Miroir, Miroir : A Travers le Miroir / Through the Looking Glass (2008)
by Thierry Mugler

À Travers Le Miroir is the only Mugler scent I've tried, and only the second tuberose fragrance I've sampled. For a few years now I've eyeballed full bottles of this enigmatic, hard-to-find perfume on the 'Bay, but haven't pulled the trigger, yet. I still have ample juice in the sample vials (I tend to apply fragrances lightly, in general). I don't get a menthol rub note, as has been suggested; I can see how some might, though. What I do get is a dark rendering of the tuberose. Definitely not fresh flowers in bloom, for me. The absinth note doesn't really invoke a boozy vibe, rather it darkens the tuberose, rendering it into a mysterious combination. I guess, because of the limited notes, this fragrance is what it is, not really transforming too much over its application. I don't know if it's linear, because there is a certain complexity. I feel Heawns nails it in his description, that this scent is a bit intoxicating, akin to a drug. I, too, have to keep smelling myself, reassuring myself that the frag is indeed still there, as it doesn't appear to project far on me. Rather than describing the notes, it's easier to tell of the mood it puts me into: I feel as though I've read a slightly haunting, disturbing bed-time story, à la Lewis Carol, and am drifting into a dream. The flowers in the room are beginning to desiccate, and I'm not sure how long this dream will last, or if it might not turn into a nightmare. I'm reminding of opiated night terrors, and first loves not ending well. Experiences with a fragrance are subjective. Some might find this inspiring, others, slightly disturbing. I'm in the latter camp, yet am still comforted. It's an evening scent. It doesn't seem to last long, nor does it project far. And, yet, suddenly the tuberose is there again! It's made for intimacy, and as the body warms, so does the fragrance. I like to apply it before I go to sleep, and am indeed induced to dream darkly. It's unisex...I think it goes beyond gender to be more of a personality-type of fragrance. Wear this when you're feeling a bit gothy (I'm not, but I think the genre applies) and sad in your narcissism. I'd love to meet a woman on a dark, reflective evening, wearing this. We'd have a lot to talk about, I'm sure.

If Mugler never created another scent, his ANGEL would ensure his place in the perfume hall of fame. That audacious mx of fruit and florals caused a revolution in the world of scent.

This very recent entry - only five years old - is equally audacious. The best description is in one of the reviews on this site - "cool and antiseptic."

Regardless of the tuberose/absinth/wintergreen contents, what one gets is a combination of menthol and mint - think muscle rub or toothpaste - not unpleasant as a scent, but not something I want to smell like beyond my morning toilet or my bedtime.

One of those scents one can admire but not want to wear.

Ok, I'm baffled. Two notes that I was sure I didn't like (tuberose) and I thought I wouldn't like (absinthe) in ATLM make a trully stunning composition. A looking glass it is - makes me see the seemingly familiar tuberose so differently. Big thumbs up, and I want a bottle of this magic.

One of the most stunning of all recent tuberose themed perfumes, take a walk through a very white indolic garden hedged by stark espaliered wormwood shrubs while busy worker bees go about their business collecting scads of fragrant honeyed nectar, a truly novel & bitter-sweet take on my favorite of all flowers and beautifully counterbalanced by the coolest of intoxicants, Absinthe. Although recently launched it has now become almost impossible to track down, hopefully my 50 ml. bottle of edp will endure, just one of the many reasons I have stopped buying limited edition versions as of late. Superb silage & longevity during drydown are not a problem with this unusual beauty, the quality of natural elements used in this parfum are of the highest available. On a positive note I have found this eau de parfum concentration similar in strength to Dior's latest offering of J'adore L'Or, Essence de Parfum.
The mirrored coffret presentation is sensational, so very 'Mugler'!
Tres Chic . . .

Top notes open with a tuberose and absinthe mix, I believe. The top notes fade into a wood mixture, although I think I can get some soapy note or something. Base notes are rather uneventful to me, it’s almost just like a slow fading of the middle notes. Sirslarty says possible mention of nutmeg, and I think I get this as well after reading his review.

Very fascinating mix. There’s something about the mix that’s rather brilliant, something about the very idea that’s exquisite. If fragrances can be labeled into classes, this is a definite high class fragrance. Personally, for whatever reason, smelling ATLM conjures in my mind a 1930’s era well-to-do woman wearing this. That’s the thing about ATLM - it conjures up images and pictures for me, it doesn’t merely stimulate the olfactory sense. It stimulates the mind. It is in your face. Like it or not, ATLM is bold and doesn’t care what you think about it. It is chesty (not big-breasted) - I mean it’s cocky; it’s quite sure of itself.

It’s not the fragrance itself that makes me want to give ATLM a thumbs-up, it’s the total package. It’s how it effects me. Initially, I was not crazy about the tuberose and absinthe mix. I’m coming around - and my rating this a thumbs-up does not reflect just the scent. It’s the total package. This is the first fragrance (other than something that reminds me of when I first tried something) that has really pricked my mind. After trying Aillerus et Fleurs, I was not sure that anything mixed with tuberose could be a unisex scent that I would like. I found tuberose just to be too feminine for my personal taste. But if part of the idea of ATLM was making a unisex tuberose fragrance, then I think it succeeded as well as one can. Again, it’s not that I love the tuberose/absinthe mix, I don’t quite know what to think at this point. It is interesting to say the least. It’s almost as if the two notes are fighting one another. But I am definitely warming up to it and have a feeling by the end of the sample, I will like it more with each wear.

Too bad this is not to be found other than in samples now (at least I can't find it).