Angel Stellar - A Catalyst for Remembering
Mugler is one of those houses that has people so incredibly divided. Even those who love one of his probably hate another. Mugler's scents are so fascinating and react very strongly with the wearer's chemistry to create something powerful, for better or for worse.
Every year, I get the Macy's sampler for Christmas. Sure, there are some repeats, but i go through them all, keep the samples of my usual faves, and keep track of them (and my initial and rather visceral responses to them that I clean up a lot before making a review). I saw a name that I remember had made my eyes water, my sinuses cry, and sent me straight to the shower to scrub it off.
Angel But then I noticed, in very fine text that my 20/450 vision definitely can't see well even with glasses, a word. This wasn't the original that I hated. This was a flanker. I was nervous, but I made a goal and I was sticking through it: try every one.
I braced myself for a jasmine bomb as I gave the first spray of 
Angel Stellar , but was instead hit hard by something I couldn't place. It was familiar, but how? I sprayed my other wrist and sat back, enjoying the syrupy sweetness that smelled like a memory more than anything else.
Then there I was, brought back to the art museum I frequently visited as a child. Standing in front of the gargantuan abstract statue in the front, wandering through the modern paintings, and oddly strongly, walking through the archway of mosaic into the cafe. It's been so long since I visited, but I'm not sure if anywhere in that museum even smelled like it or if my brain made an odd but very intense connection.
On me, I never really got a strong pistachio. There was some partially nutty aspect to it, but I wouldn't have placed it as pistachio specifically unless I had already read the notes. The strongest is the smell of dripping, raw unfiltered honey, with the pollen grains still noticeable. If you've had it, it's a very particular smell that's both honeylike but different. Perhaps that's what really brought me back. As a kid, that was my allergy treatment. Local raw honey. Even though my allergies aren't nearly so bad as an adult, I'll still indulge in it from time to time.
Needless to say I bought a bottle of it. Never in my life except for Dylan Purple had I experienced a scent that I smelled and loved it so much i absolutely needed it. Oh, Angel Stellar, you surprised me.
Nowadays, it's my beloved winter scent, keeping my mind warm and in a cozy place while the world around me glistens with snow.
Oh, and the bottle is just gorgeous too.
10/10.
trilahbites