The Trained Nose

Essence against Essence Eau de Musc

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.
La Rive

Essence

· lasts about 5.4 h
Narciso Rodriguez

Essence Eau de Musc

· lasts about 9.9 h

How close, and when

Across a whole wearing, La Rive Essence and Narciso Rodriguez Essence Eau de Musc are not much alike. They are nearest during the drydown and furthest apart in the opening, which is the part a single figure would average away.

3% opening · 0–1 h
9% heart · 1–3 h
30% drydown · 3–8 h
Measured across all twenty-four facets, from the notes below — not from the families on the boxes. They share 0 of 10 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
Essence only — Hyacinth, Lemon
Essence Eau de Musc only — Iris, Rose
heart
Essence only — Apple Tree, Jasmine
Essence Eau de Musc only — Musk
base
Essence only — Cedar, Musk
Essence Eau de Musc only — Amber