Fragrance Review: Mugler – Angel

Published on by Maitê Serra

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Cover image: actual footage of this scent’s sillage (1 spray, winter).

The famous, the infamous Angel! Love it or hate it, this powerful blue-tinged scent in its ever evolving but always fabulous clunky star bottle1 made its mark in the world of perfumery. Not only popular (even after a couple of decades), this fragrance was so innovative it actually opened way to a whole new genre of scents: the gourmands.

Although I was vaguely familiar with the eye-catching bottle during the early 2000’s, I’ve only come to be more interested in perfumery, and actually try Angel, recently. So, free of nostalgia, but not 100% free of a new perfumista’s fascination for such classic… here’s my (almost) objective review.

Review

Angel was composed by perfumers Olivier Cresp and Yves de Chirin, and released in 1992 – it was maybe too avante garde for its time, since it had a lukewarm reception in the first years… After a while, however, people started to love it – so much, it influenced the whole market: its mix of patchouli, fruits and sweetness grew increasingly popular during the 2000’s-2010’s, and, even now, gourmand scents are not only an established “genre”, as still heavily on trend.

Now, for what this groundbreaking fragrance smells like… With a name like Angel, one might expect it to be airy, fresh and serene, almost ethereal in its transparency.

And one couldn’t possibly be more mistaken.

Let’s start with the patchouli, as it is the most prominent note in Angel. Now this, dear reader, is no clean, smooth, dreamy Chanelesque patchouli… This stuff is earthy; dark; rough-textured; herbal-smoky like a cigarette (which, by the way, I loathe) and heavily mentholated, which makes it feel chemical and quite masculine. A definitely non-angelic, angry beast, roaring and screeching from the tiniest spray… and from the nozzle. 

Along comes an also intense, slightly powdery and quite bitter chocolate – which I find a much welcome note. It both harmonizes and contrasts with the patchouli, adding a comforting touch to its earthyness and pulling back – a bit – its more aggresive facets.

This duet is the core of Angel, but there’s a lot more going on. Dancing around comes cotton candy, caraway, plum, burnt caramel, red berries, nutmeg, musk… The note pyramid is huge, and although the other notes are whispers in comparison with the overwhelming accord of patchouli-chocolate, they’re still noticeable, peeking randomly at different times or blending into the scent to give it depth.

In the drydown – which takes a long time to settle into a “skin scent” – the minty side of patchouli and the sparklier notes feel less prominent, but I can’t really say the scent becomes “soft”… Less absurdly loud, perhaps? It also gets more chocolate-y, and less masculine… Still intense and chemical-feeling, though.

Fragrance Impressions

Notes: (Top) bergamot, melon, coconut, cassis, mandarin, jasmine, pineapple, cotton candy; (Heart) caraway, nutmeg, apricot, red berries, jasmine, honey, plum, peach, rose, blackberry, orchid, jasmine, muguet; (Base) tonka, vanilla, patchouli, amber, musk, chocolate, caramel.

Colour Impression: Graphite Grey.

Evokes: A chemical accident, giant perfume tonnels mixing, factory workers running to save their noses. But it’s OK, everyone gets out safe, laugh, and celebrate with chocolate!

Similar to: Prada Candy Night; YSL Black Opium (bit by a radioactive patchouli bush); Carolina Herrera Good Girl.

Season & Occasion: Winter, -20ºC, 1 spray.

Conclusion

Angel is one of those fragrances that smell unmistakable and unforgettable – for good and for bad. In spite of having “created” the gourmand genre, it is suprisingly low-sugar compared to newer gourmands – like Lancôme La Vie Est Belle, or Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb, and feels bold, almost brash, rather than fun & romantic.

If you like dark-earthy, warm and statement-style scents, and intense, herbal patchouli, you will probably like Angel. I personally find it unique and interesting, but… too rough, chemical and abrasive. There is something nice in there, mostly in the way the chocolate and patchouli mix… But the rendering of the patchouli itself is… uhn, not my cup of tea. Its minty, masculine “shaving gel” impression and (ugh!) dirty-herbal, tobbaco-ish facet are deal breakers for me.

Fortunatelly, thanks to Angel’s influence, other gourmands have been created since, with far softer, smoother takes on this same type of accord. For example…

The choco-patchouli accord (for me, the best part of Angel) is rendered in a soft, powdery fashion in Prada Candy Night. After the original Prada Candy, this is my favourite in the line. It smells like a recently-opened can of powdered cocoa, with a hint of vanilla and the chic, feminine Prada “make up”-ish base to keep it elegant.

Switching chocolate for coffee, Yves Saint Laurent’s bestseller Black Opium gives us a more earthy take on patchouli, but no dirty-herbal or minty tones here! Think vanilla capuccino, with a faint floral perfume in the air. The ads try to sell this as “edgy”, but I find it cozy instead.

Finally, I must mention Carolina Herrera Good Girl – not my favourite in this list, but it has a fruity opening, minty-rough patchouli and chocolate-coffee notes, all rendered in a bold, dark, slightly masculine yet very sweet-gourmand style, and packed in an outrageous, love-it-or-hate-it bottle. Sounds familiar? I find this the closest scent to Angel in style and aura – not a copy, mind you! If you’re an Angel fan, there’s great chance you’ll also like this one!

¹ I do love the clunky star bottle. So outrageous & cute!