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Man III Jil Sander 1987 Eau de Toilette

7.9 / 10 74 Ratings

A popular perfume by Jil Sander for men, released in 1987. The scent is spicy-fresh. The longevity is above-average. The production was apparently discontinued.
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Main accords

Spicy

Fresh

Green

Woody

Floral

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Mugwort

Lavender

Bergamot

Coriander

Rosemary

Heart Notes

Thyme

Fruits

Juniper

Rose

Carnation

Base Notes

Cedarwood

Moss

Musk

Patchouli

Sandalwood

Frankincense

Perfumer

Pierre Bourdon

Ratings

Scent

7.974 Ratings

Longevity

8.155 Ratings

Sillage

7.355 Ratings

Bottle

7.260 Ratings

Value for money

7.613 Ratings

Submitted by DirkDS, last update on 02/13/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Caesars Man Cologne

Patou pour Homme (2013)

Man III After Shave

Tsar (1989) Eau de Toilette

Nobile Eau de Toilette

New West for Him Skinscent

Reviews

6 in-depth fragrance descriptions

02/21/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

Late 1980's oddities

Jil Sander Man III opens with a bold, mouthwash-like pine & leaves accord, rather astringent and minty but mossy too, with pungent spices (cloves and juniper) on a smoky, woody, dark base made denser and almost “oily” by a peculiar accord of soapy notes (rose), amber, resins, something sweetish-dusty halfway sandalwood and candied fruits, something salty-camphorous smelling like ambergris. Musky nuances and earthy patchouli blend with the leafy-pine notes. This is a really complex and peculiar scent: it’s green, but a unique kind of green – medicinal, dark, spicy, brownish, kind of decadent, with a smoky-dirty darkness that provides a musky-leathery feel. Plus, if that wasn’t enough, there’s a sweet-fruity-resinous warm breeze coming and going. A rich scent for sure, quite creative too, trying to put together a lot of inspirations: leathery fougères, musky chypres, woody-soapy barbershop aftershaves, fruity-resinous Orientals, with a sprinkle of classic low-cost “piney” colognes... all mixed together, with a hint of warm, sweet, candied floral exoticism. A bit tacky perhaps, but interesting. The evolution is pleasant and makes Man III smell more and more woody, dark, leaving behind the piney green “mouthwash” freshness and tending more towards mellow, velvety notes of wood, patchouli and soapy “barbershop” notes. It gets somehow less confused and more focused on a classic green-rose woody fougère, which is good. The fil rouge with the initial stages is basically cloves, resins, oak moss and juniper. Now, this is quite challenging to “judge”: it’s undoubtedly a bit outdated, and perhaps a bit confused and flashy (it’s German, it was the 1990s....), and finally it may seem just a sort of clumsy German clone of some Pino Silvestre; but it’s not (only) that. There’s something more mysterious and intriguing lying in this nearly-messy concoction. Despite I wouldn’t wear this that much, I find its complexity fascinating, unusual and highly modern – Bourdon made this, after all. Not memorable, but worthy a try if you can find it!

7/10

01/19/2024

10Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Axiomatic
70 Reviews

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Axiomatic

Top Review 44

The indomitable man

1987
This magical year reflected the quintessence of the decade.
Goals that had been set were achieved.

A complete penetration of fashion dictates reached its zenith.
Several social groups indulged in brand fetishism, the manufacturer's label enjoyed greater respect than the actual item of clothing. Sometimes people deliberately wore such a label loosely sewn onto the sleeve of their suit jacket; sexily out of place on the button placket of their jeans, it attracted curious glances in the hope that the corresponding underpants had been photographed somewhere in a glossy magazine. A guarantee for fashionable togetherness.

By the end of the decade, the prevailing trends would only change marginally, shoulder pads couldn't get any wider and pleated pants couldn't get any more amphoratic.
Oh yes, the big stock market crash in October of that year was to mark the beginning of protracted financial crises.
The pleasant distraction was provided by the pleasing plastic pop section in the ears, preferably in a crystal-clear dance-leg maxi version.
A Rick Astley like that made the hips of the masses swing, he would never give you up, never. For sure!
Everything went like clockwork.

And then he came, the third of the bunch.

Whoosh!
An ironic opening by Fougère that has washed itself out.
The bergamot is gagged by that ill-famed lavender gang. A mess and over the Jordan!
The incomparable distinguishing mark of that gang, the dreaded slider cap on mugwort, makes you break out in a cold sweat.
This is where it gets serious!

Hanseatically sober, that slightly dusty dark juniper berry blends in with the tart green of the gang.
Add a little thyme and the masculine tour de force is ready, quite protein-rich.
Uncomfortable looks and nervous twitching.

The rather English musk proves that you are not a child of sadness. It sits lasciviously on a wooden bench with an invitingly comfortable patchouli glaze.
The longing backseat in lilting, popular songs has had its day here.
Grow up for once!

But the heart is not given lightly, after all, the hedonistic spirit of the times sets certain limits.
A rose slumbers in the mineral-crunchy moss, only to open up to serious - ergo rare - approaches.
It only reveals its slightly fruity splendor when allowed access to its guarded intimacy, dazzlingly countered by patchouli, slightly incense-like. Light and dark notes, rich in contrast.
The noble heart of the third man.
Silent glances often say more than loud posturing.
Because this fragrance composition is characterized by a certain understatement.

What appears to be quite fresh from the color liquid, it really doesn't get any greener, turns out to be an increasingly darker humanizing fougère, which carries the classic rose-patchouli theme at its heart like a witch's board.

The good Pierre Bourdon conjured up a fragrance that could not better caricature and capture the zeitgeist.
You want bourgeois neo-conformism, here you go, you have something to enjoy! Because those tart, almost bitter herbs, the built-in physicality and the ghostly rose will make you freeze that practiced smile - refreshed today thanks to social networks - and gasp for air, soapy moss base or not!

The narrator carried the third man in the right place at the right time.
When he turned the corner, he celebrated the congenially throbbing interpretation of a fougère all the more confirmed.
The stinker was available to buy in white packaging, quite inconspicuous.
And to match, a musical antidote also appeared in white, New Order 1987 Substance.
Killing two birds with one stone!
One of the writer's fondest shopping memories.

And should this rebellious creature ever leave the dance floor feeling misunderstood and out of place, there was a little consolation.

Because someone also understood the scent and the change from Joy Division to New Order.
And Ceremony simply went with mugwort, juniper and musk for what felt like an eternity.

So he created a place on the fringes where it was good to stay.
Because others can get down, the lavender taught him.

And that's what counts.

09/23/2020

10Scent 9Longevity 7Sillage

BadDancer
1 Review

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BadDancer

Very helpful Review 11

Last night I dreamed I was back in the 80s...

If this sentence, stolen from Daphne du Maurier, sounds familiar, you might remember how the protagonist of Hitchcock's classic Rebecca notes how wonderful it would be to bottle beautiful moments, like perfumes, so that they can be brought out occasionally to relive those moments. And yes, it is possible! Jil Sander's Man 3, my absolute favorite scent since forever, instantly transports me back to that carefree, lighthearted decade, before cell phones and YouTube, when everything seemed possible! Like no other fragrance, whether artificial or natural, Man 3 represents my teenage years! Not that I would want to be that age again, but this unmatched, never replicated scent stands for everything that was good and exciting in that part of my life.

After Sander's Man Pure, it was the second EdT I ever owned. An absolutely unique fragrance that I wore for years, always two steps ahead of me, and that everyone who knew me associated with me. I definitely do not belong to those scent hounds who can even sniff out the perfumer's favorite chewing gum brand. For me, only the result counts, meaning I either like it or I don't, along with the fact that you don't smell the respective fragrance on every second Stefan Schneckenschiss, like Cool Water for example. Not a fundamentally bad scent, but one that was completely overexposed 20 years ago!

The green herbal water was never that! While Cool Water was as present for decades as toilet bowl cleaners in the 70s, I hardly know a handful of people who have ever used Man 3. Such an extraordinary scent that I could never put into words. Or could I? Cool, superficial, not too profound, yet promising and mysterious. Nowadays, at least 50% of all men's fragrances smell like mediocre imitations of French originals. It is not easy to find something special. Even in the price range starting at 100 euros, originality is not necessarily on the agenda - I've tried a lot. And yet, I still mourn that unique Eau de Toilette that embodies, like no other, the cool anything-is-possible spirit of the decade of Grace Jones, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, UFO jeans, and polo shirts.

Fortunately, this chemical bomb is remarkably time-resistant, so every now and then I take my last remaining sample from the fridge, dab a little on my arm, and take a small trip back to the 80s! Wild boys always shine... ;-) Thanks for the memories, Mrs. Sander.

07/26/2018

9Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

ShaunBaker
85 Reviews

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ShaunBaker

Helpful Review 7

Back then...

...when I was still small, in 1987, I was created by perfumers through the commission of my mother, a fashion designer from Hamburg, and I got to olfactorily dress some gentlemen. Many loved me, yes, even revered me; some liked me quite well, others less so. What can I say, you can't please everyone.

Until the late 90s, even into the 2000s, I was worn by gentlemen with good taste; there were even women who found me appealing, not only when a man applied the scent after his daily shave, but I was also worn on the skin of ladies. Why? Because I was good, because I smelled like a blooming meadow, with lots of green, oh yes, and citrus of course. I lacked spice just as little. My top note lasted what felt like an eternity, and the rest of me could also be sniffed for a long time!

We are now in the year 2018.
What has become of me now? And how are my grandfather and father, Man Pure and Man II? By now, everyone mourns them, just like me. I was still down-to-earth just like my ancestors.

Even my children, Feeling Man and Background, were highly regarded; many spoke well of them, some found them too sweet, understandable given the upbringing of their ancestors... they were just so adorable!
The following years were turbulent, the 90s, everything in upheaval. At the end of the 90s came the birth of my grandchildren, Sander for Men and early 2000 Sun Men. With them, everything began to slowly decline, you could feel it. Spoiled, unruly brats, no proper upbringing anymore and not knowing where they want to go, whom they want to please.
Barely here, and they are already gone... later their descendants, Servus i bims, Strictly and Ultrasense,
yes, exactly, SENSE, I thought that too.

Even the cries for help from my uncle (2008), Scent 79 and my uncle's brother Scent 79 (2012) were of no use; they were silenced. The young lads now have the say, and that makes me sad. Well, welcome to the New Age, I can only say.

From time to time, I meet up with my best buddies Caesars Men Cologne and Geoffrey Beene Bowling Green, and we have a drink to the good old times.

And if they haven't died, they live on for five times the price on eBay to fall into the hands of willing lovers.

10/05/2018

7.5Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

Mantus
205 Reviews

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Mantus

2

Distinctive Carefree Flair

First, one can perceive an intense aromatic, slightly sweet juniper-like note that gives the top note a fine masculine aura, thanks to the mugwort.

At the same time, the mugwort combines with a Mediterranean, slightly herbal note to create a whole that brings a fine soapy, cleanly creamy aspect, which comes from the lavender.

These two notes are underscored by another aromatic nuance that carries a deep spicy tone, lending a certain distinctiveness to the top note, originating from coriander.

In the background, a very subtle citrus, slightly herbal nuance wonderfully rounds off the top note, which, in my opinion, is responsible for giving the top note a beautiful freshness and is attributed to bergamot.

Throughout the entire top note, an ethereal, slightly sweet herbal nuance is perceivable, although I must say that "feeling" seems more appropriate to me and gives the top note a lovely nonchalance, and I would have guessed sage instead of rosemary.

This constellation is perceivable on my skin for 20 minutes before the heart note unfolds.

In the heart note, a fine yet dark sweet fruity note reminiscent of plum and cherry can be detected, which brings a deep distinct spiciness and originates from the fruits and garden carnation.

These two notes are accompanied by another fruity nuance that smells more aromatic, softer, and berry-like, adding a nice accent and comes from the juniper.

In the background, there is a light, almost transparent rosy hint that gives the fragrance a pleasant lightness, and I suspect it to be Bulgarian rose.

The entire heart note is enveloped by a strong, herbaceous note that gives the heart note a wonderful carefree flair, thanks to thyme.

The heart note is perceivable on my skin for 4 hours before the base asserts itself.

Now, a bright, almost shimmering mossy note is perceivable, carrying a strong resinous touch, which comes from the moss in conjunction with incense.

These two notes are underscored by a delicate creamy note that gives the base a beautiful soft, cuddly aura and originates from sandalwood.

In the background, the subtle earthy and slightly sweet note of patchouli and the gentle woody nuance of cedarwood provide a pleasant conclusion.

The entire base is enveloped by a beautiful clear and pure note, without reminding one of freshly washed laundry; rather, I believe that musk has been used to make the base appear pleasantly tangible and radiant.

Overall, the fragrance lasts 7.5 hours on my skin.

The sillage is designed from the beginning to be well perceived from a whole arm's length away, and this is maintained for 3 hours before it gradually reduces until the fragrance finally fades completely.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to our Parfumo "Zirkeltanz" for the vintage miniature.

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