Thierry Mugler A*Men begat A*Men Pure Coffee, A*Men Pure Malt and, now, the new, limited edition A*Men Pure Havane. Though I dislike original A*Men, I’ve enjoyed all A*Men “Pure” offspring (flankers) so far, and I was especially looking forward to Pure Havane’s homage to “prestige cigars.” I walked into my local Nordstrom men’s fragrance department, asked for Pure Havane, and was told by the sales person only eight bottles had been received, and they had sold out within days. (“Good! It must be nice!” I thought.) Then, the sales person said: “You know…it smells a lot like Pure Malt to me…which smelled a lot like Pure Coffee.”
The “Pure” flankers have been successful for Thierry Mugler, but instead of putting these popular scents in the fragrance line-up permanently, the company “freshens” the Pure brand each year by folding a new note into a non-changing base formula. Perhaps fans of the Pure fragrances regard the line as one scent, with a different “flourish” each year. Think of it this way: you love a restaurant’s roasted tomato soup. You order the soup every time you visit the restaurant…
