Prada Paradoxe EDP Review | Glamour UK

Prada has domindated the luxury fragrance sphere through their sweet and dopamine inducing Candy Eau De Parfums. Now they're back, adding a new scent to the mix — Prada Paradoxe Eau De Parfum — which is bottled in the brand's iconic triangle shape. 

Fashion fragrances have always taken a distinct direction with their branding and the journey they want you, the consumer, to take. Prada take pride in creating rich, floral yet daring fragrance selections that could help anyone unlock those delicately and joyful feelings of nostalgia. The signature aromas blend usually covers tuberose with ylang-ylang, patchouli and vetiver. 

For Prada Paradoxe, the brand went for that ultimate sexy but sweet, flower power scent. Sitting comfortably in the floral ambery olfactive family, it taps into that sensual feminine energy with only a few spritz. The top notes feature dearly loved bergamot, a citrusy tangerine and pear accord, with the heart of the scent heavy on the neroli and flower blossom, and a vanilla and amber base.

With the gentle mix of a timeless white flower bouquet into its avant-garde signature, the fragrance embraces what the brand calls it “all paradoxical dimensions of scent and self”. Sounds cute to us. When it comes to fragrance, as a general consensus, the GLAMOUR team loves a scent that turns heads, but did this one turn heads for the right reasons? Here are five people's truest and most honest thoughts on Prada newest fragrance.

Prada Paradoxe Eau de Parfum, from £59 for 30ml, John Lewis

Bianca London, GLAMOUR’s Website Director

I have forever (and quite mortifyingly) been loyal to Britney Spears fragrances. However, after being told by my friends that I smell like a 'sweet shop' every time I spritz on my trusty Fantasy, it's high time I plumped for a more sophisticated scent and it doesn't get much more fancy than Prada. First impressions count and the packaging for the new fragrance is super luxe; it could be mistaken for a designer sunglasses box and the bottle makes the perfect addition to any #shelfie. 

The scent is delicious; it's sexy, sophisticated and sweet without being overpowering (that'll be the pear and tangerine essence). It exudes that wave of excitement you feel as you walk through the duty free fragrance hall prior to a summer in Ibiza. The scent actually gets better the longer you wear it. There's nothing worse than a fragrance that wears off after an hour but this stood the test of time and was still subtly lingering six hours later. Sorry, Britney, I've found a new fantasy fragrance. 

Rating: 9/10

Luca Wetherby-Matthews, GLAMOUR’s Social Media Manager

Let's start with the bottle. It is EVERYTHING. I love the triangular shape (synonymous with Prada branding), and it's got such a luxe feel to it, seriously upgrading my perfume collection. Now, the smell. This scent ticks all of my boxes when I'm looking for a perfume, it's sweet but in a mature, complex way — not sickening or candy sweet. 

That's largely thanks to the notes of pear, tangerine, neroli, amber, and musk which help ground the scent and give a feeling of warmth. I also love that this can be worn day and night, its floral notes are perfect for an everyday perfume for me and the sensuality of the warmer notes makes it perfect to transition into night, too. Win-win for me.

Rating: 9/10

Lian Brooks, GLAMOUR’s Audience Growth Manager

Soft, sweet, and feminine, this scent feels very versatile, like I could get away with wearing it day and night. Not overly loud, the name Paradoxe seems fitting in that sweeter notes of neroli, orange blossom and vanilla sit alongside muskier tones, yet the two elements come together in the best possible way to create a well-rounded scent. I was pleasantly surprised to find it also had better lasting power than my usual fragrance and a few small spritzes went a long way without feeling overpowering.

While this might not be to everyone's tastes as it's definitely on the sweeter side, if you like a fresh, floral fragrance, this is a no-brainer for you. It doesn't hurt either that the refillable bottle (shaped in Prada's iconic triangular logo) is beautiful to look at, and would add a lot of luxe to any dresser. It's a yes from me, I'm looking forward to wearing this through autumn.

Rating: 8/10

Camilla Kay, GLAMOUR’s European Beauty Director

When the news dropped that there was a new Prada scent on the way, my nose started tingling with anticipation. The first L’Oreal outing since licensing the Prada fragrance name was also going to be a shift of direction and after Prada Candy, I was more than ready! I was hoping for something sophisticated and as I pictured it in my mind I saw the bottle in the shape of the triangular logo. I mean they had to right? So I was delighted to unbox an early (gifted) sample and the bottle was just as imagined, and I have to say it comes with all the wantability of the Prada earrings that I’m also lusting after.

The Parada Paradoxe scent features a white bouquet of neroli and jasmine, two of my favourite aromas so it boded well from the outset. On spritzing, it's pleasantly soft, not too sweet (tick) with an underpinning of powdery softness (double tick) thanks to amber and musk accords. An element of powdery warmth is a Prada signature to my mind, that first appealed to me in the original Infusions D’Iris. It’s a little bit of Miuccia-style chic shining through. However, there’s no denying this is a blockbuster scent, designed for mass appeal and wearability, and if that was the goal then tick-tick, they smashed it. As for my inner fragrance temptress, she is tempted and will spray and repeat, it looks very pretty on my dressing table and I love the fact it’s refillable, but I have to admit, it isn’t the one to replace my fragrance signature just yet. 

Rating: 7.5/10

Elle Turner, GLAMOUR’s Beauty Editor

This is a crowd-pleaser scent. It's sweet and flirty, with a little musky trail to keep things interesting. It's more straight-up "feminine" than I'd normally go for (I tend to like fresh, green unisex scents or something a little more earthy) but it's pretty, perky and uplifting. Not a bad choice to take us into autumn.

Rating: 7/10

For more from Glamour UK Beauty Writer Shei Mamona, follow her on Instagram @sheimamona

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