Reviews

Angel Nova

Published September 16, 2026 · Updated October 5, 2026

Angel Nova, an eau de parfum launched by Mugler in 2020, reinterprets Angel in a fruity, floral and woody key. Sonia Constant, Louise Turner and Quentin Bisch pair an overdose of raspberry and lychee with a Damask rose obtained by double extraction and a structure of akigalawood and benzoin. The refillable star bottle shifts from blue to raspberry pink.

Jessica (Now Smell This) finds Angel Nova flirty and cheeky, with a brief family resemblance to Angel; Persolaise sees it as Angel on a diet, more appealing than expected but with little that is new.

What critics say

Flirty and cheeky

For Jessica, who reviewed it on Now Smell This in February 2022, Angel Nova is a flirty, cheeky fragrance that happily embraces its artifice. A fan of big raspberry openings, she was won over by its fruity start right away.

She looks for the link with the original and finds it in the akigalawood: for a split second, the orchestrated clash between an almost excessive sweetness and a strange wood strikes her as very Angel.

Angel on a diet

Persolaise, the same year, makes a point of saying that the fragrance is no disaster. He describes it as the healthier, more contemporary version of its elder, Angel on a diet, more appealing on the whole than one might have feared.

The critic doubts its novelty, however. Thirty years on, he judges, Angel proved to be a game changer, whereas Angel Nova will probably never be more than a game player.