Alien Man (2018)
by Thierry Mugler

Thierry Mugler Alien Man (2018) was a long time coming, with the original Alien (2005) having been released more than a decade prior. In the years between, there was a lot of hype and whispering about what the scent would be, since A*Men (1996) was still carrying the brand as the flagship for men for more than twenty years with a host of flankers before this first major pillar successor finally showed up. Was Alien Man to be as daring and challenging as the original A*Men was decades before it? Well... sorta yes and sorta no. I don't think perfumer Jean-Christophe Herault was trying to replicate the same vibe as A*Men with Alien Man, or even the same vibe as the original feminine Alien perfume had, but definitely borrowed DNA from both for this novel composition. Alien Man is part daring, part comfort, part genderbend, part safety through conventional design, but all good in the end. Alien Man is a chimera to wear, as there are a few gourmand notes in Alien Man, but this is no pure gourmand, and likewise some classic 90's "fresh fougère" notes run through Alien Man as well, drawing some comparison to Montblanc Legend (2011). There is even a bit of floral oriental "floriental" play here, making this similar in ever-so-slight ways to Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb (2005). Whatever is going on in Alien Man, it is nothing like what anyone else is doing in the men's sector, giving me hope that designers haven't fully resigned themselves to aromachemical cocktails with no real distinction after the creative rut of the 2010's. The construction of Alien Man is based around three "vibrations", which are really just the top, heart, and base under new names to give the stuff the usual "Mugler weirdness" effect, but it works.

The "electric vibrations" top is anise, dill, and smoked beach wood. Nothing about that top sounds even remotely conventional, and while I can't confirm what that "smoked beach wood" is made of, I get some birch tar, slight vetiver smoke, and mandarin that burns off pretty quick. The dill note is detectable, and very interesting but not off-putting. No, the opening of Alien Man does not smell like pickles, since there is no vinegar next to that dill, but the very unique smell of this herb is softened some by the anise to make an unorthodox but befitting aromatic introduction. Cashmeran comes in a like a body pillow in the heart, flanked by a sweet osmanthus that could destroy the composition in a ball of apricot-like sweetness if not for cedar and leather that follow. The osmanthus combines with this suede-like leather to produce a toned-down version of the main vibe found in Auphorie Miyako (2015), which is a niche artisinal perfume connection I would never dream of making with a designer masculine. The genderbending here is a ballet of trading soft blows, and the "sensual vibrations" of the heart is aptly named. Base notes or "magnetic vibrations", consist of deftly-handled orcanox, which is a softer/finer shade of the ambroxide molecule usually abused to great degree in other 2010's masculines, but plays only a background role alongside patchouli, tonka, and synthetic oakmoss smell in the form of evernyl to complete a late-stage fougère-like accord thanks to the anise in the top. Smooth, complex, blended, and very hard to grasp, Alien Man is less confrontational than the classic A*Men, but no less disorienting upon first sniff. Wear time is adequate and sillage is more moderate than you might expect, but the problem is where this fits in a wardrobe. Part of me wants to call the smell of Alien Man office safe, but part of me doesn't since that osmanthus and leather is still very lurid despite having some counterbalances like the cashmeran and cedar. Curiouser and curiouser...

Likewise, the familiar fougère finish is just that, and not the bulk of the wear, which transforms from smokey-sweet gourmand to "fruity floriental" in the heart, before finally settling on that very 90's "fresh fougère" end point, making an appropriately "alien" experience for you and anyone around you smelling what you're wearing. I guess this is a sleeper romantic scent with some office-safe aspects but too much flirt in its step to be taken around strangers. The rich nature of Alien Man makes it a cooler weather scent, as it sits in a nexus between the gourmand/oriental/floral/fougère categories, feeling abstractly fresh but a warm scent at the same time, insufficient for hot weather. Alien Man is not for folks who hate sweetness, or any form of ambroxide/ambroxan/orcanox/ambrox super, since the stuff is still here even if handled deftly. Alien Man took a year to hit US stores after being released in Europe and I can see why: this is a very risky scent and risky scents don't usually make it into designer realms anymore outside of maybe Gucci Guilty Absolute Pour Homme (2017) or Dunhill Icon (2015), which were risky only because they're both stylistic throwbacks. Whatever you want to make of Alien Man, you can't deny its creativity (even if it tries a little too hard), and I rather enjoy the scent so I give it a thumbs up, but it will require some time from you before drawing any conclusions. One thing's for sure: Alien Man is proof positive why the house of Thierry Mugler gets so much talk in perfume circles, regardless of gender or age, and why they are seen more by enthusiasts as perfume art rather than just another "symbol of refinement" luxury good like so many other brands out there in the world. Weird but good stuff!

I am pleasantly surprised by Alien Man, thinking it was going to be "odd" or hard to like, but this is modern, sweet, fresh and has some uniqueness, mainly coming from a feminine lean in the opening that never goes too far. The main things that stand out to me are the leather and amber in the drydown. It’s pleasantly familiar like the smell of the sweet, floral leather of Fahrenheit still on your jacket from the night before. I get a similar, softened version of the drydown from Ombré Leather.

Performance is okay overall with 2-3 hours of decent projection. Longevity is good with the skin scent lasting to about 8 hours.

If this fragrance is so mainstream and boring, why is it that I, as someone who has quite a wide-ranging and varied collection filled with challenging, left-field niche favorites, find myself wearing Alien Man every other day in the week since it arrived? I ordered it “blind” with low expectations given the ho-hum reception it’s received online. Fair enough. Can I understand why people are let down, given Mugler’s history of challenging, idiosyncratic, and cheeky compositions? Yes, of course. Alien Man is in no sense ostentatious. It’s not loud, it’s not brash, it doesn’t make a big statement. But, what it manages to be in a way that is rare, is simultaneously easy-going and broadly appealing without being insipid, cheap, or trite. Alien Man is not particularly alien in the sense of being weird. However, it does play with a sense of texture and aura, a sort of electricity, that draws on another connotation of “alien.” As others have mentioned, it opens with a somewhat rich, anise-touched bracingness, notably lacking obvious citrus, the effect of which, aided by birch smokiness, is like a low-level electrical current has been turned on. The fragrance hums. As it develops, it turns toward a slightly synthetic lavender-esque quality which I fear is a bit of dihydromyrcenol, though used sparingly enough that this may be the first composition where I can stand that completely overused aromachemical. Along with this cheerful “well groomed” note, a somewhat leathery, somewhat creamy amber woods warms up, never shouting, and developing into a sensual “warm skin” glow which lasts, very pleasantly, for many hours more. The effect is somewhat like static electricity. Where other, more cynical mass-market compositions would lean heavily on a cheap woody-amber base, or dud out after a showy opening, Alien Man keeps its integrity and affable sensibility throughout, neither offending nor caving to crassness. There’s something so appealingly reliable about this sort of composition — never a bad choice, will not betray you with an easy out — that it does indeed become addictive, something to reach for happily. There’s no need to put this up against fragrances designed to make a statement; that’s not what Alien Man does. But put up against other appeals to a wide market, and its smart take on approachability is the way to go. Even the most rarified, esoteric collection needs something like this, for all those days where the aim isn’t a shout, but a smart sport coat and an easy smile. I’ve started seeing Alien Man as more about an attitude or atmosphere than a classically-structured fragrance. Honestly, if it weren’t taken by Mugler’s other new flagship, Aura would have been an even better name. Approach it that way, it it all makes much more sense.

I did not like it.

Tries to hard to be relevant, combining hints of A Men, Alien and a ubiquitous laundry musk.

No confidence, no direction.

I kid you not...for many years, I'd see the Alien perfume for ladies and wonder, "Will Thierry Mugler ever make a version for men?"

And here it is in 2018 (I take no credit, LOL). I just got a sample today and will share my impressions of it:

Initial spray hits me with a bunch of memories of "Amber" by L'Occitane, so smooth and mildly spicy and relaxing. Patchouli is quite evident as well. A very woody presence is there too, as if it's sandalwood or some other precious wood - maybe cedar? Fragments of leather do seem to arise as well, along with wisps of aniseed.

The effect I get of Alien Man: A dry, aromatic amber and wood oriental scent, accented by spices. It doesn't resemble the "A*Men" myriad of flankers, save for the patchouli-centered ones (i.e. Kryptomint, Pure Shot, and Ice*Men). It is sweeter and lasts a good while.

And incidentally, I can't really confirm if some of the notes listed above (e.g. dill and osmanthus) are truly present or not. But overall, I appreciate what I DO recognize as a fresh, amber-y frangrance unlike most of the men's scents in Thierry Mugler's collection.