B*Men (2004)
by Thierry Mugler

This is really excellent. I hate gourmand fragrances and I hate A*Men. B*Men, though similar to A*Men, however doesn't have the awful chocolate pudding accord that bogged down AMen, and it's a hell of a lot more masculine smelling than AMen. Although it has a slight cherry pie-like gourmand feel to it, there is a dry sharpness to it that makes me want to call BMen a "fruity fougere". That's right, BMen to me smells a lot like Rive Gauche PH with a gourmand touch. In conclusion, AMen haters shouldn't be afraid to sample (and like) BMen. It's a truly unique, quality fragrance.

So what does B*Men have in common with A*Men? The sweet intensity? Mostly. The patchouli? Certainly. The tremendous sillage and projection? Still there. The chocolate? Hey! Where’s the chocolate!!?? For that matter, where’s the mint?

Yup, B*Men smells a bit like A*Men without the more outlandish gourmand elements. What’s left is a very sweet, spicy, patchouli-dominated woody oriental scent. Which is to say, nothing special. The drydown, which sets in after an hour or two and persists forever, is a dense, sweet accord of powdery vanilla, patchouli, cedar, and a raspy woody amber. It is at once very loud, heavy, and shapeless, and leaves me with the impression of being smothered under heaps of fallen velvet drapery.

As a scent B*Men is neither here nor there. It lacks its predecessor’s outrageous elements, its eccentricities, and hence much of its originality, yet retains the crude bulk that makes A*Men feel so oppressive to some noses. (Mine included.) I’m not surprised it’s gone.

A*Men induces the same nausea for me that the women's Angel does, but B*Men is just right. It's drier and more masculine, with just enough gourmandy sweetness to make it a romantic scent. I really like this on my man.

whoa whoa, stop it, please stop! This is tremendously vile, vulgar and tenaciously difficult to wash off unfortunately. 1 spray on the wrist produced an overwhelming feeling of nausea, simply not the sort of thing you spend hard earned money on a cologne for. This is a big big big NO!!! Meanwhile can someone stop this concoction from pursuing this nauseous siege on my olfactoro-limbic system, i cant take it anymore, sob sob, please please ....stop ...

Thierry Mugler B*Men

How does an artist know that they've finished? It must be a painstaking process to finally let your creation go out the door without adding one more thing to it or making that subtle change that will elevate it from good to transcendent. In the perfume world I think Jacques Huclier has been doing this ever since he let A*Men out the door in 1996 as he has now taken four more attempts at slightly tweaking the formula of A*Men. In 2004 he was joined by Christine Nagel and made the first attempt in creating B*Men. I think this initital attempt was to make something more subtle or more of an everyday version of A*Men. Certainly while B*Men is no shrinking violet it isn't the powerhouse that A*Men is. The top of B*Men starts off with the same sweetness present in A*Men but there is a more muted quality to it as the fruit notes come off with a lighter sweetness. The big difference happens in the heart as a strong redwood note is paired with a mix of light spices. The basic progression is the same as in M. Huclier's original creation but it instead moves in a different direction. The same can be said of the base as in B*Men it has the same kind of warmth but it is provided by amber instead of the strong gourmand notes that are present in A*Men. I have been spending a lot of time comparing and contrasting A*Men to B*Men and I think that's appropriate because it is readily apparent that these two scents share the same parentage. I also think it will be the rare colognoisseur that will need to have both of these in their wardrobe. It will really be a matter of personal preference which one of these will make it into your personal collection of scent art.

I bought this without trying it and thought I had made a big mistake at first. The sweet, burnt-sugary, over ripe fruit smell as well as the intense spiciness made me feel almost nauseous (I probably put too much on). After the initial blast it really settles down to a long lasting warm spicy fragrance. I like this more each time I wear it. My wife likes this one on me.