What a seriously impressive fragrance Angel is, for a scent like this to be released in 1992 - this was way ahead of its time. You may love it or hate it, but this pioneered the subfamily of gourmand fragrances which would become one of the most popular scent profiles in today’s market. At its core, this is a chocolatey patchouli fragrance - it’s got a surprisingly dark element with this creamy, delectable earthiness. To counter this, there’s noticeable warm spicy touches from nutmeg and cumin, alongside an overwhelming sweetness coming from honeyed florals, sweet vanilla, sticky caramel and an array of fruits. There’s so much going on here it’s hard to pick things out, but that spicy, chocolatey patchouli is what sticks out most to me. It’s not really my style of fragrance if I’m honest, but I can’t deny the influence and impact this had on the perfume industry; making it a true modern classic.
This for me is a true testament to the power of branding. For all intents and purposes it's pretty heavy on the feminine branding, yet if this was in a traditionally masculine guise I wouldn't bat an eyelid. That being said, it doesn't resemble any other perfume (OK it has a little in common with L'Instant de L'Homme by Guerlain, voilà, that's a masculino patchouli chocolate scent). This is a wonderfully pungent, constantly evolving slap to the face. Addictive and somehow gourmand but not gourmand (a trait I'm picking up on in many Mugler scents). I'm not sure I'm ready to pull this off yet, but I've thought that before and then found myself loving a perfume I reckoned I'd never wear For a designer house, Mugler keels it real, brash and bold, but without entering into the screechy side of designer hell (Sauvage, anyone?).
Okay so I wasn't necessarily going to write this review because it's pretty moany, but why change the habit of a lifetime hey? and when I read the review below me here about not having those around you complain, I felt compelled to fire up my fingers and give my thoughts on Angel. I remember Angel in the 90's, girlfriends, teachers, the high street generally and even my mum, smelled of Mugler Angel. I completely appreciate it's pioneering ethyl maltol overdose style and it's OTT Muglerness, iconic bottle design, and the genesis of Gourmand genre perfumery, none of it is lost on me and broadly speaking I thought I liked it. Having not gone back and revisited Angel in many years I felt I didn't need to as the smell had been etched into my permanent olfactory hard disk memory. Well no! Because for mother's day my sister purchased a bottle for my mum (like 'hey remember you used to like this?') and she wore it yesterday and I found it unbearable. I've heard folks mention the patchouli element before and say it's horrid but I never really felt that way, yes it's a full bodied patch base (a common theme in loads of Mugler stuff) but never have I found it to annoy. Cloy? yes maybe but that's far more the cotton candy and oh so unreal floral aspects, the patchouli I figured to be the least offensive part. but no. Yesterday it was like a knitting needle being rammed up my snozz, repeatedly, and not even a dank, natural patch, like a screeching, evil patchouli robot cyborg hybrid sent back from the future to F my Nose in the A! It's truly terrible at a distance, I shall have to spray the perfume again and experience it on skin because I think it's entirely different for the wearer, as apposed to the poor sods who have to cower and heave in their wake.
I've wanted to review Angel for some time, but the thing is it never was a real love, or even like. I've had samples through the years, some I still have, and I've witnessed the launch. I remember smelling it and thinking "this is weird" or "this smells like chocolate" as a kid, and I've also witnessed Angel change, just as much as I did. It is definitely not the Angel of 1992. As extreme and avant garde it was when it came out, so was the love or hate for it. I feel is the most polarizing fragrance ever created in its ability to convey utter love or repulse. I've never been on one side, just slightly uncomfortable wearing it, but never repulsed when the mood for it came. Wearing my 2 year old bottle, and a decade old sample, the first thing I notice is the absence of the hard hitting medicinal patchouli in my recent formulation. Angel of yore was as much patchouli as cotton candy, melon and chocolate. Patchouli so dark it could pass of as chocolate, drizzled with honey, a fruit salad, and cotton candy from the town fair. Extremely strong, most times pungent, and definitely mood driven; just the slightest hint of it on the wrong moment and your day could be ruined. Wearing Angel was a day long compromise. And wearing samples along the years, samples which were easily and freely given, I saw different facets, slight changes, and how that town fair went from night to day. Buying the current Angel, was mainly because 1) it's a piece of perfumery art, 2) the large rising star bottle is gorgeous and 3) I feel it has lost its extreme personality disorder. While I never enjoy reforms and try to find everything in its most vintage formula, Angel is one I couldn't do back then, nor could I now if it hadn't changed, to me for the better. Angel is Angel. There's no mistaking it, for better or for worse. It hasn't lost its identity, but it isn't so extreme. The patchouli still feels medicinal and rough, but not in so much volume. The fruits are no longer rotting, they feel like a preserve, and the honey along the candy floss have increased as to cover any unwanted smells. The chocolate facet is still pronounced, but it's now sweeter as well, as opposed to the dark chocolate of the past, and the whole thing feels smoother and less air sucking. I find that Angel has retained its power and sillage quite well. Where you needed a single spritz or less 20 years ago, now 2 have you covered for the day or night. The lack of extreme opposites that was in the original star bottle makes it far more wearable in all its weirdness and glory. It seems that the 'Carnaval Diabolique' mr. Mugler wanted to convey has finished; it is now morning in that same fair and you smell the remains of last nights performance. There's is also some coffee brewing somewhere in the premises, which you catch glimpses of, along the popcorn smell that was served last night. So yes, polarizing as it may be, Angel is a landmark of imagination and faith. Mugler along Clarins and Vera Strubi went all the way, believing in, and supporting Angel until it became the hit it is. Or was. And that deserves credit. It started the whole craze for gourmands and sweet edible notes, but Angel was never simple, boring or predictable. It was and still is unique, and the father and mother of the fruitchoulis that flood the market today. I might never be ready to experience the 1992 Angel again, but what's out there today it is still Angel, and when the mood strikes there's nothing like it. Edit: Finding a bottle from the first years of release, now I appreciate it more than ever. Vintage Angel is smoother, rounder, better and next to the current, it’s the best of the two. The newer ones now seem shrill, cheap, following trends instead of setting them. Only vintage for me!
