The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Starlicious Berry Licorice arrived in 2026 as the latest addition to Mugler's Starlicious collection, a line the brand presents as Eau Gourmande and designed for layering. The concept is simple and a little mischievous: take two of the most polarizing flavors in the candy aisle and make them work together. Strawberry and raspberry bring the sweet. Licorice brings the attitude. The composition was crafted by Jérôme Di Marino, alongside a team of Mugler perfumers including Vincent Kuczinski, Julie Massé, and Violaine Collas. Together they built a scent that reads as sugary and joyful on first contact, then slowly reveals a bittersweet, almost balsamic undertone that lingers well past the sugar rush.
What makes this composition work is the tension between the obvious and the unexpected. Strawberry and raspberry open with full sweetness, a bright jammy quality that announces itself right away. Freesia sits in the middle, adding a clean, slightly green floral that keeps the sweetness from collapsing into syrup. Then comes the licorice, and this is where the composition pivots into genuinely interesting territory. The licorice here behaves more like a dark, anise-laced whisper than a candy strip.
The evolution
The first 15 minutes are a sugar hit. Strawberry and raspberry land hard and bright, almost jammy, with the slightly artificial, ultra-sweet quality of fruit bubblegum. There's a candied intensity that makes the opening feel immediate, almost louder than expected, the kind of sweetness that hits before the mind catches up. As the first hour passes, the sweetness softens and a clean, airy floral starts threading through. Freesia arrives like a window opening in a candy shop, adding a green, slightly peppery lift that keeps the composition from feeling heavy. The sugar recedes, but never fully leaves. By the two-hour mark, the licorice has settled in properly. It's not sharp or medicinal. It reads more like a smooth, dark, anise-kissed warmth, the kind of note that sits close to the skin and makes the whole composition feel more grown.
Cultural impact
Berry Licorice sits in a strange, slightly retro place. The red-fruit-and-licorice combination has the feel of a candy memory from the 1980s, that sugary, synthetic, almost neon-sweet register, and several wearers have reached for that exact word: bubblegum. The anise-laced licorice drydown gives it a more grown-up read, closer to an herbal apothecary than a candy shop, and that split is what makes it interesting. There's a duality at work: the opening pulls you backward into a sticky, synthetic-sweet nostalgia, while the drydown pushes you forward into something darker and more composed.
