MUGLER
Womanity EDP

2010

PERFUMER
Fabrice Pellegrin *
Ralf Schwieger *
Alexis Dadier *

caviar
fig wood
fig leaf

‘The contemporary perfume Womanity from Mugler is inspired by the women of diverse stories, colors, and cultures. An ode to the feminine and creative force, Womanity is multifaceted as its femininity. A unique creation, it blends sweet and spicy notes that so characterizes the iconic scents of Mugler. Its striking notes of caviar, ripe figs, and wood make it a versatile and unique fragrance, reflecting the modern independent woman.

Described by Mugler as music whose notes play on the emotions of the woman who wears it, the Womanity Eau de Parfum develops in three accords—woody, sweet and salty—through notes of fig wood, sun-drenched fruit, and caviar.’ – Mugler

* Some sources state Fabrice Pellegrin as the nose, while others say Alexis Dadier & Ralf Schwieger.

Womanity is a really interesting fragrance and perhaps even more so is the public discourse surrounding it.  The bottle alone being a big draw, but the fragrance has built up quite a reputation of its own by now. One that I think is a bit skewed.

Womanity seems often described as an eccentric, outrageous fragrance and it really isn’t in my opinion. One quick look at Fragrantica and you see terms like ‘bizarre’, ‘unorthodox’, ‘smelling like a vagina’, ‘extreme’, ‘polarizing’, ‘boundary pushing’, ‘fishy’ etc. To me this is all exaggerated.

There is a hint of briny, sea breeze skin here that I can perceive as ‘sensual/sexual’, but not unlike seen in hundreds of other perfumes. A lot of people have called it metallic, I wouldn’t even go that far, just a tad mineralic. It clearly smells aquatic to me, and not sweaty either (like Akro Night for example). Instead, Womanity smells like a day at the beach or the Mediterrean coast with a watery, blue and green hued scent that I can only see as pleasant.

Fig is the main component and it sets off as a highly acidic, citrussy fig, before giving you more of the full experience. A bit green, a bit woody, but in a very clean and watery sense.

Earlier reported notes add ‘animalic notes, aquatic notes, citrus notes, green notes, woody notes, ambery notes & sunny notes’. This is to say that, while there is an emphasis being put on the caviar now, this could just as easily register as citrussy aquatic. It has a slight brine-like skin quality for sure, but is not overly salty at all to me and I don’t get a ‘fishy’ connection.

We’ve seen this with other fragrance that have certain connotations in their notes or names, like Electimuss Black Caviar, which is a perfectly normal spicy fragrance. Perhaps me speaking as someone who’s been heavily into niche fragrances (who love to make bold claims and list fictional notes), I’m less influenced by caviar in the notes than the casual Sephora customer. I say this without judgement; smelling something because the idea of it has been planted in your mind is 100% legit and I have it all the time once I read note breakdowns.

However, here I’m a bit surprised at the way Womanity is perceived online. This is quite a nice fragrance and one of the better (green) aquatic ones that I can think of. It’s also not boring or overly generic, just not as extreme as I was led to believe.

There’s even a more common sun tan lotion in here (although the fig isn’t as creamy as it sometimes is in fragrances). This reveals itself more and more as the fragrance grows sweeter. I didn’t really expect Womanity to go in this direction based on the opening (and while the brand speaks of sweetness in the 2023 description of the fragrance twice, there’s no mention of it left in the scarce official notes (only fig wood, fig leaf and caviar remain). But there’s definitely a sun tan-esque, vanillic component here that makes the fragrance even more accessible.

A great release in my opinion. I’m just not sure if the reception has aided or hindered its success. I feel like more people would have loved this with less eccentric marketing, on the other hand, its received somewhat of a cult-status, which is probably why I was reviewing it.