Mugler
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Blood orange and tangerine explode with an almost synthetic brightness, all sticky pith and essential oils, while mint provides an icy counterpoint that reads more toothpaste than herbaceous. The ginger adds a fizzy, ginger-ale quality—there's something deliberately artificial about this opening, like those orange-chocolate sticks you'd get at Christmas, translated into liquid form.
The coffee note appears abruptly, dark and roasted, creating that jarring sweet-bitter collision with the still-present citrus oils. Cinnamon weaves through with a red-hot spiciness, whilst the black pepper tries to add some edge, though it's fighting a losing battle against the relentless sweetness that's beginning to bloom from the base.
Patchouli and tonka bean dominate, creating that familiar A*Men sweetness—almost praline-like in its intensity—but with ghostly traces of orange zest still clinging to the edges. The vanilla is thick and unashamedly synthetic, that Mugler signature sweetness that sits close to the skin, warm and tenacious, with just enough citrus memory to distinguish it from its siblings.
A*Men Ultra Zest takes the beloved A*Men DNA and douses it in Mediterranean sunshine, creating a curious hybrid that's part citrus cologne, part gourmand statement. The opening is an immediate blast of blood orange and tangerine—not the polite, hesitant citrus of traditional eau de colognes, but something sticky-fingered and pulpy, with ginger and mint providing a sharp, almost medicinal edge that prevents it from sliding into simple sweetness. What makes this particularly interesting is how quickly those bright notes slam into the heart's coffee and cinnamon, creating a moment of genuine dissonance—like drinking an espresso after finishing a tangerine, that peculiar clash of bitter roast against citrus oils still coating your tongue.
The patchouli-vanilla-tonka base is pure A*Men territory: thick, sweet, unapologetically loud. But here, it's been lightened just enough by the lingering citrus zest, preventing it from becoming the full chocolate-shop density of the original. This is for the person who finds traditional A*Men too heavy but still wants something with presence, who appreciates the theatricality of Mugler's approach but lives somewhere warm. It's also jarringly sweet—that 100% sweet accord isn't marketing hyperbole. The black pepper tries valiantly to provide some spice and grit, but it's largely overwhelmed by the sweetness. This is a fragrance that divides rooms: some will find it a brilliant summer reworking of a classic, others a confused muddle that can't decide between freshness and indulgence.
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