Last night, for lack of solid plans, a friend and I went to check out the Galleria, one of the bigger malls near my home. On my way through the Nordstrom there, I inquired, belatedly I admit, about the Prada Infusion de Fleur d’Oranger. Spray, spray, and away I went, sniffing my wrists throughout the hour and a half I spent wandering and window shopping.
Infusion de Fleur d’Oranger, according to Women’s Wear Daily, is one of the “Ephemeral Infusion” fragrances, designed to “evoke a light memory of the original ingredient”. The notes are Mandarin, Neroli (Top), Orange Blossom, Tuberose, Jasmine (Middle), Serenolide, Powdery Notes (Bottom). It is supposed to be derivative of Infusion d’Iris and Prada No. 4 Fleur d’Oranger.
Infusion de Fleur d’Oranger is Prada’s first entry in the realm of the limited edition (LE) scent. As a collector by nature, I am a huge sucker for the limiteds. I was super excited to try this one. I love Infusion de Iris. I generally love citrus. You cannot imagine how disappointed I was.I liked the opening bit, which to me was like the taste of biting into an orange rind – a little sweet, moderately citrus, and quite a bit of bitter pith. I imagined the bitterness would back of a bit to balance it out as I wore it. Ten minutes in, it hadn’t. The smell was definitely recognizable. “What is this?” I asked my friend, shoving my wrist under her nose. “It’s so familiar.” She agreed, but couldn’t place it either. So there, I am, wandering through the mall, deeply inhaling off my wrist like a coke addict at a Columbian drug lord's buffet line, while my friend – a non-perfumista – tries not to be embarrassed by this weird tick I’ve apparently developed – when all the sudden it hits me. “Aquanet!” Shoving my wrist in front of her again, I happily yelled, “It’s Aquanet right? Aquanet (Sniff!) and (Sniff! Sniff!) a little bit of orange rind?” She laughed and agreed.
At first, I was just thrilled to have placed it. Of course, a beat later I turned to her and said, “Who would pay so much to smell like a Southern girl’s head of big hair?” And it smelled big, too. It’s been three hours and the sillage is still hanging on. It’s less soap and hairspray now, and more musky, like the way a Southern girl’s big hair smells to her date at the end of the senior dance as opposed to the scent he catches at the beginning when they pose for a picture and he inconspicuously leans in to smell her, a smell familiar and exotic to the wild thump of a fifteen y.o. male heart. It’s not a bad smell, exactly, but not one I’d particularly seek out for the experience. There many be many people who love it; certain the myriad of reviews (see below) indicate mixed results. And about three hours later it got a little nicer as the soap backed off and the citrus came in more, but I, for one, do not wish to wait three-four hours to like something I'm wearing.
I recognize that LEs are a great marketing technique to catch suckers just like me. At the same time, just because everybody else is doing it, does not mean everybody should. Infusion d’Iris is just so lovely. I like to think that if Prada had taken the time to tinker with this one until they got it right, rather than march it out for the four month blip it’s bound to be, it might have turned out a very nice fragrance, since the concept is an unusual treat. Great idea, but in this instance it really falls flat on execution.
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