Chanel Platinum Égoïste

At a glance

Platinum Égoïste is a Chanel fragrance composed by Jacques Polge and launched in 1993. It is a clean aromatic fougère: lavender, rosemary and petitgrain at the top, clary sage, geranium and galbanum in the heart, and vetiver, cedar and oakmoss in the base.

It shares its name and bottle style with Égoïste (1990), but it is a separate composition, fresh and herbal where the original is spiced sandalwood. Parfumo lists it as still in production.

Creation and context

Jacques Polge became Chanel’s perfumer in 1978 and held the post until 2015. By 1993 he had composed Antaeus and Égoïste for the house, and Wikipedia’s list of his work places Platinum Égoïste directly under Égoïste, as its first follow-up.

Accounts of why Chanel added it differ. Bois de Jasmin argues that Égoïste, a rich, plummy woody oriental, did not suit the “shower-clean” direction of 1990s fragrance, and that Chanel presented Platinum in 1993 to recover something from the franchise. Wikipedia’s account of Égoïste is less bleak: a slow start, then sales above projections about fifteen months after the international launch. Both agree that Platinum went in the opposite direction from the original.

Fragrantica reports that Platinum Égoïste went on to be the more commercially successful of the two, despite sharing only the name. It became one of the house’s long-running fragrances and is still sold alongside the original.

The composition

Chanel has not published the formula. The notes below are the ones that Parfumo, Fragrantica and Bois de Jasmin all list.

This is the classic fougère outline of lavender, herbs and moss, rendered with modern materials. Bois de Jasmin names the synthetics it thinks do the work: dihydromyrcenol for the citrus-herbal sparkle, allyl amyl glycolate for a green pineapple flash, and Ambroxan for the dry woody-amber base.

Why it matters

Platinum Égoïste shows the fougère being brought up to date for the 1990s. The family dates to Houbigant’s Fougère Royale (1882), and by the early 1990s its lavender-and-moss structure was being lightened and brightened for a market that wanted fragrance to smell clean. Bois de Jasmin calls Platinum as good an example of a modern fougère construction as one can find, clean and minimal but with enough character to be noticed.

Within Chanel it also shows how the house handled a name. Rather than dilute Égoïste into a lighter concentration, Polge built a separate fragrance under the same name and let the two sit side by side in the line. Bois de Jasmin adds a caution: admirable as it is, Platinum resembles many other fresh fougères, while Égoïste remains unlike anything else.

Reformulation and editions

Platinum Égoïste is sold as an eau de toilette, the version Parfumo profiles, and it remains in Chanel’s line. Buyers regularly confuse it with the original, so check the label: the two are different compositions, not two strengths of one fragrance.

Chanel has not documented any reformulation. Like every fragrance with an oakmoss base, it falls under the IFRA limits on oakmoss that have affected the whole fougère family since 2008, so vintage and current bottles may not smell identical. Fragrance Help first listed it in a side-by-side gallery with Égoïste, and comparing the two is still the best way to understand either one.

Wearing it today

Expect a sharp lavender-and-herb opening that settles into a clean, mossy woody base with a soapy, barbershop edge. It is versatile: office, daytime and warm weather all suit it.

If you already know Égoïste, try them side by side. Platinum is the easier daily fragrance; the original is the one people remember.

Related entries

Sources