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Stronger With You from Emporio Armani, has spun off more than a handful of other fragrances since its release. It’s become one of the more popular lines out there and that goes for more than just the original release.
Yet, that original EDT cologne, still obviously gets compared to those that followed. One of them is, Stronger With You Intensely. Which of these fragrances smells better? Lasts longer? Is the better buy?
Tale of the Tape: Stronger with You vs. Intensely
Stronger With You
Notes include: vanilla, mint, cardamom, chesnut, amber, pink pepper, sage, violet leaf
Click here to try: Emporio Armani Stronger With You for Men Eau de Toilette Spray, 1.7 oz
My Full Review: Stronger With You
Stronger With You Intensely
Notes include: pink pepper, cinnamon, toffee, lavender, sage, suede, amber, violet, vetiver
Click here to try: Intensely
My Full Review: Stronger with You Intensely
Opening
Stronger With You kicks things off being fully fresh and with its spicier notes out. To me, the cardamom really stands apart from the other notes, as being dominant early on.
Beyond that, it’s: pink pepper, mint, sage. The vanilla and chestnut notes are there also, but will gain strength a bit further in. Early on, it’s cardamom and the gang.
Stronger With You Intensely, also starts with its spiciness. Here, it is warmer and more short-lived. The pink pepper is now the stronger note, joined by cinnamon and sage.
I get a sweeter influence earlier with Intensely. The toffee accord with the cinnamon and caramel notes really gives Intensely a more dynamic feel.
Which do I prefer? These scents do share similarities, but I like Intensely more so, in the opening act.
I like cardamom, but the pink pepper in Intensely with the toffee, is really quite attractive. Plus, I enjoy cinnamon and caramel as notes more than the mint and sage that backs up the cardamom in the original Stronger with You.
The spice is done well in either of these Armani colognes, but I lean towards Intensely.
Edge: Intensely
Projection
The original EDT release of Stronger With You, is actually very strong. Not the most beast mode scent ever, but the projection is great for an eau de toilette, and a more mainstream type of fragrance.
It’ll venture far from the skin during opening, leave a scent trail, and then form a bubble around the wearer.
Intensely, is just a tad stronger than that. It has the same sort of powerful opening, just to a slightly higher degree.
Honestly, it isn’t a huge difference between them, and one might not even notice. But, Intensely gets the nod here. Most of the SWY line has great projection in comparison to many other scents, so, it’s not going to be a deciding factor in this case.
Edge: Intensely
Longevity
So, in either case, you’re going to get very good performance out of either of these fragrances. Both were excellent for designer scents. Again, the Stronger series is great on this front.
With the original, I seem to get just over 10 hours of wear from it. When I’ve tested out the EDT, I’ve never gotten less than 9 hours of wear on skin.
With Intensely, that gets upped to somewhere in the 11 or 12 hour range. The last couple aren’t that strong, but the flanker does stick around longer than the original.
Edge: Intensely
Versatility
I mean, there isn’t too much of a difference in this category. Both are colder weather plays. Both have power and sweetness, that might not be what you want to go with in the office. Both go great for the nightlife, especially with younger guys.
I don’t see much of a distinction. The sweetness of each, kind of precludes either from being a formal type of scent.
Ehh, basically a tie.
Edge: Push
Overall Scent
In the end, which do I prefer? Intensely. I was never a huge fan of the original EDT release, but it was a solid release, just not one that I particularly wanted to wear.
The flankers to that original formulation, have surpassed that one, at least some of them have.
Intensely is one such example. Toffee, vanilla, and suede with periods of spice and lavender. Very nice, without the same chestnut note, but also the vanilla seems to be blended better.
The opening act of the original, isn’t my favorite. But, it is a fragrance that I think improves as it dries down. You get the vanilla/chestnut but also some drier and herbal aromas thrown in also.
Really, the EDT isn’t a bad scent at all. I just think that it falls somewhat short of Intensely. None of the Stronger line really towers above the others to me, there’s some separation, but I don’t dislike any. Intensely and Leather, seem to be my favorites as of publishing.
Anyway, Intensely smells better and has better performance. It gets the win here. Intensely, Leather, and Absolutely are my top three from this line. With the original coming in fourth currently.
Winner: Stronger With You Intensely
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Best Men’s Colognes started back in 2013, as a way to share my learning experiences with the different fragrances that I’ve owned, as I dove head first into the hobby. Since then, that new hobby grew into a consistent passion, helping millions of readers along the way. I have personally written reviews for well over 800 perfumes and colognes for both men and women. This is along with writing hundreds of other in-depth fragrance guides.

