The Trained Nose

Musc Ravageur against Meharées

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.
Frederic Malle Editions de Parfums

Musc Ravageur

· lasts about 7.9 h
L'Erbolario

Meharées

· lasts about 8.9 h

How close, and when

Across a whole wearing, Frederic Malle Editions de Parfums Musc Ravageur and L'Erbolario Meharées are very close. They are nearest during the drydown and furthest apart in the opening, which is the part a single figure would average away.

83% opening · 0–1 h
86% heart · 1–3 h
92% drydown · 3–8 h
Measured across all twenty-four facets, from the notes below — not from the families on the boxes. They share 4 of 25 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 — Bergamot
Musc Ravageur only — Coriander, Lavender, Neroli, Tangerine
Meharées only — Cinnamon, Orange, Rose
heart
Musc Ravageur only — Cinnamon, Clove, Orris Root, Osmanthus, Rose
Meharées only — Cedar, Guaiac Wood, Patchouli, Sandalwood
base
both — Amber, Musk, Vanilla
Musc Ravageur only — Cedar, Guaiac Wood, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Tonka Bean