Eau Duelle
Eau de Toilette, Diptyque (2010)

Alchymia. Perfumare. Magnum Opus.

Serene Vanilla Ennobled by Woods and Spices

Since I don’t like gourmand scents, I find it very difficult to appreciate vanilla. However, if treated properly, I am sure it can work wonders, and I am still looking forward to perfumes that can do this.

That being said, the prospect of using incense and woods with vanilla seemed like a possible salvation of vanilla from the gourmand territory. But only in theory. In practice, this is a gentle and serene vanilla scent, unobtrusively nudged by mainly incense and some woods (harder for me to detect). This very careful and naturalistic treatment of the vanilla certainly earns my respect.

Later the ingredients blend much smoother and “Eau Duelle” develops a very noble aura. In fact, this is probably the first perfume I come across that is able to reveal the hidden secret of vanilla, taking it out of the kitchen – its nobility!

“Eau Duelle” remains faithful to Diptyque’s style – light, naturalistic and well-rounded composition that just misses something very important to bring it to live and make me want to remind myself of it. In that sense, it hangs in a neither-nor space. If you are strong on gourmand vanilla, this will be insufficient. And if you are looking for a vanilla that transcends the gourmand inclination, revealing different facets of this otherwise enigmatic note, than “Eau Duelle” fails on that front as well. The attempt here is too timid. Still, the concept of combining vanilla with incense and woods is awesome and I would love to see vanilla treated with palo santo, fir balsam and why not something as stark as galbanum! There is an idea.

PS update:
There was some mysterious, almost invisible, feeling that “Eau Duelle” left in me after the first try and which inevitably dew me back to test it again. I find this to be an exquisitely enticing and refined rendering of the vanilla note! And the reason is those spices (cardamom, saffron etc.) which, along with the pine (juniper) constantly interrupt – harmoniously! – the sweet vanillic wave and distilling and – ultimately – transforming it into a polyphonic aromatic experience, transcending that feared gourmand space. Unless “Eau Duelle” performs very peculiarly on you, and if you are not into gourmand – have no fear, this scent is saved from that. All in all, a highly recommended transformative and noble vanilla-themed but not vanilla dominated fragrance, that is almost bottle-worthy. And this is saying a lot, considering how many perfumes are out there and how easily accessible for sampling they are these days. Just be ready to accept it a skin scent and you are settled. . Longevity is very good though.

Diptyque, Eau Duelle (EDT):
Composition: 7.5/10
Complexity: 7.5/10
Development: 6/10
Naturality: 7.5/10

Eau Duelle is the only vanilla scent I like, apart from Nubica by Le Couvent (which it has some similarity to though they don't smell the same). It's an aromatic vanilla, not sweet. Not at all similar to many of the "smells likes" listed above except Arquiste but I owned Arquiste and it was a bit too sweet and less airy so I sold it. Eau Duelle is like a soft fluffy halo of vanilla and some dry herbal stuff. The list says juniper, but if it said bay leaf I'd go yup. I can't really smell most of the other notes (pink pepper? who knew) but I guess they bring the dryness and complexity and take off any foody aspects from the vanilla. Eau Duelle isn't remotely foody nor is it, imo, boozy. I'm a bit torn between Eau Duelle and Nubica, which give me a similar feel though not exactly the same scent. Haven't tried the EdP, but I'll probably prefer the airiness of the EdT.

This fragrance offers a niche-quality vanilla with a warm, spicy feeling from the black tea, and a depth and balsamic quality from the resins and olibanum. The cardamom and juniper prevent it from being too boozy or gourmand-like. While it's not as cypressy as Eau des Baux or as extract-y as Spiriteuse Double Vanille, it has more complexity and nuance than Mercedes Benz's Club Black.

The EDT leans a bit more feminine, as a few women have commented, but I still find it unisex. Unlike generic women's fragrances with sickly sweet vanilla, this one is refined and elegant with depth. It's suitable for any age and any season, except for hot summer days. The performance is good and will last for a day, but it's not a sillage beast. It's perfect for a date or studying at the library since it's calming and won't offend others around you.

I highly recommend this fragrance if you're looking for a quality vanilla scent. The price for a 100ml is still expensive, but it's not exorbitant or price-gouging.

Diptyque Eau Duelle (2010) is a vanilla fragrance plain and simple, so if you don't care for vanilla as the focus of a fragrance, this won't appeal to you. Beyond that, the vanilla is moved and shaped through traditional top, heart, and base note players, so it isn't a one-note-wonder exactly, but you really have to look for the other stuff in order to smell it. Eau Duelle is perfumed by Fabrice Pellegrin and comes in eau de toilette and eau de parfum varieties, plus is one of the last modern Diptyque releases to do so, as most major releases anymore in the 2010's and beyond seem to only come in the higher-cost-per-ml EdP variation. This is a move which subtly pulls the brand upmarket unless you're after the classics that may or may not survive in their original EdT forms depending on how this business move goes, and one that has irked me more and more as I watch these 75ml EdPs roll out without a 100ml EdT counterpart, which before could be expected as the "standard" variation. At least with Eau Duelle, there seems to be little difference between both EdT and EdP since the focus is so narrowly on vanilla almost as a soliflore, so there may be no need to try both. Now this is a rare example of something I wouldn't buy but can appreciate enough from a compositional standpoint to condone it.

The opening is sweet and creamy as expected, with a big vanilla that comes mixed up with some pink pepper and cardamom for a bit of dusty spice. Elemi resin, calamus, and a slight rose inform the heart, while a bit of cypriol sourness acts to push the vanilla out of its corner then fades so the vanilla can take the microphone. It's at this point that the gist of what you're going to smell is achieved, and for the next eight hours, slightly dusty spiced vanilla with a resinous backbone and a touch of floral sophistication becomes the major melody being played. Eventually halfway through the wear, the base starts sneaking in with bits of amber, saffron, some sort of sandalwood proxy, and a musk that feels most like labdanum, making this a proper oriental fragrance by some accounts, but that vanilla is still looming over it all like an overcast sky. Eau Duelle falls just short of smelling like a bakery or a sugar cookie, thankfully, and sits quietly on skin. A person who likes this is likely someone who also enjoys things like Guerlain Spiritueuse Double Vanille (2007) or Creed Sublime Vanille (2009) but maybe not the price or scarcity of those, so Eau Duelle makes a good lower-cost alternative despite also being at a niche price point (just lower down the ladder). Best use for me would be at home when cozy, or on a romantic evening, and vanilla is of course perfectly unisex because everyone likes smelling it in passing.

There isn't a whole lot more to say about Eau Duelle than that, although its popularity suggested copycats like Atelier Cologne Vanille Insensée (2011) or maybe vanilla itself just got a huge gust of interest among niche purveyors in the late 2000's through early 2010's. Eau des Missions by Le Couvent Maison de Parfum (2011) used to be a lower-cost alternative to this Diptyque, but time revealed that scent a limited or discontinued release that must have failed and gotten dumped into discounters for international dispersal, so now the tables have turned and Diptyque Eau Duelle represents probably the best value in niche vanilla fragrances around. Of course, there are still drugstore vanillas like Coty Vanilla Fields (1993) but that too has been discontinued, so something like the adjacent Coty Vanilla Musk (1994) with its heaps of ambery musk is really as close as one can get to this quality of oriental-inflected vanilla fragrance for a turned-out-pockets budget, and it's not realistically close. Funny to see something we think of as ubiquitous like vanilla become an exclusive subject of higher-end niche fragrances anymore, but real vanilla is expensive anyway, just ask mom about what she sticks in her pound cake. Thumbs up

Took me three days to settle on this, I scored the first sniff, adored it ten minutes later, was in love with that night but still, searched for something I felt was more 'weighty'.

It is not the most complex of vanilla oriental frags and is fairly linear, starting with a spiced vanilla cloud, resinous and spiked with cardamom, which gently and slowly dissipates.

Though I have started to question why 'Linear' thrown around as such as diss, but, regardless, I adore this. It is a superb cold weather scent that is like being wrapped in a warm pancake, with faint woody wafts of the christmas tree in the corner making itself known.

I did wind up double-headering this with the SL Un Bois Vanille but I feel I will enjoy and love both fragrances.

Price point could improve but frankly that's Dyptique for you. Still, I'm glad it is in the arsenal.

In ancient Basenotes history, we used to have member meet-ups around the world and I managed to put a few together in San Francisco. In 2010, we all met at the SF Diptyque store and they'd put together little gift bags for us, which included a sneak preview solid perfume version of Eau Duelle, which is the version I'm wearing today.

As such, I'll always have a soft spot for Eau Duelle, even though it's much more sweet than I like in a perfume. As others have described, it's a mix of marshmallow vanilla and green woods (and despite it not being listed, I think it's actually mostly vetiver). In terms of green woody gourmands, I think Eau Duelle is one of the best (I'd also suggest checking out Fresh's Cannabis Santal), but it's all too sweet for me. Even so, I'm still giving Eau Duelle a thumbs up for the good memories!