Jil Sander Man Absolute Jil Sander 2008
1
Purism Goes Oriental
Everybody likes the design approach of Jil Sander. Classic modernism, puristic and reduced to the essential – if there is such a thing like a Bauhaus perfume, Jil Sander fragrances would fit in.
Going oriental and keeping up this approach might be something difficult. Man Absolute is the woody oriental in their line up. Such perfumes tend to be opulent, warm, romantic, cosy and maybe even moony. For Jil Sander, Thierry Wasser avoided this trap by taking purism into extremes.
What we have here is a single accord reminiscent of tonka and vanilla, with only a very slight and fainting citrus in the top. There is a kind of ethereal dryness or woodiness which adds a powdery impression to what I would recognize as tonka and vanilla. Except, according to the known pyramid, there shouldn't be any of that in it. I do not know the origin of the notes we have listed here at Parfumo but can be found elsewhere as well, it is just that I don't smell any of these ingredients as such. Did the perfumer use all this to create a woody, powdery tonka-vanilla illusion?
Be that as it may, Man Absolute can be regarded as a role model for the typical woody oriental, and as such it is being far from eccentric or unique. What I smell here is more or less the core of such Guerlain perfumes like Cologne du 68 or Arsène Lupin Voyou. And below this price level, the essence of Man Absolute can also be found in Arpège pour Homme or, even cheaper, J'S Exté.
Is Man Absolute a complete perfume at all? Some people might praise this purism, but others might simply call it boring. Let me put it like this: if you like what all of the perfumes mentioned have in common then Man Abolute might be your fragrance. In this case you get the essence of it without having to compromise with any perfumer's further ideas. But with the same right, you could blame this fragrance for simply being incomplete and boring. I'd vote for the latter.
Going oriental and keeping up this approach might be something difficult. Man Absolute is the woody oriental in their line up. Such perfumes tend to be opulent, warm, romantic, cosy and maybe even moony. For Jil Sander, Thierry Wasser avoided this trap by taking purism into extremes.
What we have here is a single accord reminiscent of tonka and vanilla, with only a very slight and fainting citrus in the top. There is a kind of ethereal dryness or woodiness which adds a powdery impression to what I would recognize as tonka and vanilla. Except, according to the known pyramid, there shouldn't be any of that in it. I do not know the origin of the notes we have listed here at Parfumo but can be found elsewhere as well, it is just that I don't smell any of these ingredients as such. Did the perfumer use all this to create a woody, powdery tonka-vanilla illusion?
Be that as it may, Man Absolute can be regarded as a role model for the typical woody oriental, and as such it is being far from eccentric or unique. What I smell here is more or less the core of such Guerlain perfumes like Cologne du 68 or Arsène Lupin Voyou. And below this price level, the essence of Man Absolute can also be found in Arpège pour Homme or, even cheaper, J'S Exté.
Is Man Absolute a complete perfume at all? Some people might praise this purism, but others might simply call it boring. Let me put it like this: if you like what all of the perfumes mentioned have in common then Man Abolute might be your fragrance. In this case you get the essence of it without having to compromise with any perfumer's further ideas. But with the same right, you could blame this fragrance for simply being incomplete and boring. I'd vote for the latter.