Please note: I wrote this post a few months into my vintage obsession, and it turns out I received the reformulated Visa, not the vintage. (As I suspected.) I'm waiting to hear back about getting the vintage stuff, so stay tuned for an update!
Perhaps there is nothing new under the sun. I received my little glass vial of vintage Visa (there is a reissue no one seems that thrilled about) and lo and behold my nose said, "What is Thierry Mugler's Angel doing in here! Should I demand my money back from The Perfumed Court?!" (The Perfumed Court, along with eBay and Sarah's Perfumes, are my official dealers, if you will.)
Seriously, this stuff smells like Angel! Or Angel smells like this stuff! It's treacly sweet with tons of warmth and spice. A real va-va-va-voom fragrance, not for the faint-of-heart.(Please note, the gourmand Angel perfume has no florals. Its notes consist of honey, chocolate, caramel, vanilla, patchouli, and sandalwood.)
Top notes: White vineyard peach, pear, violet leaves, italian bergamot, yellow mandarin
Heart notes: Ylang-ylang, rose, orange flower absolutes
Base notes: Patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, moss, vanilla, benzoin, leathery notes
There is a lot going on here, but if you give it a chance, the dry down's sensuality might have you hooked. Unlike Angel's, whose patchouli is more prominent in the drydown, I can really smell the velvety, boozy richness of benzoin and vanilla balanced with the spice of patchouli, leather, moss and vetiver.
This is an incredibly sexy perfume, and it seems to me someone got very rich coming up with its simulacrum. (According to the perfume blog Bois de Jasmin, although this perfume is attributed to Germaine Cellier — on Basenotes, among other places — Osmotheque in Paris believes its rightful perfumer is actually Ma Griffe's Jean Carles. That makes more sense to me; Visa smells kind of trashy-sexy to Germaine Cellier's more intellectual-sexy.)
Image from Grain de Musc.
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