Miroir des Vanités (2008)
by Thierry Mugler

Miroir des Vanites takes the theme of a green envy amd produces a solid woody citrusy masculine aroma. The opening is bright, citrusy, fizzy, with a slightly bitter aroma that some citrus notes have. Seems like kind of a grapefruit-like citrus opening. Makes a nice citrus summer opening. Then it morphs gradually into a green vetiver base, without the smokiness of vetiver, and with a hint of something gourmand, coumarinic at the base. The effect is close to Vetiver Tonka, but less sweet and little bit more intense. Seems easy to wear, it`s not so strong, would make a nice fizzy woody citrus frag specially in summer days.

14th January, 2011.

This is the first in the series of Miroir! Miroir! reviews. Others will soon follow.

As with all the Miroir! Miroir! line there is a distinctly gourmand feel to Vanities. What distinguishes the Miroir fragrances is what goes on above the gourmand vanillic foundation found in nearly all of the scents. Vanities starts off with a bright citrus balanced with anise...sounds like an odd combo (a la Caron Eau de Reglisse) but it works well. The citrus notes lose strength fairly quickly and a subtle woodiness with a hint of vetiver creeps in, enveloping and combining with the anise. The anise and woody notes keep Vanities from becoming as sweet and overtly gourmand as some of the others in the line. Excellent and well done.

I'm not sure why Mugler is keeping this line such a secret because they would be well received by the perfumista/colognisseur world, and they easily put Mugler into niche territory in terms of quality, sillage, and longevity. The Miroir line also represents a departure from Angel, A*Men, and their myriad flankers with which the Mugler name is associated. In the US this line is available at select Saks and via Mugler's website.

5th August, 2009.

A fizzy licorice and lemon. Smells like a grey version of GFT's Eau de Quinine. The licorice leaves me feel wanting for something more as it feels unfinished. Perhaps I'm too used to licorice/anise being coupled with vanilla like in Lolita Lempicka Au Masculin.

5th October, 2008.