Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Watered Down - Jil Sander Pure


Once upon a time there was a Jil Sander fragrance named Pure. It was created in 1979 (not a great year for perfumery, if you look at this list), and boasted an impressive list of notes:

Top: Aldehyde, Galbanum, Coriander, Bergamot, Leaves

Heart: Rose, Jasmin, Carnation, Ylang-Ylang, Gardenia, Muguet, Tuberose

Base: Oakmoss, Styrax, Leather, Benzoin, Vetiver, Cedar

This was, of course, too good to be true (I'm guessing, since I've never actually sniffed it), and this perfume was discontinued and forgotten, until 2003 when a new fragrance was launched under this very same name.

I found two descriptions of this scent. FragranceNet simply calls it "a crisp, watery scent", while according to Neiman Marcus, it's "A blow of freshness: pure air molecule, cyclamen flower, fresh petal jasmine, lush sap."

I happened upon a bottle of the shower gel and gave it a try. The good news is that it doesn't make me itch like crazy. Seriously, I'm allergic to many a soap, so not wishing for someone to come and flay me is a very good thing. The bad news is that those descriptions of air and water are quite accurate. Pure smells like nothing. It makes me think of those HR memos to employees about not wearing perfume to work so they wouldn't offend their sensitive coworkers. This is the most politically correct fragrance. It makes me want to marinate myself in Miel de Bois.

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