The Trained Nose

212 VIP Black against 212 VIP Black Extra

One number per era rather than one number overall — two fragrances can be near-identical at the opening and different things by the evening, and an average hides exactly that.
Carolina Herrera

212 VIP Black

· lasts about 5.7 h
Carolina Herrera

212 VIP Black Extra

· lasts about 7.7 h

How close, and when

Across a whole wearing, Carolina Herrera 212 VIP Black and Carolina Herrera 212 VIP Black Extra are distantly related. They are nearest during the opening and furthest apart in the heart, which is the part a single figure would average away.

56% opening · 0–1 h
39% heart · 1–3 h
39% drydown · 3–8 h
Measured across all twenty-four facets, from the notes below — not from the families on the boxes. They share 2 of 12 materials, which is worth holding beside the figures: a pair can share almost nothing and still converge, because different materials can smell of the same things.

What AKIN predicts

AKIN predicts these two are alike, and the evidence behind that is substantial.

Two signals sit on this page and are never averaged: what the note pyramids measure these two to share, and what AKIN’s resemblance graph predicts. Where they part, that is the finding rather than a fault.

The pyramids, side by side

Compared by material rather than by spelling, so a note recorded two ways is not counted as a difference.
top
212 VIP Black only — Absinthe, Anise, Fennel
212 VIP Black Extra only — Coca-Cola, Grapefruit, Rum
heart
both — Lavender
212 VIP Black Extra only — Leather, Moss
base
both — Musk
212 VIP Black only — Black Vanilla Husk
212 VIP Black Extra only — Cacao Pod