Thierry Mugler Angel Resets the Course of Perfumery

Thierry Mugler Angel is the fragrance to start all contemporary gourmands. Thierry Mugler Angel is so unique and groundbreaking. Though they said it couldn't be done, years after its launch Thierry Mugler Angel spawned more than a handful or copycats and effectively altered the course of modern perfumery. Read on to find out more about this great modern perfume. What is so lovable and unique about Thierry Mugler Angel?

Gourmand perfumes are scents that contain smells of edible things. Common gourmands of days past included spices--ginger, cardamom, cumin, coriander--things that are easily disassociated with foods. Thierry Mugler Angel was the first perfume to take these gourmand perfumes to the next level by utilizing an oozing array of delectable notes that anyone with a sweet tooth could drool over. In 1992, a honeyed, caramelized chocolate fantasy, by the name of Thierry Mugler Angel was born. The world had never worn cake! No one ever dreamed of smelling like baked goods. The previous decade was focused on syrupy fruits mixed with amber and the decade before was all about sweetened florals and heavy woods. Even before that, around the late 19th century to about 1930s, Guerlain was creating heavily powdered vanillic fragrances. Fragrances may have featured sweet notes before. But wearing edible pastries was something new. When Thierry Mugler Angel was first launched, many were skeptical of its possible future success.

Thierry Mugler Angel made a delicious dessert-like gourmand and made it wearable. Instead of stopping at chocolate and caramel, Thierry Mugler created a fragrance with deep balance. Sticky sweet notes were lifted with a metallic cooling tinge--like a tea note or a red berry note. The warm chocolatey, caramel effect was tempered with deep smoky patchouli. Thierry Mugler Angel contains a wide range of notes--the overall mixture at the time was a groundbreaking and slightly shocking, to say the least. Angel's notes include bergamot, hedione, helional, honey, dewberry, red berries, vanilla, caramel, patchouli, chocolate, coumarin. The effect is almost a disguise. Heavy tones of patchouli expertly tames the girly, suede-like sweetness, making Angel velvety and sophisticated.

Thierry Mugler Angel is also the first mass marketed perfume (as opposed to niche, abstract perfumes) to incoporate bold synthethic notes. When smelling Thierry Mugler Angel for the first time, there are three things that strike you as unique. The first striking quality is the distinctly edible smell which comes across to some as cake, chocolate, salty caramel or even honeyed tea. The second noticeable, or should I say inescapable, feauture is the smoky patchouli. If you are not accustomed to this scent or, worse, you don't enjoy it, Thierry Mugler Angel can be a difficult scent to pull off. The patchouli note--earthy tones of incense--is a stand-out note in Thierry Mugler Angel. Aside from these two features, the third features will probably be the most surprising for some. During the time of Thierry Mugler Angel's release, its synthentic note was an uncommon quality among most perfumes. This synthetic note instantly made Thierry Mugler Angel completely unique. The sweet, deep incensed-smoky texture is offset by a twinkling hint of something indescribable. You wonder, what is it in the distance? You can’t put your finger on it. You keep reaching for it to understand it. Overall, this synthetic note, helps Thierry Mugler Angel stand out in a crowd. It balances the warmer, silkier notes and it adds complexity.

When Angel came out, they said it couldn’t be done. As a mass marketed fragrance, many believed that it would fail in sales. They thought no one was going to buy into it. But images of the oddly ethereal ad campaign was marked by the startling first whiff that everyone got of this velvety scent. Women were hooked--they expected an innocent, light angelic fragrance, but they got something sweet, mysterious, ambiguous. It was feminine but it featured a hidden edge (that metallic hint) and seduction (the deep smokiness). Within the first year, Thierry Mugler Angel became the top selling fragrance--a spot that it would maintain for years to come. Soon after, the followers came. One by one other perfumeurs released deeply mysterious gourmands just like Thierry Mugler Angel: Lolita Lempicka is a delicious deliquescing fruit and smoky vetiver, and Aquolina Pink Sugar is cotton-candied warmth mixed with peaks of red hot pepper and strong dry woods. Thierry Mugler started a "girly but not" sensation in the world of perfumes. Everyone, against all expectations, loved it. Now, over a decade after the introducation of Thierry Mugler Angel, gourmand perfumes, whether incorporating smoky incensed notes or not, are featuring caramel, chocolate and cake-like notes more and more.

To this day, Angel is still intensely popular. Its gorgeous blue star bottle is surely a huge bonus to Angel's covetability factor. Angel with all its unique qualities has become, not only the most popular contemporary perfume, but also the most divisive perfume. You either love it or hate it, and there is often no middle compromise. Though they all said it couldn't be done, Thierry Mugler created something that so different and yet so familiar. Who knew that some of our yummiest desserts would smell so good on our skin? For those who can't buy into the Angel chocolate and caramel craze, Angel Garden of the Stars series is a more traditional take on the Angel concept. The soft sweet patchouli sits as a backdrop to traditional florals. All four Angel Garden of the Stars scents feature a single floral note, including rose, peony, violet and lily, over the rich, mysterious base.

Thierry Mugle Angel and it's hard-to-find flankers can be located at discount perfume retailers online for select low prices..