The Alien Queen – Thierry Mugler Alien Essence Absolue Perfume Review

Thierry Mugler’s second major feminine Alien has managed to become almost as popular and iconic as its sister fragrance Angel, which is no mean feat when you consider exactly how popular the latter is. Since its release in 2005 Mugler has released a plethora of Alien Editions, each of which has seemed better than the last, and it would be fair to say that the very latest edition ‘Alien Essence Absolue’ is the best yet, and they know it too hailing Essence Absolue as “The Supreme Perfume”.

What I love about the Thierry Mugler brand is that they are not afraid to experiment, not only with their flagship launches but also with their flankers. They may not always work (see Ice*Men) but they are always interesting and it’s great to see a brand really give a damn about the quality and artistry of all their fragrances. Personally, I didn’t think that Mugler could top the salted-caramel-goodness of Alien Le Goût de Parfum (released last year), but by jove they’ve gone and proved me wrong.

Alien Essence Absolue is the latest interpretation of Alien and serves as an oriental twist on the original. Created by Dominique Ropion (one of favourite perfumers FYI), who worked on the original as well as creating the Eau de Toilette, Eau Luminescente and Sunessence versions, Essence Absolue is a more intense interpretation that focuses on warm, resinous notes and intense flowers. Mugler describes it as “an intense amber, floral, vanilla perfume […] a magnetic fragrance that illuminates the skin in a halo of light” – well if “magnetic” partly explains why my nose is currently stuck to my wrist then I’m all for it.

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Scent a Celebrity Series: Spritzing Springfield – Scenting The Simpsons Part 2

Springfield Residents — The colourful residents of Springfield

The Scent a Celebrity Series is my vain attempt at picking perfumes for those who don’t know any better, yes I mean celebrities. Let’s face it, most celebrities are incapable of choosing decent clothing/boyfriends/girlfriends/movies/insert-celebrity-mistake-here let alone having the ability to make decisions about something as important as their scent – that’s where I come in. Never fear my dear schlebs, I will ensure that you are appropriately scented, all you need to do is listen.

In previous instalments I have successfully scented a wide range of celebrities and characters ranging from the loveable lunatics that are The Muppets to the hip schizo-rapper Nicki Minaj as well as Icelandic Siren Björk and super-glam glam-poppers Scissor Sisters, even The Royal Family haven’t been able to escape my scented clutches.

I have mentioned before that I am a hardcore fan of The Simpsons, I watch it nearly every day (it’s always on when I get home from work) and I confess to having seen every episode, perhaps more than once! The inhabitants of Springfield are a fascinating bunch and over the course of both parts of Spritzing Springfield I hope to select fragrances that befit their eccentricities and play to their incredibly human characteristics.

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Scent a Celebrity Series: Spritzing Springfield – Scenting The Simpsons Part 1

So far the series has touched upon a variety of famous names including; those fuzzy-wuzzy comics The Muppets, the Icelandic super-talent that is Björk, schizophrenic female (but kinda-male due to her alter ego) rapper Nicki Minaj, the maniacal monarchs that make up the Royal Family and super-glam pop tour de force Scissor Sisters. Joining this patchwork quilt of celebrities is everyone’s favourite dysfunctional TV family, The Simpsons.

I am a die-hard The Simpsons Fan and I confess to having seen nearly every single episode at least twice. The colourful inhabitants of Springfield, or predominately-yellow inhabitants should I say, each provide a large dash of humour to a town that you wouldn’t really want to live in but are quite happy to watch from the comfort and relative safety of your own sofa.

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The Candy Perfume Boy Invites You To Dinner

Restaurant Table — Our table is booked, all you have to do is show up…

Food and I have a very strong and loving relationship. Perhaps too loving in fact, and I’ll be the first to admit that our relationship can be a little unhealthy at times. But at those times when I don’t feel that I should exercise a good degree of self control to keep my weight down I thoroughly enjoy going out for dinner and experimenting with new food.

Our senses of taste and smell are inextricably linked and when going out for dinner it makes sense, and it’s also good fun, to match our fragrance to the style of cuisine we will be devouring. Only the other night I was heading out for dinner with friends and was having a SOTE (Scent of the Evening) dilemma, I asked my Twitter followers for help and they came back with some interesting suggestions based on the type of food (Mexican F.Y.I.) I would be eating, which got me thinking – which fragrances would be best suited for other cuisines?

To explore the relationship between fragrance and food I cordially invite you to dinner, during which I, along with the help of my partner-in-crime and budding-foodie Nigel, will pair some of the most popular cuisines with fragrant counterparts that will leave you complimenting your food and smelling wonderful simultaneously. Get your passports out because we’re going to be touring the restaurants of the world…

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Scent a Celebrity Series: Filthy/Gorgeous Fumes – Scenting Scissor Sisters

“I’m a classy honey kissy huggy lovey dovey ghetto princess”

So far the series has touched upon a variety of famous names including; those fuzzy-wuzzy comics The Muppets, the Icelandic super-talent that is Björk and schizophrenic female (but kinda-male due to her alter ego) rapper Nicki Minaj. Joining this plethora of huge talents, and even bigger egos is the wonderfully glam and delightfully eccentric band of personalities that is Scissor Sisters.

Scissor Sisters, currently consisting of Jake Shears, Ana Matronic, Del Marquis, Babydaddy and one other dude (but he doesn’t appear much so we shall forget about him), are a glam rock band taking their cues from Elton John, Abba, Blondie and the Bee Gees just to name a few. To say that they are a band with personality is an understatement, in fact they are a band with four distinct personalities, each one being as eccentric, if not more so than the other.

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Katie Puckrik Smells – And How! – An Evening With Katie Puckrik and Perfume Lovers London

Katie Puckrik Does Indeed ‘Smell’

YouTube frightens me slightly. Maybe I’m just a wimp but despite the wealth of content YouTube has more loons, weirdos (not the good kind) and trolls than any of the other ‘tubes’, including the London Underground, which indeed has its fair share. Other than the odd music video and occasional perfume-related video I really don’t visit it much and I admire those who can put themselves out there, warts and all.

One person who is not afraid of YouTube and actively embraces the medium with as much gusto as one person can conjure is Katie Puckrik of Katie Puckrik Smells. Katie’s YouTube reviews are pithy, fun and are splashed with charismatic wit, which is no surprise as Katie Puckrik is someone with oodles of charisma and she has been a key player in changing the way that perfume is discussed.

As a general rule of thumb I am not a big fan of YouTube perfume reviews, with my tastes lying with the written word rather than the spoken, but I always make sure I watch Katie’s videos because she talks about scent in not only an intelligent way, but because she makes it so much fun. It was for this reason that I jumped at the chance of spending an evening with Katie Puckrik organised by Olfactory Events and Perfume Lovers London.

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Scent a Celebrity Series: Pink Friday Perfumes – Scenting Nicki Minaj

“Super hero by night, rapper by day.”

I have decided that due to the overwhelming number of abysmal celebuscent (celebrity perfume) launches the celebrities of this world simply cannot be trusted with their scent choices. So, as a remedy to their poor choices, and to avoid having to reach for the smelling salts to revive myself from bad-celebuscent-induced hysteria, I have chosen to start the Scent a Celebrity Series.

So far I have picked scents for everyone’s favourite Puppet/Marionette hybrids – The Muppets – and the love-her-or-hate-her Icelandic songstress Björk. Today I’m going to be picking scents for a relatively new kid on the block and another love-her-or-hate-her celebrity, but this one is likely to ruffle a few more feathers than Björk, even when she is donning her infamous swan dress. Ladies and gentleman I introduce you to Miss Nicki Minaj.

Nicki Minaj is not your typical bubblegum-pop-princess, she is a foul-mouthed, schizophonic rap-Barbie with a penchant for unusual vocal tricks and hyper-fast rhymes. She has successfully crossed the divide between pop & rap, and although her many alter egos and sonic styles can, at times, sound cluttered (and like they are in need of some serious editing) she is redefining the way two of the biggest music genres combine whilst being utterly fabulous at the same time.

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It’s Time to Scent The Muppets on The Candy Perfume Boy Tonight

“It’s time to play the music
It’s time to light the lights
It’s time to meet The Muppets on The Muppet Show tonight.”

I love The Muppets and I’m not ashamed to admit it, not for one second. Muppet Treasure Island is one of my all-time favourite films (probably right behind Sister Act), mainly due to the fact that it mixes two of my favourite things together; Muppets and PIRATES. I also love it because it reminds me of my childhood when my siblings and I would watch the video tape (remember those?) over and over and over again.

On Friday, the boy and I decided to see the latest Muppets movie, inventively titled ‘The Muppets’. As expected The Muppets were on top form and the movie was funny, adorable and wackily outrageous. To me, The Muppets are infectious, they get inside your head and force you to smile, laugh and be happy.

Ever since seeing the latest Muppet adventure on Friday I have had Muppets on the brain, and the little thought bubbling inside my noggin was “what fragrances would The Muppets wear?” Over the weekend I have been mentally assigning fragrances to our beloved furry friends, who are REAL and in no way puppet/marionette hybrids, and here are the results.

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A New Generation of Comic Book Hero – Thierry Mugler A*Men Pure Shot Perfume Review

The appointment of Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius as the new face of Mugler’s flagship masculine fragrance A*Men last year marked a new chapter in the brand’s superhero saga. Pistorious plays the part of the ‘Bionic Fawn’ and he perfectly embodies the Muglerian style of high-energy futurism taken to the limit.

Thierry Mugler is known for bold statements and the use of a Paralympian, who just happens to be the hottest name in sport right now, is an encouraging display of diversity from a major brand. If only others would follow suit! Pistorius is an inspiring person and an inspired choice for the brand. He very much deserves his place alongside the likes of Jerry Hall, Eva Mendes and Naomi Watts as a citizen of Planet Mugler.

For 2012, the year of the London Olympic Games, Pistorius reprises his role of the Mugler man for the brand’s latest fragrance ‘A*Men Pure Shot’. A*Men Pure Shot, created by Jacques Huclier, is the latest limited edition flanker of the original A*Men which was released in 1996. It follows Pure Coffee, Pure Malt, Pure Havane and A*Men Le Goût de Parfum in the A*Men series, and it’s fair to say that it is the most unique and surprising incarnation of A*Men so far.

Inspired by Oscar Pistorious, Mugler’s “modern day hero”, Pure Shot is Mugler’s entry into the plethora of Olympic-themed sport fragrances that we’re going to see this year. But as we know, Mugler does things a little bit differently and has to be given Kudos for not including ‘sport’ in the name, and for actually creating a sport-themed fragrance that doesn’t smell bland or cheap. Mugler describes Pure Shot as “a performance booster for seekers of strong, inspiring scents”.

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The Original Comic Book Hero – Thierry Mugler A*Men Perfume Review

“There’s nothing that I enjoy more than a trip to Planet Mugler”

It’s no secret that I am pretty much THE Thierry Mugler Fan Boy and there’s nothing that I enjoy more than a trip to Planet Mugler, but would you believe there was a time, many Mugler moons ago, when I really didn’t like the Thierry Mugler perfumes? I don’t think I have ever been more appalled by two perfumes in my entire life than when I tried both Angel and A*Men for the very first time. To call them an ‘assault on the senses’ would be a dramatic understatement. But as you know, tastes change and I kept coming back to them. There was just something alluring about this ‘assault’ that I couldn’t quite put my finger on, and it wasn’t long before I ended up buying my first bottles of Angel and A*men. That’s when my Muglerian-obsession started.

A*Men, or Angel Men as it is often referred to, was Thierry Mugler’s first, and currently the brand’s only, masculine fragrance. Released in 1996, it was created to be a masculine interpretation of the already-quite-masculine Angel, released four years previously. With A*Men, Mugler was inspired by the comic book superheroes of his childhood, and in particular his favourite hero ‘The Silver Surfer’.

Since its release A*Men has become somewhat of a cult fragrance, and has spawned a number of pretty decent flankers including; A*Men Pure Coffee, A*Men Pure Malt, A*Men Pure Havane, A*Men Le Goüt du Parfum and A*Men Pure Shot (to be reviewed tomorrow). Does A*Men deserve cult status? Absolutely! There is nothing else quite like it around, and love it or hate it, you cannot deny just how innovative and unique it is.

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