It was quite fitting that I wrote this post during one of the most extreme heat waves in Europe (last week of June, 2026).
“Soleil au Zenith” represents a scathing hot day, but only the positive aspects. The smells that become more intense, the colours that shine especially bright, the dream-like atmosphere that makes a very hot day so different. Everything is slower and more precise than normal, one has no interest to move fast or far – instead one is totally happy chilling and having a siesta.
The sun slows everything down when she comes out in full force and makes our normal priorities in life less important. Try working at 38 degrees Celsius! Work does not come to the same results like normal, even when you are inside and have the aircon on full blast. In our Northen hemisphere a heatwave is like pushing the stop button. Everybody settles in a very different, very relaxed and unreal mode for a while; a mode we only know from our Southern neighbours and never really believed existed.
The scent notes of “Soleil au Zenith”, according to the Prada website, are the following: peach, ylang-ylang, sandalwood, nutmeg, cumin, allspice (pimento), vanilla, and cinnamon.
I smell peach, peach, peach. To be precise: peach jam. There is a slightly artificial scent note in it, like one tastes it in jelly peach sweets sometimes. Vanilla and ylang-ylang might give some of the softness.
The perfume is from the ‚Olfactories Les Mirages‘ collection by Prada and wears the ‚Spices‘ note on the label. The scent notes name a lot of spices. When concentrating more and testing the perfume over a longer period of time, there is a base of nutmeg and other spices, but only very discreet. In other scents cinnamon, nutmeg and cumin easily dominate the perfume – this is not the case here. In the fragrance „Soleil au Zenith“ the peach dominates everything. It is a soft, ripe and tasty peach.
I also smell some strawberries, but seem to be alone with it.
The colour of the perfume is a warm orange.
The perfume came to the market in 2017 (about the time I bought it: another London airport hit) and it is still available, which is very positive. The price must have developed over time – the 345 € quoted on the Prada website today are certainly not what I paid 9 years ago (probably something around 200€). The perfume is worth it, though, as it is a true classic if you like peach gourmands.
The bottle shows subtlety and elegance; it is different from the typical colourful Prada bottles. The black and gold design fits the scent very well.
The nose behind the perfume, Daniela Andrier, has an unusual career path for a famous perfumer. She is German, born in Heidelberg, and went to Paris first to study philosophy at the end 1980s. She then took the chance for a short work placement at Chanel and afterwards joined the famous perfume school „Ecole de Parfumerie de Roure“ in Grasse. Today the school is part of the company Givaudan, which is one of the best-known companies in the perfume industry.
Daniela Andrier stayed with Givaudan and got married to its CEO, Gilles Andrier. He stepped down as CEO in March 2026 to become Chairman of the Board of Directors. During her 30 years with Givaudan, Daniela Andrier created around 50 perfumes for Prada alone – her biggest client. Probably she gets the German “longing for Italy”, which is in our national character, better than anybody else translated into perfumes. There are quite a few iconic perfumes on her list, not only from Prada, but also Bulgari and other mainly Italian brands.
The Prada perfumes were first created by the Spanish company Puig, and now since 2021 under a long-term licence agreement by France’s L’Oreal. Whoever owned the licence, Daniela Andrier of Givaudan made the perfumes.
Prada, the fashion company itself, is on the path to become a big Italian group of companies, making the famous French ones like Kering and LVMH competition.
“Soleil au Zenith” is the only perfume by Prada in my collection. There are really few of the big Italian names in my vast perfume collection, as it is mainly consists of Italian and other country’s niche scents. “Soleil au Zenith” ticks every box for a niche perfume: the quality, the ingredients, no advertising. Thinking how perfectly it is made, probably at least the other perfumes from the ‘Olfactories’ collection would be worth a look. And Daniela Andrier’s perfumes in general might be worth a look as well.
For the time being, on such a scathing hot day like today, there’s nothing better than spraying that wonderful peach fragrance “Soleil au Zenith” and chill in a dream-like state of happiness.