At the end of the movie “Grease” the good girl, Sandy has transformed to the trappings of a “bad” girl to attract the “bad” boy, Danny. Together they sing a song called “You’re The One That I Want”. It finishes Sandy’s journey from not fitting in to finding a place in the gang. Last summer Mugler released Alien Man. It was a Sandy kind of perfume not feeling like it blended in with the other “bad” boys in the Mugler line. One reason for that, in my case, was a dill note which was very prominent early on which exacerbated my feelings of why Alien Man was just okay.
I received my press sample of Alien Man Fusion and wasn’t sure what I was going to get. I knew if the dill was still there, I was going to avoid it entirely. That you’re reading this answers that. In every way I found this an improvement on the original. I also found this was more in line with the typical Mugler aesthetic something I never felt about Alien Man. I don’t know if the original perfumer Jean-Christophe Herault is responsible for Alien Man Fusion. It is different enough I wouldn’t be surprised to find someone else did it.
It opens with a spicy combination of cinnamon and ginger. The cinnamon is given more heavy lifting to do while the ginger adds a zestiness. It has sizzle. Apricot comes forward in the presence of osmanthus. This is a subtle kind of fruitiness which also takes advantage of the dual nature of osmanthus. That leathery nature adds to an opaque leather accord. This is much more transparent than Alien Man in this stage even though it is osmanthus and leather again. It keeps the spices in play a little longer as well. The real place where Alien Man Fusion won me over was in the base. A set of light woods mimic the same basenote from the original. The difference maker is the use of green coffee. This is where things felt like the Mugler I like so much. This ingredient carries a sharp green vein through a tightly focused coffee. I could call it bitter coffee but that would leave out the green thread which finds itself the ideal embroidery for the leather and osmanthus.
Alien Man Fusion has 10-12 hour longevity and average sillage.
On the days I wore this I was humming the song from the finale of “Grease”; in my head. Because Alien Fusion Man was the one that I want.
Disclosure: this review was based on a press sample provided by Thierry Mugler.
–Mark Behnke
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