Angel Perfume for Women and its Family

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Among all the fragrances for women by Thierry Mugler, Angel perfume remains the most famous. Outside the circle of perfume enthusiasts though, probably only few know that Angel inspired a whole line of related fragrances, both for men and women. Angel perfumes were conceived around an idea or an emotion, rather than a pyramid of notes developing one on top of the other. This article is about Angel and three of (in my opinion) the best perfumes for women that it inspired.

Angel for women
Angel perfume was launched in 1992 and was the very first fragrance created by the French designer, and after more than 15 years it's still widely imitated. It remains the best example of a gourmand perfume, a category whose notes are combined to remind of food. This is why the description of this perfume will use mainly food vocabulary.
The opening notes are vanilla sweet, with a hint of fruity notes of sweet cherry liquor. This union of a fruity and a sweet fragrances will remain until the end. In the middle notes the fruity side smells more distinctively, like mandarin and peach, and the sweetness becomes candied.
Towards the base notes everything tones down a little, the fruity notes become less evident, and the sweet becomes chocolate and vanilla.
Unlike A*Men, Angel perfume doesn't break with tradition. For feminine fragrances it's more difficult to do that, as there are less restrictions, which makes possible for a perfume designer to choose among a wider range of fragrances. For perfumes for men there is a non written rule that will keep the use of fruity, floral, and sweet notes to the minimum. Of course it has to do with the idea of masculinity that doesn't get along very well with "girly" stuff like flowers.
Nonetheless, and this review of Angel perfume is an example, the first reaction to this fragrance is typically a love-it-or-hate-it one.
Even if Angel's fruity notes would normally make it a summer perfume, its thickness gives it a winter side. Taking this into consideration, it can be worn in the office without any particular problem, as long as the right amount is sprayed, and the air ventilation system works.
As an evening perfume it doesn't go unnoticed, especially on romantic dates, yet, again, an excessive dose can have the opposite effect. Definitely not suitable under 35 of age, as it requires a grown up style and appearance.

Violette Angel
Angel Violet perfume was launched in 2005, as part of a collection of perfumes called Garden of Stars. The bottle has a shape that reminds of a star, and the top is an asymmetric star, which can be considered Thierry Mugler's logo. In the Garden of Stars collection, every single fragrance had a particular flower added to the traditional Angel perfume's base. In this case there are subtle violet's notes, with an additional spicy layer that Angel didn't have.
The opening notes are like Angel perfume's, but with a vague floral side, that leaves the sweet notes as dominant. I have to confess that the first time I sprayed it was on a test paper and I'm thankful for that, because after a couple of minutes the spicy side developed a smell like of cumin seeds, which I love on food, but on the skin they just smell bad. Luckily enough, after that phase the perfume smells good again.
Towards the end, the cumin becomes something like cardamom or coriander, or even perhaps anise. The floral notes of violet, Bulgarian rose and patchouli stay on the background, holding back the spicy notes effectively.
The subtle floral notes and the spices reach a fine balance. The type of spices and the way this perfume evolves make it more suitable for a evening use, both in summer and in winter, thanks to the spicy and floral sides. A daily use can be tiresome, and the spices make this perfume too sensual to make it suitable for a work environment. It's better to leave Angel Violet perfume for special, informal occasions, where its experimental attitude can be better understood. I would say that minimum age for this perfume is 25, but 30 would be better.

Innocent
This perfume appeared on the market in 1998 and until 2004 was known as Angel Innocent, following the habit of associating Angel's name to the fragrances based on it.
Even if it has many similarities with Angel, all in all is a very different perfume. This is probably the reason why it dropped the main name and started to live a life of its own. There is also a whole line of body products associated to this perfume, and some of them still carry the word "Angel."
The opening notes of this perfume are sweet, but not so much like Angel's. Here and there, there are hints of tropical fruit like pineapple, mango, passion fruit and ripe peaches. All in all is a very fresh perfume. Towards the middle notes, the fruity fragrances evolve from an indefinite cloud of to a more stable and independent set of notes. Among the fruits there seems to be a Tahitian Gardenia to complete the tropical touch. This is where Innocent becomes less dense and more watery.
Towards the end of the middle phase, it's almost gourmand, like a cherry preserve mixed with vanilla, but without reaching the levels of sweetness of Angel perfume.
The base notes are soft but quite aromatic, with much less fruit and more vanilla sugar. A trace of flowers is still there.
Angel Innocent perfume takes a different route from the one followed by Angel: no candy fruit notes (which is something in common with the other famous Mugler's creation, Alien perfume), but tropical fruits instead. It's a younger perfume than Angel, with less restrictions and more suitable for a daily use. and a work environment, as it's not at all aggressive, and it can be even relaxing. Thanks to the gourmand side it can be worn during the night too, more for nights out with friends than for romantic dates. Still, it's not a perfume for teenagers, I would recommend 25 years minimum.

Angel Sunessence
This fascinating and original fragrance is the latest in the Angel perfume breed, launched just a few weeks ago (April 2009) in a limited edition. It does exactly what it says on the tin: it's definitely, totally the summer version of Angel perfume. Even if it's part of the Angel family, it shines with its own light, with essences of Mediterranean lemons, frangipane almonds and white amber.
Angel Sunessence fills a void in the market, so Thierry Mugler's move was very smart. There is an army of Angel perfume's enthusiasts out there, but not even the most faithful of them would wear it during the summer. Angel Sunessence was the missing link: inspired by Angel but different from the usual summer floral and citrus bombs.
Of course the challenge was to take everything in the original Angel and make it lighter, and it looks like the mission was accomplished. Angel Sunessence has the same character as the original Angel perfume, but with a summer soul.
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