Reviews of Himalaya (2002)
by Creed

I first smelled Himalaya when it came out and I thought it was an impressive fragrance. I recognized its similarity to XS, which I had already owned, and I contented myself with sticking with the one I already had. I have now exhausted my XS, so I thought I would check out Himalaya again. Things have changed in the intervening time and I am no longer impressed by this fragrance. It now comes across, as other reviewers have mentioned, as quite generic and ordinary. Although it is as well made as the other Creeds, it suffers more than most of them from an embedded mediocrity. The improvement in aroma over XS (XS has more of a synthetic tone, which I find insignificant) is quickly undone by Himalaya’s lesser sillage and longevity. Himalaya is a pleasant fragrance but nothing special or exciting. (Edit of 11 January 2006 review. Changed from thumbs up.)

I must give Himalaya a "Neutral" only because its longevity and projection are abysmal. Yes, it is quite a generic smelling fragrance... but the quality is absolutely there.

This is one of the best fragrances to fit into the category of "nearly impossible to offend others whilst wearing". Is it due to mediocrity, or its subtle, pleasant nature? I can't figure that out after months of wearing it.

It's peppery, soapy, slightly woodsy and sweet with the rich ambergris dry-down that I love. Quite smooth, as others have said. Not overly formal, but not casual either.. and wears well during all four seasons, though I wouldn't say it's a "go to" summer fragrance.

I'll reiterate the longevity problem - I can do 6 sprays of Himalaya and 3 or 4 hours later it's totally gone from my skin. It stays close to the skin during that time, but it does linger on clothing fabric for a much longer time. As far as Creed goes, you can do much better.. but it's still nice, and certainly doesn't come close to being disgusting.

Yet another Creed where it is all about the opening. It starts wonderfully, with the freshness of the Bergamot entwined with the tartness of the citrus and Mandarin, but the balance goes awry thereafter. With the presence of Sandalwood, Heart of Cedar, Vetiver and Musk, the heartbeat of Himalaya should have been intoxicating, sadly the balance appears off, and it dribbles away to a rather mediocre drydown and finish.

Himalaya is a scent I've never really been sure of whether it's a keeper for me. But at the same time I'm not in a rush to get rid of it. Very similar to Paco Rabanne XS pour homme, with less mint and citrus, and of course more Ambergris and Musk. Top notes are cool and discreet, mildly minty and citric, with just a slight hint of flint/fuel/mineral smell. Grey Ambergris and musk really are dominant, but it's not too animalic or offensive in any way, even with heavy application. It is cool and composed, and strangely capable of smelling warm at it's core and pleasantly cool on it's surface in cold weather. the spicy pepper, vetiver, and blend of dry/oriental woods is all discreet, possibly too discreet for some. I'll gived it a neutral, due to it's price, but with so many reputable online discounters charging $25/oz, it's not as prohibitively expensive as it seems.

this one really confused me... at first i didn't like it, then an hour later i loved it, then another hour later i hated it, and so on and so forth until i decided it just wasn't really for me. i'm no expert, but i feel that is reminiscent of so many other fragrances you can buy at macy's for half the price. it never really grabbed me, and my girlfriends was also "ho-hum" about it... i'm definately not dropping another 100 bucks on a bottle i would never use.

I so wanted to love Himalaya but I found it rather gerneric - especially after having tested SWM, OS and GIT. Sure, it is fresh and envigorating but it doesn't have anything that makes me (or other people) sit up and notice it. Perhaps that's not a bad thing for casual wear when you just want to smell "nice" - but I can't see why I'd drop £110 on a bottle of this when there are so many other more interesting Creed's to be had.

I'm making this quick because Himalaya doesn't impress me. I smell the base of GIT with the top of XS, and yet it isn't as nice as either scent. I have a theory that GIT was the first scent to use this base and ol' mister Creed felt that the perfumer did a bang up job. So mister Creed figures he can save some money and have sub-par perfumers just make nice tops which can then be thrown on this one brilliantly composed base. The only problem is that the base was designed specifically for GIT, and shoehorning it into other fragrances is an epic mistake that a niche house should never be guilty of. Alas, such is the nature of the business. If you're a niche house you can get away with sub-par products while using your nicheness as an excuse.

Who would dare admit that they cannot see the emperor's clothes, especially on this site?

Hmm... I've worn Himalaya a couple of times now and I'm still not sure if I like it enough to buy a bottle. I certainly don't hate it though. The initial blast of citrus is refreshing and cool but somehow it just seems slightly unbalanced. There is a note that on my skin gives the warm lightly musky drydown a certain crispness. This is definitely a warm weather fragrance to be worn during the day.

Nice one.

I'm not particulary impressed by the house of Creed. I regard them as yet another brand who do often produce stronger fragrances and/or with more expensive ambergris in the drydown, in case of the fresher scents. But not as a supernatural house with only success stories. They have their hits and misses.

Himalaya is one of these hits. What it lacks is a personality. It's fresh fougère and very wearable, and the signature Creed-ambergris in the drydown is very pleasant. But it simply doesn't convey any emotion.

Oh, and the people who are smelling snow and mountain tops must have read the packaging and have a slight cognitive dissonance with the cologne's name. No one would have even mentioned these things if the name of this fragrance was 'Creed XS'.

As far as I am concerned, Himalaya is the all-round scent by Creed, and not Green Irish Tweed.

I agree that this fragrance really grows on you. I realized after maybe fourth day of wearing Himalaya that I found what I have been looking for. I dont have a problem with longetivity. Clean and fresh aura of Himalaya stays on me all day.
I see why people think Himalaya is similar to Paco XS. I recently went back to test XS and realized that it had very similar topnotes to Himalaya but it left a slight chemical feeling in my nose. I used XS for a year when it first came out. I thought it was a great fragrance. But I was 15 :)
With Himalaya the feeling is very different. It is just so natural from top to bottom and very mature.

it´s stars fresh and cold and becomes warm and smooth...one of the best drydowns I ever smelled! I bought a new bottle today...a must have for a Creed fanatic.

My mainstay frag is Tabarome. I had high hopes for this. Unfortunately, it is very ordinary.

“Grapefruit, Bergamot, Mandarin and Lemon top notes with a heart of Cedar, Sandalwood and Vetiver and a base of Musk and Ambergris.” (Creed website)
I’ve tried Himalaya three times. The first time I found it interesting but didn’t care for it. The second time I enjoyed the wood tones a bit but found it to be sweet and powdery. This third time I find it to be very sweet, heavy and cloying. I think the musk and amber dominate at the expense of the potentially good wood tones. To my taste, many Creed fragrances have too much richness (the excellent and dry Cypres-Musc and Epicea are the exceptions).

Himalaya is built on the same base as Green Irish Tweed, Millesime Imperial, Silver Mountain Water, Royal Water, Green Valley, and any number of other modern Creed millesimes. If you like this formula (and many do,) you should try Himalaya. It’s a very attractive scent.

As for me, I may be getting old and cranky, but I’ve come to find Himalaya and it’s siblings so close in character that I don’t need to own more than one at a time. Of this group, I like Silver Mountain Water the best, but I can easily see others preferring Himalaya, MI, or GIT. For a modern Creed that stands a bit apart, I still turn to Erolfa for its grit or Acier Aluminium for its depth and animal sensuality.

Not a bad scent but not something which inspires superlatives from me. Starts out cool, adds some fruity smells (melon?), then the pepper notes appear. Over all a reasonably nice effect, but it is just not a fragrance I find myself reaching for in my wardrobe. Since most of the fragrances I do reach for cost far less, I just can't recommend it.

Tried it, didn't find it that appealing.

This does smell a lot like XS. I don't find either all that appealing.

Himalaya smells exactly like Platinum Egoiste, while Platinum Egoiste is older. I wonder why a house like Creed does copy other houses' fragrances. It's the same with Neroli Sauvage. It smells like Eau de Campagne by Sisley.

People around me swear they smell sunscreen when I wear this. I like the scent, but it smells a bit like Platinum Egoiste by Chanel.. except mixed with suntan lotion. It dries down to a shell of itself and then smells good. I am giving this a "neutral" because people have complained of smelling tanning lotion.. not exactly a compliment. Perhaps Himalaya has some similar chemical. I am also neutral on this one because I expected more: high price, loads of reviews.. I would stick with Egoiste personally..