Infusion d'Homme (2008)
by Prada

The extremely iris prominent top notes (dry, almost brittle and throat parching) feature just a pinch of neroli slightly overpowered by a pure soap accord that appears almost immediately. It is extremely soapy. Fans of soapy scents will be thrilled: it smells bubbly, aqueous and floral. The first time I skin tested this, I missed the soap accord and my nose zeroed in on the iris. Repeated wearings, especially on warm, humid days revealed the soap. I am reminded of the biting, almost lye-based hand-milled soap notes of Puro Lino, or the green/flower accents of White Linen by Estee Lauder.

The iris/neroli/soap combo dries down revealing a light, transparent vetiver mixed in with the top notes. The light whiffs of vetiver made me wish for a stronger vetiver presence - the iris wears very strong and linear on this fragrance. I smell no incense or benzoin in the dry down, with only the slightest woody accord (cedarwood?). It is a more evident vetiver accord than Infusion d’Iris, and although I wouldn’t classify this as more masculine (although many women might do this), I think it just smells more crisp and starchy.

Overall it manages to evoke a freshly showered feeling, awash in flowers.

The scent is not groundbreaking, in terms of fragrance releases, but it is much better than the large number of aquatic, marine and synthetic men’s fragrance clogging department store shelves. I applaud a designer scent that is not afraid to be flower prominent...

Longevity of Infusion d’Homme is average. It stays quite close to my skin when I wear it and when I wanted it to wear stronger I remedied this by overapplying it. Perhaps the ancillary products (bar soaps, shower gel) might extend the sillage?? But, then again, showering with products that are scented to smell like a ‘fresh shower’, sounds a little ridiculous doesn’t it?

Infusion d'Homme is the only fragrance of the 08 designer releases I found worthy of investing in. I went with 50ml because I know that's all I need, but I love the 25oz bottle ($270) just for the way it looks and other big sizes are priced reasonably ($70/100ml, $100/200ml).

To a large extent it is an EdT version of Infusion d'Iris, but this is not a bad thing. The crux of the (male) fragrance is cool iris presented with a face of neroli. My only complaint is that the other listed notes (which, as with other Pradas are listed boldly on the bottle itself) of vetiver, benzoin and cedar are not noticeable in any meaningful way. I assume these ingredients/notes are in fact there, operating in the background and blended such that you can't pick up individual notes. Again, this isn't new for Prada. Amber Pour Homme, which is a favorite of mine, doesn't really smell at all like amber, and the notes stamped on a metal plaque to the top of the bottle aren't all that clearly detectable, either.

The strength isn't there to carry significant development into drydown. I tested d'Homme on one arm and d'Iris on the other... being an EdP d'Iris was stronger and lasted much longer, but I actually liked something about d'Homme much more. Perhaps it was the subtlety, or perhaps it was the functioning of different notes in the background.

Still, very enjoyable modern fragrance and better than Armani Diamonds, Versace Pour Homme, Givenchy Pi Neo, Davidoff Adventure, and almost everything else designers have offered guys this year.

Well, this is a rehash of the women's versions with a few tweaks, as other reviewers have mentioned. The biggest difference is that the Infusion d'Iris was an EdP, whereas Infusion d'Homme is an EdT. Perhaps that's where the longevity issue comes in for some people. To me, this scent is a nice warm weather player that could be introduced into the summer lineup. If it wears off after 3-4 hours ( which isa its duration on my skin in tests), I don't much care, It is rather mediocre. On the whole the women's is better, longer lasting , and a little better crafted to my nose. The flanker for men? No earthly reason for it especially when the original was as perfectly unisex as any slightly woody-oriental eau-de-cologne style scent.

Just like Infusion d'Iris, but the proportions of the notes have been played with. It begins like Infusion d'Iris, but doesn't progress to the sweet ambery aspects of benzoin and galbanum like the womens version, but to a final note of orange blossom and hints of cedar. Longevity leaves much to be desired, but still carries a remarkable simplicity about it.

This is just plain rubbish! To my nose it is an exact mix of 80% Infusion d'iris and 20% Prada Amber Pour Homme. Uninspired, like so many of the chemical releases this year.

The mens's infusion is truly a hybrid of the women's infusion and the original men's Amber pour homme cologne. It has the lovely iris, vetiver, woody/incense notes of the women's original, yet has that distinct barbershop/soapy quality of the men's amber. While seemingly well composed, after many applications on the first day after purchase, it sadly disappears on my skin with virtually no trace whatsoever. I do like it though, yet it appears to be an eau de cologne in silliage.