Diptyque Eau Duelle Eau de Parfum is an easy-to-wear, soft, spiced vanilla with a hint of woods. The vanilla is the star here, and it starts off more spiced and woody before drying down to something more powdery and veil-like. It’s gauzy, subtle, and intimate with a fairly linear journey, making it perfect for someone looking for a sheerer vanilla that doesn’t get too sweet or cake-like. These are the notes:
- top notes: pink peppercorn, juniper berry, green cardamom, elemi
- heart notes: frankincense, calamus, black ceylon tea
- base notes: bourbon vanilla, fernat vanilla, Haitian vetiver, cypriol
Scent Development
It opened with warm, bourbon vanilla–boozy, a little powdery, and sweet–with a hint of spice, probably pepper and some smoky incense coming through. There was a pine woodiness in the first 30 seconds but was obliterated by the vanilla. Given a few minutes to settle on my skin, the vanilla lost its booziness and became more powdered. Eau Duelle was a soft, spiced vanilla with a backdrop of a smoky incense and barely-there woodiness. In the first half hour, the frankincense added subtle smoke but more along the lines of spice, which made the vanilla feel richer and deeper.
While the vanilla seemed on the powdery side, after an hour, it wasn’t as sweet or as spiced, so I’d described as a softer, sheerer vanilla–almost like wearing cashmere. From this point, there were little in the way of shifts between notes; it remained a soft, lightly spiced vanilla that became more powdered and more vanillic through the drydown.
Application
For testing, I used 1/3 of a 0.7ml sample vial dabbed to the underside and topside of my wrist area on my left arm. I used an unscented moisturizer prior to applying the scent as this is also my swatching arm (aka, incredibly parched at any given moment) as I found scent did not hold well here otherwise.
I purchased my sample in January 2022; fragrances are known to be reformulated over their lifetime , so be mindful of when a review was made, e.g. a review from 2010 may not reflect what the same-named perfume smells like in 2022.
Longevity
It had low sillage and lower projection; it was definitely an intimate fragrance that sat upon skin and was hard to notice more than a few inches away from skin, though on my skin, there was enough power to discern the notes and journey of it on. It was shorter-wearing for an eau de parfum, as it did become difficult to find on my wrist after eight hours of wear.
Personal Thoughts
It’s a well-done vanilla fragrance for those looking for a richer, spicier vanilla and something that doesn’t get too sugary-sweet. I have Loree Rodkin’s Gothic I, which is richer and has better wear/projection, but this would be worth considering if I didn’t already have Gothic I.
Available Sizes
- 75ml for $190
- 0.7ml sample for $6