F***, this is a damn long review to translate... ;)
It is difficult for me to write an objective review on this one because there there are some memories linked to it. In the 90's - I was a teenage girl of about 14 years old - we did a school exchange with a french partner school. I was really lucky with my exchange partner, we were virtually soulmates and stayed in touch for a long time afterwards. Her mother collected perfume miniatures, I especially remember her owning some Chanels. Though I liked perfume I was still not a junkie. On my last day in their family her father took me down to the wine cellar and chose a couple of bottles for my parents not without instructing me that the bottles had to rest for 2 weeks before opening them. The mother prepared a lunch pack for me and gave me a 4 ml mini of Chanel Egoiste. That juice captivated me, it made me crazy like hell. I kept that little treasure - my holy grail - for as long as possible - just sniffing some of it from time to time. I had no idea at all that it was a guy's frag (internet still did not exist and I lived in a small place were I didn't pass by perfumeries every day...) and honestly, it never would have come to my mind. It was MY scent, so special. Actually I have no idea why I never made my parents buy it for me for birthday or something. Maybe I had given up on it because I got to know that it was for guys - who knows. Back then I wouldn't have worn guy's scents. And lateron I forgot. About a year ago - now as a perfume junkie - I went to a perfumery with a male friend of mine. I sprayed some Egoiste on him and it was disgusting. Very skanky. After an hour or two it got better. Once more I forgot about it until I got to know Bois des Îles this summer, which I quite liked - and read about its ressemblance with Egoiste. A couple of days (now weeks) ago I had the spontaneous opportunity to buy cheaply another 4 ml mini of Egoiste. Looked exactly like the one I used to have and according to the label it must be vintage juice. I applied some drops on my neck and WOW HOW COOL IS THAT? I still find it damn good an this is although my tastes have changed a lot during the last months and years. Pure nostalgia? Don't think so!
Enough of this drivel - now I try to explain what it smells like:
To begin with, there is a clear family resemblance between Egoiste and Bois des Îles. But they are definitely different enough to own both. When testing them simultaneously, the differences get very clear - and I wouldn't necessarily say that Bois des îles is the winner, the better, the more complex one - at least to my nose. BdI is softer, smoother, has the typical Chanel-notes - slightly animalic (civet??? don't think so) or maybe rather aldehydes. Just as if you had removed some notes of Egoiste (e.g. lavender) and mixed some Cuir de Russie to it. It makes BdI creamier, a bit more feminine (to me both are unisex after all), a bit as if you softened a spicy sauce by adding some cream to it. Spice is the keyword: Egoiste is a very spicy oriental with lots of woody cinnamon and lots of sandalwood, I don't get much of the clove though. Contrary to the very Chanel BdI the top notes of Egoiste seem somewhat Guerlain - clearly lots of lavender and other herbs, something slightly animalic (not sure if there is civet, might come from the lavender). Almost reminds me of the top notes of Jicky. In the heart there is loads of cinnamon, not overly sweet, but enjoyably pungent and woody. Somehow this scent seems sweet and dry at the same time. During one test I believed to get a faint incense note, too. The heart melts perfectly with the sandalwood note. Lateron some floral notes, especially a slight rose note appears, not a heavy grandma rose, just a slight tough. And so on... wood-cinnamon-sandalwood. Be light on the trigger, then its simply brilliant! In the drydown Egoiste and BdI get closer to each other, but some differences remain.
UPDATE - although I already own far too many scents... I simply had to own a bottle. This time the mini was not enough. I got a used 50 ml bottle with recent juice. It is still Egoiste, however slightly different, still great. I think I get more of the leather and tobacco (which I now get) in the vintage. Comparing to other frags containing rosewood I also get lots of rosewood here (both versions). I recently sprayed some of the juice on my mum - and it got very skanky on her. Just as on my friend. On my skin it gets slightly skanky in the very beginning, but highly enjoyable. On my mum it stays skanky in a less enjoyable way for about an hour.
