The Trained Nose

Idylle against Idylle Duet

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.
Guerlain

Idylle

· lasts about 6.4 h
Guerlain

Idylle Duet

· lasts about 6.6 h

How close, and when

Across a whole wearing, Guerlain Idylle and Guerlain Idylle Duet are all but the same thing. They hold the same distance from each other all the way through, rather than converging or parting as the hours pass.

96% opening · 0–1 h
99% heart · 1–3 h
99% 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 14 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
Idylle only — Freesia, Litchi, Raspberry, Tincture of Rose
Idylle Duet only — Patchouli, Rose
heart
both — Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Peony
Idylle only — Lilac, Lily
Idylle Duet only — Freesia
base
both — Musk
Idylle only — Patchouli

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.