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?