Chanel Egoiste - i never knew it was a sandalwood prominent scent.

If you are smelling the current version of Egoiste, I totally agree with you. To me, it smells like an almost pure sandalwood scent. I have not smelled the original version in about 15 years, but if my memory serves me right, the old version was extremely peppery and spicy; the sandalwood I remember was much more subdued. Although I respected Egoiste, I never felt comfortable wearing it because of its intense pepperiness.

I wouldn't expect such a mainstream scent to have real sandalwood oil, but who knows? It's all about perception, and great perfumers can make synthetics appear very natural, and as far as I'm concerned that's all my nose needs to know to enjoy a good scent.

I think of Egoiste as a syrupy rose rosewood scent.

Actually, I currently have a fabric softner that smells like the fabric softner version of Egoiste.

http://www.lenorinfusions.com/concentrate.htm

It's Lenor Infusion Rose - something like that.

I like Egoiste. It's sweet, slightly herbal, rose-y and woody.

I don't wear Egoiste, but I personally find that the new formulation is more wearable than the original. The original, though it was a work of art, struck me more like a room fragrance than something I'd wear on my skin. It felt like it was wearing me. The original, however, I think was more creative and unique.

I remember someone calling Egoiste a rose scent, and all I could think then was sandalwood. 'cuz that's pretty much all I smell after the top notes wear off... Fantastic top notes though.

If you can, try Egoiste Concentree.

When I first smelled Egoiste I hated it.

Years went by and I retested it, and I loved it. I myself smelled that candied, rosewood woodiness, much more than I smelled sandalwood. But then, after reading about it here on BN I realized, at the very dry down, how I can smell the sandalwood very clearly.

I don't wear it when I want something sandalwood prominent (there are so many other fragrances that I would go to first for that: Santalum by Profumum, Bois de Iles by Chanel, etc) but its sandalwood presence in Egoiste is like icing on the cake, of a scent that I already love.

What do you think about the current iteration of Egoiste Mike?

It was one of the scents my dad wore years ago -- It was a time when I was pretty young and not much informed at all. I received an 8ml decant of the current Egoiste in a swap and I'm vastly disappointed. It smells too watered down, synthetic and to be honest, dull to me. Wearing it felt like rubbing stale rosewater all over me and the sandalwood in it smelled like a bad joke

I get a lot sandalwood during the drydown too

The current version is both watered down and at the same time more wearable than the vintage version.
To my nose the top is less medicinal than it was.
I get a lot of cinnamon in the top.
They also made some changes to the base.
There used to be a smokey and a somewhat dirty note in the drydown.
These notes are gone.
The thing with the current formulation is that you really need to spray a lot more, if you want it to be perceptible, than you needed to do with the older formulation.
So I am on two thoughts about the current Egoiste.
It is more wearable but I really liked the smokey note and I am sad that they took it out.

If it has high quality sandalwood in it, then it would make me question why anyone got excited about sandalwood in the first place. I found Egoiste to be harsh, uninteresting, unpleasant, and "synthetic." The gourmand sandalwood that I prefer by a wide margin is Python (Trussardi) for women. It's also harsh for half an hour or so, but then it's a powdery sandalwood with chocolate and other pleasant notes.

Well the current version of Egoiste is the one I have fallen in love with. I also agree with petruccijc - the Egoiste Concentree is even better (and harder to find). Sorry it didn't work out for you Amit.

I read comparisons to Egoiste in reviews of Caron's Third man. The notes do not appear to be similar unless one were to subsume the Amber, Musk, Moss, Cedarwood, Patchouli, & Tonka of Caron's Third into the Sandalwood of Egoiste.

[I bring this up because I am considering Egoiste for my next major purchase. I also enjoy Caron's 3rd very much.]

What, what?!
What is that?!
Never heard of such thing.
Is it a rip off like Pour Monseiur Concentreé,
or a genuine concentrated Égoïste?!

Égoïste Concentrée is basically a more focused version, released in the US primarily? I know I've never seen it on sale anywhere.

Egoiste Cologne Concentree was the version sold in the U.S. back in the 1990's prior to its reformulation as the current EDT. It has been discontinued and has not been widely available for over a decade.

Too bad ... I'd love me some concentrated Égoïste!

I purchased a 200 ml splash bottle of Egoiste in 1990 when it was first launched and completely fell in love with it.
So much so that I went back two days later to the Chanel counter and got 2 bottles of the 100ml atomiser.
I cannot remember having done that for any other scent..... ok, perhaps Habit Rouge!

I can vouch that Egoiste was redolent of sandalwood back then.
Real sandalwood. Creamy, spiritual, intoxicatingly smooth sandalwood blended in with that amazing rose, ambrette seed and only Jacques Polge knows what else.
Real sandalwood oil made up a huge percentage of the formula. It has become a bit of legend the amount of sandalwood oil used in both Egoiste and the original Samsara.

It has changed over time definitely... I stopped using it for a few years (maybe 3-4) but it has always been reformulated in an acceptable fashion.

It has lost that creaminess, that stunning swirl of layer after layer of cloud. That thick glow, that veil of the natural oil that is inimitable.
But all the great sandalwood fragrances have suffered from the well-justifiied Indiian government's ban on the harvesting of Mysore Sandalwood... Samsara, Tam Dao, Egoiste, Santal Mysore.
Now the synthetics rule but not always badly...

Egoiste although changed is not spoiled.
It is still stunning, unique, sexy and ..... yes compellingly centred.

For me, the sandalwood is not so centre-stage anymore.
But that's just me. I am 51 and grew up in Singapore where in early days we could get our hands on pure sandalwood, burn the wood itself as incense....
I still use Egoiste with fervour and most happily.
I can smell the so-called substitutes but its a great re-formulation.
Perfume is a living art.
I am happy that the sandalwood is still noticed by so many!

I actually prefer Trumpers sandalwood to the new Egoiste (not vintage)
it seems creamier and a bit more complex

I recently stumbled across this old thread where the presence of sandalwood in Chanel Egoiste (and Bois des Iles) is discussed at length. Vibrant_Violets discussion was particularly interesting to me.

http://www.basenotes.net/threads/180...ht=#post790815

Sandalwood or not, this is probably the best men's oriental in the mainstream market, along with Habit Rouge.

Funny to find this thread just now after posting Egoiste as SOTD. BTW, ditto the above comment. Class A stuff.

Does anybody know when was it reformulated?
My bottle is a few years old, and it smells delicious