Miu Miu eau de parfum: fragrance review

Has Miuccia Prada exhausted the fragrance concepts for her own brand and has expanded into its sister brand, Miu Miu? More like the youthful yet sophisticated Miu Miu label needed that which it was lacking; a lifestyle fragrance. Miu Miu eau de parfum comes along to fill that void (and alas not   the one in perfume lovers' hearts) and, although nothing seismical, it is a decent enough composition aiming to be the introduction to perfume for the quite young ladies who look up to the unique Prada fashion sense.

Unsurprisingly the formula was developed by Daniela Roche Andrier, the fetish perfumer of the Prada fragrance stable (and also famous for her creations for Bvlgari, Bottega Veneta, Martin Margiela Untitled and Marni), and bears a quota of her graceful trademark. Although when I first smelled Miu Miu eau de parfum I wasn't bowled over by the innovation and in fact wracked my brains to put my finger on what it reminded of (read on), I have to admit that it is not unrepresentable, at least compared to all the syrupy stuff around, and would probably sell quite well.
The collaboration of Miu Miu with Coty Inc. (the Prada frags are developed with Puig) definitely meant that the perfumer was subject to several focus group tests as well as meetings with the project managers team. This usually means creativity isn't given free rein.

The composition in Miu Miu eau de parfum tethers between the freshness of green notes and quite sharp floralcy of lily of the valley, rendered through modern synthetics, since the old golden standard, hydroxycitronellal has been heavily rationed, and the warmth of something that is almost patchouli-like, yet it's not.

The sharp lily of the valley fragrance note and the green jasmine (similar to the ethereal one in Marc Jacobs' discontinued Blush) is fitting the neopuritan aesthetics of the Miu Miu brand, so one can totally see the choice from a strategic, branding point of view. The woodsier background can be explained via the need for something that resonates with the sweeping trend in feminine launches of the past 15 years: something with patchouli notes...

The familiar faint patchouli chord that is indeed pack & parcel of almost every new fragrance launch aimed at the under-45 crowd (and even some aimed above), at least ever since the introduction of Narciso for Her, the pioneer of the "nouveau chypre" fragrances [refer to this for chypre definition & perfume examples], is, astoundingly enough, not exactly patchouli oil. In Miu Miu eau de parfum the note has a hint of pepper and mainly a wood hue, sans the usual dark chocolate facet of natural patchouli essence. In fact the base note (especially on paper, as on skin it is more fleeting) reminds me of older aldehydic florals with green notes, like Lancome's Climat, but very faint. A wink by the perfumer?

We have touched the subject of fractioned essences before, when perfumers take a complex natural structure and extract only the odoriferous molecules they're interested in, tossing the things that give off notes for their particular purpose. For Miu Miu eau de parfum this involved what the producing company, Givaudan, calls "akigalawood" (try saying that 5 times quickly) which is basically a Givaudan trademark (submitted in May 2012 if that's of interest) made in alliance with Soliance.

This is how Boris, a leading biochemist within Givaudan explained it: “The mission of the Ingredients Centre of Excellence in Zurich, Switzerland is to employ enzymes to develop new fragrance ingredients, and it was within this context that the Biosciences team recently created Akigalawood®, where an enzyme known as laccase was used to transform a natural starting material into a new natural and captive perfume compound. Akigalawood® has recently been commercialised in a leading men’s fragrance for the Brazilian market. This novel material has a profile similar to that of patchouli, combined with vibrant spicy aspects of pepper and noble agarwood facets. This enzymatic process, which only requires mild processing with salt and water, is also a far more environmentally friendly way to develop new raw materials for fragrance use.”

Miu Miu eau de parfum seems to be that triumph of new things that don't really feel new. Perfect for the nostalgic brand then with its 60s cat eye makeup and retro hairstyles, but not for the hardcore perfume lover.

The splendid bottle is inspired by the coveted Miu Miu matelassé leather handbags and the odd color combination reminds me a bit of Cacharel Loulou. The model in the campaign is Stacy Martin, shot by Steven Meisel. Song is Lesley Gore's "You Don't Own Me" (recorded in 1964).

There is also a dedicated website to the Miu Miu fragrance.

Shopping info: Exclusive to Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman from September to December 2015 in the United States. Already available in department store counters and Sephora (where I tested it) in several European countries. Starting from 55€ /£48 /$75 for 30ml/1oz eau de parfum. Ancillary body products also to be available. 

Miu Miu Fragrances to Launch in Collaboration with Coty

The Italian fashion brand Prada has been active at the fragrance stakes for years now (Prada original, Prada Tendre, Prada Infusion d'Iris, Infusion d'Homme and all the other Prada Infusion editions, Luna Rossa, Prada L'Eau Ambree, Prada Candy and Candy flankers etc.) Now the diffusion line by Prada, Miu Miu, founded in 1993, is intent on launching their own eponymous fragrance line after the success of the mother company.
To accomplish that they have embarked in an exclusive collaboration with beauty giant Coty Inc., famous for their extensive fragrance portfolio and their technical and resources input in collaborating with various designers and celebrities bringing out their own fragrances. The Miu Miu collaboration will be conducted under the aegis of Coty Prestige, nevertheless, who overlook the upper echelon of their business.

Lindsay Lohan for Miu Miu via

"The agreement with Coty, an internationally recognised reference in the luxury fragrance market, marks a major step forward in Miu Miu's development plan," said Patrizio Bertelli, CEO, Prada Group, according to Cosmetics Business. "I am therefore sure that, leveraging on Coty's know-how and Miu Miu's strong identity, this partnership will be a worldwide success of mutual satisfaction to both companies."

According to Bloomberg " The 20-year-old fashion and accessories label, named after Prada Chairman Miuccia Prada, had sales of 512.8 million euros ($706 million) in the year ended Jan. 31, or 16 percent of total company revenue. The deal with Coty would allow Prada to expand its second-largest unit in the $60 billion luxury beauty industry."
Michele Scannavini, CEO, Coty, added: "Miu Miu is one of the most refined and respected luxury houses in the world and one of the fastest growing global brands in the whole fashion industry. It is an exciting opportunity for Coty to build a worldwide fragrance business for Miu Miu and also to further build our own market share in the prestige fragrance market".

The Miu Miu fragrance line is expected to be introduced in 2015, the Milan-based company said yesterday in a statement.

Top Fragrance Trends to Watch in 2026

 Forecasting is always a question of insightful reading of what is going on in any given industry, as well as a good instinct on how the public responds to what is going on. Therefore to predict the top fragrance trends to watch in 2026, I need to point out what we noticed in 2025 first. And then give you my predictions. Let's see at the end of this year whether I was right or wrong. 

photo borrowed via Pinterest

What we saw in 2025

Brands are finally shaking off the depression spirit of the pandemic era, even though it was the one that increased the desire for perfume in the first place... as a test of Covid's loss of smell. The public is somewhat tired of the safe trend for sweet bases with thick and powerful amber-woods and oud bases (replicating agarwood resin) intended to denote luxury and are now turning to well-being and personal satisfaction effects. In 2025, many things were debunked about the purchase, manufacture and copying by Arabs (the prevalent culture of dupes). 

At the same time, we reached an oversaturation in fragrance launches, where hundreds of new releases smelled and looked like so many others, especially in the sweet confectionery olfactory profile. Fortunately, the perfume industry is working on new molecules, new ideas and a new style of presentation, so that perfume becomes mainly an experience and emotion for GenZ rather than an accessory to show off wealth or status. After all, this is no longer the case on a planet on precarious balance. 

Last but not least, it was the year that Givaudan perfumer Quentin Bisch became a mega-star on the perfume channels (taking over from the previous beloved of the perfume community, Francis Kurkdjian, who seems to have disappointed audiences since taking over as permanent perfumer at Dior). His use of Titan-strong molecules produced by Givaudan has changed the entire industry. 

Fragrance Trends to Watch in 2026 

1. Creamy, milky, and fruity scents 

 Whether expressed through fruity, woody, or coconut milk notes, lactones (a chemical class of molecules that evoke ripe fruit or summery woods like fig tree) were a defining trend in 2025 and will continue into 2026. Even consumers who aren’t technically familiar with the meaning of the adjective “lactone” have embraced this creamy aesthetic. The movement was sparked by the viral social media buzz that catapulted fragrances like Blanche Bête and Bianco Latte into the spotlight, and the industry has followed suit. This journey is far from over. Expect a steady stream of creamy sweet compositions throughout the year, often accented with nutty notes — the other big obsession as seen in the frenzy around pistachio and notes of “Dubai chocolate”.

photo borrowed via Pinterest

 
2. The trend for crunchy effects, in granola and cookies notes

 In the field of smell, the play of textures is starting to dominate, moving from the salty trend of last year and the year before to olfactory impressions reminiscent of crunchy cookies, baked oats and popcorn. I remind you that popcorn was an innovation introduced by the late Miss Dior Cherie two decades ago! 

photo borrowed via Pinterest

We saw at the same time a multifaceted spectrum of vanilla marrying with the crunchy textures: dark, amber or on the contrary woody with a delicate taste of nuts or milk that married with the style that dominates in candles, and all this surfacing in refined fruity-floral fragrances in posh brands. The crunchy effects are evident already in Crush Akro (which recreates in the form of a fragrance the delicacy of lychee macarons) and Miutine by Miu Miu (like sponge cake with pieces of strawberry interspaced).

 The nostalgia of childish desserts and olfactory effects recodes the low-priced and accessible style now at a high price, but more vexingly claims to be considered high culture. Niche has become as uniform and conformist as mainstream, at places, which will outdo its purpose and come at breaking point. 

 3. Freshness is back! 

Perhaps we are tired of the monothematic prevalence of so-called gourmand perfumes, sweet with references to desserts, or of boozy, alcoholic perfumes, with references to spirits, rum and aged cognacs and whiskeys. After wearing, with true mania of overspraying I might add and with a certain aspirational desire of belonging, well-known brands of the central luxury department stores (Kilian, Xerjoff, Marly, Tom Ford Private Line), the public has finally overcome the obsession. People are tentatively revisiting the fresher compositions that recall the 1990s. Or even earlier, the chic fresh colognes of the glorious 60s and 70s. Hereby we can cite the wonderful Acqua di Parma Buongiorno or Le Labo Eucalyptus 20 that resembles a living tree full of juices and aromatic woodies which remain lighter in feeling. 

photo borrowed via Pinterest

But freshness also takes on the shades of the earth after a storm, with fragrances that give the effect of petrichor and rainy morning: for example the wonderful and pioneering (from 2015), but with a tongue-twister name, Hermann à mes Côtés me Paraissait une Ombre from the previously iconoclastic French Etat Libre d’ Orange. Reminiscent of the city after a heavy rainstorm. We will see more such fragrances, often Asian (see trend #5) 

 4. The integration of Artificial Intelligence in the production and composition of fragrances 

 Perfumery has surpassed itself in the way it captures odors, moving away from the smell of a single object or plant to embrace fragrances that function as sensory translations of an entire field or to give effects that aspire to recreate space, time or completely abstract concepts. 

photo borrowed via Pinterest 

The brand Paco Rabanne pioneered with Phantom but many are following in its footsteps, so we have not seen much yet. 

 5. The rise of Asian and especially Chinese brands 

 After perfumery hailing from or replicating the aura of the Middle East, we observe in the West a tsunami of new brands coming from Japan, South Korea, China, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam with a minimalist profile: Zhufu, itā, ChuJian, cent.pm, to Define, Fukudo… 

Possibly as revenge for Trump’s infamous tariffs, the new Asian brands usually offer affordable prices on differentiated olfactory profiles that renew traditional elements. Like a tea ceremony, with notes of matcha but also calligraphy ink, rice and fine incense. They project the feeling of spa and tranquillity that we usually identify with Eastern philosophies, so it's fitting. Will they eventually displace the milky, thick creamy and sweet aromas of desserts? It remains to be seen.

Let's bookmark this post and review it anew at the end of the year. Marketeers, take note in the meantime if you want to promote your fragrance and mail me for more if interested in working together. 

New Artistic Director for Chanel

When previous artistic director for Chanel Jacques Helleu died a little more than a year ago due to a prolonged illness that was kept private there was speculation as to who would succeed him and what would that entail for Chanel. Some of the rumours turned out to be just that and others materialized in what seemed to be a long thought-out process coming into fruition. Yet who would fill those elegant shoes remained a mystery, up till now. Chanel has tapped Ezra Petronio, editor in chief of Self Service Magazine, to oversee art direction for its makeup and watch businesses. The appointment reflects the categories’ strong growth trajectories, according to a company spokeswoman.

And who is Ezra Petronio, you ask! Born in New York city in 1968, he founded along with his partner Suzanne Koller the creative company Work in Progress in 1994. Simultaneously Self Service Paris-based magazine launched, a bi-annual, fashion and lifestyle magazine, to whome Petronio is Editor-in-Chief. He has phorographed hundreds of people posing in front of the flash of his 1970s Polaroid camera. He published a book, named Bold & Beautiful, sharing those intimate moments not just of the magazine's extended family tree but of the culture: designers, musicians, artists, photographers, writers, and thinkers of all stripes (establishment and avant-garde, the creative community and fashionable society). More than 270 portraits later (including those of Hedi Slimane, Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Hussein Chalayan, Alexander McQueen, Donna Karan, Miuccia Prada, Marianne Faithfull, Jarvis Cocker, Tracey Emin, Terry Richardson, Philip-Lorca di Corcia, David Armstrong, Isabelle Adjani, Chloe Sevigny), Petronio was ready for a challenge: His new tenure at Chanel.
“We need to keep a cutting edge to our visual communications,” Chanel's spokeperson affirmed. While the spokeswoman was mum on details of Petronio’s contract, she said he will continue to work on Self Service and in his role as a director of Petronio Associates, a strategic and creative agency of which he is also one of the founders. In the past, Petronio has worked on beauty campaigns for Prada and Chloé, among others. Petronio Associates will continue to work with brands including Miu Miu, Yves Saint Laurent and Chloé. The Chanel spokeswoman said Petronio is currently settling into the role and becoming more familiar with the house’s heritage. “I’m sure 2009 will be a year when we’ll see interesting creativity in makeup and watches,” she added. Petronio will report to Maureen Chiquet, Chanel’s global chief executive officer.
Whether this status will later encompass the fragrance sector remains undisclosed as yet.

news via WWD as reported by by Brid Costello

Une Rose Chypree by Tauer Perfumes: fragrance review & draw

When I was testing Une rose chyprée for the first time, I was eating creamy Greek yoghurt sprinkled with shredded Valhrona 72% dark chocolate on top (an indulgence of my own imagining, highly recommended btw) and releafing through A History of Architecture: Settings and Rituals by Spiro Kostof.

The first impression as the drops of scent hit my skin was that I was actually tasting a bright mandarin-jam-filled chocolate nugget~a fun and intriguing experience which I would suggest you try at some point! Subsequent testing confirmed that the bright halo of clementine (and some linalyl acetate?) which was so unexpected and so deliriously juicy in Incense Rosé as well as in Mandarins Ambrées (the homemade soap Andy makes for the holidays) is making its appearence again. In the memorable words of Luca Turin on the former "The combination of rose, cardamom, and mandarin is so warm, so welcoming, you feel as if you’ve just heard a piece of good news you cannot quite remember."
Same goes for the affectionately called "Tauerade", a chord comprised of orris root/irone alpha and woody ambergris, which seems to weave through his work, the signature trait of an artist who has his own distinct style. That style has been loved by many fragrance aficionados starting with his masterful L'air du desert marocain and has progressed into a genuine cult, catapulting Tauer into the pantheon of independent perfumers worth of intently watching today.

But where is the rose?, you might be asking. The rose is there, but forget everything you have ever heard about your grandma's sour flower water, the toilet refresher that has you pinch your nose with its citral and geraniol intensity and the dusty pot-pourri that has been sitting on the mantelpiece begging for mercy into being thrown in the dust-bin already! None of those impressions is here and may I say it loud: "Thank God!". The diffuculty of working with rose is exactly the cultural associations with hygiene products that smell like sour wine and mouldy, crumbled pot-pouri bought by people who randomly heard about home fragrancing circa the early 1980s. Very few compositions get away with smelling like rose yet avoiding the miasma of the above, either by accenting the powdery violet ionones aspects ~such as Paris by Yves Saint Laurent and Creed's Fleurs de Thé Rose Bulgare~ or highlighting the jamminess of the fruitier facets of rose ~like in Liaisons Dangereuses by Kilian. Alternatively they can go the more covert chypre way, resulting in Cabaret (Grès), Aromatics Elixir (Clinique), Rose de Nuit (Serge Lutens), Diabolo Rose and Un Zéphir de Rose (parfums de Rosine). Andy has successfully solved the problem of working with rose and none of his fragrances evoke unpleasant images; only opulence.

The chypre accord of Une rose chyprée is built around oakmoss, patchouli, labdanum, and bergamot, while Tauer also uses treemoss in a balanced ratio resulting in a composition that is obviously chypre. The clearly perceptible vanillic undercurrent with a drop of Tolu balsam on the other hand gives an oriental nod, providing a soft, thick, envelopping mantle fitting both genders in its velvety embrace. A lightly "clean" effect is surfacing along with gentle spiciness like clothes clean, starched and pressed with a hot iron, a nod to his Vetiver Dance and the unreleased Eau d’épices. I asked Andy about the interesting effect, thinking that it could be the Lilial (which is very obvious in Vetiver Dance), but he told me that it might be the Givaudan aroma-chemical Okoumal, also present in some detergents: "It adds a vibrant undertone and is extremely lifting, especially to otherwise dark and stuffy woody resins".
The overall feeling of the fragrance is of a "thick" scent although it doesn't become stuffy. The lasting power is way beyond average, the fragrance stayed vibrant on my skin for a good 8 hours.


According to Andy Tauer

"Une rose chyprée is an oriental rose on a chypre base. It is built around two natural extracts from rosa damascena, the absolute and the steam distilled essential oil. Its heart is lifted by spices (Bay and cinnamon) and a fresh accord built around bergamot, lemon and clementine. Green Bourbon geranium oil lets the rose petals shine and contrasts with the dark resinous accord in the base, built around labdanum, oakmoss, patchouli, vetiver and vanilla".

Une rose chyprée is the first scent of a series of things to come, namely the special line Tauer Perfumes "mémorables" (please note it's Tauer Perfumes and mémorables; not "perfumes mémorables" which would mix the two languages!). The aim is to present small size fragrances (0.5oz/15ml) like a sweet praline to be savoured. All of them will either be eau de parfum or parfum concentration (Une Rose Chyprée comes as an eau de parfum), none of them limited editions. The funny little bottles, resembling nail treatments, are practical and come packaged and tied with deep yellow ribbon, finished entirely by hand. I like Tauer's philosophy by which he doesn't put the emphasis on the outside or the details of fancy names and such but on the inside; namely the juice!

Andy had been working on this scent for a year and you can read his thoughts and problematics following his blog. Une rose chyprée will launch officially on July 1st, available through Tauer Perfumes (price 65 CHF and 20CHF shipping worldwide), Aedes, First in Fragrance and Luckyscent.

I have two samples to send to two lucky readers. State your interest in the comments!

In the interests of disclosure I was sent the small 15ml bottle by Tauer himself this time. If my previous dedication is any indication, you know my tastes have not been swayed.

Photo of Yoghurt and Valhrona Shreds © by Perfumeshrine. Kirsten Dunst from Miu Miu 08 via IamFashion.blogspot.com Bottle via Tauer.