Alien Man by Mugler

It’s a characterful fragrance, true to its name: it starts with a strong anise charge that fades in ten minutes to give way to lemon and leather. It’s fresh, spiced, and has a sweet touch without being cloying. While the lemon-leather duo doesn’t fully convince me, the dry down is delicious, featuring cashmere and soft spices that remind me of Cacharel’s Nemo. Ultimately, it’s a unique experience that takes time to assimilate.

Mugler’s Alien Man breaks the mould with a unique composition. It comes out fresh and bold with lemon, mint, and anise; then it gains depth with herbs and an earthy touch of birch and thyme. To close, it offers a sensual blend of leather, cashmere, and osmanthus. It lasts up to eight hours, leaving a moderate but present trail, ideal for daily use without being invasive. It’s complex, sophisticated, and may divide opinions, but its combination of freshness and sensuality makes it special, especially at night in mild climates.

What a good perfume; I’m taking more and more to it. Its greatest virtue is originality; it doesn’t smell like anything I know (beyond its variants), which is vital so you don’t feel a fragrance is redundant. It’s pleasant, versatile, and so far no one has despised it. Although leather can be the kryptonite for some, I understand you have to try it several times to get it. The presentation is futuristic and monolithic, and the mist atomiser is incredible for the price. Its only flaw is that it dispenses little liquid; you have to apply double, but the performance is correct.

I tried it in the perfumerie and the truth is, I love it. It smells of wood, sweet, herbal, and floral, a bit of everything at once. It’s totally worth it at first sniff: you can love it or hate it, but it doesn’t give a headache; it’s one of those you want to keep smelling to discover its secrets.

I was scared when I smelled this perfume. I tried it in the perfumerie and had to look to see if I’d actually applied something… it smells of pickles, gherkins, and spring onions, everything to do with vinegar. I sprayed it on my boyfriend and what horror, as if he were using a deodorant. Fortunately, the longevity was poor and after half an hour the scent was non-existent.

Alien Man failed to meet my expectations regarding scent, projection, and longevity. I agree with those who said the opening is chaotic; it starts spicy and fresh without clear definition. As it settles, leather emerges with a touch of sweet amber, not cloying, though that modern sweetness caught me off guard. Perhaps the A*Men hype raised expectations too high. Longevity is moderate and projection is weak. The scent is wearable, but I would only repurchase it if there was an attractive offer.

At first, I disliked it entirely; the opening felt messy and dull. But as it dried on the skin, it transformed into something incredibly pleasing. Hours pass and I cannot stop smelling it; the dry down is the best part. That amber with cashmere is magical. Do not buy it blindly, but with wear you will come to love it.

The name fits perfectly: it is a rare fragrance, like Alien, but rare does not mean ugly. It provokes uncertainty; it smells odd yet I want to feel it again. To me, it smells like concentrated Coca-Cola syrup with licorice. What I liked is that it evolves: from that strong and strange opening, it becomes friendly and ends sweet without losing its character. Perhaps it will not suit everyone, but it made me want to add it to my collection. It works better in cool climates and at night.

To me it is delicious and super sexy. I mainly sense woods and spices. The first time it captivated me. On men it is a bomb; the downside is that it does not suit everyone equally and longevity and trail are poor.

Idealisations arise from a lack of information; most had high expectations as it was the male counterpart to the iconic Alien, but every perfume has its success according to the era and subjectivity. Since it came out, I wanted to try it to own a Mugler (like A*Men, but in Argentina it is expensive and too potent for my climate, so I would use it rarely). When I tried it, I liked it immediately and bought a 50ml set with shampoo. Is it original? Yes, compared to Bleu, Dylan Blue, Eros, Invictus, Sauvage… it is so original it seems niche, but no, it is usable. It can be disconcerting at first, but with testing it enchants. I consider it very masculine, fresh, herbal, and versatile for day or night in cold weather. On my skin it is more linear than I read. It is an interesting offer for my nose; when I finish the bottle, I will buy a 100ml. It is a Martian monolith (I am not a fan of capless bottles, but the bottle is beautiful). Herault did an excellent job balancing a unique perfume, far from ambroxan-gourmand, but usable and one that the masses would enjoy the solitude of a night walk in the forest under the full moon, with fresh breeze and expectation of something different.

You need to test it on your skin several times; don’t settle for the store atomiser. It’s not a Polo Blue for playing it safe—if it were, every perfume would just be lavender and mint. In my humble opinion, give it about three sprays, and you’ll discover it.

It’s not a common fragrance: a spiced, woody and green aroma that evokes sensations of a forest, smoked leathers over wood. The anise is significant. The overall impression is warm, spiced, green, creamy or soapy. I was hoping for a true Alien, a perfume from another world, but I found an earthly one that lasts just under three hours with poor projection. The bottle no longer surprises. I don’t know if I would have passed the exam.

Alien Man attempted to emulate the best-selling feminine scent but ended up as an undeserving husband to the legendary jasmine goddess. He hides behind his stepmother’s surname, lacking the personality and presence to shine. Mugler moves away from caramelised gourmands and risks with a new masculine pillar, but the result is generic, bewildering and chaotic. It starts with an ozonic opening, anise syrup, slightly herbal with an iodine sensation, like Axe deodorant, even synthetic for a Mugler. After 15 minutes, the anise is accompanied by smoked wood and a trendy ambroxan—toasty, woody and artificial—that persists through the evolution, degrading into a base reminiscent of Pure XS, La Nuit de Issey or YSL… without resembling any of them, yet resembling all of them. It is Thierry Mugler’s contemporary proposal to the army of smoky woody scents with ambroxan as the star. A sharp, obsolete anise that contrasts with the generic base but fails to hook to be transcendent. On the skin, it lasts about eight hours with a doubtful but not disastrous trail, perhaps its only positive point. The monolithic, minimalist bottle doesn’t look like a Mugler either. With the partnership between Angel and A*Men, it seems farcical that at 13 years old they appear with this male couple for the queen Alien; it borders on a pull-the-leg. Don’t be fooled by phrases like ‘it takes time to understand’… I have been a devotee of Thierry Mugler for years because he breaks the mould and takes risks, but Alien Man is a contemporary synthetic shortcut. The only Mugler element here is that, although weak, it smells persistent and grating, yet not sticky or sweet. Let’s only hope it is a one-off blunder and not the path to follow, as it was a bad surprise and a disappointing launch that doesn’t deserve the catalogue. It would almost have been better if Alien remained a spinster, rather than pairing her with such an individual who doesn’t even reach her classic partner’s heels from 2005.

This fragrance is harder to find than the Holy Grail… I saw it in a perfumerie for the first time since its release and I pounced on it, literally. My conclusion: neither do I like it nor does it disgust me… I don’t like the masculine fragrances from this house. I start from that premise. So, I am grateful that this Alien has nothing to do with any of the existing masculine scents. Freshly applied, it appears as a leather reminiscent of Gucci Guilty Absolute, but it fades and cumin, wood and vanilla emerge… and the fragrance is strange. It doesn’t seem to be of this era; it’s like a reinterpretation of an eighties classic brought to a near future where perfumery approaches something new. It is moderate, very moderate for an hour, but then it drops to skin scent and stays there smelling of many things that don’t seem in tune. It doesn’t last more than seven hours, but I think it is appreciated that it is ephemeral. Should I buy it and use it habitually? No. I would buy it merely to have it for specific moments, but in moments where I don’t intend to impress anyone. Is it bad? No, but it doesn’t offer anything special to consider it a ‘must have’.

Rarely has a perfume been so maligned since its launch. The negative reviews instantly killed my curiosity and in Barcelona it’s almost impossible to test it in-store. People call it generic and weak and although I know the ideal is to try before buying in a major city that’s not always feasible; sometimes you have to rely on swaps between collectors especially if you’re into vintage. Alien Man is the perfect example: despite the criticism I managed to get it for a good deal with the intention of collecting it and I was wrong to assume it would be mediocre. The opening is striking aniseed incense-like sweet and narcotic with a very soft spray that transports you to a Victorian fantasy world. The projection is good for the first hour before dropping to skin scent but its longevity is incredible; today with the heat and humidity I wore it to the cinema with my girlfriend and it suited us both perfectly man and woman as if they were my lips on hers. Six hours later I could still smell it like a cream and although it’s not an explosive bomb like others from the house its hold is firm. The best part is when it evolves into soapy and herbal notes reminding me of Escada Magnetism or Ted Lapidus Black Extreme. Definitely the best I’ve worn this year.