Do You Still Enjoy the Mugler A*Men (and flankers) Line?

[Buysblind]

According to Wikipedia, Mugler sold his brand to Clarins in 1997. So basically Clarins is the creative director for all the A*Men line, except the original. But all, without exceptions, have been blended by Jacques Huclier, the real father of A*Men.

Thus Clarins is responsible for both the rise and fall of the Mugler fragrances, and L'Oreal has not yet done anything, so hard to judge. That said, imo, Mugler is a "dead" brand, not sure that L'Oreal has made a great deal there, and I wouldn;t be surprised if only a handful of the A*Men line will survive, given their out-of-fashion status and an interested that is today limited to a minority of fragheads.

You know, it’s been so long since A*Men Original has been hot, or popular, I bet with some good marketing and a little rebranding/retooling, they could bring A*Men to the modern market and make it popular once again. There’s still nothing like it, so it’s not like it’s been eclipsed by superior competition. It just needs to become trendy again, or catch on. L’Oreal definitely has the machine behind it to do that. And then they could do limited return runs of their most successful flankers, in sync with holiday seasons or something like that, make it a real event for the fans. Wishful thinking, I know, but I think it could be done if they really wanted to bring the brand “back from the dead.” But of course, they may be beyond that at this point.

 

[The Cologne Cabinet]

A Men frags have never been my taste. I briefly entertained Pure Havane a few years ago, but ultimately couldn't deal with how loud it was and found it cloyingly unwearable. I am also not in their target demographic so there is no love lost.....

 

[thrilledchilled]

I own Pure Havane and Pure Malt and enjoy them.

 

[lair77]

Angel Men was influential for its time. It was one of the gournmand pioneers. But in the 2000's and 2010's, a lot of better (imo) gourmands came out. A*Men walked so that others could run.

 

[lair77]

I have a decant of Pure Malt. I'm not into the other A*Men fragrances, though I admit that Mugler did a good job at making the flankers distinct from each other.

 

[FMilan]

I think they are all very, very good. Huclier’s take on patchouli is quite “specific” and that made all the difference, imo. From the first form of Angel to the last A Men flanker, there’s not one to be considered a flop (maybe in marketing terms, but not in blend or quality).
But that’s me. And I don’t think I can be any kind of parameter since I never (ever) considered any of them “gourmand”. The first Angel Men (green juice) is the “funkiest”, Pure Leather the “weirdest”, Pure Tonka the “sweetest”. But all of them have their own “je ne sais quois”.

 

[JBHoren]

I bought my flask of A*Men (original) in mid-July 2007, and Pure Coffee as soon as it was released in 2008. I enjoy both, and wear them not-infrequently. I've thought about buying Pure Havane and Pure Malt, but the prices for full flasks are way out-of-line, and I'd probably not be satisfied with just decants; so, at my age I'm "good".

 

[N.CAL Fragrance Reviewer]

I bought my flask of A*Men (original) in mid-July 2007, and Pure Coffee as soon as it was released in 2008. I enjoy both, and wear them not-infrequently. I've thought about buying Pure Havane and Pure Malt, but the prices for full flasks are way out-of-line, and I'd probably not be satisfied with just decants; so, at my age I'm "good".

I came to realize that the original AMEN is the best by far when stacking them against the flankers. Pure Malt is the only one that I would consider reaching for aside from the original. You're not missing much.

 

[Andyjreid]

I enjoy most of the ones I have

A*Men
B*Men
Pure Malt
Pure Coffee
Pure Tonka

To a lesser extent
Pure Havane - don't hate me, I like the opening but don't like the dry down
A*Men Ultimate - Not bad but it's a shame this meant the line went out with a bland whimper

I reckon I'd still buy the original A*Men if it stays in production and I'm glad I got the flankers when I did but I don't desire any of them enough to pay the now over inflated resale prices. I have backups of my favourites and will use them.

As others have already said, I believe the line to be well and truly dead now but never say never

 

[Renato]

As I own many of them, I really enjoy the ridiculous prices of A*Men flankers of Ebay.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[Ifti]

The OG was about when I was not even a teen. Was like candy floss sugar then to me. Many years later ( post frag snobbery) I was gifted a bagful of carded samples and a tiny shower gel.

In tandem, with Hommage a L'homme Voyageur, they BOTH make more"sense" now.

My days - it's pretty good stuff! Has been put on the ever extending wish list!

 

[Dad]

No. Never did.

 

[thrilledchilled]

it has a sweet and bitter contrast which I love, even though in general I don't like coffee notes. I enjoy the original, and Pure Malt, and Pure Havane. I just bought Pure Tonka and have yet to try it.

 

[Franco65]

Yes, I do!

 

[andym72]

I have 5 from the line, love them, but never really liked the original A*Men.

I know others have said the thing they like about A*Men is the contrasting accords, that it’s not just about the sweet/gourmand thing, theres a bitterness and herbal lavender.

But it just comes across as a dissonant klang to me.

 

[hednic]

Have all of them in my collection, but I have a special fondness for Pure Malt

 

[mrcologneguy]

In my collection: Pure Tonka, Pure Malt, Pure Havane. I like them all, but I don’t wear them very often.

I have a carded sample or two of the original A*Men, and it’s fine stuff. But I’m pretty sure I have enough of this line to last me now and forever.

If I were to add one more it would be the original, and/or maybe Pure Coffee. No inflated aftermarket prices, though.

I stumbled across B*Men years ago, and snapped it up mostly for its collectible appeal. It lived in my gym bag for a year or so. Not bad stuff, but again, not really a favorite.

 

[Speedway]

A*Men remains in my regular rotation; it's an all-time fave. B*Men is fun too (rhubarb) but the latest (last?) flanker, Ultimate, is one I don't pick up often

 

[scentimus]

I am maybe one of the few here who likes 25th-anniversary cuir edition.

Sad to see they are all gone. Even the original is still in limbo in LOreal’s hands.

 

[NickZee]

Still one of the greatest designer collections of all time. Sadly once the new releases stop coming, the hype dies down, people move onto the next thing and the discussion fades but that doesn’t make the A*men line any less brilliant.

 

[LizardKing]

This line and brand fell off the face of the earth. Why do they not make these anymore?

 

[Pheusinger]

I own quite a few and love them all. Malt and Havane were my first 2 and are my two favorites. Oddly enough, the original Amen was the one that took me the longest to come around to, to understand. Part of that is my understanding of fragrance. Like most people, the opening is how i judged fragrance. And the opening of the original Amen is funky at best. But with patience and experience comes reward.

 

[DoctorM81]

This lineup used to be insanely popular here and elsewhere. Now, I’m not so sure.

This line and brand fell off the face of the earth.

As someone who arrived at Basenotes during the height of the original Pure Malt-mania, this has been extremely interesting to observe. Pure Malt was pretty much the most hyped fragrance on this site at the time, broadly comparable to what would later happen with Aventus (though probably not quite as long-lived, or as 'mainstream'). To see it disappear almost without trace was...well, as I said, interesting...

I have 5 from the line, love them, but never really liked the original A*Men.

This was me as well; never did like the original, but loved several of the flankers! Pure Coffee was/is my favourite, and one of the very few fragrances I've ever paid above retail price for - at a time when it was discontinued, and widely accepted not to be coming back. I also bought Pure Havane, AToF, Ultra Zest and Pure Malt - and that's also probably my approximate ranking order for them. Pretty sure I gave Pure Leather and Pure Shot several tries but didn't take to either, and Pure Wood I think I dismissed on one sniff.

To be honest, my bottles see little wear these days. That's sad, and hopefully this thread inspires me to do something about it. Will add though that I echo the comments about not being overly fond of the bottles - which probably doesn't help!

 

[Zgb]

Two years after my answer here on this thread, I can say that the A*Men line is special, unique and something to behold. I'm being subjective, of course. Winter is mostly the best time to wear them, as they're mostly heavy. Except for maybe A*Men Pure Shot/Energy, all of them are not really office friendly. I don't wear my flankers very often but that's positive in a way - I'll have them for a long, long time!

 

[magnus611]

Short story.

Back in the day I sold A*Men & PM and said good riddance Sayonara!

Hence, years went by and smelled some one with what i swore was PM and really was mystified at how great it smelled to my nose after all those years..

Thus, was lucky to find and bought an OG batch here @The marketplace because seller was having an allergic reaction to frags and was selling his collection and since then I’ve enjoyed it sporadically together with PH that I also obtain an OG batch. I wear both when in the mood for it.

Note, also recently I happily found 3 last bottles of B MEN at a local mom & pops perfumery selling them @ 37.usd a pop and believe me B men it’s a great frag and consider myself blessed at how great it smells on me and have gotten the most compliments with it!

 

[Paddington]

This line and brand fell off the face of the earth. Why do they not make these anymore?

s someone who arrived at Basenotes during the height of the original Pure Malt-mania, this has been extremely interesting to observe. Pure Malt was pretty much the most hyped fragrance on this site at the time, broadly comparable to what would later happen with Aventus (though probably not quite as long-lived, or as 'mainstream'). To see it disappear almost without trace was...well, as I said, interesting...

this site is but a insignificant spec on the market and not representative of it, the main slice is that the flankers where commercial failures and didn't meet the numbers required so they got the chop

 

[andym72]

In a week I’ll have been on Basenotes 14 years, The hoopla about Pure Malt was during the summer of 2009. It really didn’t deserve it, it is good but not that good. The opening is divine, but what it dries down to seemed to me to be strong but at the same time subtle (could definitely be an office frag). A bit too subtle for me.

I cannot understand why, with how popular and on trend sweetness is in men’s fragrance currently (and has been for several years), how the flankers were not bigger sellers.

Original A*Men is probably too challenging for mainstream tastes, but several others should be huge sellers.

 

[dealt7faux]

I have the original and B*men and, haven't reached for either of them in years.

 

[Adonna]

Yes, I enjoy the AMen line.
I still have Havane.
only negative - The sprayer on mine is bad.
a~~