Reviews of A*Men / Angel Men (1996)
by Thierry Mugler

sometimes i like it and other times i hate it . a definate cold weather scent as it is untolerable in warm weather. i love the women's version but this is a bit too much from a male's point of view.

ANGEL = Starbuck's for Men !

I like sweet and spicy fragrances, full of character, but i don't get this one.
Can't imagine anyone who would like to smell this way. If you want to smell like "Angel" you could rub your neck with chocolate and coffee just as well.
The only thing that i like about this one, is the idea to create something totally different.

Definitely in the love it or hate it category.

But i will give a Neutral thumb for idea and courage!

Fashion fragance....nice for cold weather but not very versatile. For to walk in the mall, nice afternoons with your girl friend, ok ok ok.....but not for office wear.
Original, yeah....but its not enough.

i normally despise 'foody' smells, and i absolutely detest the women's 'Angel', so i was fully prepared to hate this - and yet i really don't. i definately have to agree that the initial assault that this provides is peculiar to say the least, maybe 'pinesol' as nthny said, i think it's almost absinthe-y in its vodka-alcohol driven herbal mint/lavender slap.
once this fades (which mercifully was quite quickly) i got full-on cocoa - not in a rich sickly chocolatey way, but in a dry, hot, bitter cocoa bean way - mixed with a coffee note that was more like an empty, dried-on espresso than the frappuccino described by other people here. perhaps its my skin chemistry (things rarely smell quite like they do on others when applied to myself) but this never became cloying-sweet, but remained hot-sweet-dry (i also really didnt get much, if any, vanilla), almost like standing near a candy-floss (cotton candy) machine, and there was a definate smoky edge to it (the 'tar' note perhaps?). the patchouli is the main prominent note to my nose, beyond the espresso-cocoa accord, and this weird-sounding combination is really quite lovely (although i do love patchouli, and i do love coffee houses!). the dry-down for me retained the patchouli, joined very nicely by the musk and the tonka, and only after several hours did the caramel sweetness become apparent.

this stuff is really WEIRD. i couldnt quite get my head around smelling like cocoa powder and old espresso and patchouli, like some kind of fat hippy. but i really and truly like it. will definately buy when i see it going cheap (i think i saw some for £35 for 100ml online!)

Effective if used sparingly,if not.... well.
It is NOT a signature scent, but blends well with with holiday season.

Cheers

Tried it at the shop (on my hand, not paper). I like sweet scents but this just smells like cotton candy to me. I think I'd have liked a citrus/melon note to balance that sweetness. It smells very edible (I'm not kidding).

This is strong & sweet with long lasting notes of sweet chocolate and musk with a touch of vanilla. One of my favorites.

It still smells a little too synthetic for my liking but it's probably one of the best chocolate scents currently available on the market. Luckily, I'm not a great fan of these type of gourmands (nor the tar note) so I'll pass.

Extremely sweet, smells like chocolate, stays in clothes for days afterwards. Nice for winter, quite disgusting during summer time and wram temperatures.

I'm not in line with the general view of "either love it or hate it". I can see the uniqueness of this juice. The strong sweet opening, the gourmand dry-down that lasts all day etc. Largely though, I can take it or leave it! I've worn it maybe 10 times in the last year...

Can't really dislike how it smells, it's kinda chocolate, kinda coffee, kind of caramel. So basically its a caramel, mocha, frappachino. It smells delicious, but I just don't know if I want to smell like it. What I can say I dislike about this fragrance is how cloying it is. It just attacks your nose and fills it up with smell. Made me dizzy.

--Ice cream shop.--
Is the proper way to describe it. If you want to smell like chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, caramel and other delicious chillygoodies, this is the scent for you. It is powerful and projecting. Be warned if you wear it though. If you come across a hungry ice cream addict while wearing this, they might be tempted to take a bite.

This is a perfect sent for teens, going out to parties. The girlies will love it. :) Also, don't wear this if you use public transportation. ;)

now when i first smelled this i said WTH IS THIS???? it was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy 2 strong & overpowering.. but then after it settled n i said ok.. i can somewhat tolerate this! but it smells 2 much like chocolate & coffee! which of coffee i dont like 2 smell like. nor chocolate. @ anyrate. the longevity of this is awesome! 2 days! & 4 that i give it a neutral rating!

The top notes are awful, it's more like a stanch than a perfume. But as it settles down, the mid and base notes are pretty nice and warm. It's sweet (like all the gourmands) but not necessarily cloying. If you can hide for 10 or 15 minutes after you've sprayed it, then it's ok to wear this in public.

When this arrived on the market, I must admit that I loved it. Considering that we still had cold winters here in Belgium that time... . I really don't think you should wear a fragrance like this during summertime.
The lasting power of this is too long, I don't like the drydown and it just stays too long. It's lik I want it to disappear, but it doesn't. Too bad that most drydowns are musky or heavy, I do believe that a fresh scent should stay fresh.
Back to A*men, I bought this one for my husband (as I said when we had winters over here) and I liked it. Allthough it could get too much and it would be a good smell to use in a chocolate store, too be in a small room amongst others,... not so good.

its not a perfume that i want to wear ....
althought i think that has a nice vanilia smell..

I have a bit of a love hate relationship with A*Men. I'll tell myself i hate it then try some on me and fall in love with it all over again. But after a few days i can't stand it and want it gone! Personally i prefer B*Men it's a much sexier scent and more consistent. I cannot deny how good a scent A*Men is though, one that provokes such a passionate response can't be bad!

I'd say, don't believe the hype. Although this is a pretty nice Gourmand. It's strong, sweet and has a lot of character. But that singing tar note comes off as a synthetic mess to me. I'll wear the stuff from time to time, but I won't reach for it if you know what I mean.

Perhaps the most wonderful thing about fragrance is that it both creates and recalls memories. Unfortunately, some memories can be unpleasant.
I cannot be objective about Angel because I cannot smell it or even think about it without remembering the first time I (for lack of a better word) experienced it.
I was working at an editing house in Hollywood that specialized in "adult entertainment". One of the clients was a thoroughly loathsome person. The type who smoked cigars not because he enjoyed them, but because he thought he looked "cool" smoking them. The first time I met him, he arrived in a cloud of the strongest cologne I had ever smelled. You couldn't not comment on his "scent". "Don't you just love it!" he would say. "It's called Angel Men by this fabulous designer named Thierry Mugler!" A name dropper through and through. Then he would billow out some foul cigar smoke and the three (him, his Angel Men, and his cigar smoke) would compete for what little oxygen was left in the cramped office.
You could always tell when he was coming as his Angel cloud would arrive ten minutes before he did, and we were on the twelfth floor!
Several years passed and I attempted to reassess Angel Men for myself, but I couldn't divorce this person from the scent. Was it because of him I thought the scent was obnoxious, over the top, cloying, insincere, and trying way too hard to be amazing? Or was it just these things on it's own?
From other peoples comments I've read here, I have to conclude that it is indeed those things on it's own. Minus the cigar smoke top-note.
But, I will give credit where credit is due. Angel Men is an amazing creation. Absolutely an animal unto itself, albeit one that should be caged. A first of its kind that has created a whole new category of scents. Perhaps, an important fragrance in the history of fragrance. There are certain things about it that I admire, but as the old Paco ad says..."What is remembered is up to you."

A*Men is pretty popular. No doubt about it. Its also quite unpopular. No doubts about that too. And, its also a ground-breaking fragrance.

A*Men opens with a well-balanced, rich, slightly minty accord. Have a look at the top notes; bergamot, lavender, mint. Nice. The top and middle notes overlap, because almost immediately you can also smell some distant yet rich coffee notes. This blend of fresh and minty top notes with the rich coffee is excellent. It reminds me of Bond No. 9s' New Haarlem. So far so good. However, this is the mercurial A*Men. From here, the fragrance goes into overdrive. The shift from middle to basenotes brings a flacon-load of tonka, vanilla, caramel and chocolate notes. This is where A*men no doubt turns into the king of gourmands. Rich, sweet, and a total sillage monster. A holy grail, if this is the sort of thing you like. A skin hugging air sucking nightmare if you dont.

I dont think that highly of A*Men, but any fragrance which was able to carve out an entirely new category of fragrances deserves some respect. I dont like A*Men much, but I respect it for what it did for the fragrance industry. For me, if it had stopped evolving at the confluence of the top and middle notes, it would have been perfection. However, A*Men works well if sparingly sprayed on, and in cold weather. I dont hate it, I just dont like it much. I like its successor, B*Men, more. However I can understand the need to have both in the wardrobe.

The perfect counterpart to Givenchy PI. While PI gives off a strong vanilla theme, A*Men gives off a strong chocolate theme which is a great contrast to Givenchy PI. In fact, I wonder if you sprayed them both on your skin how it would smell. It opens up with notes of Peppermint and Bergamot to give it a mint orange smell. With the sweet notes of chocolate in the background of the top notes, it sort of smells like a chocolate covered orange. This part of the fragrance did not really excited me and I knew what A*men is all about comes in the middle and heart notes. After about 15 minutes, the top notes disappear, and the scent becomes just chocolate. I get smells of caramel, chocolate, coffee bean, and a hint of musk. A*Men does have great longevity and sillage. I can respect A*men because of this and it unique smell but I find it hard to wear this cologne on a day to day basis. It’s only suitable on me for going to the club or nights out, which are not a lot. Other than that, I find that the smell of A*men is something I would not want people smelling on me. For a more useable chocolate scent, I would try Givenchy’s Very Irresistible. If you tend to like the smell of vanilla rather then chocolate and are looking for that smell in cologne, I suggest Givenchy’s PI. Overall, this is a very unique fragrance, but it is so unique that I am cannot wear it on a constant basis.

Yes, the ladies do love this one. It is just too sweet and cloying for my style. Women do think this is a masculine frag and they insist they can tell the diff. Perhaps this is proof of a woman's keener sense of smell but I dont care. For me to wear anything, I have to like it very much.

Have you ever walked by a trash bin on a hot summer afternoon? If you have then you've already experienced Angel Men by Thierry Mugler. It's hot trash, pun or no pun, I'll let you decide.

I first received Mugler's Angel Men on my tenth birthday and for a while made it my childhood signature in Europe, then again in my late-teens as A*Men here in the states, but as I got older and after years of both compliments and ridicule, I myself grew to dislike the formula and relegated it only for occasions when I needed to put on the dog. Then with my acquisition of Paco Rabanne's Black XS last year I was suddenly compelled to revisit this Mugler classic and found it to be one of (if not thee) most interesting fragrances I've ever worn.

Perfect for a child or a young man, as it translates it's notes into a world of "Petit Prince" whimsy. However, on an older man it creates a less harmonius effect, it tends to wear and overpower the man rather than permitting the wearer to live up to the magnificent scent.

WHen I first smelt this it was just a revalation! A beautiful scent. More feminine than most. Fruity, claen Vanilla. Women just had to comment on this scent. ALas it has for the past few years everybody else has twigged! Youll smell like just another "wannabee" now. Time to Move on WOW factor was 10 but now 2! Just too Common!

Everybody knows that different fragrances smell differently from person to person. But there is another factor I don't think is commented upon as often, but it's exemplified by A*men. And that's that some fragrances, though quite beautiful smelling, just aren't the kind of odour you want to carry around with you. I wore this when it first arrived, for a few years. I really do love the smell, but unfortunately, it doesn't cope well on my skin (ends up smelling like burnt cake or something) but more importantly, even at it's best, I just don't want to smell like that - not for more than 5 minutes anyway. Maybe it's something to do with its gourmand nature - after all there are many foods that smell gorgeous - for example, whose mouth doesn't water at the smell of roast lamb? - but would you really want to spray that behind your ears? Nevertheless, it is a revelation, I want to give it thumbs up, but I'm afraid I can't.

From the multitude of reviews posted, this looks like it's mostly a "love-it-or-hate-it" fragrance, so I am happy to post a neutral review. This fragrance has some qualities I like: chocolate, patchouli, and musk, to name three. It also has some qualities I really do not like. It is very, very strong. I noticed someone mentioned using more than four sprays; Somewhere around one I am maxed out. This is (overly) potent stuff. Another quality that I do not like is that, at least on my skin, this one comes across extremely dark. There are no light or uplifting notes at all, which leads to a sense of swampiness. I tried to wear this during the day and it just didn't work. Still, even with these negatives, I feel that this is a bold and unique scent. Also, it was recommended to me by a woman I worked with. There seems to be something about women and chocolate... At any rate I am glad that Mugler took the risk in producing this, even if it's something that I would not wear very often.

There are things I really like about A*Men: It has a strong and interesting aroma. Its progression of stages is beautifully accomplished. It is excellently and creatively constructed. It has a long and excellent dry down which puts to shame the dry downs of most of its modern competitors. I wish more of the modern scents had base notes of this quality and attraction. But if I were to buy a bottle of A*Men, I would wear it only when I can avoid going public for about an hour. When it comes to chocolate, I wear mine on the inside.

I'm honestly a bit torn on this one. Applying it, letting it dry down, and periodically taking a deep whiff allows me to appreciate the complexity that some people rave about. As a practical matter, however, all those notes get dominated by the darn brownie. Chocolate, chocolate, and more sweet chocolate. It's great for a situation where you want people to smell you in a crowd (which is why it is considered ubiquitous for nightclubs), but I can't see using it as anything other than a niche fragrance. Buy a small bottle or a decant and use it when you are going to be grinding against sweaty girls. I might add that this was also what I wore on Christmas, but for the sweetness part and not the grinding against sweaty girls part.