Love in Black (2008)
by Creed

I anxiously awaited the release of this fragrance, huge Creed fan that I am. I headed to Neiman Marcus shortly after the SA called me to let me know that the fragrance was there. Upon arrival I saw the beautiful bottle sitting on the display and was so happy to finally try this long-awaited fragrance. I sprayed the fragrance on a strip, waited a few seconds and then lifted the strip to my nose to take my first whiff of this fragrance which I knew would be one of the fragrance loves of my life. EWWWWW!!! I was horrified!! First sniff was total hate!! However, no worries. I know that the paper strip doesn't really do fragrances much justice so I obtained a sample from the SA so that I could take it home and try it. I was unable to try it on my skin at the store due to I was already wearing a fragrance and did not want to compromise LIB by mixing it with what I was wearing.

Anyway, after arriving back home and washing up for the evening, I once again tried out LIB. EWWWWWW!!!! I still hated it. I sniffed it over and over again because I noticed that one note in this perfume seemed to be the 'killer' of this fragrance for me. I cannot tell what it is although it is very dominant on my skin. I am going to keep trying it and sniffing it.... not to try to make myself like this fragrance...that will never happen. My objective is to try to identify the note that I hate in it so that I can stay away from it. The notes listed for LIB all seem as though they would work for me because they are in a number of other fragrances that I own. Maybe its the way this mystery note combines with the others that makes this smell so awful on me.

Needless to say, I have taken Love In Black off of my wishlist. I dont like and will never buy it.

I am an admirer of Creed's Love in White and Jackie Onassis (apparently Oliver Creed's inspiration for Love in Black) so I was eager to try this out. My first thought was why "black" was even in the name as there is nothing dark or sinister about Love in Black. (Surely it is not because of JKO's hair!) Anyways, the dominant smell of the entire composition is violet. The top note has a bit of the floury/saltiness that characterizes La Artisan Parfumeur's Bois Farine which was an unexpectedly creative touch. The middle and base notes incorporate iris whose rootiness is quite evident and gives the perfume an unfortunate "sad" or "decaying" aura. It is hard to say which exactly but I found myself not liking the smell of this on my skin. The base note was a general sweet-ish floral smell and was evident on my wrist at least 4 hours after the initial application.

As compared to a fellow violet perfume, Armani Prive's Cuir Amethyste, I would give a big nod to Cuir Amethyste as it has a wonderful leather aspect that gives it an adult-like complexity and elegance. Love in Black, however, stays too sickly sweet for my tastes and chiefly reminds me of Howards violet scented gum chiefly sold in England or state-side at Cost Plus World Market.

If Creed's Love in White was skewered by Luca Turin and compared to a funeral arrangement in his "Perfumes: The Guide", it will be very interesting to hear what caustic witty comments he'll have on Love in Black. I am personally a Creed fan but they can do, and have done, much better than this.

Here are the notes for Love in Black: "night-blooming wilfdflowers" from the Greek isles, violet from italy, Virginia cedar, iris, clove, Tonkin musk, blackcurrant, and Bulgarian rose.