The "Man" Confusion or Did Men Want to Smell Like This Back Then!?
When considering the Bogner fragrance universe, one notices - especially with the men's perfumes - a small chaos in the naming, similar to Jil Sander.
Every new scent for the "man" was either titled "Man," "Classic Man," "Man Original," or simply "Man II."
Not only fragrance fans are confused by this - especially when there is a lack of visual material of the bottles.
After the very first Bogner men's fragrance "Bogner Man" was relaunched in 2007 in the form of a limited edition called "Bogner Man Original" (which is no longer available), "Man II" did not receive much attention.
Moreover, it was given a very short lifespan... by 1995 (according to book research), it had already disappeared from the market.
Like many discontinued fragrances, it can now only be found through the notorious online marketplace, often only in the form of a already tipped miniature.
I was lucky and received a flawless mini as a gift, which already has a good 20 years behind it! Many thanks to "Ingepetra"!
The black, monolithic bottle with a heavy cylindrical cap presents itself as mysterious and enigmatic. It was designed, like many German bottles, by the Hamburg packaging artist Peter Schmidt.
Only one advertisement I know shows two bottles in different sizes.
Minimalistic yet expressive!
The scent is strong as well - it smells like "man" did in the 1980s - confident and masculine.
A fragrance for the established gentleman - nothing for softies.
"Man II" starts, like many 80's scents, not with a sprightly freshness, but rather with a radiant spiciness thanks to aldehydes.
The typical, but notorious "urine" note in the opening reminds one of YSL's Kouros and Boss Number One, with the latter seeming a bit more citrusy.
The further development contains the characteristic "aftershave" flair of long-gone years, and thanks to lavender, "Man II" swells into a balsamic scent.
Juniper evokes pine needles and gives the whole thing a herbal, spicy undertone.
The drydown is balsamic, sweet, and mysteriously smoky. Parallels to Chanel's Antaeus can be found here...
The longevity is sufficient, lasting about 5-6 hours with regular use.
Average...
"Man II" is a classic fougère from the 1980s, and personally, I wonder how "young" men perfumed themselves back then - I can't imagine that boys in their early to mid-20s wanted to smell so animalistic and wild?!
Today, the selection is thankfully much broader and more varied - thus, lovers and fans of "Man II" can rely on the aforementioned alternatives, which still doesn't seem 100% satisfying - after all, pears are not apples...
Yes, yes, back in the day it was definitely different (compared to Hattric and Pitralon and Irish Moss, for example) and a dream for us youngsters. Just remembered it again, so here's a memory trophy for you.
Oh, well described. That's how I remember it smelling. And yes, back then, young people smelled like that too; there wasn't anything else. The first fresher "Cool Water" only came out in 1988. Cheers! :-)
In the late 70s, men also liked to reach for Lagerfeld when they wanted something less "krauty." By the late 80s, there was already Joop and others. I can't really remember this one anymore.
And I miss the old Bogner scents from Man (1985) to Deep Forest...