A*Men Sunessence Orage d'Ete / Summer Storm (2010)
by Thierry Mugler

If there was such a thing as a "dirty aquatic" I would say this is it. It is very synthetic and chaotic like the notes just do not want to be in the same bottle. This however is what makes it so intriguing and unique. I enjoy wearing this and really enjoy smelling it on others.

I have given less well put together fragrances a thumbs up because they at least lacked pretention. That is the problem here: this is a pointless flanker. One that will fade into oblivion is a few years.
It is a sweet orange (think Fanta) over generic wood with some synthetic coffee/chocolate thrown in. Hard to love or even like, certainly has no pull to be anyone's favorite.
So why would you buy one? Because you like any/everything Mugler makes. Other than that, it is just a bad excuse to make money on Mugler's part.

That said, this makes excellent room spray, especially for a bachelor pad in the spring/summer.

This beauty came in my mail 2 months ago after a blind buy based only on reviews found online and recommendations from other users. Taking into account the fact that I don't like A*Men, I can say that I really love this limited edition, as it has very little in common with original.

A sharp & tonic opening, perceived as fruity & little sweet, very appropiate for spring sunny days, followed by a spicy patchouli, smooth coffee & some woods combination, very very good indeed.

As a limited edition I couldn't be more happy that I didn't miss it (like I did with others wanted limited flankers) and I can throughly recommend it to those who think original A*Men is too much for them.

Longevity is not an issue by itself...personally there are many times I don't want a fragrance to stay with me all day and get tired of it, so I would say about 4-5 hrs, with a noticeable presence in the first two. My rank 8/10. A truly nice surprise...

How am I the first to give this awful piece of garbage a thumbs down?

What an awful fragrance, period. Opens with a strange, awful, synthetic orange note. The base doesn't resemble A*Men, it resembles A*Men shower gel. Cheap smelling, awful, smells like Axe made it.
2/10. Seriously.

Opens with a light, fresh scent. I can smell what perceives to be the original A* Men in the first opening note. I think those are the base notes coming through. They are gone pretty quickly. The original note is like a mix of the mandarin and cacao. The cacao is pretty strong, but it almost gives off a spicy scent. It’s like pepper to me, actually. The initial top notes didn’t seem to mix well together for me, but after I wore this a couple of times, I really began to like them, as well.

The middle notes smell exactly like the middle notes of Mugler’s Taste of Fragrance. The middle notes on the page say “Green Coffee” and “Woody Notes”, but to be honest, I smell a very faint vanilla and pepper. The top notes on the page pyramid say “Spicy Notes” and I think this is it, but this isn’t just in the top notes, it’s at the heart of the fragrance. And again, IMO, it smells just like A* Men TF’s middle notes. In TF, I did not like the top notes because I found the chili pepper to be too strong, but once that died down, I found the heart notes enjoyable. So, I actually find that this serves me well – it gets me the best of both worlds. I didn’t have to pay for a fragrance which contains heavy top notes that I don’t like, yet I can get the heart notes that I found very pleasant. However, it also troubles me because A*Men SOD was made just one year before A* Men TF and it looks like lazy production. The notes smell nearly identical to me. Don’t get me wrong – it is a line – so I know there will be some similarity – the A* Men line looks to me like it is petering out a bit, but I could be wrong.

The longevity of this is what really upsets me. 3 hours and its gone (except what I spray on my chest, but that is almost a given w/most fragrances). And I do mean gone. The fragrance is very nice, so it’s a bit disappointing for it be so short. I could almost understand 4-5 hours, but every time I’ve worn this, it gives me 3 hours max.

Anyway, I think that this sells for less than when it initially came out. I got mine for about 45$ (almost half price, I think, from what it would have originally cost). So, I would say give it a shot, but keep in mind that it’s not going to last long. You may have to reapply each time you wear it.