Reviews of Égoïste / L'Égoïste (1990)
by Chanel

This is very strong stuff, but is in my books a definite powerscent for the confident male. Seems to last on my skin rather well.

I really don’t rate Chanel fragrances for men – they’ve all disappointed me to various degrees.

With Égoïste, all I get is a mild vanilla and sandalwood base topped with a somewhat sharp (and irritating) metallic rose note. Taking into account that this almost put me off rose scents for life, there’s no way I’m going to be forgiving in the slightest.

I’ve heard rumours that the Égoïste of the early ‘90s was richer, better blended and had greater longevity. Well, I wouldn’t in the least be a bit surprised as the bottle I recently purchased (and promptly sold off) was extremely weak on my skin.

If I could go back in time, I would certainly snag a few bottles of Bois Noir (1987) before the name was changed to Égoïste (or even the concentrée version).

A pathetic shadow of its former self.

neither bad nor excellent nor original
over-rated for sure
i would rather say it's inoffensive
a discreet masculine fragrance fresh and not too sweet

Egoiste is a definite classic and will have its fans no matter what. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. Antaeus and Pour Monsieur are in my top ten favorites of all time, so I REALLY wanted to like this one. I love sandalwood, I love tangerine, but the vanilla just makes it too sweet for me.

I wish I could have tried the original limited release Bois Noir, because perhaps it would have had a little of the kick and less of the cloying element than Egoiste.

Nevertheless, it is still worth a try to any fragrance fan just to see what all the fuss is about. But, for my money, I'll stick to Antaeus and PM.

Egoiste is a solid, well-made oriental whose sandalwood/vanilla base avoids the sickly-sweet quagmire that bogs down many scents in its class. That said, I don’t find it terribly exciting and would much sooner wear something edgier, like Mechant Loup, or more exotic smelling, like Jaipur Homme. The quality is there, but I want a little more kick from a scent this weighty.

Back in 1990, I am sure this must have been awesome. Not so much today. It is in the vein of Aramis Life to my nose, plus the mandatory 'old man' scent that was popular in that eera. I don't if it is just my nose or what, but everything from the '70s on down to the early '90s all have the same generic toilette soap at the old country club scent. Even the supposed classic powerhouse polo'Green' and others.
All that said this is not bad. Probably considered cutting edge. But I can only recommend it if you are at least 43 years old.

Long lasting power, great presence, discreet floral notes- that is, before the Oriental burst in the end, still something missing... I think Antaeus has that certain extra, more originality, more complexity, a more mysteriously extravagant note, but egoiste, for the fans of Chanel and the classic style, is surely a good and no-nosense investement, tough not universally and daily wearable, having that sort of french-made panache more fitting the opulent and highly elaborate salon rather than casual outdoor sporty or recreative activites.

This is a particular kind of scent, and I don't mean the broad category but rather the actual mix of notes, that I just don't find appealing at all. So I'm going neutral on it, although I no longer own it and would not personally wear it at any time.

I agree with phibess here, the comment about how cloying it is, it being so sweet. I think it's the vanilla. I laughed reading the 'have to wash it off....headache and nausea' because that happened to me too!

And how did I happen to have it? I'd gotten the Platinum and loved it and lost it on a trip and bought another bottle immediately ... I was so confused ... what was this? I couldn't wear it and couldn't understand what was wrong. But what I'd gone home with wasn't ÉP but just É. At the time I didn't even know there were two different fragrances. It was over a YEAR before I figured it out.

I wanted so much to like Egoiste, I really did. Seeing how I read the numerous rants about the merits of this perfume, I got a decant. It's definitely not bad. And it surely does ooze class. It just doesn't click with me though. I think it's the rose, I get a feeling this stuff comes off a little feminine. Althought that isn't neccessarily bad, I just don't detect the spices as much as I would like because of the dominating rose. Alas, there's still BdP.

After reading all these rave reviews I though I had to try this one and since they didn't have a tester in the store I bought a 50ml bottle of Egoiste blindly. Def. a quality frag however, it's so cloyingly sweet on me I have to wash it off after 2 hours as it gives me headache and nausea. I wish it had another note/accord in it (citrus, tobacco..) that would offset its overall sweetness. It's just toooo sweet and now it's on my swap list..

I agree with the medicinal quality in this one. I also smell some tea element in this, keeps on reminding me of stale iced tea, and sometimes even Tea For Two from a strange smoky character. It is a good fragrance but certainly not the best sweet orientals out there, definitely test first.

Egoiste is a strange scent. I wanted very badly to like it when I got a bottle on Ebay, knowing it was expensive and exclusive. I was let down. Many people say it has a medicinal, cough syrup type smell. To me it had a predominant "tangy" scent, most likely from the tangerine note. Its not awful and it is definately unique, but certainly not worth the high price. Egoiste Platinum is far superior. It makes me wonder why Chanel chose to keep the EGOISTE label on Platinum. The two scents arent even in the same ballpark.