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

My Review Title - A*Men is for Gourmand and Patchouli fans only! Stop Complaining otherwise!

With 190 reviews coming before me, I don't feel compelled to rehash the notes, etc. However I'll address the obvious love/hate nature of A*Men. Not many people are neutral on this. Obviously wearing A*Men requires that you like both strong gourmand and strong patchouli fragrances, as A*Men manages to meld the two genres together. You have a very strong patchouli - with all of its aromatic fullness - masked slightly by a chocolate/caramel/coffee/vanilla accord. However, even if you're inclined to like these types of accords, you CAN NOT overapply.

Application must be via a diffuse spray, and if you do want to lay it on, let a single layer dry then add another. If you put on a thick heavy layer something in the way AMen dries makes it powerfully sticky sweet. I only required about 1/2 of a 1.2ml factory sample sprayer to enjoy AMen all day. If I purchase this, it will be a 30ml bottle, because it would last me forever.

Applied correctly, I get varying notes of patchouli, lavender, the 'choco-cara-vanille' accord, and even some light touches of citrus and musk, that come and go, melding into one another. I can smell myself easily without someone else in the elevator smelling me, which is a perfect balance for me. In fact, AMen gives me of those 'aromatic auras' that few fragrances create and that I find very enjoyable.

In summary, for the brief time that my review is on the top of the page, let me me implore everyone who doesn't like both gourmand and patchouli fragrances to stay away from AMen. You will not like it, and then just get on BN and write a review whining that 'the perfumer was crazy - this stuff is terrible...waaaaaa!'. Please.

Let me preface this review with saying, I really tried to like this cologne. Unfortunately you need to "work to get the payoff" in a manner of speaking. Before you can walk through the well watered plains of Jordan, Its awful that one must bury their face into Granma's chest heavily laden with scents that are strong enough to wake the dead. People around you must suffer through that just to reach that moment of bliss. Mugler, if would get rid of grandma, I'd go out and buy a bottle today. I am a huge fan of Chocolate, Tonka, Bergamot, and Coffee, but grandma should stay at home and read a book for this one.

It’s hard for me to admit that I’m giving this a thumbs up, but I’ve decided to join the club. At first, I felt like I was spraying myself with some sort of liquefied browny mixture. This is still true to an extent, and I remain somewhat self-conscious when wearing it in public. You do, after all, smell like something to eat, and that still doesn’t feel particularly masculine to me. That said, it really is one of the most enjoyable smells I have ever come across. From beginning to end, it smells amazing and, oddly, comforting. For this reason, I’ll occasionally spray it when sitting around the house reading a good book. It gives me the same cozy feeling I get from being home for Christmas smelling the cookies bake in the effort.

On the other hand, God forbid I should ever take this to the club or wear it to the office.

After abundant word of mouth I decided to try it on my skin, leaving both me and my girl friend gagging for breath. Even after a long shower I could feel its sickly sweet stench crawling towards my nostrils. A week later and after several "how could you have not liked it" comments, I tried it again at a perfume outlet with similar results. This monstrosity should have been restricted by the Geneva conventions

I like this gourmand, especially the drydown. Great sillage and longevity. Not exactly coffee or chocolate, it conjures a warm feeling. I apply only 2 sprays when I wear this to work. I overapplied one time during work, and I had people sneezing around me. Value for money, because this 1.7 oz is going to last me a long time.

I love Angel Men! This is my "go get 'er" frag when I fancy a bit of skirt-chasing. The chocolate, vanilla, and peppermint notes are the most prominent on my skin. I thought it had a touch of cinnamon. In any case, the ladies in the 18-to-24 category seem to go wild over this one, especially while clubbing . While I did get a few complements from women in their 30s (and one gorgeous 44yr old), IMO this is a scent for the kittens; for cougars look elsewhere. Caveat: spray this DIRECTLY on skin and wait for the drydown before dressing because the scent will stick on your garments until you hit the cleaners.

this fragrance has to be the worst, honestly, the WORST i have ever tried.
I was thoughtless enough to try this one on my arm in the middle of the day without a chance to wash it off for hours.
It smells chemical, it smells sweet, it makes me nauseatous and gives me a giant headache, and, to finish it off i get thast typical urinal stone smell from time to time.
EOW!!!

There are some fragrances that delight and tease the olfactory senses, and then there are obnoxious, stomach-churning concoctions such as this fragrance. Whoever the mad scientist that created this is, he/she should have served some prison time.

This is one of the extremely few fragrances that I have ever smelled that initiated a nearly automatic gag reflex upon the first whiff. The biggest mistake was spraying it on myself. I happened to see two guys at Sephora talking to the SA. They both raved about this scent and she gave them a few samples of it. I was on my way out, but slowed down and she gave me 3 or 4 sample cards of it, too. As I was walking to my car, naive as I was, I gave one of the samples two good sprays on my forearm. I had to smell this sickly sweet, putrid odor until I got home, and then, even after a shower and nearly rubbing the skin off of my arm, I could still smell it. It smells like a terrorist blew up a candyshop and a Starbucks and this is the stuff raining down upon the poor innocent bystanders. Horrible stuff.

This is an extreme fragrance, perhaps one of the most provocative of them all. Coffee, chocolate,candy, tobacco .. all that and more. It will bother me to have someone around smelling like that.
This is not something to wear this is something you want to eat.

I HATE how popular this is. But, the review cannot be based on popularity...

so

This is fantastic stuff. All of these notes combine to make you a living chocolatey dessert. The power and sillage are top notch, so you don't have to splatter yourself. The only possible drawback is that this could bother people who don't like chocolate.

This is a must sample for everyone, if for nothing more than to appriciate the artistry.

I recently bought myself this frag and have to say that this the most strange perfume I've ever smelled. Smells like dark chocolate or like a birthday cake. The perfume is a little bit cloying when you overdose it so use it wisely. Girls love it, men say its interesting and "optimistic" fragrance. A*men is a very powerfull scent. When yesterday I sprayed myself behind the ears today when i opened my eyes i felt a quite noticeable smell and of course it was A*men. I recommend it for young, creative, sociable people. THUMBS UP!

Brilliant. It was my blind buy with Hanae Mori H.M. its brilliant, after 3 sprays I can feel it after a party night I didnt find it cloying as others I really could wear it at daytime with ease, box is orginal rubber but hard to spritz

10/10 as for me

Over-baked chocolate cake with a cheap cup of coffee.

Way too effeminate for me to consider: I cannot believe that this is a men's fragrance. It is quite a stretch. In fact I think it smells exactly like Chopard Wish, plus coffee. Even 90% of the notes, and how they are combined, are identical in both frags.

The only slightly masculine notes in this are tonka mean and benzoin. I hate the smell of caramel and coffee notes in frags, especially together. This is sickening really.

Over rated!!!! This cologne is like a cake with icing to be plastered on your body! Clearly too sweet. Clearly too simple. Get the taste of sweet desserts, mix generously, and you have this. Totally without sophistication. Sorry. any frangrance with only a two to one postive to negative ratio is dangerous. This fragrance is a waste of money and time. That is, unless you are starting Kindergarten......you will be quite popular ith both girls and boys!!!!

This is the flagship of unisex...neither feminine nor masculine. It's Pat...in a bottle.

Not sure what the hype is about this one. I guess I'm one of the many who just don't like it. There is too much going on with it and my wife surely didn't like it on me.
Longevity and sillage is a plus, but since I didn't like the scent of the fragrance itself I obviously can't approve.
Thumbs down.

Reminded me of L'Artisan's Jour de Fete...in a bad way. This is another one of those gourmands that has an unfortunate sticky/unwashed character. Makes me think of dried chocolate ice cream smeared on the face of a small child at a birthday party. In my home, this one is called "Eau de Give That Kid a Bath". Dire.

I really, really wanted to like this one. The thought of a men's fragrance that smells like coffee, chocolate, caramel, etc was very enticing. I picked up a small sample spray bottle and brought it home for testing.

The opening spray is a synthetic nightmare! I can smell the chocolate, caramel, coffee, tar note.....or rather, I can smell the fake chemical versions of them.

I was hoping the dry-down would reveal something much more natural, and indeed it does (to some extent), however it takes 2 hours for that to happen. And even then, it still smells a bit too synthetic to pass as anything even remotely natural or edible.

Only one small spray of this stuff lasted hours and hours, with strong sillage. Even after scrubbing my arm with soap, I could still detect the scent of this fragrance. I couldn't imagine sharing a room with someone wearing more than 2 or 3 full sprays of this. And furthermore, what would you use to wash it off, turpentine?

Bottom line: The idea behind this fragrance is genius. The execution is quite bad.

I could not live without this. It is and has been for a few years "The One" fragrance I HAVE to have. I never grow tired of it. I can't stop smelling myself when I am wearing this. Sometimes I wonder why I wear anything else. To me there is nothing else like it. Very Loud at first, but when it dries, it is to die for!!

Cloying to the extreme, and lasts two days on my skin. Trying this on was akin to torture.

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.

Everytime I smell this I go crazy. I love it! A true classic. I originally thought of this as a winter only scent, however, I am starting to change my opinion lately. It's great anytime. Great work!

Use this once if you want to experience the true meaning of a fragrance. You will start to call most other fragrances 'toys' and this one 'the hero'. Two sprays in the morning that will never leave you until you go to sleep or four sprays in the night that will ensure a strong presence through the night. You could never go wrong with this one if you just range 1 to 4 sprays according to the environment.
The only thing you will not like will be that other men could use this too...

A*Men would be perfect if it not for that hideous tar note at the top of the heap when you smell it. It also takes for ever to get past it(4 hours at least). Other than that, I like it for clubbing in the fall and winter months. It truly brings about the sweet teeth in women who encounter it. Love it or hate it, a classic in the making.

Fun gourmand. A bakery in a bottle.

A buddy of mine, a local night club owner, was telling me about A*men... he mentioned that he ran into a friend of his a few days prior to our conversation and she was telling him about how difficult it was to leave her boyfriend for the simple reason that she couldn't get over how amazing he smelled--he wore A*men. My buddy mentioned to me that he had a few other conversations over the years which revolved around the A*men awesome smell and that I might just have a little shred of hope with the ladies if I would just try it out.

Within minutes of receiving his email, and reading the reviews here on Basenotes, I was in Macy's to see what all of the hype was about... I was sold at first smell. It was simply amazing how so many different notes were present, some awful, like burnt tar, but as bad as the burnt tar is, it actually smells good when mixed with the other scents. After it had a minute to settle down, it was a really nice smell, as if I had just shaved and then the chocolate and vanilla came out to play for a while. Well, I'm not too fond of Vanilla... I think it was my highschool days of smelling Vanilla Fields on all of the young girls that gave Vanilla a bad name, but this Vanilla is different, it's really difficult for me to put into words, but I really don't mind it when mixed with all of the other notes.

I wasn't sure which bottle was the A*men, and the lady behind the counter didn't have a clue, so I ended up with what I now know to be A*men and B*men, which complements A*men nicely and I now mix the two.

The reactions from the ladies? Well, I've only worn it out on the town once, but I have worn it during my 9 to 5 and have noticed a difference in the amount of people willing to strike up a conversation with me, many more! In fact, I've met more people in the last two weeks than I have the entire year! People tend to move closer in to me and want to stick around for a while... I don't know, maybe it's a coincidence, but further studies will be held, rest assured. Oh, and that night I went to the club and wore A*men? I don't think I wore enough of it... I had been experimenting with how much to apply the few days leading up to the club night, but I don't think I had it right. Never-the-less, I did meet a lovely lady and we talked for hours.

I totally recommend this cologne... I can't wait to see what other shenanigans it gets me into, it should be fun!

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.

A*Men - its a classic. nothin else out there smells quite like it and could make you feel exclusive, rich, suave and most importantly, makes you feel good!

caramel? chocolate? vannilla? Tonka....if it brings you pictures of Rochas Man, then you are sadly mistaken. till date never been able to enjoy a scent the way i could Angel Men. its like reading a book, the notes keeps unfolding, morphing into each other with such precise manner that you will stop and you will sniff your wrist closely time to time to admire this beauty. its quite potent and last forever. Thumbs way up for this one. a Keeper.

The first time I wore this beast was truly a fearsome experience. I recalled correctly that the top note of A*Men almost fell me to the floor, and I was astounded because it was just ONE spray at my wrist. Few weeks later, due mainly to the fact that A*Men is the most reviewed perfume in Basenotes, I decided that I should revisit this cologne by buying a metal flask of 30ml.

It took me seven days in getting used to the smell of A*Men which started harshly before becoming to a terrific drydown. Yes, I was suffocated, tolerated, vomit induced, hardly breathed at the first few days of wearing A*Men; however, I began to appreciate every state of A*Men since then. This stuff has been my signature scent already!

For those who disgusts A*Men, I bet you could possibly turn out loving it after spending sometime with it (7 nights and days for me). It will be choking you at the very first time; then, you continue being stubborn, and you will find why half the world adore this scent.

I reserve this for night time activities like parties or clubbing where I will be surrounded by people with other fragrances on. While I have sampled nothing quite like this long-lasting, velvety, chocolate/coffee brew, my nose tires of it if I wear it too often. If you happen to be dating or married to a choc-o-holic, of course, it would be an excellent choice for an intimate evening.

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...

Beautiful sweet scent with a great woody/vanilla drydown . made by Jacques Huclier.

This review is under revision.

This really stands out as something completely different though it shares components (coffee vanilla chocolate tonka bean) with so many other gormand offerings. It is daring and never ceases to garner compliments. The initial blast is very confusing, I'll give you that (for a second I almost smell pinesol probably due to the lavender/mint combo) but those initial notes dry down quickly to reveal a warm rich fragrance that is very intimate. I can't imagine not having it in my collection simply as an alternative to the norm and because it deserves to be part of any collector's stash. Does NOT combine well with the saltiness of sweat so it does NOT work on warm days or in a steamy club situation but rather a crisp fall or winter sweater day or cafe night, for walking through the city with a Starbucks in hand in the cold. I generally am a fan of finely crafted, unique fragrances, and this may be rather pedestrian in that regard. But for the 100% unique warmth it conjurs, it is definitely a worthy fragrance.

I first bought A*MEN in 2000 as I had fallen in love with the fragrance. I thought it was original and different compared to other same-smelling mainstream fragrances. And it was my first designer fragrance. I remained faithful to this one for about 3.5 years, and then decided to kiss it goodbye and move on to something else. I still have a little bit left and the othe other day, just for the heck of it, I sprayed a few drops on my neck before going to bed. I shouldn´t have because I had problems falling asleep, thinking "I used to love this one?!?". I don´t know, it just seemed overpowering, too ruthlessly present. I can understand why people either love it or hate it- but to me, this controversial reception is an essential property any well-made fragrance should possess. I probably won´t return to it, but it does bring back a lot of fragrant (and other) memories...

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.

Sweet, yet strong perfume. Not something I would personally use unless I'm in the mood to smell like chocolate, caramel, vanilla and coffee. A lady puller for sure.

The opening notes are a bit disturbing, but you have to be patient to discover the real gem, so the dry down is excellent and long lasting. It is much better on the skin than it is on the clothes.

--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. ;)

This must be the worst fragrance I have ever had the misfortune of smelling and men wear it as if they came off an assembly line. To be stuck on a crowded subway near someone who has on this loud, cloying, nauseating fragrance is an experience that makes the eyes tear. The womens version is almost as bad. Rochas Man, with similar notes, was made SO much better and doesn't make the eyes burn or make you wish to run for fresh air as does Angel. I hear people say "oh it depends on how much you spray and so on. . ." I say you can't make something that smells bad smell good. That's just my humble opinion. Peace to all Angel fans around the world.

My first contact with this one wasn’t so good… to be honest, it made me sick.
Some years later and after some hundreds of others scents my nose was finally ready for A*Men and… I loved it… I loved it very much.
Sometimes, when I splash some A*Men on my arm I smell it pretty piggish and I enjoy as much as Homer Simpson when he eats chocolate and he says: ”Mmmmm… sweeeeet”. Vanilla, caramel, chocolate… is there any sweet thing we know which isn’t in this scent?
A*Men is very long lasting and super aggressive. If you like when the whole room smells like you than you should use Opium pour Homme, but if you have a huge desire that the entire building smells like you, than you should undoubtedly apply this one.
I just couldn’t imagine A*Men on some mature man. Thanks God, despite my age (I’m 35 years old), I’m not so mature;-)

Yes, believe the hype. It is really THAT good. Sweet, sweet, sweet. Beautiful scent. I was anxious to try this gem so I went to theperfumeshop and the sales assistant who had sour breath sprayed it on my wrist. With this initially unpleasant experience I sniffed and dismissed A*Men as just a run of the mill fragrance. Luckily the weather brightened up and it got really hot. Worse still, I got into a stuffy bus. Here's where the magic began. The chocolate heavy scent began to project like nothing I have come across before. It was absolutely insane! I fel in love! Off that one spray, I was encompassed in a fresh but light chocolate cloud. People moved ever so closer. Whether this was because of A*Men or my rugged good looks ( he he), I will never know.

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.

Its isnt for everyone, if you think you can pull it off go for it. Its a bit on a "feminine" side so keep this in mind when your buying it. If you can pull it off and it actually suits you, then congrats you've just brought one of the best. its smells like a bakery which would be a instant turn off or on for people.

this is the most wonderful fragrance when it's dried down, but, before you go out and buy it, you should know that it will smell like cotton candy and bengay for the first 2 hours before it settles down. but when it does, its smells like a piece of heaven.

This is distincive fragrance and is sure to get compliments, although very powerful; too much and you will smell sickly sweet. Overall, it is clear why this is rated so highly.

I only tried a sample vial of A*Men, but this scent is fantastic. It reminds me of christmas by the fire, with hot chocolate. It smells very edible, very dark and chocolatey to me. I spray on each wrist once, and on each side of my neck. I can always smell it, but people have to get closer to actually experience its greatness. My nose can sense it for atleast a good 8 hrs. My 1.7 oz. bottle is on the way NOW!!

I enjoy my bottle of Youth Dew Amber Nude since it makes me smell yummy so I decided my husband needed to smell yummy too. Because of Basenotes advanced search I was able to find just what I was looking for for him.
YDAN has notes of patchouli and chocolate which I just love so using the advance search I put those notes in to see what was available in men's colognes and A*Men came up. My daughter and I then went to the mall to check it out. We decided we liked it and bought some and brought it home. I unfortunately made the mistake of having my husband try it on right before we went to bed though and found it hard to fall asleep because the scent made me hungry.
This is a dangerous cologne - do not wear around women you do not want licking you like your mother or aunts. My husband will from this day on have a bottle of this along with a list of rules as to where and when he can wear it!

Flat out classy!
Longevity is unreal with this juice, but only wear it when the temperature is a maximum of 50 degrees. Warm weather makes Amen become way over powering.

horrible horrible horrible. I had to wash it off immediately, I don't actually mind the coffee/chocolate opening but the sugared almond/baby powder basenotes are very cloying. I'm not sure if I'm brave enough for this one!

I'm hooked. At first, when I smelled it on the card I dismissed it as far too sweet with an almost flat quality to it. Well, when I finally gave it a go and sprayed it on my wrist, I couldn't stop sniffing it. I don't like standard fragrance, and this definitely isn't standard by any means. It's a very warm, with patchouli, bergamot, chocolate and vanilla, but it also has peppermint and lavender, which seems to tone down the overly sweet notes. When I wear it I get so many compliments from both women and men, plus you only need a small amount, and it's actually quite inexpensive when compared to other fragrances. What's not to love?

I don't usually go for the sweet fragrances but I ordered a couple samples and the reaction from the ladies was incredible. I wear it on cold weather and mostly at night, and for clubbing

Good stuff. Potent initially, but definitely good after the cook-off. (dry down)

Strolling through the billowing snow, scarf around your neck, tuque on your head, breath completely visable, and the warm yet subtle scent of hot cocoa, mint, and coffee beans rising from your jacket. Delicious and comforting in the best possible way.

It has taken me some time to appreciate this gem, but appreciate it I do. I get none of the gasoline or syrupy crap scents from this one, but I also don't get the negative scents from Kouros and Farenheit either. A love it or hate it, certainly, and love it I do.

Love it. Deep n' sexy, warm n' chocolatey. Loud, strong, and a sillage monster.
Awesome stuff when you want to be noticed! Though, I don't think its that outrageous as some make it seem. Its out there, but 'works' very, very well.
Thumbs up. I will always have a bottle of this!

After having bought it four years ago, A*Men bored me quite quickly: the topnotes were good, interesting, powerful but the base was just too much caramel. My mother said I smelt like caramel and nothing else. Not exactly a compliment. Then a few months ago I began wearing it again and each and every time it attracts lots of compliments from the ladies. Don't most of them just love sweetness... Now I often go for it in chilly weather on days I won't be going to gym late afternoon, because then it is just too much. A Caramel Classic, that sums it up for me.

A warm visit to the candy shop.

Literally, this fragrance has the intoxicating qualities of some of the most addictive edible sweets out there, which is not bad, but it tends to be a bit overpowering for the ones with sensitive noses. Thankfully, most girls love the sweets offered in this concoction and immediately notice the chocolate, caramel and vanilla in the drydown and positive comments pour in from all sides. Now the similarities with women's Angel are unmistakable, in fact my girlfriend has threatened to use my bottle on several occasions, but there is enough substance in the mid notes to bring some manliness to the mix, not much mind you, but just enough.

My biggest problem with this fragrance is the coffee. It does not really need to be there. It does not add any complexity and just caters to the noses of the Starbucks generation. Coffee has become a popular ingredient in the some of the new fragrances (Trussardi Inside Man, Polo Double Black, DKNY Be Delicious Men) I just hope the trend does not continue, isn’t it enough that the reek of coffee is in every aspect of society from the office to the restaurant and at home, now we must have a remainder of our need for caffeine by wearing its most pervasive aroma. Once upon a time a cup of coffee could conjure up wonderful memories, but now it is as common as car exhaust. No thanks, I’ll stick to tea, a flavor/aroma I find much less intrusive.

Overall, A*Men is well constructed and quite potent so don’t expect to shower with it and still retain your olfactory receptors. It is unique and long-lasting, which makes it very special indeed considering that it came out in the era of the aquatic invasion. Despite the coffee imposition, a definite thumbs up.

Never got much of a chance to use my sample from Mugler. Just attended a Daft Punk concert, which was basically like a big club and everyone was freakin on everyone. Normally I found A*Men overbearing. I shot a spray at my chest under my two shirts mid-concert just to see what would happen. By that time, I was covered in sweat(and not just my own ;D) and continuing to produce it. A*Men is golden for clubbing. I can't explain it any better than that. Even post-concert it smelled divine, and tamer than my previous experiences. I can't think of anything I would rather take clubbing.

I love it.. it grows on you quickly. It's very warm and inviting and is one of those that you want to keep smelling.

I don't like to smell like food. I will readily wear semi-gourmands, like JPG Le Male, but I think I'll steer well clear of this.

It gives me a headache. I wouldn't drink coffee that tastes like this! And believe me, all I smell is French Vanilla Roast, burnt chocolate souffle and something that smells like a blend of creme carmel and edible baby powder...

If you want something that smells gourmand-ish and devilishly sexy, something that will get women asking what the wonderful cologne is that you're wearing, go for Jean Paul Gaultier Le Male.

Doing this will also save all small children and most mammals within a 20 metre radius from certain suffocation...lol

There's only two possibilities: love it or hate it. And I decided to hate it.

It smells like burnt chocolate that is melted in sugared coffee. This added with alcool and bottled.

Sorry, but for my nose this stuff stinks.

160 reviews!?!?!
I'll add my opinion noe the less.
Smells too much like the women's version...my wife couldn't tell the difference, she thought I used her perfume.
But that is the point...women will almost literally eat you.
And the drydown is commendable.
I normally would have ranked this lower, but anything that makes my wife 'want' me more is good in my book.

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.

My first impression is of a perfume too strong and particular. I dislike it very much, i can't stand the strong way it smells and above all there's a prominent note that nearly disgust me (maybe patchouli?). After a couple of hours this prominent note became more subtle and mixes up whit other notes in an intriguing wat, yet it remains distinguishable. So the drydown it's better, but after all i can't wear a perfume that disgust me for the first two hours!!