MAINSTREAM MONDAY: SNIFFING A POPULAR PERFUME

Prada EDP is my classic. This woody-amber was  launched in 2004. I feel in love with it back then ( I worked heavily promoting it throughout its mainstream launch) and I knew that this was going to be in my fragrance wardrobe until I died. If anything could be my “signature” scent then this could be it. (However, I doubt I’ll ever have one. I wear a different fragrance daily). I used to dream of being a Nose. But, after smelling Prada, why should I be? This is what I wanted and this is what I would create. Love at first sniff. Prada is my “modern classic”. I feel this is a scent that will be remembered. I can’t believe I’m just now writing a review.

Mainly on me, Prada wears as a very woodsy scent. From the get-go, I get patchouli. This isn’t a headshop patchouli. This is a very beautiful, classy patchouli rounded by other woods and creamy vanilla. But, really all you need to know about Prada is that it is an amber fragrance. Amber is the star, amber is what rounds out all of the otherwise masculine woods. Many notes are listed…the citrus is there for only a brief moment. The base is always invading the top even when the citrus is there. I get patchouli, amber, and the faintest rose. I suppose this is Prada’s middle since it wears  this way on me for many hours. The dry-down is beautiful: sweet tonka and vanilla mixing with resins and the same woods from before. The thing about Prada is that it doesn’t smell synthetic like other fragrances in the mainstream. It really does smell like it is heavier on the “oils”. This fragrance wears for many, many hours, like 12+. I can see how people see Prada and Mugler Angel as similar…patchouli, vanilla, etc. paired with long wear. However, Prada is never obnoxious. It’s classy and very much like Prada’s clothing: simple, refined, elegant. Think a LBD. You wear Prada EDP, it doesn’t wear you. The EDP could be ostentatious, the notes are “heavy”, but it never is. Now that is art.

Notes listed include: bergamot, bitter orange, mandarin, mimosa absolute, rose absolute, Indonesian patchouli, labdanum, tonka bean, vanilla, Indian sandalwood, benzoin.

Give Prada a try if you like woodsy perfumes rounded by amber. Or if you like scents like Tom Ford White Patchouli, Laurence Dumont Vanille Patchouli, Thierry Mugler Angel and/or Fresh Cannabis. I see Prada as a beautiful women’s fragrance. Men and women compliment me when I wear it and my husband absolutely adores the scent; however, I’ve know many guys that can rock this fragrance. They are usually the guys that can wear sweet scents, but I’ve known a few guys that wore Prada so well that it made me feel a bit inadequate 🙂

Prada comes in a few sizes. The 1.7 oz retails for $90 at Sephora. It can sometimes be found at discounters like Perfume.com.

There is even a refillable atomizer bottle (pictured). It’s beautiful and it will jazz up any boudoir, but it will leak and it will evaporate. It isn’t that I don’t recommend it. But, use your common sense people. I know of people who threw their atomizer bottle in with their luggage and were upset that an entire bottle leaked all over their clothes. Geez, how unglamorous are you? I thought everybody knew that atomizers are an essential part of “boudoir” culture, for vanity, not for travel. There is a reason why all fragrances aren’t offered in this type of bottle. It doesn’t fit into our mobile world. It isn’t because fragrances are less luxurious. And fragrances in atomizers are a once a day kind of spritz. They stick. No touch-ups.

P.S. I need help! My 2.7 oz. bottle will not spritz! I know that these can “lock” if the nozzle is not facing in the “forward” position. For the life of me, I can’t fix it. It drives me nuts because it is an 80% full bottle. You can’t untwist the cap. What is a girl to do? Should I “burst” it and pour in in an empty perfume  bottle? Should I write the manufacturers a scathing email?

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*Product purchased by me. Product pic from Fragrantica. Post contains affiliate links. Thanks!