Infusion d'Homme (Prada)

By Dane

Prada's Infusion d'Iris was quiet landmark in fragrances. Although several iris-based fragrances had been released in and around it, it was one of the few mainstream fragrances to really focus on iris' simplicity. It had a brief citrus opening to not shock the public, but soon blossomed to a dry, buttery iris.

Infusion d'Iris should have been marketed to both sexes, and then the mess that is Infusion d'Homme could have been avoided. I made the mistake of testing this on the same day as Cartier's Roadster. Where Roadster has a brilliant and mouth-watering opening, Infusion d'Homme may have one of the worst topnote accords I have ever encountered. I'll skip descriptive words like "tangy" and "tart", and stick with realistic adjectives like "bitter" and "acrid". Any way you describe it, unpleasant is the overall feeling. The good thing about bad topnotes is that they don't last long (lucky for Prada). The iris soon enters the picture in full force, and isn't all that bad (in fact, it's quite nice). Sadly (again), a soapy synthetic kicks in and ruins the only good part. Within the hour, the fragrance falls flat and only a demure, pale aroma is left on the skin.

Since drafting this, I took a look at the comments on the forums. Seems as though I'm alone in my cynicism of this scent, which is why you should always try something for yourself. Words can only do so much when in comes to fragrance. There's your caveat...having said that, I'll stick with the women's Infusion and avoid all the guys wearing the men's.

For a different take on the same scent, take a look at MikePerez23's review on Perfume Shrine.

Year: 2008
Perfumer: Daniela Andrier
Notes: Neroli, Iris, Vetiver, Cedar, Olibanum, Benzoin