I want Candy, I really do, out of all of the fragrance launches in the last few months Prada Candy is one of the only ones (other than Amouage Honour Woman of course) to push me to start screaming ‘I MUST HAVE THIS!’

Candy is the latest release from Italian fashion house Prada, and it follows such excellent fragrances as; Infusion d’Iris, Infusion d’Homme and L’Eau Ambrée and therefore it has quite a lot to live up to. The fragrance is described as “a different facet of Prada’s femininity, where excess is everything.” [1]

Well, I don’t now about ‘excess’, but this is most definitely a very gorgeous and chic fragrance.

The Notes

Musk, Benzoin and Caramel

How Does it Smell?

You could be forgiven for thinking that Candy is a break from tradition for Prada. Their other fragrances, whilst being on the most-part excellently well crafted, have been somewhat sober in their nature. Candy, with it’s bright pink box complete with trés chic cartoon model, sweet name and ultra cute bottle appears to be something completely different, but in fact, it’s more Prada than you would think. The name Candy would also have you believe that this is a tooth-achingly sweet perfume, but yet again this is not the case.

Candy lists only three notes; Musk, an overdose of Benzoin and Caramel. The opening is a mixture of everything; the musk is clean, the benzoin is suitably fuzzy and snuggly and the caramel is gorgeously sweet burned sugar. There is also a touch of something fruity in the top notes, something a little bit plummy perhaps.

Benzoin resin (also known as Styrax resin) is described as smelling “Sweet, vanilla-scented, resinous and balsamic, milky and spicy” [1] and I would add that it can also smell furry, it’s adds a lot of texture to a fragrance. The ‘overdose’ of benzoin here definitely adds texture, Candy feels soft and fuzzy like a gorgeous cashmere jumper or scarf

What I find really interesting about Candy, is the fact that hiding underneath the sweet caramel, fuzzy benzoin and musk there is a wonderful soapiness that harks back to Infusion d’Iris, Infusion d’Homme and quite a few of the other Pradas. This is where Candy really does feel like a Prada, and it’s reassuring to see that they are continuing to have a good deal cohesion within their line of fragrances. The soapiness is also good at ensuring that Candy never becomes too sweet, cloying or too gourmand, not that that’s a bad thing, it’s just more interesting to do something a little different with a gourmand-like scent for once.

Candy has good longevity and after a few hours what’s left is a glorious vanilla scent with tiny hints of burned sugar. It really is lovely and I can see it being a go to scent for autumn and winter, it’s warm and cosy and I’m sure it would smell wonderful radiating from my winter scarf. If you don’t like gourmand fragrances then I think you should give Candy a try, despite the name it doesn’t feel very gourmand at all, and whilst it’s quite warm it isn’t over the top, in fact it’s quite soft.

So, on to the ever growing wish list Candy goes.

The Bottle

The bottle is more of a departure for Prada than the fragrance. I love the contrast of the shocking pink against the caramel coloured juice. My only criticism (there has to be one) is the umbrella sprayer looks like it would break very easily.

Availability

Candy is available in 30ml, 50ml and 80ml Eau de Parfum and prices range £40-£71. Matching body products are also available.

Disclaimer

This review is based on a sample provided by Escentual.com

[1] & [2] osmoz.com

Image 1 labdailyblog.com

Image 2 perfumerblog.info