Eau Duelle (2010)
by Diptyque

Hands down my most favorite fall scent. I love the spicy opening which greatly compliments the sweetness of the vanilla. I was actually saving for sublime vanille by Creed which is also beautiful. However, Eau Duelle is more affordable and (in my opinion) slightly better.

13rd August, 2011. (Last Edited: 8th September, 2011.)

Notes according to the Diptyque site: cold spices, black frankincense, vanilla.
I give this a "neutral" and that is a huge concession -- since I can't stand vanilla. Here, I say that this is a very woody vanilla, and for me the wood almost redeems the scent. The vanilla is somewhat on the dry side (as dry as vanilla can ever be, which is not entirely so). At times a coniferous note (the juniper) brightens the scent slightly, perhaps also the frankincense adds another green note. I will grudgingly concede that this is a sophisticated oriental -- it is not ponderous, thick, or treacly-sweet. It has verve and a translucent aspect. At times in the dry-down, I think I get the ghostly echo of smokey incense. Subtract the vanilla and I'd be interested. Keep the vanilla and I say -- vanilla fans will enjoy this.

3rd August, 2011.

The dry down reminds me of Barbara Bui Le Parfum. Soft skin vanilla scent. Nice!

27th July, 2011.

Diptyque EAU DUELLE is a somewhat sweet floriental. Pretty inoffensive but also not very thrilling. I wore the liquid edt both yesterday and this morning, and I have now applied the solid perfume. Yesterday's wearing was, I have to say, entirely forgettable. I didn't even notice what I was wearing for most of the day. I'm finding the solid perfume quite a bit more appealing. It's less sweet and more incense-y and I find it more oriental and less sugary than the edt.

I've tried (and acquired) a number of houses' solid perfumes, and Diptyque's has a wonderful texture: soft and oily, rather than hard and waxy. The oiliness appears to be contributing to the composition as well, as I really do prefer the solid EAU DUELLE to the liquid. The packaging of the Diptyque solids is gorgeous: a black-enameled stamped vessel with a lot of heft and an appealing closure mechanism. The only problem I foresee is that the lid is flat and only rests on top of the perfume, rather than enclosing it. This makes me wonder whether this would travel well, since the perfume itself is already quite soft. I can imagine, for example, this melting out of the container all over one's bag in hot weather. But that's okay: I'll leave mine at home, where I can admire it in all its beauty and wear it now and then.

I'm giving a neutral rating to EAU DUELLE, all things considered, since I only really like it in the solid form. I was underwhelmed by the liquid version of this oriental composition and would not add a bottle to my collection.

24th July, 2011.

Awesome! I truly love Eau Duelle, and its simplicity. The notes I get in this are vanilla, woods, incense, vetiver, vanilla, and woods. Oh ya, and vanilla!

What I love most is that it is quite simple, but still, there is nothing like it. There are a couple other niche fragrances it reminds me of (Vanille Absolument/Havanne Vanille comes to mind), a couple from the L'Artisan house.

I basically get a creamy vanilla, with some spice from the incense, lots of woods, and a drop of vetiver crammed into the dry down. The vanilla lasts from beginning to end; and although unisex, it comes off a little more manly than the other unisex vanilla frags to me. Longevity is great (10+ hours) and projection is just as good throughout. If you're looking for a less sweet, (although this is still sweet, but not synthetic sweet) vanilla, and are sick of these syrupy overly sweet vanillas, then spend a little more and give this one a try. Or sample it first!

I am thoroughly impressed with the house of Diptyque. High quality, and reasonably priced for niche fragrances. Not as synthetic smelling as most, simple fragrances, yet all seem to be unique in their own way.

9th July, 2011.

I definitely get the duality in Eau Duelle. However, I expected the scent to be balancing dark/intense vs. bright/open. Instead, Eau Duelle turns out two be two different types of gourmand on me. There's the vanillic cookie-dough on the one hand, not too sweet, but soft and very comforting. On the other hand there's a more savoury character, which I initially found hard to identify. First I though: roasted nuts. And then it hit me: it smells like roux! Roux is the french butter-and-flour base of many classic sauces. You melt butter, add flour, mix this and bake it a bit before you add a liquid. The stage where you 'bake' the roux-mixture is what I was reminded of.

IMO a classic top-to-bottom construction is hard to discern in Eau Duelle, but the play between the two sides makes this fragrance far from linear. The beautiful thing is, it's not like a hesitation. It's not as if the perfume cannot decide what it wants to be. It's not schizophrenic. Instead, it's a very confident display of two different personalities.

3rd May, 2011.