The Trained Nose

Sign in

Chanel No 5 L'Eau against Chanel N°5 Eau Premiere

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.
Chanel

Chanel No 5 L'Eau

· lasts about 5.3 h
Read the entry Centre the map here
Chanel

Chanel N°5 Eau Premiere

· lasts about 6.5 h
Read the entry Centre the map here

How close, and when

Across a whole wearing, Chanel Chanel No 5 L'Eau and Chanel Chanel N°5 Eau Premiere are very close. They are nearest during the heart and furthest apart in the opening, which is the part a single figure would average away.

66% opening · 0–1 h
95% heart · 1–3 h
82% drydown · 3–8 h
Measured across all twenty-four facets, from the notes below — not from the families on the boxes. They share 3 of 19 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
both — Aldehyde, Neroli
Chanel No 5 L'Eau only — Bergamot, Lemon, Lime, Mandarin Orange, Orange
Chanel N°5 Eau Premiere only — Ylang-Ylang
heart
both — Jasmine
Chanel No 5 L'Eau only — May Rose, Ylang-Ylang
Chanel N°5 Eau Premiere only — Tincture of Rose
base
Chanel No 5 L'Eau only — Cedar, Orris Root, Vanila, White Musk
Chanel N°5 Eau Premiere only — Sandalwood, Vanille, Vetiver

Other comparisons worth reading

Pairs involving one of these two where the notes are fully recorded on both sides and AKIN has enough evidence for the pair to be worth reading.