Thierry Mugler will launch a new limited edition collection of food-inspired flankers, Taste of Fragrance / Le Goût du Parfum, next month. The series includes Angel, Alien, Womanity and A*Men, each with an added "flavor":
With the ‘Taste of Fragrance’, the precursor of Haute Gourmand Perfumery is guilty of twisting fragrances, offering the rediscovery of Angel, Alien, Womanity and A*Men through their fantasized flavors.
Thierry Mugler allowed the perfumers full freedom, challenging them to broaden their palettes of ingredients and introducing into each composition a "taste enhancer".
An explosive collection of four gourmand fragrances, with superbly concocted notes that will nearly make your mouth water...
Angel Taste of Fragrance ~ With bitter cocoa powder; "For the ‘Taste of Fragrance’ the red berries, jam and caramelized almonds in the praline are combined with pure cocoa powder preserving its natural bitterness, making Angel infinitely succulent." In 30 ml.
Alien Taste of Fragrance ~ With salted butter caramel; "To embellish the wealth of the amber tones, the perfumer imagined a salted butter caramel, like the juice that forms when a dish is caramelized with sugar or honey at the end of the cooking process." In 30 ml.
Womanity Taste of Fragrance ~ With fig chutney; "In the ‘Taste of Fragrance’ version, the mystery of Womanity is untouched. The sweet-savory accord becomes even more exceptional and more disconcerting with the intermingling of chutney made of figs that are subtly spiced and candied in sweet vinegar." In 50 ml.
A*Men Taste of Fragrance ~ With red pepper; "Intense and vibrant, the fragrance oscillates between two contrasting dimensions: the “Oriental – Woody” notes, with the patchouli and vanilla exuding strength and charisma, and the “Vigorous” facet, with pure coffee for all the originality and character. For the ‘Taste of Fragrance’ version, these masculinely warm scents are brought out in a concentrate of red pepper for amazing power." In 100 ml.
The Thierry Mugler Taste of Fragrance scents will be $90 each.
(via press release)
Update: see a review of A*Men Taste of Fragrance and another of Angel Taste of Fragrance.
I really enjoy this version of A*men.
You do get to enjoy the various dimensions: the coffee, the sweet wood, the patchouli. Sadly, the chili pepper is the only note that doesn’t seem to really come out.
If I had tried this in a blind test, I’m not sure I would have recognized this as related to A*men. I love (loved) the original, but compared to this softer, quieter version, the original A*men seems screechingly loud.
It is one of my new favorite.
Interesting, thanks!
I tried two of these (on blotters, not on my skin) in Montreal a couple of weeks ago: neither the Alien nor the A*Men seemed different enough from the originals (both of which I have) to justify buying them, though perhaps they’re drastically different on skin. I guess if you didn’t already own the original versions, these might be nice.
I will certainly try them…I’ve liked many of the Angel & A*Men flankers better than the originals. I don’t think anything will ever make me like Alien.
Definitely agree about the flankers: I think Pure Coffee and Pure Malt are better than the original A*Men, mostly because they’re not as intensely sweet. Haven’t spent time with any of the Angel variants (amazingly enough, because I loved the original), but there are just so many of them, including the various extraits and liqueurs, that I don’t feel I can keep up.
Gosh, these just don’t sound good to me, and I like many gourmands. Don’t know what my problem is. Maybe it’s that I didn’t like any of these in the first place!
Money saved!
Will these be coming to the U.S, Robin??? I hope they do!
Oh yes, definitely…some stores might already have them, I haven’t looked.
I want the Angel!! Alien has me curious as well and I wonder if this version would work on my skin. Any idea where these will be available, Robin?
I don’t know, but they’re not terribly expensive (for perfume) so thinking they’ll be widely distributed.
Ooof! Salted Butter Caramel Alien: just the thought kind of makes me want to hurl (and I actually like Alien).
I just bought a big bottle of Pure Malt, so I think I’m set with the Mugler right now, though the A*Men sounds somewhat interesting.
I really liked the A*Men series (Malt, Havane, Coffee) — admit this one sounds interesting, but not as interesting as those. Will try it though!
caramel au beurre salé. omg.
i’ll either love and wanna bathe in it or hate it
Mmmmm, the new Alien sounds really good! I think I’ll try them all
Intriguing. I like Angel well enough but wouldn’t wear the original as it’s soo recognizable. They did a Star series once, and I got a 10 ml miniature of each with another purchase at Sephora. There was a Violet one that was vile, a Peony I liked and wore and was nice while it lasted, and a third one I can’t remember – iris perhaps?. Bitter cocoa with it sounds good, that just might make me cave in and get a bottle at last.
Alien is more wearable than Angel in my book but I doubt the addition of salty caramel would make much of a difference. Salty caramel is very Lolita Lempicka-ish.
Womanity, now THAT one could benefit from something, ANYTHING, that could bring order into the chaos of notes. But fruity fig jam and caviar … oh well, it’s a weird fragrance already, how much more weird can it get?
A*Men were lovely, all of them, I loved the coffee one best. Red pepper sounds good.
Nile Goddess, there were actually *two* other Angels in the Garden of Stars series: Rose and Lily. The Lily was pretty good, in miniscule quantities. The Rose was interesting but not my style at all. 100% agree with your assessment of the Violet as vile.
I will be curious if these tweaked perfumes are still recognizable as the originals, or if they will just smell like knockoffs of themselves.
Want to try all these. Mugler’s creations earns at least a try. But I think I’ll not have acess to them. The only A* Men flanker I put my hands (and noose) on was Pure Coffee. I had that and when I bought it I was so disappointed with the burnt and nothing-fresh coffee smell that I insanely passed it to another person. I’m going crazy to Pure Havane and Pure Malt, but not finding them. Also curious about this new Alien: maybe the turned it to a tamed jasmim, without that sharp oppening (Alien base notes are so cute). And the new version of Angel: a must try, seems to be more creamy.
I’ll give these a go, but buttered anything makes me queasy. I tend to enjoy the flankers of all of these more than the originals.
Tried the A*Men last week – too literally gourmand for me. it’s essentially an eau de toilette translation of those Lindt bars with the layer of chili pepper goo sandwiched between the dark chocolate. I love those bars, but I don’t want to wear them. The Angel has me intrigued, though – a bitter cocoa edge would be welcome in that vat of sweetness. The other two sound like the results of the creative team grasping at straws. Fig chutney in Womanity sounds like a recipe for derailing an already shaky engine, and I love salted caramel, but I just can’t picture it going with the nuclear jasmine in Alien. (Then again, nobody pictured cotton candy going with patchouli back in 1992, and look at the fruits of THAT synaptic misfire.)
I like a good fig note in scent, be it fruity or woody, but the fig in Womanity makes me nauseous. No scratch that. Womanity makes me feel nauseous. But the perverse side of me is intrigued and will try fig chutney-ed Womanity for the hell of it (though NOT on skin.Obvs.) Otherwise, you noted above, Robin, money saved:)
Wow Angel sounds even more potent now
Did you get to try the A*Men, Robin?! What did you think of it? Did you try the others? Are we going to see reviews of them?! I hope so! Thanks! : )
I did. I’d agree with Kevin — of the 4 limited edition flankers with “added” ingredients, this is the least interesting — although it isn’t *bad*, just not as good as the others. I think my favorite was the coffee.
But am behind — have samples of the 3 women’s & haven’t even tried them yet — had a cold for a few days and fell behind. I’ll catch up!
Oh hope you feel better! Yay! I’m excited for the 3 women’s! Enjoy testing them! And bummer that the A*Men wasn’t as good as the others. But of course I’ll still look out for it. Thanks! : )