Ménage a Trois: it’s a man’s world.

This time round, we’re trying out our threesome in a butch style, reviewing two iconic men’s scents (P: Is this mantalk for phallic?): Chanel’s à‰goà¯ste and Creed’s Green Irish Tweed, both frequently the subject of discussion over on Basenotes. How do they measure up (P: aha, it is!) with the Posse?First then, Green Irish Tweed. Apparently created in 1985 and, according to Creed, enjoyed by a range of people from Prince Charles to Naomi Campbell, GIT contains notes of lemon, sandalwood and ambergris.

March: I don’t spend a ton of time smelling men’s product, and I’m married to Mr. Dial Soap. So the good/bad thing is, I can’t smell this and think of all the ways it does/doesn’t remind me of a gazillion other men’s scents. I browsed Basenotes and am amazed at the number of reviews it garners: not all positive, but jeez. For some folks this is the ultimate long, hot, throbbing (okay I’ll stop there.) Are you ready? It smelled fine to me. I’m not feeling the whole “wear it to the boardroom” thing, really. The VPs are wearing this because they want to smell rich, like the country club lawn. (The CEO is wearing Yatagan, or some weird chick scent, and whip marks on his back under his bespoke shirt, because Mistress says he’s been a bad, bad boy.) I wore GIT to the gym, the grocery store and Target, and nobody said much. It does not have the Creed base, that sour, bitter note I don’t care for. I get plenty of sweet citrus up front — hello, bergamolemonverbena — and then it settles down into generic Eau de Dude, on the green side, a little grassy, somethin’ leafy, no monster sillage. It’s not really unisex, but it’s not like wearing a jockstrap, either. The guy next door in the cube farm could do worse. I didn’t become damp with desire.

Patty: I’m probably not going to hate this as much as March and Lee since this is the first time I smelled it, but I can certainly see how being in a pub full of fellows wearing it would send me out in the street looking for some fresh air and celibacy. It’s crisp and bracing and really does suck up all the other smells around you. I don’t think it’s entirely horrible at all, but I don’t really like it either. So now what happens to me? Does Basenotes send their Perfume Thugs over to pay a visit? All Things Creed have such mindless adoration an enthusiastic following there, I’m afeared for my nose. :::shakes in out-of-style Ugg boots::::

Lee: GIT is the perfume thug and a more appropriate acronym would be hard to find. It’s the epitome of all I hate in a scent – sharp, overly-assertive, overpowering. There’s something wrong with me, cos I just don’t get how anyone could actually enjoy this. I like some of those in-yer-face 80s scents, but not this one. And it has that awful modern Creed accord – like hot metal or a chemical factory in meltdown. Okay, to be fair to the noxious juice, there are one or two notes in there that are potentially attractive, but this blooms like the plant in Little Shop of Horrors when it hits skin and doesn’t stop growing in intensity. Any man who needs to overcompensate this much might want to hunt down a good implant surgeon or just get a sports car.

Now onto à‰goà¯ste. Released by Chanel in 1990, it contains notes of coriander, sandalwood and ambrette seed.

Patty: When this first went on, I thought…. ew!!!! It’s everything I hate in a scent! It was like a blast of Satan’s breath, but as it warms up on the skin, it morphs into a damn fine scent, the coriander and ambrette seed are pretty brilliant. After No. 18, I’m fast becoming a fan of the ambrette seed. I get its iconic status now. Is this discontinued? I think Mister Patty would smell pretty great in it. And now I’m going to have to shower and reapply it because I spritzed on GIT on the other arm, and it jumped across to the other arm and strangled Egoiste to death. WTF?! Vicious little scent.

Lee: If you’re a chic metropolitan European like me I wish I was, you’d have smelled this everywhere in the 1990s. Just as trendy fin de siecle folk were starting to wear all natural fabrics (jute sack, anyone?) in non-shades like ecru, Chanel launched this counterstrike against bland. And it’s a palpable hit: starts off like medicine with a bit of a dirty accord (the reason it failed in cotton-clean USA?), then dries down to a variation on Bois des Iles. I had to teach myself to like this again – those first few notes remind me of reckless living a little too strongly, and it is without a doubt a decadent scent. It’s supposed to have mandarin and rosewood in the topnotes as well, but I can’t pick up on them – in fact, it’s one of those seamless blends where the whole is a long way from its components, though I guess the sandalwood is pretty clearly marked. I’ve learned to love it again. It ain’t butch, it ain’t manly, but it is right.

March: Wow. What else is in there? I’ve never smelled this before; all the stores around here carry a flanker (Egoiste Platinum?) which I’m assuming has some silly “fresh” accord to make it more, you know, sportif (note from L: not actually a flanker – an entirely different scent). I wouldn’t have identified this as a masculine scent; it seems very unisexy to me. The same elegant, slightly chilly elan of the Rue Cambon collection, with more weight and sillage. I’m not crazy about ambrette, which can have an almost acrid feel to me, like rancid wine, but this is different. It definitely opens with something citrus/juicy, and there’s a spicy, dusty floral aspect to it that reminds me of Paestum Rose, only less pugnacious and less sweet (L: you’re good March – rose and carnation are supposed to be in there, alongside the ole mandarino in the top…). I’m giving it two thumbs up. I do wonder whether most men find it too feminine? (An aside: Didn’t Egoiste do those goofy TV ads years ago, where the guy’s leaving the apartment and the hot, semi-naked babe is yelling after him, “Egoiste!!” which I assumed was French for a–hole… and what kind of message is that? Fragrance For The Chump Who Leaves?) [Third pompous note from L: it was a whole load of ladyfolk opening the shutters on some shabbychic mansion yelling out the perfume name to some unseen philanderer…] {P jealous of editorial sidenotes L leaves for M and huffs some Vetiver Tonka to calm down}

Final whine from L: can we do more men’s stuff, posse?

March: Not unless you send me pictures of you wearing a dress.

Patty: No, and an even bigger Nyet if you DO send pictures of you wearing a dress. Send Colin Firth instead, I have an open position for him to fill.

March: Hahahahahahahaha!!! Okay, going to wash my mind out with soap.

Lee: You smutmuffin Patty! Dial soap, March? But that’ll just get you thinking of hubbahubba hubby… Sheesh, these men’s scents have got both of your saps arising…

[image from http://autrynationalcenter.org]

  • zztopp says:

    As for Egoiste, meh, too sweet for me (and most men). Seems like a lot of women here go for it – I am not suprised really, considering that its mostly women who are massive fans of the sugar bomb (candied fruit + benzoin + honey + amber) concotions of serge lutens. If you love those candied potions from SL, Egoiste will seem light weight and an appropriate “summer frag”.

  • zztopp says:

    Green Irish Tweed was a groundbreaking frag when it was released in 1985, and is still Creed’s best seller. It is also one of the most oft copied fragrances, with Cool Water being the biggest culprit. Luca Turin’s 1994 reviews guide has a glowing review of GIT, and also mentions many fragrances which have copied various aspects of its note structure.

    Personally I find it anything but generic – true, it might not seem as “rad” nowadays mainly because its formula has been ripped off so many times, but I still love its citrus opening which segues into an earthy violet accord. I still find it addictive and its one of my Creed staples. Similarly, I could knock down Dior’s Eau Sauvage or Chanel Pour Monsieur, because they dont smell as “groundbreaking and unique” now, but I do realise that they are classics, still smell good, and made an important contribution to perfumery.

  • Gaia says:

    I can’t be objective about Egoiste. I love it, but it also reminds me of the my biggest heartbreak. The jerk…

  • Marie-Helene says:

    Drumroll please…….the scents that Clint Eastwood wear are 1) Dirt by Demeter and 2) GREEN IRISH TWEED!!!

    Courtesy of the celebrity fragrance guide by Makemepretty

    I think that GIT is a handsome scent as far as I can remember. Love Egoïste.

  • minette says:

    someone mentioned paul newman. isn’t he reputed to wear creed’s bois du portugal? now that is a fine scent. he must smell very good. and we women can easily wear it, too. probably my favorite men’s creed. acier aluminum is good, too. except for the vintage tabarome, i could do without most of the other creeds for men.

    • pitbull friend says:

      You’re right, Minette, Creed does claim he wears BdP. Sounds plausible, doesn’t it? I didn’t say Paul Newman was old, Annie. I just said he’s as old as my dad. Since I’m in my 40s, that would make Paul Newman…. older than that.:) I still think the majority of man-lovin’ women wouldn’t throw PN out of their houses even if he were wearing…. nothing! (My people don’t do Lent, so that was OK!)
      –Ellen

  • minette says:

    butch-trio reviewing suits you guys. very funny. i hope you do review more men’s scents, actually. colin firth or no colin firth.

    GIT is one creed i don’t like either. it’s just too generic and manly for me. whoever mentioned overcompensating, i’d have to agree. but didn’t they make a GIT way back when for cary grant? that i would like to have smelled.

    egoiste i have only sniffed, but not worn. i remember liking it, but now i don’t know why. on the other hand, i am a huge fan of chanel pour monsieur – which smells gorgeous on me. if i say so myself.

    so, yes, please, bring on more men’s scents for those of us who love to cross-wear our perfumes.

  • Annie says:

    :((OMG….SOMEONE here said Paul Newman is OLD….when did this happen????…..and Patty bought a bitty Chanel bag,instead of that absolute winner….EEEEEWWWWWW….ya’ better wear sumpin’ slutty,that shows yer cleavage,with it,to keep up a decent dang image,girl….carry on.

  • pitbull friend says:

    Just thinking (work is so fascinating!) — maybe Newman should be wearing Sisley Eau de Campagne. Given that he’s kind of an All-American guy & has been on the label of so many luscious organic products, it seems right to me that he should smell like piquant tomato leaves.

    Oh, and shouldn’t Clint Eastwood be wearing Tauer’s Lonestar Memories? (yummmm)
    –Ellen

    • Maria B. says:

      Ooh, yes, Ellen, Lonestar Memories, with that Rawhide remembrance. Although these days he prefers golf courses. Eau de Putting Green? But never GIT!

    • March says:

      YESSS!!!! That is EXACTLY what Clint should be wearing!!!! For a moment there, I read “Paul Newman” regarding the Sisley, but I was thinking of Clint, and I thought — Clint Eastwood wearing Sisley?!? Has she lost her mind?!?!:d

  • tmp00 says:

    Wow. You really must have liked it. Jeesh. HE smells like something that washed up on “CSI” @-)

  • March says:

    T — this is part of what was so interesting to me, smelling it. I don’t have a ton of stuff to compare it too, sniff-wise. I was actually waiting for something wildly offensive. GIT — I dunno. It’s the sort of thing I could smell at my health club on the not-so-young turks. It was tame. I did kind of like the pernicious citrusy aspect while it lasted … I am a citruslut.

    Egoiste DOES rock. I am wearing it right now, in fact. I think Chanel should group it with the Rue Cambon collection and let its light shine.

    • tmp00 says:

      I was just bored. It may have been partly the cheesesteak effect, and the fact that the juice was about as interesting as Aqua Velva to me. Ooooh, I am asking for it aren’t I?:-s

  • tmp00 says:

    you know, I’ve been cruising Basenotes for about as long as I’ve been reading these blogs and was always intrigued by all the bother over GIT (as they call it): entire threads like “I wore GIT on an interview and was made CEO!!”. I finally just went into Neimans and asked to smell it. My reaction? This is what all the fuss is about? This is the miracle elixer that will get you any job you seek, boy/girl you desire, increase your potency better than that herbal stuff the guy with the stupid grin hawks and perhaps even cure cancer? This drab yet pernicious citrusy snooze? Then I come here and read that it was created in 1985? Not 1885? Because really, two centuries ago is the only excuse…:-w

    Egoiste on the other hand, ROCKS :d

    • Lee says:

      Seems like you find it inoffensive. I’d rather bathe in the indolic depths of Human Existence than wear that GIT muck on my skin.

      • tmp00 says:

        My comment dropped down too. I blame basenotes hackers! (looking around in a paranoid manner)

    • March says:

      Tom — crap, dropped my comment the wrong place, look down there. On the web page, not your pants, you silly goose.;)

  • Mike P says:

    I patiently wait every week, for you 3 kids to do your review thing – luv it. Keep it up & yes, more mens scents reviews would be nice.

    I’m a card carrying BaseNoter and don’t really feel the Creed-love either (although I ADORE Silver Mountain Water). Have heard so many good things about GIT, I was planning on buying a decant this week, so now perhaps I’ll sniff it at Nordys before I spend my $ on a decant that I hate.

    Never really like Egoiste back in the day, I must resniff soon.

    ((Now donning mask – I reenter the BaseNotes headquarters)) 🙂

    • March says:

      Mike — nice to have a Basenoter over here!!! Also nice to have a little testosterone injected into the blog … Lee isn’t quite as T-loaded as you might guess;) although his grammar’s immaculate and his humor is wicked. And he says he has nice legs, and I still want to see him in a skirt. What am I blathering about? Too much allergy medication…:”>

      • Lee says:

        I’ll have you know I can tile walls and floors, put up shelves, double dig, and am generally very handy around the house. I also don’t like shopping much. So, a homo’s allowed to fag it up with frag, ain’t he?:d

        *swaggers off to practise butch walk*

        • carmencanada says:

          Lee, I can do those things too, and last time I checked I was still a double X (chromosomes, that it). If I had to wait for my Bornéo-snatching Brit to do those things for me… Okay, so maybe I’m a bit butch, but I can wield a wicked garter belt too.

    • Patty says:

      I keep thinking I shouldn’t ever take swings at BNotes, I really do love them, but their Creed obsession is just, well, a LOT weird. I just want to go spritz Montale and Malle on them until they all promise to quit saying Creed in every other post. :d

  • Devon says:

    I love the word slutmuffin. I’m going to find ways to work it into my conversations.

    • March says:

      Woad. Someone used that a few days ago. CanNOT let it go. I’m thinking “slutmuffin” is easier than “woad” to use in casual conversation.:d

  • Solander says:

    I went on a local little sniffapalooza in the men’s scent section and I remember Egoiste as interesting enough on the paperstrip for a skin test… But the real winner was the cedary (no cedar in it though) Gucci pour homme. The thug personifying Everything I Hate In A Scent was… Fahrenheit *shivers in anticipation of Marina’s wrath*
    I also ordered a few Creed samples (not GIT though) and was very underwhelmed. Cuir de Russie – pale, flat, cold leather with felt tip pen accord. Royal English Leather – creamier leather with fake sweet citrus. Angelique Encens – cheap perfume oil drenching dry woody incense in too much plasticky vanilla. Ambre Cannelle – soap. Tabarome – some watery bland men’s cologne. Hah! I do not fear the Basenotes thugs.
    Btw, I seem to have a problem with your skins. In the Bad Girls skin I can’t see the small pictures in blog posts, the ones beside the text, and in the old PP skin I can’t comment… At least not last time I tried.

    • Lee says:

      S – if you like Gucci pour Homme, you should give Rochas Lui a try. It starts out nothing like it (neroli) but morphs into something similar. In my mind, it’s a little better than Gucci.

    • March says:

      Seconding the Rochas Lui … you’re talking to the wrong two stooges about the skins. We Know Nothing.

      Patty’s the Senior VP in Charge of The Way That Crap Looks, and I think the technical conclusion she’s reached, after lengthy email consultation with the web designer, is … that’s the way it looks in some browsers. You could email her and ask, though.

      b-)

    • Patty says:

      I think it is how your security permissions are set. Images are the most vulnerable from a security viewpoint, and if you are using some version of one of the browsers, it may not play nicely.

  • Maria B. says:

    Hilarious fun, you guys, as usual! I’ll have to watch for Egoiste.

    What I really want to talk about is Clint Eastwood. I keep wondering if someday I’ll run into him at Trader Joe’s. Maybe one day I’ll be in the frozen foods aisle and I’ll absent-mindedly reach for the vegetable samosas or mushroom turnovers at the same time as a man, and I’ll start to excuse myself, and I’ll realize that the man isn’t just any man but Clint Eastwood. At that point either I’ll handle the situation like a rational person and just say, “Oh, sorry, after you,” and because certainly he must be a gentleman, he’ll say, “No, after you,” and I will put the packages (probably the wrong ones) in my cart and then move on. Or…I’ll become frozen in place, as if I, like the shelf contents, had been kept at temperatures below zero centigrade or as if I had come down with a sudden case of tetanus, and Mr. Eastwood would run away, not wanting to be involved in another “frozen woman in aisle five” incident, and I will have to live with the humiliation for the rest of my life.

    BTW, I saw an interview with Clint Eastwood recently on TV conducted live at Pebble Beach. He had no makeup on, and I noticed his face is rather freckled with sun damage. Golfing is healthy, as long as one wears sunscreen and a hat, and few people wear a hat as well as Clnt, so why not do it?

    Do forgive me for going on. I’m completely surrounded by thick, thick fog that started rolling in yesterday afternoon. I’m obviously not dealing with it well. :((

    • pitbull friend says:

      Dear Maria, I do hope you’d have the presence of mind to ask him what cologne he favors! You could just say, “My friends want to know.”
      –Ellen

    • Lee says:

      Aah, the joys of your part of California…

      M, I think you’d be too busy inhaling to freeze.

      • Maria B. says:

        Lee, it’s such wishful thinking on my part. I lived in Sacramento (state capital) and never ran into the Governator.

        • March says:

          The Governator probably wore GIT. Dontcha think?

          But let’s think of something more important: what fragrance would Clint Eastwood wear?

          I’m struggling with this. Something rugged. Manly.

  • morgan says:

    Hey there,
    I looooove this post. I feel like a lone gunman on basenotes in my complete lack of appreciation for GIT. Everything that was hyped about it I found lacking. It’s leaden and uninteresting to the core. I was sooooo disappointed by it that it almost put me off Creed entirely until I found some I do really love. When i smelled Derring Do by Ineke it was everything I had hoped GIT would be. So thanks for the collective yawn which I will take as backup.
    I love egoiste though and have both the edt and concentree.
    Kisses,
    M

  • donanicola says:

    You’re kind of like aldehydes/champs you three – fizzy fun! I feel like I’ve come home because I cannot get on with Creed. Oh let’s stick some citrus on top of some more citrus and anchor the mess with whale vomit – again and again and again. (ooops, ducking the basenotes thugs). I think I read that Madonna wears GIT – in her flat cap I’m english now persona. Whatever. I haven’t sniffed Egoiste for ages but am inspired to do so now – I remember loving it though the feeling is inextricably linked with an xbf back in the jute sack wearing days. Ahhh.

    • Lee says:

      And for me it’s tied in with other people too… I never actually wore it myself (I was in Marina’s favourite – watch out Solander!).

  • Flor says:

    Very entertaining!! I’m a little sick today so that was a nice pick-me-up. My uncle wears Egoiste. I like both Egoiste and Egoiste Platinum. I think they are both very classic and charming and I always loved that my uncle wore (still wears) it. I associate it with money (my uncle is wealthy), so it’s what I would think the very wealthy would wear. I never thought of it as unisex, but maybe it is. I think I might need to pay my uncle a visit.

  • Marina says:

    You were afraid of Creed and their loyal followers, huh? (rightly so, rightly so) But you don’t know what danger you would have been in if you did not show enough respect to Egoiste, One of My Most Favorite Perfumes in the Whole World! Perfume Thugs are nothing. Beware of Russian Mafia though. The man’s scent I adore even more than Egoiste? Fahrenheit. Just sayin’, in case you are planning to write a less than rave review of that one. :d:d:d

    • Patty says:

      :)>- Naw, not going to attack that. i loved that Egoiste, and the contrast between the two was even broader — one so complex and beautiful and the other just mugging my nose.

    • March says:

      Colombina — my bottle of Asja is sitting here, unsniffed. It better smell good!<):)

  • Elle says:

    Clint! Gotta say I love that man. And I’m sure he doesn’t wear GIT. Ugh. Makes sign of cross, backs away slowly. Lee has it right – the ultimate thug of a scent. IMO, the essence of evil (no, I’m never given to hyperbole). But, ambrette seed sl*t that I am, I absolutely adore Egoiste and wear it on comfort scent days. Brilliant stuff. And someone at Chanel is building up seriously crap karma for having the gall to keep the name Egoiste in Egoiste Platinum.

    • Patty says:

      I”m not happy with Clint lately… what has he done with his face?!?!? He had this perfectly craggy great face, and he’s pinned it up!

      I’m so sad. He shouldn’t have don ethat. I loved those droopy lidded squinty eyes. *sniff*

      • Elle says:

        What?? I don’t think I’ve seen his face for a few years. God, that’s the *last* thing I would have expected from him. Very, very sad. Must go google to see pics.

      • Maria B. says:

        Patty, when I saw Clint (on TV) at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, he looked OLD. He didn’t look as if he’d done a damn thing to his face. In fact, I got worried he was heading for skin cancer because his skin showed so many signs of sun damage. If he were into cosmetic surgery, he would have had some sort of laser resurfacing or chemical peel, you’d think. Maybe in films they’re going crazy with the makeup.

  • Louise says:

    Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! Can I reply to myself to brag? We have a new nose in the family-no I didn’t get mine bobbed, though it really needs it.

    My man-child (age 17) is showing real nasal talent. I frequenty ask his opinion of a scent on me…and this week he smelled Ambre Russe and declared “coriander”; POTL and uttered “Playdoh gone bad”; and Coup de Fouet and asked “isn’t it like that Poivre stuff you got in New York?”.

    I’m so proud!

    • pitbull friend says:

      Congratulations, Louise! You should be proud of raising such a fellow!
      –Ellen

    • Flor says:

      Louise, you must be so proud! My ten year old makes me proud that way as well. He loves to comment on what I have on, and the other day we were walking through the mall and an SA handed him a scent strip and he smelled it and said, “Cinnamon, oranges and wood”. I smelled it and indeed it was. \:d/

      • Louise says:

        Flor-such a nose, and only 10? Wonderful!

        I am thinking of sending my boy in to try out scents I am afraid of…oops, not nice!

    • Patty says:

      Boys have great noses, you should be proud! My youngest knows he does NOT like aldehydic perfumes at all, he calls them “those really strong ones.” He’s got a great nose, way better than mine on picking things out.

    • March says:

      Congrats! He’ll be swiping your Bois before long …

      the twins routinely say to me now, “you smell yucky.” And they don’t even bother to sniff me first./:)

  • Louise says:

    Thanks, trio, for a terrific post. I will run rapidly away from GIT, as I do most all Creeds (OK, not CdR), and will seek Egoiste-sounds creamy nice, with spectacular notes.

    But really, ladies-why deny Lee more “men’s stuff”??? Til you, I knew only from “unisex”, and never truly crossed over. In fact, I only tried a “men’s thing” (clean your minds, yet again) to relive the memory of an old lover’s nape and such (ooooh, the A*men guy….). March, wasn’t you chasing me around NM spraying Eau Noire at me with wild abandon? And now, I love to argue with stuborn SAs over sniffing “men’s” fragrances.

    Besides, I bet Lee’s gams beat many of ours, hands down. So to speak.

    • March says:

      L — so, you like the “men’s thing?!?” I know you, and I bet you have tried more than one!!! Oh! My. And it’s Lent, too. LENT, woman, do you hear me?!?! I’m going to have to, like, get an exorcism or stick my head in a vat of holy water or something. P, break out that Raccolta. Must be something about impure thoughts…

      I have *no doubt* we’ll do more men’s things. /:) Lee thoughtfully included a couple more and I’m sure they’re both really … monumental.

      • Louise says:

        Nice Jewish girls don’t do Lent. Nor do the other kind of Jewish girls, either. Though I am guessing it makes all those Filthy,er Impure Thoughts much more fun…

    • Lee says:

      My legs – best bits of my body. Bit muscly and hairy for a mini-skirt though.

  • chayaruchama says:

    Well, well, my fragrant clown prince/princesses.
    Nicely put !

    My boys won’t touch ANY of these with a stick.
    But I love to hear you rave and banter…it’s just like being home [Oh ! I AM home…].

    Love you dearly.

  • pitbull friend says:

    Carmen, what is pompous about your note? I love hearing details like that!

    Lee/Patty/March: You are wonderful! So little could possibly make me laugh at 6 a.m., but you did. Thanks for saving me from GIT. I went through my manly scents from the unsniffed box and found that I still hadn’t tried ELDO Secretions Magnifiques. In the spirit of your fine writing, felt I had to. So far, it smells on me like a fakey room spray I once bought at Pier One called “Ocean.” (Having spent lots of time on the Atlantic as a child, I’ve never found a sea scent that seems right.) Go figure!
    –Ellen
    P.S. I would love for you all to do some more manly scents (esp. Bois du Portugal, which Creed alleges is a fave of Paul Newman — yes I know he’s as old as my dad, but… isn’t there is such a thing as classic sexiness?).

    • March says:

      Ocean? OCEAN?!?! Wow. Just ocean, like with teeny grains of sand, and some seagulls? No bloody corpse?

      I think “classic sexiness” is an excellent idea! Maybe Lee can put his thinking cap on and make some suggestions… you’re corresponding with a woman who thinks Old Spice is a classic, so we’ll need some help.

      • pitbull friend says:

        Um, when I said “classic sexiness,” I meant Paul Newman. But, hey, I’m sure if someone bottled “Odeur de Paul Newman,” it would sell like hotcakes. (Interesting typo: I just typed “smell like hotcakes” — that’d be nice, too.)

        Yup, fake ocean.
        –Ellen

        • March says:

          You don’t think Paul Newman wears Old Spice?:-?

          I think he smells like hotcakes, too. Let’s put some Sables on him.

  • carmencanada says:

    Re: Egoïste… First off, if this is anything like Bois des Iles, which I had heard it was when it was launched, I need to try it.
    The word “Egoïste” means “selfish” in French. It is traditionally hurled at men by irate, commitment-deprived women.
    The tv/movie theatre ad was a little spectacular concocted by Jean-Paul Goude, who is a very famous commercial film director in France. He also directed an ad for, I think, Coco, with singer Vanessa Paradis as a bird in a cage in Coco Chanel’s apartment at the Ritz (Coco was seen in silhouette), Stormy Weather. Goude is also known as the man who staged the extraordinary Bicentennial Parade in Paris on July 14th 1989. End of pompous note.

    • Lee says:

      Thanks D. I think that Goude is a very interesting stylist – I loved both the campaigns you mention and witnessed the parade too…

      • March says:

        You both make me feel like a complete maroon sometimes.

        Let me know if there’s anything about the Bob the Builder ouevre you’d like to know.

  • Basenotes says:

    (Sends thugs over for Patty…)

  • Gina says:

    I loved this review, you guys. Just brilliant. As for the GIT, yuck. I tried some a few months ago from a sample. To me it smelled…common. Like something men tend to wear too much of. I’m not crazy about Creeds in general, though I must admit, I love my Epicea, which I bought unsniffed because of you guys!!!

    Egoiste – I had an ex that tried to wear that, smelled exactly like bug spray on him. I liked it on me. Ha. He preferred Chanel Pour Monsieur, which smelled absolutely amazing on him. I wanted to eat him alive. Ha. Truly.

    • Lee says:

      Y’know G, I worry that we’ll end up descending into a slapstick comedy routine if we keep our trios up, but I’m glad you’re enjoying them,

    • March says:

      Oh my goodness. You bought Epicea unsniffed on that review?:o

      But Gina — I’m an idiot! As today’s review demonstrates masterfully.

      So … how’d it work out?:-?

      • Gina says:

        March, I absolutely love Epicea…it was a successful venture, no harm done. I’ve been pretty lucky on items bought unsniffed. Plus, you guys give such great reviews, I felt I couldn’t go wrong.

        • March says:

          Oh, I am SO RELIEVED.

          Just, uh, kidding about the idiot part.:-“

          • Gina says:

            Ha…of course I never believed you were an idiot for a second. In the Creeds, I also like CdR. Am considering a full bottle. Yikes.

  • Julia says:

    My husband wears Egoïste and does it well. It can sometimes become cloying when the weather is warm but is totally snuggly and cozy during the winter. I borrow it sometimes and it feels very Chanel- expensive and classy but never boring.