Prada Tendre ~ fragrance review

Posted by Robin on 25 August 2006 13 Comments

Prada Tendre perfume

Prada released the Prada Tendre fragrance earlier this year. It was created by Carlos Benaim and Clement Gavarry, who also worked on the original Prada fragrance, and the notes include citrus, mandarin, neroli, bergamot, maté leaves, cedar, cardamom, plum, vanilla, incense, jasmine, vetiver, patchouli leaves, sandalwood, labdanum and benzoin.

Like Calvin Klein’s Euphoria Blossom, Prada Tendre was developed to perform in the lucrative Asian market where heavy fragrances do not sell, and again as with Euphoria Blossom, its olfactory relationship to its parent fragrance is not entirely obvious on first sniff. Mind you, the original amber accord is still there, but it is no longer the star of the show…

Read the rest of this article »

Prada Eau de Parfum & Prada Intense: perfume review

Posted by Robin on 24 August 2006 30 Comments

Prada Amber

Prada released Prada Eau de Parfum, their first mainstream perfume offering, in 2004. It was developed by Carlos Benaim, Max Gavarry and Clement Gavarry, and the notes include bergamot, orange, bitter orange, mandarin flower, mimosa, rose absolute, schinus molle, peru balsam, patchouli, raspberry flower, labdanum, tonka bean, vanilla, musk and sandalwood. Prada won a Fifi award for the fragrance in 2005.

Prada Eau de Parfum was meant as a…

…modern take on essential oils, said the company. It is an amber scent built around four time-honoured essences, each meant to reflect one of four dimensions: sandalwood oil from India is pure; patchouli leaves from indonesia are addictive; labdanum resin from France is precious: benzoin from Siam is profound. (via Cosmetics International, 6/1/2004)

Prada Eau de Parfum is all about amber; other notes come and go, but the amber is prominent from the first spray. Citrus decorates the top notes, a whisper of florals the middle, and a dry, earthy patchouli with vanilla accents the base, but the amber is the star here. It is, as advertised, a modern sort of amber; it is warm but not rich or heavy, and smells nothing like its hard-hitting oriental forebears…

Read the rest of this article »

Calvin Klein Euphoria & Euphoria Blossom ~ fragrance reviews

Posted by Robin on 1 June 2006 49 Comments

Calvin Klein Euphora perfume Calvin Klein Euphoria Blossom fragrance

Calvin Klein Euphoria for women was launched in 2005, and won this year’s Fifi Award for best luxe fragrance. The fragrance was created by perfumers Dominique Ropion, Carlos Benaim and Loc Dong, and has notes of pomegranate, persimmon, lush green accord, lotus blossom, champaca flower, black orchid, liquid amber, black violet, cream accord and mahogany wood.

Euphoria starts with sweet fruits; the pomegranate and persimmon are liberally sugared, and the “lush green accord” adds a kind of synthetic freshness that floats above but does nothing to temper the syrupy sweetness. It moves quickly into the dry down, which is blended floral notes mingling with now-indistinct fruits, the whole doused with a warm vanilla cream laced with patchouli, amber and a hefty dose of musk…

Read the rest of this article »

The Christian Dior Poisons, part 3: Pure Poison

Posted by Robin on 19 May 2006 48 Comments

Pure Poison perfume by Christian Dior

Pure Poison was launched by Christian Dior in 2004, 6 years after Hypnotic Poison and nearly 20 years after the original Poison fragrance. It was created by perfumers Carlos Benaïm, Dominique Ropion and Olivier Polge, and has notes of jasmine, sweet orange, bergamot, mandarin, orange blossom, gardenia, sandalwood, musk and white amber.

Pure Poison attempts to appeal to modern sensibilities (and modern tastes in fragrance) while hanging on to the original conceit of Poison as the venom to catch your man:

Pure Poison — though very different from the original Poison, which launched in 1985 — is a modern spin on the same concept. It is designed to appeal to young women of the 21st century who are passionate, down to earth and able to turn their wildest dreams into reality, but lack the selfish front that characterised the 1980s. (via Cosmetics International; 7/9/2004)

It is rather a stretch conceptually: one might ask whether a down to earth, emotionally generous woman needs or wants a fragrance called Poison at all. For that matter, the fragrance itself cannot hope to live up to its name, for pure it might be, but there is nothing even remotely venomous about it…

Read the rest of this article »

New fragrances: Prada Eau Tendre & Lacoste Inspiration

Posted by Robin on 5 May 2006 7 Comments

Prada has launched Prada Eau de Parfum Tendre:

As its name suggests, this latest re-interpretation of the signature Prada fragrance is a lighter version of the original, and particularly suited to Asian markets….The juice is a new combination of the original’s four key ingredients: patchouli leaves, sandalwood, labdanum and benzoic, “re-mixed” by IFF’s Carlos Benaim and Clement Gavarry. (via moodiereport)

Prada Tendre is available now at neimanmarcus. Update: see a review of Prada Eau Tendre.

Lacoste will launch Inspiration, a new perfume for women, this summer…

Read the rest of this article »

« Newer articles

Older articles »

Now Smell This

a blog about perfume

Prada Tendre ~ fragrance review

Prada Eau de Parfum & Prada Intense: perfume review

Calvin Klein Euphoria & Euphoria Blossom ~ fragrance reviews

The Christian Dior Poisons, part 3: Pure Poison

New fragrances: Prada Eau Tendre & Lacoste Inspiration