Prada will launch Luna Rossa, a new fragrance for men inspired by the brand’s America’s Cup Challenge team of the same name, later this year…
Five perfumers honored by French Minister of Culture
Five perfumers, one from each of the major fragrance and flavor companies, were named Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres last week by the French Minister of Culture…
Prada No. 11 Cuir Styrax, Reminiscence L’Incroyable Patchouli ~ new fragrance
Later this month, Prada will launch No. 11 Cuir Styrax, a new addition to the Prada Exclusives line. Cuir Styrax was developed by perfumer Daniela Andrier; the notes include leather, styrax (benzoin), orange blossom, white musk, vanilla and incense…
Prada Candy ~ perfume review
This scent is more feminine and more excessive than past launches. It has an explosion of joie de vivre that is quite unique for us, and uses a lot more color…
Up until now, we have explored the more traditional and classic side of Prada, but the brand is much more than that.1
Prada Candy incarnates the new Prada woman: she’s daring, sensual, full of life and implosive. The perfume is named after this seductive and joyful girl who is running wild.
The first two statements about the new Prada Candy were made by representatives from Puig, the company that holds the fragrance license for Prada. The third is from the scent’s description at Neiman Marcus, which has exclusive rights on the fragrance (for the US, anyway) until October. If a seductive and joyful girl running wild — and flashing her hot pink undies, no less — doesn’t sound like the Prada that perfumistas know and love, hey, the times they are a-‘changin, and you probably already guessed that from the name and the packaging and the advertising, all of which is a departure from the muted elegance the perfume house has long been known for.
So I figured I’d detest Prada Candy, but I was pleasantly surprised. They stuck with perfumer Daniela Andrier, who developed most of the Prada fragrance line, and she’s done something that might reasonably be called Candy without being a complete pander-to-the-masses sellout. In fact, while I don’t adore Candy, and it isn’t going straight onto my buy list, I enjoyed wearing it considerably more than the last two feminine efforts from Prada…
Maison Martin Margiela Untitled ~ fragrance review
Untitled, the debut fragrance from the Diesel-owned fashion house Maison Martin Margiela, launched last year. It took its own sweet time getting to the US, and when it finally got here, it was (and so far as I know, still is) exclusive to Saks, which means it has taken me very nearly forever to try it. And now that I have, well, it’s quite nice but I am not weeping inconsolably over the lost time. (There, now you needn’t read the rest of the review).
The original newsletter from Colette announcing the fragrance noted that it “includes of course the codes of the brand, while cultivating its personality”. I know little enough about the codes of the Maison Martin Margiela brand, other than the obvious: they’re too hip to pander to the sort of consumers who want things like, say, names on their fragrances; they’re fashionably arty; and they do a darned nice minimalist bottle. Vogue helpfully informs me that the “biggest insult to a Maison Martin Margiela runway collection is that it’s wearable.”
The perfume, sorry to say, or perhaps, not sorry to say, isn’t really much of a fit with all that…