The Trained Nose

Elle against Elle Summer Fragrance 2008

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.
Yves Saint Laurent

Elle

Floral Woody · lasts about 6.6 h
Yves Saint Laurent

Elle Summer Fragrance 2008

· lasts about 5.2 h

How close, and when

Across a whole wearing, Yves Saint Laurent Elle and Yves Saint Laurent Elle Summer Fragrance 2008 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.

84% opening · 0–1 h
85% heart · 1–3 h
90% 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 17 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 — Peony
Elle only — Amalfi Lemon, Lychee
Elle Summer Fragrance 2008 only — Ginger, Tangerine
heart
both — Freesia
Elle only — Jasmine, Pink Pepper, Rose
Elle Summer Fragrance 2008 only — Raspberry, Red Berries
base
both — Patchouli, Vetiver
Elle only — Ambrette (Musk Mallow), Cedar
Elle Summer Fragrance 2008 only — Musk, Peony

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.