Infusion D'Iris by Prada, 2007

This is a really lovely fragrance, and very different from my usual fare. I'm a woody/musky/sweet amber kind of girl, and Prada's Infusion d'Iris is soft, cool, and green. It's quite feminine without being sweet or heavily floral, and elegant without being too stuffy or serious. To me Infusion d'Iris is not reminiscent of soap as many have said, but rather of being in a shady garden after rain. Clean and refreshing. Eminently wearable iris runs through the whole thing; it's powdery and subtle, no root-caked-turnips here. In the opening, the powdery iris is just touched with bitter orange, and in the midnotes it becomes less powdery and more cool/green/fresh. This again is not a marine fresh or a citrus fresh, but really smells like being in a shaded woods. The fragrance doesn't develop much on me, aside from becoming cooler/greener and slightly musky as time goes on, but it's such a subtle, refined, and appealing scent that the lack of development is not a detraction at all. It has quite good longevity, especially if sprayed on clothes/hair and quiet silage, though not so quiet that I'd call it a skin scent. It's my go-to fragrance for spring and rainy days, and is also nice on really hot summer days and early fall.

This type of british traditional sharp-opaque-soapy-barbershop style (in the same vein of Crabtree & Evelin) and at once modern and extremely sophisticated fragrance captures all the laundry soapiness, the elegance and boldness of the royal note of iris and its sort of "laundry, detergent and  bath foam effect" reminds me a bit the one exuded by another iris scent, the unmilky and  musky Narciso Rodriguez Musc for Him that replaces with musk and berries the green-laundry-bright effect here produced by cedar, citrus, galbanum and overall vetiver. The last is the key element on the side of iris and the chord of the two elements produces a sort of bright, clean, watery and soapy refined very womanly smell of floral creams, detergents, soaps and feminine bathroom unguents and foams. The element of cedar is astringent and balancing and it joins discreetly the elements imprinting texture and grounding the general level of unsweet soapy opacity. The fragrance starts citrusy, barely angular and green in its first blast of orange and galbanum which bind themselves perfectly with the floral woody heart of iris, cedar and vetiver while the final outcome tends to soften towards something airy, incensey and creamy. The benzoin, in its chord with iris, vetiver, cedar and citrus produces the slightly milky and talky bath foam effect while the frankincense imprints air, a touch of dust and opaqueness . Sensual and clean.

Prada Infusion d'Iris is the definition of elegance and class. For those of you that want lots of flowers, sweetness and strength, this fragrance probably isn't for you. Infusion d'Iris is a clean, inoffensive floral. Slightly musky and woodsy. In truth, I hated this fragrance at first. It opened with a harshness that was both soapy and herbaceous. All I wanted was a delicate floral note, yet what I first experienced was odd and unpleasant to my nose. Thankfully the heart was much nicer with the iris and orange blossom notes peeking through and eventually taking over. Well Infusion d'Iris is certainly a Prada fragrance in its sophistication and simplicity. I do appreciate those aspects in Infusion d'Iris, I think that more simplistic, classic scents are needed on the market these days. There are too many overly sweetened and overly fruity scents that people seem to prefer wearing. This fragrance is not something I'd personally buy for myself and to be completely honest, I do prefer Acqua di Parma's Iris Nobile for my iris fix. However, this fragrance is beautiful in a soapy, clean sense. It is perfect for those days at the office or when you want to feel fresh and feminine all day long.