Jil Sander Man

Feeling Man

Jil Sander 1989 Eau de Toilette

J ai eu la chance de posséder toute la gamme de ce fabuleux parfum.
Quel regret de ne plus le trouver en vente .
Il me fait cruellement défaut au même titre que les : Borsalino, Fendi uomo ,Revlon french line ,Pencaldi uomo . Ah les belles années 80 et 90 , l époque où les parfums tenaient une éternité...

1989 was not exactly an exciting year, rather a dull farewell to a loud and hedonistic decade.
As if one had crawled quietly into bed, oversaturated with the hangover mood from the raucous party.

Raspberry-red should close the photo album of these eccentric years and unintentionally set a massive new trend.

Shall I sniff the young lad in the picture at the neck?

Hiss!

Dear Alain Alchenberger, your congenial nose should avant-garde lead the way.
Hats off!

Your collage of fougère, fruits, and an oriental base brought the turning point in the turning year.
And it will serve as a template for many successful descendants.
Applause from me for your skill and foresight!

Peter Schmidt poured the perfect yet minimalist bottle into shape. A small notch on all sides loosened the base like a needle.
One couldn't have designed the theme more plastically: the breaking of the rigid straight line.

The scent progression is unusual.
Here, one does not act pyramidal; there are layers of different directions that overlap.
Like the video art of that time.

From the fougère, the lavender and the herbs estragon and anise, which were so popular with Jil Sander back then, are clearly discernible.
A bit of pine and a mossy base classically waft around.

But suddenly, everything turns reddish.
The second layer contains fruity notes, primarily raspberries.
A tension chord threatens to overspan between herbaceous green and softly sweet-sour raspberry red.
Here it is, the incomparable character of the scent, no confusion possible.

Tonka will brush a conciliatory stroke over the whole. This third layer drifts towards the Orient.
Warm and cozy with sandalwood, slightly ambered.
I cannot deny that the overall impression feels somewhat dull; however, the herbs pierce through this invisible ceiling.
Again, a hint at the interruption of the base of the bottle.

The composition is somewhat peculiar.
Throughout the entire duration, the brain tries to break the tension chord.
Sweet?
Aromatic?
And back again!
One looks at each other on the divan…

From Hamburg, a band made indirect headlines fitting to the scent.
The Jeremy Days.
These five guys embodied the zeitgeist of that time in the subtlest way.
Perfectly styled, elegant understatement in fine fabrics, high-quality glasses.
Ready is the yuppie advertising industry of the Hanseatic city.
One of their pop songs even reached the eleventh place in the charts in 1989.
Brand New Toy.

When you watch the video, you understand the scent aura better.
Dirk, the singer, is haunted by an angelic female figure.
He is filmed purposefully against a red background, just like that of the packaging.
Following contrasts:
Boys in designer clothes, the Hanseatic fine sense for dark color shades.
The female angel, like a baroque forbidden fruit, draped in golden white, her lips raspberry red.

Well, tension chord?

I find it amusing that they show sexy Dirk in underwear. This is, with all due respect, very "lovingly" tailored.
On to cuddling!

And the young lad in the picture unfortunately indulged in only two bottles of the sensitive man back then and probably contributed to the quiet setting of this artwork.

But experiences, fortunately, cannot be set aside.

So, it's finally time for a comment on this beloved 90s classic. Or rather, a double trophy with the scent twin Snob Classic from good ol' Türkiye!

€200 are being paid on eBay - said green = tipped - for many the best scent of the 90s & the best from the brand Jil Sander - parallels have been drawn to Joop Homme, Snob, and Aigner's Private Number - it is cultishly revered --> time for my opinion!

Feeling Man was also long represented in our Top 100 and is of course familiar to me. However, I thought with these eBay prices that I would probably never get to enjoy this gem. But far from it, slowly one tests through such rare treasures just like through €600 Xerjoff perfumes - I wouldn't have thought it possible some time ago. But there are always means and ways, and one develops further on their individual perfume life journey.

I came to Feeling Man through a mini from the Wuppertal perfumery Müller - slightly mint-colored, but definitely not tipped and for pocket change! How I got a Snob sample you can read in the comment there, what I think of Private Number and Joop Homme in the respective comments. I also throw in a bit of Mont Blanc Individuel, Lalique's Amethyst, and Creed's Original Santal. But the real similarity exists mainly between Snob and Feeling - I would say at least 95%!

Feeling Man is once again a hard-to-describe, small, definitely red berry wonder bag. Besides this red berry note, the scent is quite dry and woody. Sandalwood, raspberries, tonka, lavender, cedar, tobacco, moss - all these words and scents are indeed detectable, but the entire fragrance cannot be described by them at all, not one bit. Dry, sweet, and half as spectacular as many describe it. Not a Joop Homme bomb, but pleasing and individual. Not quiet, but gripping and adaptable. It really depends on the dosage here.

Bottle: very simple, too simple!
Sillage: strong, but very chameleon-like and versatile!
Longevity: lasts about 7 hours.

Overall, a great 90s perfume that comes across as sweet, bold, and still masculine - back then as well as today. But the eBay prices aren't worth it either - like almost always. Snob Classic at a mini price is much more reasonable. The greatest strength and surprise for me is the versatility despite its sweetness - no matter when or where, with Feeling Man you probably belonged to the top sniffers in the 90s! Rightfully cult!

With Jil Sander perfumes, it is similar to other scents from designer houses that have undergone a so-called power or image change - they are discontinued, shelved, and taken away from us.
No matter whether they were fading, coveted, or unique!

And since many fragrances used to be more creative and unique, this costs the various enthusiasts in the current mainstream fragrance cosmos an extra tear! Back then, it was the allergy-inducing ingredients, but today it is more about marketing strategies or low sales figures!

Similar things have been done with many Sander scents, just as has been immensely practiced in recent years by Gucci and YSL - the classic image fragrances fell victim to the marketing guillotine, leaving not only a big gap but also broken hearts!

So it is with "Feeling Man," which later clumsily was called "Jil Sander Man," released in 1989 and discontinued in 2002. Its successor was "Sun Men," which has sold very well to this day, yet it could never truly replace the late child of the 1980s!

The color discussion (brown-violet or mint green) led me to the conclusion that not every bottle with faded color optics necessarily has to be off!
The fact is that every perfume fades over the years - whether in scent or color.

I had various scents in my collection that were off, even though they still had the original color! Thanks to "Joe," I received his last remnants, and this was also "mint green," but the scent was perfectly fine!

Feeling Man reveals a minty, fresh, and fruity sweet start!
I can't draw direct parallels to other perfumes. At least, for example, Dior's Fahrenheit 32 or Givenchy's Pi Neo follow a similar course!

This start, which reminds me of "Mentos" candies, also gains a certain shaving foam character thanks to a powdery nuance…

Floral and light woody nuances lighten up Feeling Man a bit and bring a certain lightness into play. A very special scent to "sink into"!

The base is clearly defined by sandalwood and musk tones.
Tobacco and tonka bean provide a masculine, cozy finish.

Alain Alchenberger created an extremely revolutionary ambered men's fragrance for this time, which was supposed to be striking but not intrusive!

The bottle, as is often the case with Jil Sander fragrances, was designed by Hamburg designer Peter Schmidt. Minimalistic, timeless, and elegant. The "cut" in the bottom of the bottle gives it a certain kick. The black cap - classic in Art Deco style - is the bridge to all the other glass architectures designed by Schmidt for Jil Sander at that time.

The print campaign features a well-built man, with a bare torso, who sensually and with heartfelt devotion caresses the right hand of his beloved.

The longevity is top-notch, like all Jil Sander perfumes from that time! 12 hours are easily achievable.

For Feeling Man fans who do not want to pay exorbitant amounts for the original on various online platforms, the brand "Snob" offers a nearly identical and also affordable copy with their "Classic" - the only problem is that this scent is only available in Turkey...

For all other enthusiasts, I recommend purchasing the aforementioned alternatives… A glimmer of hope for a comeback could be Jil Sander's "Essential Collection," which is rumored to be expanded… the comeback of the founder last year strengthens the hope…!

Ok, ok … the headline is my completely subjective opinion as a man.
And I have to admit that I already wrote a comment about “Feeling Man.” However, that was on the day I registered here, and I didn’t know what I was doing. That is, I only gave my absolute favorite fragrance a few lines here and thought I had said everything about it.

But now, with a little more distance and a few months of Parfumo under my belt, I would like to take another shot at truly appreciating this amazing scent.

When you look at the ingredients, a bit of surprise arises. Whoever the perfumer was - someone really approached this creatively.
It would probably be wrong to say that it makes my mouth water, but it definitely piques my curiosity.

But the sensational thing about this fragrance is or was this simultaneously sporty freshness paired with an oriental, captivating warmth.
A little sweet, a little fruity, a little bitter, a little (please insert your favorite characteristic of a fragrance here)
This little potion was the olfactory soundtrack for my life in the 90s. I could have marinated in it; I found it that brilliant. But not just me. After all, it was always very well received by girlfriends too?

So far, I haven’t been able to sniff anything that even comes close to “Feeling Man” - it was simply unique.
And if I had to choose only one fragrance, it would be my absolute number one. After that, there would be a long pause …

It’s not just very unfortunate; it’s an absolute shame that it was discontinued. After that, Jil Sander only brought out relatively average products.
Whoever made this decision, I could kick him to the moon!

Even the leftovers, which are now more green than purple, offered on eBay, don’t cut it. You can already see that it has “gone off.”

Dear people at Jil Sander Parfum, if you are reading this: please bring “Feeling Man” back to the market. You can dump all your other stuff down the drain for that. Or give the recipe to an interested competitor. Or to me! I want it back and I would bet my grandma on it that it can be successfully marketed … that’s how I feel!