How is this for a random SQ?!
Saturday Question #212:
What Do You Think About Mugler’s Angel Today?
I am curious about your thoughts on this iconic perfume and the place it takes, in your opinion, in perfume history. But also, did you ever like it enough to own and wear? How do you feel about it today?
My Answer
I haven’t worn Angel in over two years, and it didn’t cross my mind until today, while grocery shopping, I caught a whiff of it on a fellow shopper. It sparked a wave of nostalgia, prompting me to dig out my 20+ year-old bottle and apply just the tiniest amount to my wrist. It wasn’t even a full spray – just a tiny squirt from the nozzle. But wow! I don’t know how I (or anyone around me) managed to survive any of the parties to which I wore it liberally sprayed (well, not hajusuuri-style liberally, but at least 3-4 sprays, as I remember). And you know what? I still like it.
Granted, I had an unusually emotional relationship with this perfume, so I may not be entirely objective. But I am in awe of the audacity it took the brand to release that perfume 32 years ago. At that time, we still were in the era of loud, bold, unapologetic perfumes. But they all were still mostly perfumes in a more traditional vein, years away from polite minimalistic unisex creations or scent experiments of the how-far-can-we-stretch-a-perfume-definition-type. Angel stood out as something entirely different, so when it became popular, it single-handedly created a new trend in perfumery.
I wonder why the brand altered the formula. This perfume always struck me as somewhat artificial, so can we still blame IFRA? Or was it a cost-cutting measure? Is it be possible to recreate the original formula today? While my bottle is old, the juice inside smells different from what I remember in the ’90s. I’m not entirely sure if my bottle changed more than just the color or if I had an already reformulated version. Regardless, it doesn’t quite match my memory. I doubt I’ll wear it outside of my house these days. However, I’d be willing to pay $20-$25 for a 0.5 ml sample of the original Angel – just to see if all these years later I would still experience that surprise at the first sniff.
How about you?
Undina's Looking Glass 
I’ve been through a series of love/hate flip flops on Angel. When I first smelled it I hated it. Then it grew on me and I loved and wore it for several years. Now I’m back to disliking it because on me the current version smells like rotting melons. On a friend however, it smells great. Skin chemistry I guess.
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I haven’t tried any versions newer than at least 7-8 years, but knowing the trajectory of the most changes (in everything, not just perfumes), I wouldn’t hold my breath… well, maybe I should ;)
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It’s funny — I have almost no memories of Angel. I never wore it myself, and TBH, I was so preoccupied during its heyday with moving, working, and having babies that I barely noticed it. I do have Angel Muse, which I like but don’t love (I do love the bottle, lol).
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I can’t imagine anyone not knowing Angel! Not because it is a classic perfume or is great, but because at some point it was so ubiquitous that it was impossible to be at a department store and not smell it :)
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lol! I do recognize it now, but when it launched, I was very rarely in any store other than supermarkets, Sam’s Club, and Home Depot! Not as much scope for Angel, though I’m sure it made many appearances.
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Angel will be forever frozen in my mind as a memory from a very specific time in the 2000s when I wore a sample of it without knowing anything about it, or perfumery, or Mugler, or fashion. I was visiting a big city and spending happy times with people who are no longer in my life. Angel was more overpowering than any perfume I’d tried before and it was a bit challenging, but I also liked that it accentuated my presence. Not sure I’d recognize it in the wild now, especially if the reformulation is very different.
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Love your Angel story! It sounds just a tad wistful and very intimate. You’re such a great storyteller!
I’m curious now to smell the current version. I see a trip to the shopping center in my near future.
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Thanks! Let us know your thoughts on the comparison.
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I have always thought Angel smelled good on other people, but on me… it’s abhorrent. Instant scrubber. No idea why. I still have a sample of it laying around, and sometimes I take it out to see if anything has changed. So far – big NOPE. Respect for its impact, though!
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You just described me and No 5 or Shalimar! :)
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OOOOHHHH Good Question Unduina.
I still don’t have a bottle of it in the wardrobe. A couple of A*Mens though.
A whole slew of friends and acquaintances wore Angel, It was the ubiquitous femme version like Le Male, Joop! or Kouros in the clubs. Still one particular GF I’ve known since school wears it religiously and though it has changed still smells amazing on her.
I was still wearing Fendi Donna and maybe still Gucci No 3 when it came out. I’m guessing Mum must have been wearing Samsara and my sister in Rochas Byzance.
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Rochas Byzance! Be still my beating heart. I would gladly sell a kidney for a pristine vintage bottle
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HA! Yeah, it’s the good stuff Alityke.
I have collected a few vintage bottles including a perfectly preserved extrait. It arrived BNIC and I eeek it out lovingly.
Portia xx
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A Man was good! I (well, my vSO) have one of the flankers (tobacco, I think). I need to find it: I don’t think it was out in the last 3-4 years at least.
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Oh yeah Undina, this flankers were available for two seasons and gone. My favorite is the super mint one.
Portia xx
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Mugler Angel, hmmm, like OH it arrived whilst I was trying to be all things to everyone. Yet, I remember testing it from samples that the SA’s were very generous with. It was intriguing.
I have bought & sold a couple of bottles & even more flankers in the years since its release.
In short, Angel & I are not friends but neither are we enemies
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Interestingly, the only flanker I ever got was Taste of Fragrance. Everything else wasn’t… Angel enough :)
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That is the only one I regret selling. The only chocolate fragrance I have ever liked. I think it was the dryness of unsweetened cocoa powder
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I owned a bottle of Angel when it first came out, but don’t recall it clearly enough to make the comparison with today’s version. I do have a vintage-y(?) mini of the Lys Angel flanker, which I really like, as does Robin of NST. The combo of cool lily and warm chocolate works very well. Not so much the peony and violet ones, which I also tried. Angel is a very original scent, I will give it that!
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I tried three “floral” flankers. I don’t remember what I thought, but I think I liked at least some of them. Had I known back then that those flankers were just temporary and would go away, I would have bought at least one of them.
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I thought Angel was creative and innovative when it first came out and I was fascinated by it, but I just never felt that it worked on my skin. Also, it tends to take over a room when someone is wearing it and I don’t like that either.
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It DOES take over the room! I used to enjoy that, but these days I’m a lot more considerate :)
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I tried Angel only once, and even then it had been out for years. It was a hard NO for me. It almost knocked me sideways. I have some flankers that I really like and those have been purchased in more recent years. I wonder how it sells nowadays? Here, LVeB seems to have stolen its crown.
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I would be very curious to know how it is doing these days.
I just realized that I have no idea how LVeB smells :)
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Pingback: Saturday Question: What Are Your Top 5 Favorite Flankers? – Undina's Looking Glass
I was a fragrance sales associate at Dillard’s and remember when Angel and Shiseido’s Feminite du Bois were released. Beautiful and Pleasures were both top sellers, I loved seeing the reactions of shoppers who spritzed Angel and FdB, there was def. a visceral reaction, not a pleasant one either (it was funny to observe). I adored both at first sniff but I think one reason for my love (of both) is because I minimally applied them. Being in FL, the heat and humidity amped up the scent’s strength but they both seemed to do well. When over applied, I can see why Angel gets so much hate. My bottle is about 17 years old, although the color is changing, it’s still pretty good. I also have a 10 year old bottle of scented body oil that is delicious.
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Angel can be nuclear if applied with a heavy hand – I know, I tried :)
Since many (all?) of Mugler’s perfumes are very synthetics-heavy, I’m not surprised that our bottles are still good. But it’s a pity about the color!
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