Spirit of Heaven

There's no better flanker than a dupe! Or at least this is the case when it comes down to the creations of Milton Lloyd. Almost dead-on, definitely Angelic [let's see how many puns I can fit in to this review...] dupe of the notorious / legendary Thierry Mugler perfume. As one reviewer already pointed out, the most significant difference is the missing caramel note - though I, myself, am not complaining. Although I can appreciate and admire the extravagant nature of TM's Angel, there's always been just too much going on for me and my nose. Whenever I thought I would finally come to understand the secret of Angel, the fruity caramel note on top of the scent of BO was surely there to make me doubt my senses. "People are actually able to wear this stuff? Wow, I don't know if I should be jealous or worried." How lucky was I to hear about Spirit of Heaven. This dupe has all the hallmark features of its guardian Angel - monster sillage, 10+ hour longevity, and the absolutely divine drydown of chocolate and vanilla. The first hours are stunningly similar to Angel's: patchouli overload combined with that easily recognizable "body odor" of musk, then honey and cotton candy, plus mild fruitiness from passionfruit in the background. The road to the heavenly chocolate drydown is not as rocky as in Angel, so yes, I would say this is easier to wear, more suitable for daytime use than the original. I can even detect the rose note after a while, what a nice surprise! ... Okay, I will admit this: I was jealous of those able to pull off Angel! So just imagine my enchantment when I finally wore this and got to witness the magical moment of pure sex and higher spirit that everyone's been talking about. With the price of this dupe ranging from 3 to 5 euros, there's simply no one I wouldn't recommend Spirit of Heaven to - even if you go wrong, well, the (financial) fall could be a lot worse! This is especially great option for those wanting to blind buy Angel against their better judgement (and everyone's advice). Spirit of Heaven could also make a wonderful daytime wear in case you are saving your precious Angel only for special occasions. To end this review simply (and quickly, since I wish to already be in my bed, snuggling into the scent of this): J'adore, Spirit of Heaven!

Bad_Girl_Bex I'm literally laughing out loud! Your review should win review of the year, haha! Definitely made my day! 😂😂😂 On to the review: Angel is my signature scent, she has been for 10+ years, and so, I've been another witness and victim of her most horrendous reformulations. Even if you haven't liked Angel for whatever reason, picture this for a moment... You get to know an amazing girl, with lots of charisma and personality, she is a force to be reckoned with! Many people are enthralled by her and admire her greatly. And some others either envy her or greatly hate her just for who she is. Therefore, given the current societal circumstances... She is not considered to be what a lady should behave or be, period. She does not fit in with the norm. So what do they do? In order to tone down her personality, so that she doesn't offend anyone anymore, and make her seem more 'polite' or standarized, blend her in beyond any possibility of turning back.... They do a lobotomy on her!!! 😱😱😱😱😱 She might appear to be the same, but she is just a shell of the greatness she once was.... This is what the current awful reformulation of my dear sweet Angel is, sadly. 😭😭😭 So imagine my surprise, when looking for a dupe, considering I have searched for many and have been really let down by all, I decided to try this one anyway... This is seriously a good dupe of my beloved Angel!! And it actually smells like the previous version, pre the most discusting reformulation to date. Hurray!! 🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉 Of course, it will never be a dupe of the original 1992 formula, but it still has the pow previous versions had, and I'm super excited about that!! 😍😍😍

Usually I like the Milton Lloyds enough on their own terms that I don't feel a compulsion to get the original, thought not without curiosity. Spirit of Heaven is such a strange fragrance that I felt I should before coming to anything like a conclusion. This is basically a dirty chocolate to me -- both plant dirt from the patchouli and animal dirt from the musk -- which makes it pretty unisex, if not masculine, in my book. The actual Angel has more notes and those are the more female-coded ones of especially caramel and a fruit basket which makes me get how this succeeds as a ladies' scent. Angel has some fruits I can't name but that perhaps I could with future applications. Anyway, Spirit of Heaven doesn't have the caramel (no bad thing for men wearing it) and no fruit beyond a vague tootyfrootiness that I am sure has no name. I find Milton Lloyds fruits nonspecific and sickly in general which ruins some of their more modern dupes but Spirit of Heaven/Angel's basic concept is wild enough to work with the vaguely sketched fruit notes they use.

Angel was such an influential perfume that inspired so many fruit-chouli copycats despite it being initially an strange curve ball type of fragrance. I think this leans a little bit more gourmand than the original Angel and is more towards the stunningly addictive Angel Eau Sucree which they infuriatingly discontinued after it's brief launch as a limited edition. I kicked myself forever for not buying it before it went but I get to fall in love with my wrist all over again with this one!! UPDATE: This alongside Monaco were stocking fillers this Christmas and although I really wanted to wear Monaco (Paris dupe) as it is an IDEAL Christmas fragrance...I also tried this on (on the other wrist) Don't get me wrong, Monaco is GORGEOUS with both stunning sillage and longevity but this one, THIS ONE.. is so addictive, I just had to put it on..had to!!

I was HIGHLY sceptical of how a £5 perfume could possibly make an even half-way decent dupe for Angel. I'm actually stunned. If I did a blind test I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference at all. Also, the projection and sillage is absolutely INSANE.