My quest for a versatile year-round scent led me to get my hands on a decant of the new Prada Luna Rossa Carbon EDP. I had, and flipped, a bottle of the Carbon EDT because I literally couldn’t smell it — to me it was all molecule, and just didn’t register anything at all, it was a really weird experience. Like I might as well have been spraying on water. It looked like the EDP has a very different profile, so I thought I’d give it a try. It’s… weird in a different way than the EDT. They list only three notes: lavender at the top, licorice in the mids, and cypress at the base. I definitely get the lavender (and I love lavender…) and to me the licorice is right there at the open as well. I wondered if the lavender/licorice combo would give Sauvage Elixir vibes but no, they are completely different. Imma be honest, it’s a weird mix. I mean, it’s pretty well blended - my nose can’t really pick out much else other than lavender and licorice and some sweet ambery warmth - and it’s certainly pleasant to smell, but I’m not sure I want to smell that way if that makes sense. The mental image when I first sprayed this on was like being at a kindly old lady’s house where she has lavender potpourri and a bowl with some kind of hard licorice candy in it. And there is definitely a molecule effect going on with this one as well - kind the olfactory equivalent of MSG, where I know *something* is going on, but I can’t really smell it directly - so it has that in common with the EDT. Like the EDT, I suspect this is projecting to anyone else that comes near me, but aside from occasional wafts of lightly sweet amber lavender licorice, I’m not getting much off of this. I love cypress as a note, but I’m really not getting any here, but maybe it’s just contributing to that ambery warmth sensation I’m getting. It’s a nice release but I think this is going in the “huh, interesting, I’ll either keep this decant to break out occasionally or trade it” list.

Wearing this revolver today, I know it’s more for night time but I can’t resist wearing it. The opening of this Elixir is really really good, the only downside is that it doesn’t last not even like 5 or 10 minutes. Then it changes for that fruity or smooth leather. Solid longevity and projects for 2 feet for the first 2 hours, IMO this fragrance grows on you. I do really enjoy this one.