Alien was released in 2005, thirteen years after Angel, for which Mugler was seeking a successor. Dominique Ropion and Laurent Bruyère built it on three revelations that the house declares: a luminous, honeyed sambac jasmine, cashmeran wood and a white amber. The talisman bottle, faceted like an amethyst, is refillable.
Robin (Now Smell This) neither loved nor hated it: expansive jasmine, velvety cashmeran, a persistent offbeat note and a sillage that does not go unnoticed.
Olfastory’s review
Now Smell This, September 16, 2005
Robin opens on a sensation rather than a smell: something dry, transparent and warm, which she attributes to the solar accord, joined very quickly by a jasmine she calls extremely expansive and by the woody cashmeran.
She notes the offbeat note she also finds in Angel — described variously as glass cleaner, as essence, or as nail polish remover — faint, but persistent through to the base. This base, ambery and musky, leaves her with a hint of caramel she would swear she can smell.
Her verdict is measured: she would not wear it, she neither loved nor hated it, but considers it more interesting than most mass-market releases of the year. She doubted it would stir up the passions Angel did, and admitted as much when her readers proved her wrong.