Clarins - which owns the Thierry Mugler brand - really knows how to keep beauty writers happy. Secret Weapon Grade I [code name Claude] sold the new Everlasting Foundation to a room full of ladies who suddenly found the environs terribly warm. This time around, in order to sway us to the ways of Womanity, Thierry Mugler's latest fragrance, Secret weapon Grade II made a dashing appearance.
Otherwise known as Clive, I'm starting to think Clarins France is just packed full of handsome, charming and gregarious men bred for their ability to dazzle and explain cosmetics in sexy accents.
Before we go any further, lets have a little chat about the name, shall we? It's kinda cringey, but there is method to Mugler's madness: the fragrance is supposed to encompass all ages, races and creeds of the laydeez, so it's a mix of woman (no, really) and humanity. Yeah. I did a scrunchy up face thing too when I read about this on WWD way back in April. Well, it's out there now so we just have to deal, and anyway, this is Thierry Mugler - he's got a scent called Alien, so he's hardly shy when it comes to off-beat naming choices.
The perfume itself is built from three notes, and in classic do-it-differently Mugler style, it's a gourmand hybrid of sweet and salty. Two of the notes are fig and figgy wood; sweet and incense-like respectively. They're very nice actually, but it's the third note that really strikes the difference in this scent. It's caviar.
Yes, that's right. Womanity contains a caviar note.
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It doesn't smell fishy though, so rest easy. It's slightly salty, heady, and, if I'm frank, pretty darn dirty - in a big, slightly overblown and sexy way. This is the core of the fragrance and unfortunately it's what makes me not like this as a full perfume. I just don't get along with these sort of notes at all, they give me a headache. Had it just been figgy bits, I'd have spritzed happily.
But as I've said many times before, scent is incredibly polarising, and my preferences absolutely do not mirror the current majority, so this is not intended to put anyone off this perfume. Because I think lots of people will absolutely love it, particularly if you're already a Mugler fan. It's sweet - but not too sweet - it's heady and it's got a lot of personality. A great new night spritz for a girl who likes sugar, amber, dark, mysterious goings on and night-blooming musky, complex flowers, I think this will appeal. (I am very much up there on the fresh, light end of the perfume spectrum, by way of explaining why this isn't for me).
(Left: ancillaries including two body moistursisers and a shower gel; right: a press shot of the 80ml bottle)
Plus, it's got really, really great packaging. I totally love this. Super-duper fashion-led, glass and nickel combine to create totemic bottles with tribal motifs. It looks fab in person and the fact that the bottles are all designed to be refillable is a really nice touch, and one that's deliberately enforced to cut down on packaging waste. Bravo to the brand for that.
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Womanity will launch nationwide on August 5th, and prices will start from €19.50 for 10mls up to €73 for 80mls. A refill bottle of 50ml costs €45. All fragrances are EDPs. The body range begins at €25 for a shower gel.
