PRADA
PARADOXE RADICAL ESSENCE

2025

neroli
orange blossom absolute

salted pistachio

sandalwood

‘Prada Paradoxe Radical Essence is the most concentrated expression of Paradoxe. This sophisticated gourmand reinvents the sensorial floral signature of the original fragrance, elevating it with unexpected edible notes and deeper intensity.’ – Prada

 Official retailers list notes neroli, orange blossom, salted pistachio & sandalwood, while other sources also list pepper, rose, jasmine, vanilla & musk.

‘Reinventing gourmand aromas’, said Sephora. ‘This sophisticated gourmand…’ said Prada. Is it gourmand though?

Is this more gourmand than the previous Paradoxes? Obviously. But I think that putting so much emphasis on that being the direction for this flanker, seems more like an attempt to ride the gourmand-trend bandwagon, rather than a faithful representation of this fragrance. That being said, the inclusion of the ‘gourmand’ aspect works surprisingly well.

There is some vague… nutty, rice, cookies semi-sweetness, that is very dry from start to finish. And that’s about it. The signature sharp, tart florals overpower it within minutes and the word ‘gourmand’ would not be at the forefront of my mind for the rest of the wear. Even looking at sweetness in general; while it’s the sweetest Paradoxe; this line inherently has been less sweet than the majority of major designer releases of its time and I’d argue that’s still the case with Radical Essence.

I get a biscuit-like nuttiness for maybe an hour or two here, but not in a full gourmand direction. When I try to focus on it, it’s clearly there, but it never feels like the main facet of the scent profile (unlike with a Angel Stellar for example). It actually gets a bit strange when I try to ‘look for’ the gourmand side, because I find it, but the overall experience still leans more towards a tart hairspray. The focus remains on screechy, clean and mostly tart flowers. Neroli does its sharp and rather dominant thing and it transitions into more of a harsh white musk, rather than a sweet base.

Overall, I don’t dislike it, as with the other Paradoxes, because it has this industrial, artificial sharp cleanliness that somehow works. More so as a response to the loud, warm, candied/gourmand fragrances that designers have been pumping out. Ironically, that seems to be what Prada set out to join with Radical Essence, but because it doesn’t lean into the sweetness fully, I still like this for being less cloying than many alternatives… The hint of biscuit actually works decently well with the tart flowers; so setting aside the marketing expectations (the jump from Paradoxe to gourmand never made much sense anyway), it accomplishes the broad idea of a sweeter Paradoxe quite well.