Comparing N°5 Eau de Parfum and N°5 Eau Première

An iconic range that stands among great classics like Shalimar, Joy, l'Air du Temps and Bal à Versaille, N°5 has for almost a century been a staple in feminine elegance. On a more personal level, N°5 was the first perfume I knew, and my love and admiration has only grown over the years. Today, I will be comparing and contrasting two versions of N°5: the Eau de Parfum that was launched in 1986 and its flanker, Eau Première, which was launched in 2007.

Eau Première bottom of bottle

I bought the Eau Première when I was a fragance novice, and thought I was buying the original N°5. It was an easy mistake, because when people see "Eau Première" in tiny lettering at the bottom of the bottle, they assume that it refers to the concentration of the fragrance (how strong it is, how much perfume oil it contain versus alcohol content), when in reality, it is the designation of a flanker. A flanker is the reinterpretation of a fragrance, launched under the same name, for example N°19 and N°19 Poudré. The original N°19 has almost twelve fragrance notes (ingredients, like iris, leather, lily-of-the-valley, etc.) while its flanker, N°19 Poudré, has half the number of notes, and only three of the original ingredients are present. Not the same perfume, wouldn't you say? In fact, perfumes from two different lines and even different companies might have a greater number of shared notes with each other. Nevertheless, there they are, two very different perfumes who share a name, but one has this tiny label added on, like Poudré or Eau Première, and suddenly you're leaving the store with a perfume you weren't looking for in the first place. All that being said, N°5 Eau Première actually comes in an Eau de Parfum concentration, just like the other. So you see, these two perfumes I'm comparing are identical in concentration, and they're really two different perfumes entirely. 

Flankers. They're a pet-peeve of mine. I don't like when a company confuses its customers. I mean, the packaging is nearly identical!

Moving on. N°5 Eau Première wasn't the N°5 I remembered. there was something about it. It blended in too much, it was soft, it faded into the background in a way that didn't say N°5. I later understood why. One day my curiosity got the best of me and I went out to sample N°5 EDP, and there it was, the iconic fragrance I remembered. The difference is night and day, and I'm wearing the original EDP like crazy.

Today, even as I write,  N°5 Eau Première is on my left wrist, and N°5 EDP on my right. I've worn them both separately, but as they began to unfold a few hours ago while I compared them directly, I was flabbergasted at the differences. The fact that Chanel decided to market this flanker under the range N°5 astounds be, and I'll be honest, I'm a bit annoyed at them for this decision, because they just aren't the same, and to call this N°5 frankly obscures what N°5 is supposed to smell like, as the two different scents cannot be consolidated in my mind. 

Here is the breakdown of the differences I found when I compared them side by side.

N°5 Eau Première

Compared to the orinigal EDP, the Eau Première is immediately less spicy and airy. It's more of a smooth floral, like the florals in Dior's J'adore. As it develops, there is more emphasis placed on the jasmine than the original, along with a hefty dose of sandalwood, which eventually takes on more and more of a smoky, incense quality. The lily-of-the-valley is gone entirely in this composition, as is the citrus that lifted the original, and the rose has been significantly dialled back as well. The metallic vanilla that I love about the original EDP is no longer detectable, and this to me is what makes this unforgivable as a flanker, because that is what makes N°5 N°5. The vanilla that made me fall in love with N°5 is almost gone, only coming out in the very end, and the metallic edge is non-existent. N°5 has had its personality nearly wiped clean. In the dry-down, the last embers of the fragrance, a whisper of the original N°5 flickers weakly, but I can hardly pick it out any more. The aldehydes which made N°5 a pioneer in modern fragrance history are just about gone in this, and that is one of the biggest things N°5 is known for - it's what gave N°5 its status, what carried it to fame. N°5 Eau Première is still a lovely fragrance, but it shouldn't be able to call itself N°5. They could have launched this as its own fragrance under a new name, and it would have been well received. Instead, it sits in the N°5 range, blurring the public's perception of a classic. I would have loved to see how this would have done as a completely new launch.

N°5 original EDP

The original EDP has a great, spicy, fresh air, soapy quality to its opening. The aldehydes are the reason for all this freshness and zing. As it unfolds, so many notes come into the mix, but they are so thoroughly blended that it doesn't come out as a complex jumble, but rather the oposite: the smooth blend of notes makes for a whole new smell where you can't pick out the jasmine or rose individually, nor the sandalwood or the vetiver or the iris and citrus, but the character of these notes informs the combined impression. This is the genius of N°5, and it's this first deviation from the soliflore (perfumes that smell like one type of flower) in May of 1921 that made this one of the pioneers in perfumery. The florals in the original EDP are more spicy, as rose and lily-of-the-valley are big players. The vanilla, as I've said before about N°5, is so smooth, and the quality of it eclipses even Shalimar, which is known for its vanilla. All the way through the life of the fragrance, I am aware of the metallic nuance that always ties in with the vanilla, putting me in mind of a sunny day in September with a cool breeze and a hot sun after a rain-shower. It's so amazingly pleasant and unusual.

In terms of general impressions, I like both. I don't think the Eau Première should be included in the N°5 range, but it's nice. As for the original EDP, it's a favourite of mine, I never get tired of it. I also find that the original EDP lasts longer and has better pacing in its development, each phase lingering and changing as it should, while the Eau Première transitions quickly from top notes to heart notes to base notes, with the dry-down lingering longer than any other phase. To conclude, you really have to be aware of flankers when you go to buy a perfume, because it's so easy to mistake them for their original counterparts.

Have a great day, and thanks for reading!

A.