Reviews of Angel 
Thierry Mugler (1992)

A provocative hellion. Iconic bliss dwells in this rank mixture of patchouli-cocoa. Truly, Angel was a heaven-scent 90s paradigm shift, proof that a perfumer can create something no one asked for and see that visionary risk pay off with blockbuster sales success. Angel provokes desire and then puts it to bed, a sensory merry-go-round.

I loathe gourmands (the requiste vanilla powder and spice is here) but embrace this one wholeheartedly, as there is something 'loamy' about its deeper notes. Is it sexy, or is it innocent? Who cares? Angel is deep and earthy, powerfully dry and sweet, yet as ethereal as cotton candy, too.

Suffice to say it's an almighty legend for good reason.

There is something very unusual & bizarre in the opening of Angel. Rotted garbage chicken, a sweet/sour earthy, unpleasantness that we associate with trash.

I find that, for me, Angel shines in the very long winded middle section of the wear. I let the opening notes chill the eff out, and then enjoy the sweet, cozy patchouli that comes out later in the middle & drydown.

I did not care for Angel for a very long time. It was just too weird, to gross, to big of a stink for me. But I’d always come back. I would, and do, spray one of the tens of sample vials pawned off on me by my aunties to wear every now and then to see if I tune into it. Sometimes I do & sometimes I don’t. It’s odd, it’s big, and I think it’s funny how much people hate it & I think that’s kind of why I like it.

After a brief blast of bergamot freshness, and a burst of berries (strawberries, dewberries, whiffs of recurrants, I get an impression of fresh hay the is an expression of the Helonial.

The drydown turns flora, with mainly a green jasmine on me that has no woody character, with touches of a darker rose and hints of orchids.

The the sweeter core starts: a honey not to start it off. Soon caramel is on the forefront, with a background of milk chocolate mixing a completing this triad. later on a coumarin develops, that adds spicier tones that lead into the base.

The spicy side in compliments by a rich but minimally harsh patchouli.. The desert platter in enriched further by a rich and smooth tonka not, with woods also arising as time goes by. I get mainly sandalwood here, but it is not strong on me. Towards the end, sweetish white musks add additional nuances.

I get moderate sillage, excellent projection, and nine hours of longevity on my skin.

This scent for warmer autumn days was released in 1992 as the prototype of a gourmand, triggering the inundation with products of this genre in the coming years. Over time I fine that the intense and indulgent richness has been modified to make it slimmer. lighter and a bit more generic. Still a good one though. 3.5/5

Bonkers! Good! Call me crazy, but in this day and age I think it leans masculine.

I love the smell of Angel. I always have. So I wear it for me.

Have not worn this for at least a decade or more and it has been bastardised to death, but the original Eau de Parfum is and will always be a masterpiece. Has there been another gourmand that even comes close to the daddy?
I recall a scandal back in the early 90's when an early 20th century perfume house roughly copied the formula and bottled it in one of their 1920/30s perfumes pretending it was the original fragrance, thinking they would get away with it as up to that point in France no perfume house had ever sued another on the basis of copying. The Grande Damme behind Angel decided to break that tradition and took them to court, I believe the matter was settled out of legal chambers finally but lets say the older house ended up with quite a lot of oeuf on their face, there are lots of other dirt on how the battle was won but the point I'm making is that Angel is one of those rare animals that could not be compared to anything when it launched in 92, totally unique, perhaps the last time that was achieved in commercial perfumery. Last thing, like Aventus now, and all the other Boom Boom perfumes less is definitely more, death by Angel is not sexy its like being smothered to death by an aging cougar who really should stay at home and leave the club to her granddaughters!

This is the world's first notable gourmand perfume, and the one upon which perfumer Olivier Cresp's reputation (alongside Yves de Chiris) is based. Angel by Thierry Mugler (1992) was downright bizzare when released, a love-it-or-hate-it scent that proved as polarizing as it would be successful, much like most of the fashion designs from Thierry Mugler himself. Angel is claimed to contain no intentional floral notes in the heart, and has had many limited edition bottlings over the years, in addition to innumerable flankers. The equally-notorious A*Men/Angel Men (1996) composed by Jacques Huclier wouldn't stray very far from this formula when released either, which is a testament to the universal appeal Angel seems to have for those who click with its vibe. There have been so many flankers of both this and its male counterpart, you almost can't mention Thierry Mugler and perfume without bringing up Angel; this stuff is literally that genre-defining in the designer segment. Most of all, Angel also helped ease people back into the idea of musk as a main carrier note rather than oakmoss or amber, since dirty musks were so played out by the end of the 80's that most perfumers skipped them if they weren't soapy in tone until Angel made a warm musky skin feel cool once again, likely due to the warmth coming from food notes rather than animalic ones. Another huge polarizing facet of Angel is its inclusion of helonial, a common scent molecule in laundry soap that also saw use in the men's iteration as well. There was just so much going on here that ran counter to what designers were doing at the beginning of the decade, Mugler is lucky this got off the ground at all. Most of the controversy I gather comes from how cloying this accord can be to people who are sensitive to its primary components, and this was especially true when its initial popularity made it a fairly ubiquitous sight on streets, subway cars, and in other public spaces.

Angel opens with the prerequisite bergamot and a slew of fruity, dewy elements including strawberry, calone (from melon), honey, jasmine hedione, and whiffs of rose, likely implied by a hit of geraniol but with no actual rose oil. Helonial also makes its rare appearance, and as a note aforementioned to be typically reserved for perfumes found in laundry soap, it contrasts the otherwise-sticky gourmand heart considerably/ The helonial is an aldehyde derivative of heliotrope, and has a sharp glistening chrome sheen that would start seeing use in masculines down the road, but here it's leading into the controversial cocoa and caramel heart. The men's version bites with coffee bean, lavender, and peppermint, but here we just get a rounded hay-like coumarin to accentuate the sweetness, before the stiff patchouli and musk base take over for the final dry down approach. I get some creamy polysantal "sandalwood" without the dryness and diffusion of the real deal, but that's okay because it isn't the focus here with Angel, and just padding instead. When it's all said and done, you've got the ur-gourmand accord of chocolate, tonka, fruit, vanilla, and patchouli, which is only a few clicks away from being an oriental in tone. Sillage can wallop you so be careful, but otherwise Angel is a gentle perfume in personality if used with discretion. Here is a creamy romantic warmth good for snuggling up in winter, or cool evenings anytime. The musk note is not funky at all, but still has a bit of that "animal fat" tone in it which may not sit well with people used to clean-smelling white musk, so approach gingerly. I'd not use Angel in a formal or office setting, as it's just too amiable for a stern or reserved atmosphere. The energy given off by this stuff is just too friendly and warm for anything where you may need to be aloof towards strangers like in the workplace or a formal event. In the summer time, this would definitely choke me out if I was around it too long, so take that as you may when choosing an appropriate time to wear it.

For most of the 90's, Angel was the Giorgio Beverly Hills (1981) of its time, becoming an unavoidable wall of scent in shopping malls and restaurants, hence some of the backlash. I know I'm pretty sensitive to too much patchouli and anything rich with tonka or vanilla myself, so I'd prefer the men's version which tones these elements down to a drier demeanor, but I am not bothered by this otherwise. Angel is a rare perfume I can respect and appreciate on another but never have an interest to smell myself, and this is coming from someone who often wears feminine-market fragrances, as it feels better to be caught in a chance encounter with Angel then to be enveloped in a cloud of the stuff than to dwell within one for any length of time; in an ephemeral state this is a very nice surprise, but prolonged exposure proves a bit more tiresome. Mostly unisex in feel but leaning slightly feminine, Angel by Thierry isn't a knockout anymore because other houses have since done this accord to death, but it's a nice "comfort food" scent (pun intended) for fans of low-key semi-versarile semi-dirty musks with something going on besides the usual white florals. Compared to the "transparent" fruity florals, syrupy fruitchoulis, and ambroxan shenanigans of the 21st century, Angel is starting to finally show the laugh lines of age to those who care about relevance in perfume trend, but is by no means anachronistic or uncommon on the street. Reformulation hysteria also follows this one, but from what I can recall, the basic sweet foodie patchouli and semi-dank musk accord from when my older sister wore it back in the day still holds true in recent testers I have sniffed in stores. Hell, there are still people who actively seek out and collect all the various limited packages of the stuff, and although the cult of Angel is nowhere near as obsessive as say, followers of Creed Aventus (2010), a lot of talk over which Angel is "best Angel" does happen! Thumbs Up.

Angel - Thierry Mugler
This just goes to show that a bitter yet 'clean' camphorous tonality can save a perfume, and not only that but also create something novel and excitingly new. For me, Angel paints a darkish brown picture with a contrasting mix of purple and green colours and this works best when sprayed in moderation: less is more with this one. Sillage and projection are absolutely stellar, there is something very 'natural' the way this perfume presents itself: not too loud but very intense in an amiable way. It kind of reminds me of old vintage perfumes containing real deer-musk. I have tried not to like Angel but I had to surrender to its magic eventually.

Been wearing this for 20+ years. I'll forget about and then come back to it. Classic

I first bought this fragrance in November 1992 and as one reviewer commented, I too had people stopping me to ask what I was wearing. The scent was complex, a little disorienting. It was heady, rich, and with just a tiny hint of something 'rotten' underneath. That extra note hit it out of the park.

The tiny star bottle lasted forEVER, and I replaced it again in, I think, 2000? I don't think it is any different from the 1992 version, others may have better data on that question.

It will be a great disservice to this wonderful fragrance if the formula was changed in order to be novel or less expensive.

Readers need to be aware that the EU has cranked down on the use of many classic perfume ingredients, both natural and man-made, due to concerns that they are allergens. Perfumers don't want to be seen as fighting safety rules, so they conform by re-formulating their fragrances.

I am not young; there are many fragrance notes from older perfumes my mother wore (Norell, Tabu, Chanel #5, Alliage, others) that I smell nowhere anymore, anywhere, ever. My bet is that they are simply banned due to Henny-Penny "the sky is falling down!" concerns about potential contact allergies.

I'm an adult who keeps peanuts from my kid. I'm ok with being responsible for my allergic reactions to fragrance.

I get patchouli all way long from the beginning. The opening smells quite herbal to me and almost freaked me out the first time. Then the sweetness just can't wait and bursts out right away. I swear if I tested on paper I'd drop it down right away. But after about 2 hours, it smells heavenly! The right amount of chocolate, caramel, honey and vanilla is so delicious. The patchouli is no longer fierce but holds perfectly the balance between sweetness and freshness. It's even intriguing as it hides among the sweet notes and tickles your nose when you expect the least. I have to admit I'm still not very used to the first 2 hours but for the lovely drydown I can wait. Fortunately the longevity is excellent for over 12h, it worths! The sillage is good, too. Though it's known as a heavy fragrance, I think with a light touch, the drydown has no problem in summer.

The bottle is cute! But the name Angel doesn't fit that well IMHO. It's sweet but with a dark side hiding behind. Maybe Ange ou Demon should be better distributed to this one? LOL.

Originally written in 2013

Phenomenal. This one is controversial ... but on me, it was alllll goodness. ;)

I love this complex perfume with many notes. First, I smell chocolate, then berries and caramel. The perfume smells different on every person, but smells great on m.e I always get compliments on it. It is loud and friendly, but not overwhelming. I wear it year round.

Add me to the list of those who adore this. Big, bad, bold, bodacious. I love it. My husband loves it. No other opinions matter. Since I never smelled Angel when it first was released, I can't complain of reformulation.

And, I love the giant, chunky tester bottle I currently possess.