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Susan
Top Review
28
Do you need LIU if you own CHANEL No. 5 / EDT...?
That's the eternal question since the two have been on the market together......and to put it bluntly: I still haven't found a conclusive answer even after decades......I'd say yes and no.....
Yes....because they are two completely different fragrances
No.....because No.5 is clearly the more beautiful and sophisticated fragrance (at least for me ;-)..)
LIU is next to the old Chamade one of only two Guerlain fragrances, which I have ever liked......wenngleich LIU it has never made it into my collection........fortunately, I have the old LIU no longer concrete in mind and save me thereby possibly the usual comparison disappointment.......
So now I compare left LIU with right No.5/EDT.......
The direct comparison shows that they are ultimately just two completely different fragrances, which have only their fulminant aldehyde prelude in common.....
But even here, a direct comparison already shows significant differences.....
While in No.5 the aldehydes are wonderfully waxy and and flanked by a fresh citrus, they seem in LIU rather a little pungent and sharp-powdery.....whether this has always been so extreme, I dare to doubt ;-)....in addition, they are clearly longer present and leading than this is the case with No.5 / EDT......
Thus, in LIU the heart note announces itself initially also only subliminally and over a longer period......stets overlaid by the quite dominant aldehydes.......Rose and jasmine create only laboriously the way to the surface, and one notices their desperate struggle almost a little......
No.5 / EDT, on the other hand, glides almost seamlessly into its wonderful heart note and remains there for a long time in all its glory and splendor *sigh & gush* .......
When LIU is then finally arrived in the heart note, the rose comes to the fore.....although the jasmine only slightly more restrained appearance.....this perception may, however, also owe a bit to my aversion to all too clear rose ;-)......
This heart note is ultimately also, the LIU for me as a purchase candidate excludes.......she is too sweet-floral and rose-heavy for me.......even the slow-onset woods assets this impression for me not emphatically to weaken.......sumal now also the vanilla comes......Iris I perceive, if at all, only very quietly......perhaps it strengthens at this point the sweet impression a little....
Also the base of LIU I like so far not as good as that of No.5 / EDT.....
LIU I feel here as much more creamy and less airy-floating than Nr.5 / EDT .....she is woodier, denser and a little more "massive" (if you can say so)
Vanilla is also found in the No.5 / EDT base, but in a completely different way......less sweetish and clearly "refreshed by vetiver".......
Summa summarum: LIU is a wonderful, floral-powdery aldehyde fragrance of the old school.....elegant and feminine.......it is an independent fragrance that shares with No.5 only the aldehydic prelude and the floral-powdery basic character.......
While Nr.5 / EDT is cooler, more permeable, floating and mMn finely differentiated, LIU moves all in all in a sweeter and creamier direction......without being a "sweet" fragrance, however.....
PS: I refer here deliberately to the No.5 EDT, because the EDP is not the original No. 5 fragrance and is clearly different from this.....
Top Notes 
Aldehydes
Heart Notes 
Jasmine
Orange blossom
Ylang-ylang
Rose
Base Notes 
Amber
Sandalwood
Vanilla
