# Valentino — Born in Roma Donna Intense > Born in Roma Donna Intense is Valentino's 2023 darker turn on the Born in Roma Donna idea: a polished amber vanilla in which bourbon vanilla, benzoin, and a distinctly indolic jasmine create a sweeter ## Essence Born in Roma Donna Intense is Valentino's 2023 darker turn on the Born in Roma Donna idea: a polished amber vanilla in which bourbon vanilla, benzoin, and a distinctly indolic jasmine create a sweeter, more nocturnal counterpart to the original. Its rockstud pyramid bottle and high-gloss sweetness make it recognizably designer, but the jasmine gives it an unexpectedly animalic edge. ## Scent Profile It opens with a plush wave of bourbon vanilla and amber. A bergamot-and-blackcurrant brightness keeps that first impression from becoming entirely dense, though the effect is more syrupy and glossy than sparkling. Some wearers notice a clean shampoo-like floral effect or a coconut-like facet at this stage, neither of which defines the official note pyramid. Jasmine changes the character as the scent warms. It can feel creamy, luminous, and white-floral against the vanilla, but it is also deliberately indolic: on some skin it takes on a hay-like or animalic quality. That tension keeps the fragrance from reading as a simple dessert vanilla. Vanilla and amber remain the center of gravity rather than yielding fully to the flower. The drydown is the richest part. Benzoin gives the vanilla a balsamic, faintly powdery resinous texture, and amber holds the accord together in a golden haze. The structure is relatively linear, moving from juicy sweet vanilla toward a warmer, creamier vanilla-amber finish rather than radically changing shape. The enduring impression is of bourbon vanilla and benzoin folded around jasmine. ## Performance Born in Roma Donna Intense starts with strong projection and a noticeable warm trail, then settles into a closer but still present aura. Eight to twelve hours of wear is common, with the fragrance often persisting on clothing into the next day. Its density rewards a restrained application, particularly in heat or tightly enclosed rooms, where the sweetness and jasmine can become more forceful. ## Wearing Context This is most convincing on cool evenings: autumn dinners, winter dates, dressed-up nights out, and occasions that welcome a sensual, attention-getting scent. It reads feminine, glamorous, and self-assured rather than airy or casual. Hot summer afternoons, small offices, and scent-sensitive settings are less natural territory, both because of the sweetness and because the indolic jasmine can be especially assertive. ## Comparisons & DNA Born in Roma Donna Eau de Parfum is the essential reference point. The original is brighter and more blackcurrant-jasmine floral, while Intense is creamier, darker, and built around vanilla, amber, and benzoin. Donna Extradose takes the same family further toward a denser, sweeter parfum-style vanilla; Intense sits between the two, retaining more floral friction and resinous depth. Yves Saint Laurent Libre Intense shares a warm, dressed-up floral mood, but its citrus and lavender facets make it sharper where Valentino is more gourmand and ambery. Kayali Vanilla 28 offers a purer vanilla-gourmand comparison, without the jasmine's indolic character or the benzoin's balsamic pull. Carolina Herrera Good Girl is another sweet date-night designer reference, yet Born in Roma Donna Intense feels more focused on its vanilla-jasmine contrast than on a broad floral-gourmand construction. ## Reception The fragrance is widely valued for its creamy vanilla-amber warmth, long wear, and glamorous date-night presence. Fans find it sensual, comforting, and more grown-up than the original Born in Roma Donna. Its performance is often a major part of the appeal, especially for those seeking a sweet fragrance with visible presence in cool weather. The jasmine is also the source of nearly all disagreement. For some it gives the fragrance a compelling animalic depth; for others it can smell fecal, overly heavy, or simply difficult on skin. Complaints about excessive sweetness, a synthetic or shampoo-like effect, and a high price for a simple composition also recur. It is best sampled rather than chosen blindly if indolic florals are unfamiliar. ## Versions & Reformulation Donna Intense is a 2023 flanker, not just a concentration increase of the 2019 original. It moves the line from blackcurrant-jasmine brightness toward bourbon vanilla, amber, and benzoin, and is followed by the still sweeter Donna Extradose. Coral Fantasy, Yellow Dream, and other limited editions sit alongside it in the larger Born in Roma family. No reformulation of Intense has been documented. ## Acquisition Notes Born in Roma Donna Intense sits in the prestige-designer tier, with ten, 30, 50, and 100 ml formats and retail pricing around $150 for 50 ml and $185 for 100 ml. A smaller format is a sensible first purchase because the jasmine is highly skin-dependent. The black-to-pink rockstud pyramid bottle is the signature presentation. ## Notable Facts & Lore - It received the Fragrance Foundation's 2024 Fragrance of the Year - Women's Luxury award. - The composition is credited to Amandine Clerc-Marie and Honorine Blanc. - Valentino describes the concept as an intensified vanilla, brightened by bergamot and blackcurrant accord and deepened with benzoin. - The rockstud pyramid bottle draws on Valentino's aristo-punk identity and Roman architectural references. - The line's 2019 original is the brighter blackcurrant-jasmine counterpart to this darker flanker.