The Trained Nose

Ça Sent Beau against Kenzo

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.
Kenzo

Ça Sent Beau

· lasts about 6.7 h
Kenzo

Kenzo

· lasts about 7.3 h

How close, and when

Across a whole wearing, Kenzo Ça Sent Beau and Kenzo Kenzo are all but the same thing. They are nearest during the opening and furthest apart in the drydown, which is the part a single figure would average away.

95% opening · 0–1 h
94% heart · 1–3 h
89% drydown · 3–8 h
Measured across all twenty-four facets, from the notes below — not from the families on the boxes. They share 9 of 26 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, Mandarin Orange
Ça Sent Beau only — Patchouli
Kenzo only — Orange Blossom, Peach, Plum
heart
both — Coriander, Gardenia, Jasmine, Tuberose, Ylang-Ylang
Ça Sent Beau only — African Orange Flower, Peach
Kenzo only — Caraway, Carnation, Cedar, Lily of the Valley, Orris Root, Rose, Sandalwood
base
both — Amber, Vanilla
Ça Sent Beau only — Vetiver
Kenzo only — Musk, Oakmoss, Patchouli