Today’s post is about a fragrance from what used to be one of my favorite fragrance houses, Mugler. Thierry Mugler’s original formulations of Angel, Alien, and some of their flankers (like Alien Absolue, and a lot of stuff from the Liqueurs de Parfum range) in addition to others such as Womanity (which I promise to talk about in the future) were big perfumes in every sense of the word. Sadly, the good ones have either been painfully reformulated or discontinued. As a result, I am always on the hunt for vintage bottles.
And since L’Oreal took over the house either late 2019 or early 2020, I think things have gone further pear-shaped for Mugler, at least for the fragrance side of things. When big companies take over, they often reformulate using cheaper ingredients, since profit potential outweighs quality. I’m not so impressed with more recent releases from Mugler in general, at least those I’ve sniffed. The first release under L’Oreal was in fact Angel Nova, which came out in 2020, at the start of the pandemic.
Angel Nova is described as an Amber Floral fragrance for women, but I’d sooner say it is a juicy berry bomb kissed by a rose. It was created by three perfumers – Sonia Constant, Louise Turner, and Quentin Bisch. This, my friends, is NOTHING like Angel, even when compared to the extremely subpar reformulation of Angel. Had L’Oreal not had the audacity to introduce this fragrance as an Angel flanker, and instead christen it something like “Fruit Nova” and packaged it in some cheesy Ariana Grande-type bottle adorned with pink plastic parts, I might have been more forgiving. This fragrance is a sugary fruit mix, as it stands, which is not a deal-breaker in itself for me, but I do find myself having to search for any depth of character, mystery, or allure. It’s like it’s missing a soul – a solid base of something like that stunning patchouli found in the original.
I first smelled this fragrance when traveling home to Canada after the pandemic bans had been lifted. I think it was at Shopper’s Drug Mart. I was visiting a mate in Ontario. At that time, I remember liking the fragrance, but it was overpriced there, so I told myself that I’d get it back in Japan, but actually, that proved more difficult than expected. I ended up procuring a ton of samples online, which I poured into one larger decant spray. I’m enjoying what I have, but I’m glad it’s all I purchased.
If you must compare Angel Nova with the OG Angel, it is fresher and fruitier with accords of raspberry and rose. As I said, though, I think it is hard to identify them as cousins. Here are the notes:
- Raspberry, lychee,
- Damask rose,
- akigalawood, benzoin
The Mugler website breaks down the structure into three parts, renamed.
At the top is WONDER, described as “an overdose of raspberry combined with lychee notes for a fruity addiction.” Apparently it supplies “a limitless pleasure that brings the fragrance to life.”
At the heart is SUPER, “a ‘supernatural’, sensual and textured Damask rose, resulting from a double extraction.” Mugler says its rose is unique, developed exclusively for them, using upcycling and biotechnology. If you know anything more about this, do comment below.
And at the base is POWER, “a woody structure combining akigalawood and benzoin to provide a contrast and an assertive personality.” Mugler describes this base as the signature of the house and the sensual backbone to this fragrance.
Angel Nova is a fruity melange with lychee and raspberry, both of which I do appreciate in perfumery. Lychee is a beautiful-smelling fruit, and raspberry-like several other berries, has an innate tartness that can help to balance out any sweetness. I have a hard time picking out the rose here, but I do smell its influence.
This is unarguably a youthful scent, but some say this is mature enough to be sexy. I disagree. Pleasant as it might be, this is so sweet and girly that it would suit a preteen, and the words preteen and sexy are words that should not go together, much as they sadly might for a thankfully very tiny minority. But juvenile fragrances in themselves are not bad. Angel Nova will not take itself seriously and that’s refreshing. I even think an older fart like myself can pull this off, but for a weekend of fun, most definitely not at the office. I wouldn’t say this fragrance lasts forever, but it will last several hours before turning into a skin scent. It’s sadly at this point where I feel the fragrance starts to smell lovely. The vague dance of fruit and jammy rose petals becomes less frantic and emits an earthier and woodier vibe that is more to my taste. But it doesn’t evolve that much. It’s linear for the most part.
And I have to say that I think I enjoyed smelling this in-store more than I do now that the fragrance is actually in my hands. At first sniff, I thought it was more Mugleresk than it is now. At present, at least, not only do I feel Angel Nova bears little semblance to old-school Mugler, but I’d venture to say this one even smells generic. Not bad, just ordinary. I think the raspberry note in particular is a bit scratchy and loud. I wouldn’t call it a not a particularly classy or timeless fragrance.
Angel Nova will surely be nauseating during the summer months in southern Japan where I live, so I’ll probably have used it all up by the time this video is published – sometime in May, I think. I’m currently ahead of schedule, but trust me, the academic year has started so I’ll likely soon fall behind. If it’s hot enough to sweat, you do not want to be wearing this. Cooler months, however, are OK. With the lychee in here, this does bear a 40 or 50% similarity to PDM’s Delina, but I would categorize it more along the lines of Prada Candy and its flankers, Acquolina’s Pink Sugar, or Carolina Herrera’s Very Good Girl (some of the same perfumers as Angel Nova, by the way). Ultimately, if sweet and fruity is your thing, you might like this. For me, however, it’s been difficult to be more objective and remove the association I have with Mugler, and specifically Angel. I suppose that removing subjectivity is neither desirable nor possible with fragrance reviews, but you know what I mean. If you’ve read my review of Angel you’ll know how upset I was with the reformulation. I don’t loathe the reformulation or this so-called flanker, but compared to the original Angel of the 90s, it’s dust – Sorry!
In 2021, by the way, the EDT version of Angel Nova was released, and this EDT from the same trio of noses is not only less intense and lighter but also has a few note changes, which I guess is not that uncommon but when you mess with a lot of things to make either an EDP or an Intense version, don’t you then create a flanker? I wish there were guidelines here because I do find myself getting annoyed by the way names mislead! Anyway, I have not personally sniffed out the EDT, but I hear it is laced with some sort of citrus at the top, making it brighter, and it also has magnolia in it. That floral element likely softens the composition, as does musk, which has also been added to the base. The akigalawood at the bottom has been replaced with Virginia cedar, too. It has the same DNA, though. If you have one, you probably don’t need the other. I’ve read that the EDP lasts longer – not surprising.