Woman Two Jil Sander 1983

I must confess, I am not sure if I am evaluating the "original state" of this perfume or a version that has changed somewhat over the years... The scent is indeed very, very old, and Antoine was kind enough to fill me a sample from their stock. I was curious - I remembered Jil Sander Woman II as a great fragrance that unfortunately disappeared from the market too quickly. To be honest, I remembered Woman II as a sweet, lovely, floral, powdery scent that stood out particularly positively among the other Jil Sander creations of the past, which all seemed too aldehydic and/or chypre for my taste.

And now either my memory has played a trick on me and I am a victim of a major mix-up, or the scent has changed over the years - Anto, what do you think?

I am overwhelmed by the aldehydes. Fruit and green notes and so on do not find their way onto my skin. All the flowers in the heart note have also immediately retreated. Even the usually dominant tuberose does not show up, and in this case, I would even unusually welcome its appearance, as it might counteract the aldehydic with a bit of sweet, fruity floralness. I can only detect a trace of iris, which usually doesn’t say much either.

But what really comes through is the base. Castoreum AND civet - I am almost fainting. I am surprised that there is no galbanum in here. Because I can also clearly smell the typical putty note. All the other notes in the base like amber, woods, moss, benzoin, patchouli, and incense do not add any fine accents - everything is flattened into an animalistic mass.

I had expected all sorts of things, but NOT THIS. Jil Sander is not usually known for being so intense. Unfortunately, I cannot smell simple, elegant, cool-feminine here. Instead, I feel hair growing on my back and muscles in my arms. Quick, I need vanilla, red fruits, and roses as an antidote. Immediately!