Thierry Mugler Alien

...starts strange and stays strange.



Angel by Thierry Mugler is so domineering, smell-wise and perfume culture-wise, that her brothers and sisters in the Mugler line have a hard time competing for my attention. It's like writing off the rest of the Gabor sisters because you've had a bellyful of Zsa Zsa, or declaring a personal media blackout on all Kardashians because of Kim's ubiquity. I'm not saying the personal media blackout isn't deserved, particularly with regard to the Kardashians, but there's always the chance that the other members of a family don't always share the traits of their loudest (and nakedest) component.

In the case of Thierry Mugler Alien, it does share many of Angel's traits: it's big on boldness, big on volume, big on bigness. And it's even bigger on not really “going together” with itself. Angel's intrigue arises from the hokey-pokey between its girly cotton candy and its masculine patchouli, but these two land masses are joined by a bridge of chocolate and caramel that resolves the seeming mismatch.

With Alien, the milky menthol jasmine starts strange and stays strange. A KP Smells viewer accurately describes it as “a perfume with a sort of inner conflict”. Even so, the odd proportions and unexpected sensations: the lilting jasmine vs the blocky amber, the nipply menthol vs the hot drydown -- all seem to come together in a smell that's recognizably...alien.


Alien is available from Amazon.com and Sephora.com starting at $25 for .5 oz

25 comments:

  1. "Big on bigness", hahah! This one was way too big for me, and big in my book usually equates to inherently alien when it comes to pretty much any scent. Here at least the scent comes with a handy warning in the name - in case you happened to find the purple shrouded intergalactic figure as charming and approachable as a beribboned bottle of Annick Goutal.
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  2. Hah, flittersniffer, I think the Darth Vader bottle was part of the force field that kept me from trying Alien for so long.
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  3. Alien's sib Angel traumatized me in repeated attempts at Mugler mastery, so the thought of inviting another family member to join the party.... Well, kinda like dating some bad boy who treats you badly, gets you in trouble with your father, then leaves you for your best friend. Then you turn around and date his younger brother.

    And really. Those notes. Patchouli, cotton candy, chocolate, caramel, lilting jasmine, blocky amber and nipply menthol? I'm in awe.
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  4. Hey....nothing wrong with "strangely, kinda, sorta sexy"!.....that's how I describe myself all the time.

    Have you tried the Liqueur de Parfum version? Supposedly it is "aged in barrels" before being bottled.....not sure how much of that is true, but MAN I love this version! It's hard to find, but if you get a chance, try it.
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  5. This is so timely! I just tried Alien the other day, as my sample was just screaming to be worn to the local UFO parade. (Yes, there really is one.) I was actually disappointed with how *not* strange it was. Maybe I just don't bring out the strangeness in it. I have yet to meet my Mugler match, but have high hopes for Cologne. (The bright green bottle would be perfect for next year's parade, although that would mean I would have to carry the bottle around with me, and that would just be stupid.)
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  6. Angi, I like your interpretation of strangeness much better than my own which was: If I don't think that something that a lot of people seem to find strange IS really that strange - what does that make me, stranger than strange? So strange that I'm almost full circle back to ordinary again :-)
    I'm gonna stick with your view of things in the future.

    Marko, I can relate to that description as well. I'll settle for sorta sexy - at least if the right people at the right time agree with me :-)
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  7. m61, I think you've just described the "plot" of a MTV reality show. And I must clarify that choc/caramel/patch are Angel's DNA, Alien.

    Marko, I've never even see the liqueur version of either Alien or A-men. Grrr! Hear tell they're worth smelling from you and many others.

    Angi, Cologne is a very nice cologne, and very much the "straight" member of the Mugler clan. Despite the coy mention of the trademarked "S" note, which for some reason I think stands for "semen" (I can't tell the difference if I heard that somewhere or my mind is in the gutter - probably both), it's pretty fresh and easy-going.
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  8. I'm been trying out Alien for a little while now and even though I doubt if I'll ever have the nerve to walk out of the house with it on, I'm really enjoying it. There's this frigid quality to it that I find really weird and really gorgeous, too. The nuclear jasmine and whatever it's combined with makes me think of a genetically engineered replicant version of a flower, rather than a flower that grew naturally. To me it's not so much Alien as it is Android.
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  9. See, that's what happens on MTV. Everything starts to look alike. Okay, scratch the patch, chocolate and caramel. I'm still in awe of lilting jasmine and nipply menthol.
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  10. Spike, I like your distinction between alien and android. And "nuclear" is a helpful adjective in this instance. Good work, thank you!

    m61, Alien demands your awe. You have satisfied this demand. The Leader is pleased.
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  11. I agree with Angi, Alien is not strange at all on me, just kinda dumb and annoying. But I didn't give it much of a chance, just sprayed it on once, albeit sniffing regularly throughout the day.
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  12. Hmmm, nadine, that regular sniffing could indicate that Alien wasn't quite as dumb as you thought...;-)
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  13. Haha, yes, I see what you mean, Katie you tricky thing. But no, it wasn't intriguing-ness that kept me sniffing, I was just curious to see how it would develop. Maybe I'm too much of a pleb to appreciate it, I wouldn't dispute it.

    My younger sister has worn Angel for years, as has an almost-famous writer friend of mine (and they are both alluring people, for different reasons)..... And I actually LOVE Angel, and the Cologne... But Alien? Not for me, ladieees!
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  14. PS: Katie, you are looking gorgeous in all your last videos! I always so much look forward to everything you have to say about perfume, but sometimes i wish you'd do some fashion/beaute related things, too :) (I know you've said you won't, but just sayin'.)
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  15. nadine, thanks ever so for your flattering remarks! I do have plenty of interest in all matters of adornment, be it perfume, style, makeup, interior design, and, um, can you adorn yourself with cookies? Because I love baking, too. But I'm focusing on smells for now.
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  16. Hahaha, yes, cookies are very flattering, inside and out. I can't make nice cookies, but I did recently make a bomb of raspberry & white chocolate mousse, and dark chocolar black bean brownies......... Bon app!
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  18. Nadine, did you improvise or follow a recipe? Either way, would it be possible to get an outline of how you created your dessert? It sounds so delicious that I would very much like to try it.
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  19. I have to agree with Nadine: Katie, you really must do one unrelated but coveted beauty post. Skincare, fave beauty items, ect. Would love to know. Bisousxo
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  20. emilie, request noted. I'll put it on the "maybe" pile. Thanks!
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  21. Hi Junelady,

    I feel flattered you ask! But I didn't make it clear that I was bragging about 2 separate desserts... The brownie one I got from 101 cookbooks blog, and the rasberry + white choc mousse I made up. It's reaaally simple, just cook the raspberries (fresh or frozen) with some sugar and add a bit of agar agar. Let it cool down complete and then add to some sweetened whipped cream. Melt the white choc, let it cool too, add to more sweet whipped cream. Then, layer the two in the way you find prettiest in a dish or in small dessert dishes and stick in fridge for several hours. It's gooood!
    (Sorry Alien.)
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  22. That goes to show that I'm in favor of the too-much-of-a-good-thing-principle ;-)

    Thank you for the mousse instructions - I can assure you that I will try this. Soon! This raspberry goodness reads like heaven in several dishes. It will henceforth be known as Nadine's Delight in my kitchen.
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  23. :))) hope you will like it x
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  24. Thierry Mugler

    This fragrance is great, very basic but elegant. It did not last but half a day. I suppose the one I bought.
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  25. sohail, I don't think I've ever heard Alien described as "basic". It is fascinating how our "stimulation settings" are calibrated so differently from person to person.
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