If there is a recent perfume which helped to confirm the current popularity of gourmand perfumes it would be Prada Candy. In-house perfumer Daniela Andrier began the trend of transparent gourmands with the white musk, benzoin, and caramel perfume. It is also one of my favorite mainstream perfumes since its release in 2011. Mme Andrier has followed the original with flankers which explore the boundaries of this type of mouth-watering fragrance. I received the sixth flanker, Prada Candy Night, wondering where it would choose to go.
The gourmand style of perfume was created with the chocolate and caramel of Thierry Mugler Angel in 1992. It was so indelible it seems newer gourmand perfumes avoid the comparison. If there was an adjective used to describe Angel it was not light or transparent. Mme Andrier wants to take that seminal duo in this genre and see what happens when you expand them into something that is lighter.
Daniela Andrier
Prada Candy Night opens with tightly focused bitter orange. This is the smell of orange essence you cook with not the fruit. It is then coated in twin viscous flows of caramel and chocolate. Orange dark chocolate is my favorite version of the candy. There is a moment when Prada Candy Night smells like a caramel coated orange dark chocolate bonbon. In these early moments the effect is very dense. Then Mme Andrier begins to add in white musk. This has the effect to add expansiveness from the inside. As the white musk creates an airier style of perfume it also becomes different. The chocolate and caramel separate the orange becomes much opaquer. Once it is complete it transforms from dense confection into a chocolate caramel cloud tinted orange by the sunset.
Prada Candy Night has 12-14 hour longevity and average sillage.
There seems to be a conscious effort by Mme Andrier to claim this next iteration of gourmand perfumery. She continues to define this new aesthetic. Prada Candy Night shows this by going back to the beginning.
Disclosure: This review was based on a sample provided by Prada.
–Mark Behnke
Dosen't sound very "Florida Friendly". (My own personal sub-genre, that I'm certain you can appreciate!) Nothing worse than being bogged down by a fragrance when it's 101 degrees and humidity is at 100%. Lol the SW Florida blues…I'm sure you don't miss it that much. 😉 I will have to get my nose on this but I'm going to stick with the L'Eau, the Florale and the divine Kiss, for now at least! I need to investigate the 2 I seem to have missed…hmmmmm. Thank You for the outstanding review Mark! 🙂
Anastasia,
For the part of the year you’re in now this is probably not “Florida friendly”. I think it would work on those days you pull out a sweater when the temperature drops below 60. 🙂
I live in Florida and I love to wear it. The orange brightens it nicely!