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A Comparative Study: Guerlain's Vetiver

post #1 of 8
5/24/11 at 1:38pm
Thread Starter 
Recently I purchased Vetiver and have come to thoroughly enjoy it. Thanks to Mike Perez, I now have samples of the Vintage EDt and EDC as well as my bottle of the newer formulation. My plan in this thread is to conduct an experiment to compare the three scents, note any differences, and decide which is best (even if they are only better situationally). I plan to conduct a couple of tests, and will, of course, post my findings for discussion. The new formulation will be my benchmark since I know it the best. I will draw my conclusions by comparing the others to it (i.e. the vintage EDT is lighter/heavier than the new).

Edit: I had some elaborate test thought out but I've decided to take a different approach as it wasn't working out quite so well as I planned.
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post #2 of 8
5/24/11 at 1:59pm
Thread Starter 
First up is the Vintage EDT. I applied two sparys to my forearm, and on first application, it smells perhaps darker, and spicier/mustier than the new formula. Oddly enough though I get a lighter feeling wearing the Vintage EDT (VEDT from now on), probably because it doesn't come off as sharp initially (which was bothersome in my testing of the newer formula). To me, the VEDT smells older, and more mature. I get more of the tobacco in this formulation than I do the new one, but it is not unpleasant or cigarette like, and I think it combines nicely with the Vetiver note. However, it makes the VEDT feel less green to me when compared to the newer formula.

More to come as I discover my thoughts.
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post #3 of 8
5/24/11 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 
As it dries down, I get a more earthy, or perhaps woodsy, kind of vetiver green from the VEDT as compared to the grassier green I get from the newer version.
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post #4 of 8
5/24/11 at 2:44pm
I just have a large bottle of the original EDT and am happy enough with that.
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post #5 of 8
5/24/11 at 2:56pm
Thread Starter 
As you should be! They all appear very similar thus far, and if I had a bottle of the original, I would see no need to buy the new one. I wanted to compare them and see what people were going on about (some people talk as though Guerlain's ruined the entire fragrance, and others say there's hardly any difference at all), and a generous BNer sent me some samples. I also just really enjoy sampling
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post #6 of 8
5/24/11 at 3:01pm
For clarification, when you say you have a bottle of the 'new' is it the one that looks like this, or the one that looks like this (which was just recently released)?
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post #7 of 8
5/24/11 at 3:06pm
Thread Starter 
Oh, good call on that Mike. I have the smoked glass bottle. I had forgotten that they changed the packaging again.
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post #8 of 8
5/24/11 at 3:58pm
Thread Starter 
Moving on to the Vintage EDC (VEDC). Again, two sprays to the forearm (fortunately I have two arms for testing on). With the VEDC I intially get a much lighter scent than either of the other two formulas. I get very little of the tobacco note, and could possibly argue there isn't one even there, but I think I can smell a hint of it. There's also something slightly powdery that I' detecting, which could be the weaker tobacco note, but it doesn't make me think of talc or babypowder because it's not overpowering.

At the start this has a citrusy freshness to it which is cleaner, brighter, and less noisome than the opening citrus accord in the new formula to my nose. It does not bring to mind an image of any real fruit though. This fades rather quickly and what I'm left with seems to be a light, green smell that reminds me of fresh grass after a light rain. As a vetiver, it does have that bitter touch to it, but I find it contrasts nicely with the lighter nature of the VEDC. Of the three I would say this one is the most youthful and fresh.
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