I'm feeling festive today, so I decided it would be fun to review one of my current favorite fragrances: Prada Candy Eau de Parfum. I picked up this deluxe sample size during a recent gift-with-purchase event. It was a great find, as I love the scent and enjoy collecting miniature fragrances (see the menagerie here). Prada Candy is a caramel confection wrapped in playful pink and gold packaging. The intended notes include caramel, musk, vanilla, and benzoin. Simply put, Prada Candy is a weighty caramel vanilla scent. The sweet candy caramel is the prominent note. The sweetness is tempered by a relaxed, but also delicious vanilla scent. The vanilla is very noticeable as well. Amidst the gourmand scents, I also noticed a pointed sort of intoxicating sweetness tucked in the middle. It was kind of like tasting the sweet rum in tiramisu or smelling the alcoholic edge of pure vanilla extract. I interpret this to be the benzoin contribution. A clean white mask adds a sensuality to the sweetness and prevents you from smelling too much like food. All the notes are strung together in a continuous fashion. The smooth transitions from candy to cake to musk make Prada Candy a delicious and alluring fragrance.
Prada Candy Eau de Parfum is a gorgeous gourmand scent that will wear well into the cooler months. While its character is simple, there is considerable weight to the scent that will give it good lasting power. For comparison purposes, I believe Aquolina Pink Sugar is a close, but lighter relative. I've really been favoring Prada scents lately. I find them to be simple but sophisticated blends that are slightly off the beaten track. Prada Candy is a great start, and I'm hoping to add more Prada to my fragrance collection soon. Thanks for reading! Have you tried Prada Candy? What are some of your favorite sweet scents? What fragrances or fragrance samples have you tried recently?
Love, Dovey.
I've sniffed this one and despite my love for gourmand/vanilla scents, this one is just a little too loud for me personally. I really liked the one L'Occitane put out some years ago, but unfortunately they discontinued it!
ReplyDeletejust right scent for a sweet lady like you
ReplyDeleteI actually didn't get a lot of sweetness when I tried this one! More deep amber, benzoin. Too strong for me, actually! Haha. I keep going back to sniff it, hoping I'll get some of that gourmand sweetness...but no. Shucks!
ReplyDeleteThis is the kind of sweet I like. I cannot be around someone wearing Pink Sugar - that's too much! I also love Prada's Infusion d'Iris - so pretty, a little powdery but if you are an iris fan, try that out.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the older and more sophisticated sister to Prada Candy is Guerlain's Gourmand Couquin - very pretty!
I LOVE this fragrance, but it just doesn't work when I apply it! Something about my body chemistry does not get along with Prada Candy which is such a disappointment. I'm so happy this one works for you :)
ReplyDelete♥ Jessica
That sounds like a beautiful and wearable gourmand scent - I've always been a little afraid of smelling too much like a candy store or a patisserie, but I've been discovering some pretty indie fragrances, and I think I'm going to have to check this out too!
ReplyDeleteTina
I'm a massive fan of Prada scents - I currently wear Amber. Candy sounds like a delicious fragrance and I love gourmand fragrances :)
ReplyDeleteI love Prada L'Orange, which I love in the summer. Adding this to my list of scents to smell. Between you & Jessica my sniff list has grown quite a bit. I like a lovely vanilla. I have one from an indie perfumer that is my current favorite - hoping that it is available again this winter.
ReplyDeleteI have a sample of this and didn't take to it based on the inital whiff but I'm thinking it will wear much more nicely now that the weather is cold like you said. Haven't gotten into Prada scents yet, though I did like L'Orange in the summer like lov2read68 above. :)
ReplyDeleteI am still undecided on this one, on me it doesn't smell gourmande at all, not that sweet like it seems in the bottle. A nice 'sweet' one (that actually smells sweet on me, lol) is Valentino 'Valentina'. I don't have a favourite scent, I like to have a good mix, from powdery to floral, from herb to fresh, etc. I have to be careful with vanilla, somethimes it smells really bad on me (gives everyone near me headache, lol) / Claire
ReplyDeleteI can not say enough good things about this perfume. I got this last christmas and i have been wearing it for a year straight (even in the warmer months). Needless to say that i am still obsessed with it. To me, it just smells like pure deliciousness and real caramel. It is definetely not one of these synthetic headache-y scents. The staying power is pretty good too, it lasts a good 7-8 hours. I have gotten tons of compliments on it. If you like sweet scents at all, then i would HIGHLY recommend this. Now that i am almost out of it i am definetely going to repurchase it. Yes, it is pretty pricey but to me it is worth every penny.
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