of a Estee Lauder cologne, Youth Dew, was a thoughtful present from my boyfriend's Dad. One whiff of this sharply floral fragrance and it was all I could do not to cough or sneeze in the festive gathering.

That was almost 30 years ago and I detested that little old lady scent. I don't like it any better today but since my Other Half has generously gifted me with a couple of the more modern/lighter Estee Lauder fragrances I like very much, Beautiful and last holiday's Beyond Paradise, I was willing to give this light, daytime scent a try.

Estee Lauder Intuition 1 fl oz EDP Spray

Fragrances come in 4 or 5 strengths, the weakest being body splash, then cologne, eau de toilet, (EDT), eau de parfum, (EDP), and lastly concentrated parfum, which tends to be either expensive, too heavy for day time use, or both.

I compromised with the 1 ounce size of the eau de parfum spray for long lasting, but not heavy coverage. Right away I liked the way this smelled on co-workers and family members, although I'm aware various body chemistries, (really, your skin's natural oils, or lack thereof), may alter the way a product finally smells, (called Dry down in the Industry), and might not work for me.

This happened recently with a witchy little round sampler bottle of Lolita Lempicka, an exotic scent that sounded so great but ended up smelling like a cross between insecticide and ivy on me. Prior to that, Guerlain's Purple bothered my allergy prone Other Half so much I ended up having to toss it out to keep the peace!

Intuition comes in a curvy, slightly asymmetrical clear glass bottle with slightly oversized clear cap. A teardrop shaped indentation in the front of the bottle is light amber in color while the scent itself is a very pale yellow. The bottle is very tactile-like a polished worry stone-in your hands.

The fragrance itself is light, suitable for daytime use, and imparts a happy, sunny and tranquil feeling a minute or two after a light spritzing. Like fine wine, the better scents have layers of 'flavors' and the Estee Lauder website, (italics for their copy), describes them like this:

Top notes, (the first things to strike you about the scent): Mandarin, Bergamot, Grapefruit, Fresh Green Garden.

The first three essential oils are in the citrus family, and the last, a synthetic is appropriately a member of the the Green or Grassy family. Here, it helps to balance all that fruit and the overall vibe is clean and refreshing.

Middle notes: Gardenia Petals, Freesia, Chinese Rhododendron.

The first two are in the Floral family, and in particular, the very delicate and lovely White Flowers area. And yes, rhododendron is technically a flower, but here it would be classified as Woody, giving a bit of complexity and depth to what might be too cloying a blend otherwise.

Base Note: Amber.

Maybe my least favorite scent, nevertheless amber helps to ground a fragrance, providing longevity, and conveying a resinous note. It works best when used sparingly, and I'm happy to say the chemists at Estee Lauder went very light on this fixative.

I've gotten many compliments with Intuition, from checkout clerks, carryout folk, our regular mail carrier, the UPS guy, (who wanted to buy some for his wife and Mom), Himself and even some of the co-workers who first interested me in this scent.

It is a light floral and oriental fragrance, or as Estee Lauder's copy has it, a Luminous Oriental type.
It lasts about 4 hours then fades a bit to a mere hint of scent.

When I layer it with body lotion, it lasts 6 hours, and I've been considering the justification of the more highly priced parfum. Given that I tend to wear just 1 or 2 regular fragrances, (Tova, Hanae Mori right now), I may need to wait for a birthday, Valentine's Day, holiday or anniversary for that possibility.

Final Thoughts And Recommendation

I didn't experience the scent changing with my body's chemistry, although the green note mellowed 20-30 minutes after application-judged a good thing in my opinion. Very pleasant overall, with tranquil and refreshing notes being a good balance for my personal needs. 4 Stars. Recommended.