Devotion Intense

The Verdict

Dolce and Gabbana Devotion Intense arrived in 2024 as the warmer, darker, more deliberate sibling to the original Devotion (2023). Created by Olivier Cresp, the same perfumer behind the original, it amplifies the composition's gourmand qualities with a prominent hazelnut note while shifting the overall character from light and airy to dense and evening-appropriate. Fronted by Katy Perry, the campaign leans into the perfume's sensual, indulgent register.

With over 2,600 votes and a 4.04 Fragrantica average — including 45% love votes — Devotion Intense has built a following among wearers who want their gourmand fragrances to lean into the evening rather than the dessert counter. The community's most consistent observation: this is not simply a stronger version of Devotion. It has a different personality.

What It Smells Like

The opening centers on Hazelnut — toasted, warm, and genuinely nutty rather than synthetic-sweet. It is the note that announces everything that follows, and the community's reaction to it determines the experience: those who find it "warm and toasty" will love what comes next; those who find it "sickening" will not progress. The hazelnut character is not subtle.

Orange Blossom emerges in the heart as a dense, candied floral that softens the nut quality and adds a honeyed, slightly heady dimension. This is not the fresh, bright orange blossom of lighter florals — it is richer and more concentrated, contributing to the "sunset rather than zenith" quality that multiple reviewers have used to distinguish the Intense from the original.

The base is Vanilla — creamy, thick, and sweet, with a custard-adjacent texture that one reviewer described as giving the composition "almost a custard-like quality." The vanilla here is warm and enveloping rather than cold and sharp, and it integrates with the orange blossom into a base that is indulgent without being cloying for most wearers.

The overall development is described as "simple and linear, but bold at the same time" — this is not a fragrance with dramatic arc or phases of complexity. What it does, it does consistently: it smells like warm, toasted hazelnut and vanilla from first spray through final hour, with the orange blossom providing occasional lift.

Compared to the original Devotion, which features candied lemon, panna cotta, and lighter florals, Devotion Intense is "not just a stronger version — it has a different vibe altogether." The original reflects "the sun in zenith"; the Intense "is more of a sunset vibe." That is the most useful comparative framework available.

When to Wear It

Autumn and winter evening wear. The richness and warmth of the hazelnut-vanilla combination suit cooler temperatures and lower light levels; multiple reviewers note it "may feel too much in warm weather." Evening hours are the strongest context — the sweet warmth of the composition creates exactly the right impression for dinners, dates, and intimate settings.

Daytime cool-weather wear is possible but pushes the gourmand character into territory that can feel heavy in professional or morning contexts. The community leans evening on this one quite consistently.

Longevity & Projection

Performance is one of Devotion Intense's genuine strengths, according to its advocates. The positive camp reports significant longevity — 8 or more hours with solid projection that "never fades into a skin scent" — and recommends a maximum of three sprays given the strength. One reviewer reported over six hours on skin and over 27 hours on clothing.

The critical camp tells a different story, finding it "only a few hours" and sitting "very close to the skin," adding that it performs poorly for an "Intense" designation. This divergence is large enough to suggest genuine skin chemistry variance, and the recommendation to sample before purchasing is stronger than usual here.

Three sprays maximum regardless of skin chemistry. The composition is concentrated enough that over-application is a real risk.

The Community Says

The enthusiasm from Devotion Intense's fan base is effusive in the way that gourmand fragrance enthusiasm tends to be: "a warm embrace," "any gourmand enthusiast would find this highly appealing," and comparisons to "a delicious lemon meringue cake" (for those in whom the orange blossom reads as more citrus-forward). The community that loves it tends to love it genuinely.

The criticism is equally direct: "completely unworthy of its price, flat, lacking depth, and has a sickening vanilla scent." One reviewer's experience of "something about the muskiness made me want to vomit after five minutes, like a rotting coconut on top of a lemon cake" is an extreme version of what the dissenting camp reports.

This is the profile of a properly polarizing gourmand fragrance. The hazelnut-vanilla combination that makes it excellent for one skin type and in one olfactory context can become overwhelming or synthetic in others.

Who Should Buy This

Devoted fans of warm, rich gourmand compositions who find most mainstream sweet fragrances insufficiently luxurious. Devotion Intense occupies the space between a designer gourmand and something more niche in character — it has the density and depth that vanilla-and-nut enthusiasts seek without the price point of dedicated niche houses.

Skip it if sweet, heavy fragrances tend toward headache-inducing on your skin, or if summer and warm-weather wear is your primary use case. Skip it also if the original Devotion felt like enough — Intense is genuinely heavier, and "more of the same" is not quite accurate.

A sample is strongly recommended given the performance variability and the polarizing hazelnut-vanilla character.

The Bottom Line

Devotion Intense does exactly what it promises: it takes the original's gourmand warmth and amplifies it into something darker, richer, and more suited to evenings in cold weather. Olivier Cresp understood the assignment. Whether that constitutes a success depends entirely on whether warm toasted hazelnut and creamy vanilla sounds like something you want to wear or something you want to eat. The community's 45% love rating and 4.04 average confirm it hits the right target for a substantial portion of its audience. The rest of the audience should start with a sample.