Sander for Men (Eau de Toilette) by Jil Sander

Bottle Design:
Fabien Baron

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Sander for Men Jil Sander 1998 Eau de Toilette

7.4 / 10 299 Ratings

A perfume by Jil Sander for men, released in 1998. The scent is spicy-fresh. It was last marketed by Coty.
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Main accords

Spicy

Fresh

Woody

Green

Synthetic

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Ivy

Mint

Cinnamon

Heart Notes

Cardamom

Pepper

Clove

Coriander

Nutmeg

Base Notes

Cedar

Cypress

Sandalwood

Labdanum

Tobacco

Perfumer

Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud

Ratings

Scent

7.4299 Ratings

Longevity

6.7237 Ratings

Sillage

6.2225 Ratings

Bottle

6.3234 Ratings

Value for money

8.159 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet · last update on 12/30/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Sander for Men After Shave

Sundown

Zara for Him

Jack Storm

Ege

Sander for Men Summer Cologne

Reviews

20 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/10/2015

ColinM
516 Reviews

ColinM

Nondescript boredom

By far the dullest Jil Sander masculine scent ever for me. It smells literally like a couple of really basic and bland aromachemicals thrown and stirred in a bottle, the same kind of stuff you can find in any masculine sport-woody deodorant. Beyond generic, a true nowhere in a bottle. No direction, no inspiration, “nondescript” to say the least as other reviewers already stated. I am sorry to say that since I’ve always found Jil Sander scents much underrated, and I am usually quite a big fan of the brand, but there’s surely way better among their offerings – actually almost anything’s better than this in my opinion. As regards of the smell, notes speak for themselves and there’s not much to add for me, just imagine them in the most boring and unsubstantial rendition possible: a cheap woody-peppery-herbal scent with a bold, pungent synthetic feel and a sort of far background similarity with herbal-aquatic scents like Rochas Aquaman or Lanvin Oxygene – a distant echo tortured and buried under a drugstore mess of cheap woody aromachemicals. Meh...

4,5-5/10

12/17/2013

8Scent

Scentemental
29 Reviews

Scentemental

Helpful Review 1

Hard to Describe, But I Love it!

Sander for Men is a fragrance that makes me keep sniffing the back of my wrist whenever I apply it. I find it hard to describe the fragrance, and as such it is intriguing. There is a crisp green pepperiness which is rather subtle and augmented by aromatic spicy notes. I never really detected mint in this as is when I think of mint I imagine something like a Tic Tac. Then I thought of XS by Paco Rabanne. It has a crisp, cool refreshing aspect to it that I detect in Sander for Men. It makes a great anytime cologne and is well worth the small price it sells for.

02/19/2019

8.5Scent 6Longevity 6Sillage

SchatzSucher
107 Reviews

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SchatzSucher

Top Review 27

How one sometimes comes to fragrances...

After the first spring-like days of this year, we could hardly stay indoors. Out into the fresh air, shaking off the winter gloom and letting the sun shine on us a little. Oh, how wonderful...
One could almost forget that it was only February and actually still unusually early in the year for such a spring outbreak. But no year is like the other, and nothing is as difficult to predict as the weather. Five different forecasts, and none of them turn out to be quite right.

However, there are also certain constants that sometimes bring a certain balance and necessary grounding over the years.
So I had a great desire to wear the charming Sander for Men again.
I have known this fine and calm fragrance for a long time and enjoy wearing it when winter slowly bids farewell and the daytime temperatures gradually settle back into the double digits or in autumn when it’s not quite cold yet.
It shines best in the transitional seasons.
I encountered Sander for Men about 20 years ago on the S-Bahn on my way to work. When you travel the same route at the same time every day, you keep running into the same people. Eventually, you greet each other, strike up a conversation, and chat amiably about this and that.
And at some point, I noticed this lovely pleasant scent. Of course, I had to ask.
It had just been freshly bought a few days prior, after a sample had convinced him, he told me, pleased with the compliment.
By Jil Sander, aha. The name was familiar to me, a fashion designer with some outstanding fragrances in both the women's and men's segments.
And this one was still new to the collection.

I really liked this spicy-fresh start with cool mint, cinnamon, and that herb-green ivy note. The coolness stands out particularly.
It continues with spiciness; they have used some aromatic spices, but individual components are hard to discern. The overall effect is very harmonious and coherent. Although these spices usually provide warmth, the cool undertone remains present throughout.
Even towards the base, when some woody aspects become noticeable, it stays cool.
A slight sweetness also lingers, but it is not too strong and does not overwhelm anyone. The fragrance envelops the wearer with an overall well-groomed and pleasant aura.

The longevity is about 5 hours, which is not the best, but given the now very affordable prices, one can easily reapply. And since I really like the scent, I find that forgivable.
The fragrance does not create an immense veil around itself and is therefore perfect for the office. No one will take issue with the beautifully balanced combination.
Sander for Men is also a lovely understated companion for leisure. Jeans or a suit fit equally well.

Opinions are divided about the bottle. I own the 125 ml size, and it is just manageable. Any larger, and the somewhat clunky block would be too much.
Overall, I find the angled simple design successful and fitting for Jil Sander's understatement.

Due to the cool undertone, I find the fragrance less suitable for winter, as it might get a bit lost then. A little warmer weather definitely does it good.
Surely, in the course of the reformulation craze, Sander for Men has also been tampered with, but it has survived without major damage; you can still recognize the fragrance. It may have lasted a bit longer in the past. But otherwise, I can't find anything negative.
I am just glad that I made this discovery and that this beautiful fragrance has made it into the 21st century.
What became of the friendly acquaintance, I do not know. At some point, I changed jobs and no longer needed the train.

02/02/2022

9Scent 7Longevity 8Sillage

Kollerl
6 Reviews

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Kollerl

Very helpful Review 29

Men's fragrances are for women's noses!

In my late twenties, I started wearing men's fragrances and found that I feel very comfortable in them.

Long before I knew this term, my signature was Sander for Men Eau de Toilette.
I wear this scent occasionally to see if it still suits me: and yes, it does.

I also associate a special memory with this fragrance:
I was sitting with friends in a café. The waiter brought the ordered drinks to the table and leaned over next to me to set them down safely. In that moment, we both noticed the same scent on each other: Sander for Men Eau de Toilette. Just one glance, first completely perplexed, then conspiratorially knowing. No one else had taken notice of it. It was an unexpected, erotically charged moment.

09/11/2019

Wupstaler
2 Reviews

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Wupstaler

Very helpful Review 18

A great companion says a quiet goodbye

The beautiful comment from SchatzSucher about Jil Sander for Men inspired me to express my feelings about this long-time companion here. The predominant feeling within me is primarily sadness, or perhaps nostalgia is more accurate. I encountered Jil Sander for Men at the end of the 90s during a turbulent phase of my life that hosted many significant changes. Until then, I was still quite fickle and tried a lot of things. This applied to life in general and to my outward appearance, including my fragrance identity in particular. Sometimes it was Davidoff's Cool Water, sometimes the far too sweet Joop homme, and Nightflight was also in the mix. None of the current fragrances at that time could truly convince or, should I say, bind me.

I was initially a bit skeptical about Jil Sander for Men as well. I received a bottle as a tip from a grateful customer whom I had helped, who was a sales representative for perfumes and whose vehicle was not functioning as he had hoped.
I cautiously sniffed a sample spray on my wrist and didn’t know whether I should like the scent or not.
On Friday evening, I decided to try the fragrance out while hitting the nightlife after showering, and what can I say, I was bombarded with compliments about my scent.
From then on, Jil was my constant companion, probably the only woman in my life who was always close by and caused no jealousy dramas but rather well-being among other ladies. Over time, I delved deeper and deeper into Jil's fragrance world, completing the EDT with shower gel, deodorant, and aftershave. Armed with this, I met my future wife, who, even after many years, couldn’t stop intensely sniffing around me!
A few years later, we went as a quartet (my wife with Angel, and I with Jil) to the USA for a while, and I also received many intense expressions of sympathy for "my" fragrance there, which seemed completely unknown, especially in the southern states. An unforgettable moment for me was, for example, entering an Eddie Bauer store in Florida, where I walked past an extremely attractive saleswoman, and she called after me, "Wow, Sweetheart, you smell great today. I need to know, what it is".

But nothing lasts forever, and after many years of togetherness with Jil Sander for Men, the shocking news came. Jil Sander had sold her company, to Prada I believe, and shortly thereafter, the "for Men" fragrance line was to be discontinued. I gathered what I could still get at my regular perfumery, even had items sent from other branches in Germany that were still available, and was stocked up for years. Unfortunately, the supply didn’t last until the end of my life and eventually ran out.
Today's purchases of the fragrance line, especially deodorant, shower gel, and aftershave, require quite a bit of research and sometimes cost a small fortune to still obtain an original.
Moreover, I have the perhaps subjective impression that the fragrance has dramatically lost its identity and also its longevity. I have noticed this impression with another already mentioned confidant, namely the then-popular women's fragrance Angel, but that’s another story.

It is written here that at least the EDT is still being produced, but if that is the case, I suspect that the qualities no longer reach the level of the past; perhaps it can be illustrated and compared with Coke and Coke Classic. Maybe someone will bring this almost egocentric fragrance back in original quality someday, somehow, and then I would also have something from the retro hype.

In closing, I would like to thank Jil Sander and Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud for a wonderful companion through life.

More reviews

Statements

57 short views on the fragrance

Elysium

7 years ago

Love at first sight needs no introduction but if I tell you about falling in love at first whiff, would you believe me? So leafy, fresh, wet

Axiomatic

3 years ago

8.5Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

Lightly aquatic, bright spicy, harmlessly woody, pleasantly green.
Well-behaved & helpful.
Unfortunately, the eternal goer is gone forever. *

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Pollita

11 months ago

9Scent 7Longevity 7Sillage

A cardamom cuddler from the nineties
spiced with nutmeg
and subtly woody in the finish
Feel the warmth and enjoy the closeness.

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Schoeibksr

3 years ago

7Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

Fresh mint leaves surrounded by cinnamon dust.
A variety of spices on a striking wooden board.
Too refined for shower gel:
Belletrud is a MASTER.

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Yatagan

2 months ago

7Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

Spicy green without a closer connection to the mentioned herbs and spices, as the somewhat synthetic but harmoniously woody base dominates.

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Ergoproxy

4 years ago

8Scent 8Longevity 6Sillage

I still think it's great. A spicy fresh and bright woody scent that’s instantly recognizable. It becomes subtly sweeter in the dry down.

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Gold

4 years ago

8Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

Beautiful classic, balanced, elegant, subtle. You can't go wrong with this. A good, stylish choice.

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Theris

3 years ago

8.5Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

Minty freshness
Ivy fan
Spice blend
Feel-good hit
Light sweet accompaniment
With wooden casing
No scent adapter
A fragrance with character

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Taurus

6 years ago

7Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Thanks to its balanced spice and sweet sandalwood drydown, it skillfully strikes a balance between a subtle office scent and a semi-sexy evening fragrance.

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