A few days ago I had to head into work for a meeting. Since I was pretty sure my fragrance loving friend Melissa would be in the ICU (she’s a nurse, don’t worry), I brought this week’s scent along for her to try out. I wish I had brought a camera to capture the look on her face when I pulled this bottle out of my purse! Her jaw dropped. Literally. After about a minute of shock, she reached for the bottle and said, “Is that what I think it is?”
It isn’t quite what Melissa thought it was. Yes, it is Angel by Thierry Mugler, which is Melissa’s all-time favorite fragrance (Euphoria by Calvin Klein is a close runner up). But, it isn’t the version that she is used to using in the past. This is Angel Eau de Toilette.
A new version of Angel, an eau de Toilette is being released this month. While normally fragrances are available in a parfum and a toilette version (with the same notes that smell pretty much exactly the same), that isn’t the case with this eau de Toilette. Instead this is a reworking of the original Angel, which was released in 1992.
“I always wanted to make a perfume which would have the same resonance for everyone, something like tenderness, or childhood and I wanted there to be such a sensual contact with this perfume, that you almost feel like devouring the person you love.”
-Thierry Mugler
This fragrance is being described as “Oriental-Gourmand-Powdery.” I definitely agree with all of these words, and while I’m not sure that I would have come up with this description myself (I didn’t know you could describe a fragrance as Gourmand, thought there certainly are quite a few fruit notes), I don’t think I could have done any better. Rather than the typical notes that we think of in Top, Middle and Base categories, this scent has “waves.”
Notes:
Celestial Wave: Bergamot, Red Berries, Pink Pepper
Delicious Wave: Praline, Berries
Voluptuous Wave: Patchouli-Vanilla Accord, Cedar, White Musk
This fragrance definitely does hit you in waves. When initially sprayed on, both Melissa and I though that it was fairly strong (Melissa said the strength was on par with the original Angel) with quite a bit of powdery background and a sharp Pink Pepper note. In fact, when we first applied, the only guy in the room immediately turned up his nose and said “Ewww…. I don’t like that!” I guess he isn’t a pink pepper fan!
Luckily, that first wave only lasted about 5-10 minutes until the dry down. It then became quite a bit less spicy, though there was still a powdery background. At this time Melissa and I both thought that a little bit of Amber came out, though I don’t see it on the list of notes. It became a bit sweeter as well (Praline or the Patchouli-Vanilla Accord?). Overall it was very subtle at this point, and yes, sensual. It wasn’t even remotely the same fragrance after the dry down.
After that initial 5-10 minutes, this is a quiet, warm and private fragrance. It’s meant to be enjoyed in close quarters. This is a date night fragrance for sure.
This fragrance only lasted about 6 hours on me. Definitely consider layering this over a lotion to increase the staying power.
You can buy this fragrance at Sephora or Amazon
I’m a doctor, a mommy and a bit of a beauty addict. If you let me, I can take 2 hours to get ready in the morning. Really. I'm on a quest for faster beauty that works!
Angel is my all-time fav fragrance too! I can't wait to smell this new version! I am so intrigued!!!
Euphoria is one of my favorite scents but I don't know Angel very well. Love the bottle and always wanted to try it though.
I have used angel since it first came out there is no other perfume that can replace it .i love it and have so many of the collector bottles including the angel collector extrait de parfumwith only 13,000 ever been made