Amouage Guidance vs Guidance 46: What Changes

Amouage Guidance vs Guidance 46 is a comparison inside one idea. Amouage Guidance is the Eau de Parfum released in 2023, with 25% perfume oil. Guidance 46 is its Extrait follow-up with 46% perfume oil, and the brand says nothing was removed from the original formula while ingredients were added. Both are labelled unisex, both come in 100 ml, and both were composed by Quentin Bisch with Renaud Salmon directing.

Amouage Guidance 46 is the Exceptional Extrait that the house released a year later. It keeps pear, frankincense, hazelnut, saffron, rose, jasmine and osmanthus, and the brand pitches it for formal events and date nights. The sections below set the two side by side.

Amouage Guidance vs Guidance 46 notes, side by side

Both perfumes carry a full pyramid, which makes the comparison direct. The heart is the same in both: saffron, rose, sambac jasmine and osmanthus. What differs is the list around it.

• Guidance, top: pear, frankincense, hazelnut.
• Guidance, heart: saffron, rose, jasmine sambac, osmanthus.
• Guidance, base: cistus, sandalwood, Akigalawood, ambergris, vanilla.

• Guidance 46, top: pear, frankincense, hazelnut, rose water, pink pepper, bitter almond.
• Guidance 46, heart: saffron, rose, sambac jasmine, osmanthus.
• Guidance 46, base: cistus, sandalwood, Akigalawood, ambergris, vanilla, ambrette, Georgywood, cypriol.

Read as a whole, the additions sit at both ends. Rose water and pink pepper add floral and spicy detail to the top, and bitter almond, which commonly smells nutty and slightly sweet, sits beside the pear and hazelnut. Ambrette, Georgywood and cypriol join the base, where they give the resin, sandalwood and vanilla more wood and depth to rest on.

How the two scents move

Guidance moves in a straight line: a fruity, resinous start, a floral heart with saffron, and a warm base of wood, ambergris and vanilla. Guidance 46 follows the same line with more stations along the way. The opening has rose water and pink pepper beside the pear, so the first minutes lean more floral and a little spicy, and the base has three more ingredients, which add layers below the resin. The brand's own phrase is that every part of the structure stands out with more power and complexity, which is a statement about intensity and detail rather than about a different scent.

What the brand says changed

The house frames Guidance 46 as an extension rather than a rewrite: nothing was removed, ingredients were added, and every part of the structure is meant to stand out with more power and complexity. That is the brand's description, and the note lists match it, since every Guidance note reappears in the extrait. The same perfumer, Quentin Bisch, worked on both. The brand also names three industry awards from 2024 for Guidance; we report that as the house's own statement and do not rank the two perfumes on it.

What stays the same is a long list: the perfumer, the 100 ml size, the unisex label, the four weeks of ageing, the floral and amber family, and the seasons and occasions.

Concentration and size

Guidance is an Eau de Parfum with 25% perfume oil and four weeks of ageing, according to the brand. Guidance 46 is an Extrait de Parfum with 46% perfume oil and the same four weeks. Amouage's own scale puts Eau de Parfum at 15 to 35% oil and Extrait de Parfum at 40 to 56%, so each perfume sits inside its own band. Both come in 100 ml. Our guide to perfume concentrations explains what the categories mean in general. In round numbers, Guidance 46 holds close to twice the perfume oil of Guidance. A higher share usually makes a perfume denser, but the notes and the weight of the base count as much as the percentage, so the figure is a guide rather than a verdict on strength.

Season, occasion, intensity and audience

Our tags are close. Both are labelled unisex, both suit evenings and special occasions, both are tagged for autumn and winter, and both carry the floral, amber and woody scent tags. The one clear difference is intensity: Guidance is tagged moderate and Guidance 46 strong. The Extrait therefore sits among our strong perfumes and the Eau de Parfum does not.

Amouage Guidance 46 vs Amouage Guidance: who might start where

Taste decides this, not a ranking. Someone who likes the idea of rose, saffron and frankincense with the lighter oil share of an Eau de Parfum may start with Guidance. Someone who is drawn to a denser, more formal register, and to the extra rose water, pink pepper, bitter almond, ambrette, Georgywood and cypriol, may start with Guidance 46. Readers who already know one can treat the other as the same structure with more added.

More Amouage perfumes with shared notes

Amouage Outlands is an Essence de Parfum with 30% perfume oil, a figure between the two. It shares frankincense, rose, saffron, ambergris and vanilla with both Guidance perfumes, and adds a cardamom and citrus opening with a green patchouli heart.

Amouage Reflection Man is an Eau de Parfum with 25% perfume oil, the same share as Guidance, built on rosemary, neroli, orris and vetiver. It shares jasmine and sandalwood with both Guidance perfumes and is tagged for daytime.

For the single-perfume view of the original, read our Amouage Guidance notes explained. To browse by note or mood, start on the explore page, and the Amouage collection holds the rest of the house.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Amouage Guidance and Guidance 46?

Guidance 46 is a separate Extrait de Parfum at 46% oil, where Guidance is an Eau de Parfum at 25%. The brand says nothing was removed from the original and ingredients were added.

Does Guidance 46 have more notes than Guidance?

Yes. Guidance 46 adds rose water, pink pepper and bitter almond on top and ambrette, Georgywood and cypriol in the base, and every Guidance note stays in the list.

Is Guidance 46 stronger than Guidance?

It holds more perfume oil, 46% against 25%, and our intensity tag is strong against moderate. How present a scent feels also depends on its notes, so the tags are a guide, not a measure.