Reviews of Love in Black (2008)
by Creed

It smelled bold and peculiar at first - violets and tar!? Something petrochemical? I was all geared up for it to be something interesting and Comme des Garcons-esque when it had a fatal collision in candy cane lane, and a sickening berry-candy note took over and swamped the violet. Another tragic statistic from Creed, and an example of why gummy bears should be kept at least a hundred meters away from any fragrance.

Can be pretty offensive if smelled for more than a breeze. It honestly does seem like a depressing fragrance with some violets. But if it really is inspired by Jackie Kennedy Onassis

Yeah, ok this is unisex -- er that's about it really. Couldn't get by the godawful skanky top notes of parma violets (I hated those little sweets when I was young) -- but wait, the violets are joined by an equally repellant powdery iris note -- oh I'm now in smell heaven. To be fair, this is a knee-jerk reaction to two notes I don't get on with and should have given it more time, but you know -- I have to like it all.

I don't know much about fragrance; I'm still very new to this, still learning. One thing I have learned, thanks in part to this scent, is that I don't like to notice violets. If I smell violets I can't help but focus on it and it drowns everything else out, like a loud, out of tune trumpet would with a string quartet. I know there's other things going on in the background in Love in Black- is that something green in there? something woody? other flowers?- but I can't appreciate them. That violet crushes everything else, and amplified by iris, it becomes a beast that makes me- sorry, those who love it, I know it's just my nose and my chemistry- hate it and want to scrub it off me. I really wanted to like LiB- the name, the bottle, the Jackie O inspiration, what's not to like? Unfortunately it turns out that it's definitely not for me. One of the worst things I've smelled on me yet.

Notes:
Top: Wildflowers, Violet
Middle: Iris, Virginia Cedar, Clove
Base: Blackcurrants, Rose, Musk

Love in Black (LiB), the latest fragrance from Creed, is a homage to Jacquie Kennedy Onassis. I can't vouch for the authencity of this celeb match op., but what I can do is deconstruct this juice based on its merits and wowza this is a solid two brown thumbs up !

Classified as a woody oriental, LiB is a violet-iris exposition. The violet-iris combo isn't new .. it has been been used successfully in the past, but most of the times with little finesse resulting in an unbalanced, trashy, crass tone to the composition. LiB does this combo proud; and despite utilizing this classic combo it manages to smell unique. The opening burst hints at some floral note (is it the wallflower?) and sweet violets but within seconds a fast transformation takes place - a wet-green hue envelops the composition with an emerging doughy earthy aroma. The "wet green" effect is due to a high dosage of violet leaf (violet odorata from Parma violets; think Green Irish Tweed), while the doughy earthy note is rich buttery iris being infused in this heart accord. It doesn't stop there .. a woody aroma soon seeps in (thanks to a top quality cedar note) and thus the earthy, tarry, buttery heart of LiB is complete and it smells strange and irresistible at the same time. Imagine Charlotte York sporting a moustache and a savile row suit, posing as a man. From here LiB slowly morphs over several hours to the base of 'currants and rose. The clove note provides the link from the earthy/tarry heart and the sweetish blackcurrant (which is moderated by a cool bulgarian rose note). To me the decision to end on the rose-currant base was a wise one as it provides a cool-sweet counterpart to the woody-buttery heart. The bad cop/good cop routine to force the enjoyment out of you. Good longevity but surprisingly from the midpoint onwards sillage is moderate. And hell yea, its unisex all the way!

LiB, with its perfectly balanced violet-iris combo, hits all the notes for me: Quality of ingredients? Check. Solid construction ? Check. Satifactory evolution? Check. The best thing Creed has done since Feuille Verte? Ding ding ding...check check check !!. LiB smells unique and satisfies. One needs time to appreciate its subtle nuances as it unravels on your skin. Fans of easy wear like Spring Flower will be bewildered and overwhelmed and pass the bottle to their mother or boyfriend...everyone else will be intrigued. Yes its expensive - but what are you gonna do? It is the essence of a Kennedy after all ...

Rating: 9.25/10.0

Love in Black is a fragrance inspired by Jackie O. It's not ment to be a goth fragrance. Google her life story and you will understand the fragrance. The fragrance is also handmade.

I find this very similar to Insolence by Guerlain, it's just a bit richer and darker and the blackcurrent becomes more pronounced in the drydown. It's a nice fragrance but I'll just stick with Insolence.

I was very eager to try this new Creed and encounter, as I fantasized it, the possibility of a "black" violet-based fragrance... I found nothing black about this violet, which is quite springy, pinky, girly and in the mainstream of current violets in perfumery..
There's nut and milk in this violet and that's what makes it different from green leafy and humid violets such as Violetta.... It's soft and round and a little powdery, yet no sugar in it.. This could last for ever, it would be a pretty fragrance... but then it turns out smelling cheap, something between Narta deodorant and a supermarket flowery inoffensive bottle in the 80's...a blend of flowers but very badly shaped and that smells synthetic..
I was quite charmed by the opening and middle but I don't understand the way it dries down on my skin... I can only agree with the other reviews mentioning "a note" that spoils all the rest.. that's the feeling I have every time I try this fragrance... something is there that shouldn't be... rose? blackcurrant?
dommage!

My girlfriend was really anxious to test this one, so she did... Huge dissapointment! I'm not going to sugar coat it, this stuff is disgusting, I'm not even going to explain it, it's just garbage. Why would you even consider buying this when there are so many better perfumes out there and when and why would you even make time to wear it? Even the bottle isn't nice looking, I mean I like the soft black color, but what's with the silver letters, and more importantly... what's with the letters? It looks like they just tried to fit them anywhere they could find room on the bottle. He should have left the bottle plain with with just the crest on the cap, it would look more unique and artsy, and I think we'd know it was a Creed bottle. I'm a fan of the House of Creed, I've owned quite a few of their fragrances over the years, I mainly use one or two now, GIT... MI... whatever, every so often SMW. Anyways, what the hell is happening to this perfume house, I mean ever since Olivier's son has been in the picture there's been mediocre to crap fragrances being released under the Creed name. No originality what so ever (Himalaya, O. Vetiver, O. Santal, VIW, etc.) It's sad, this kid will ruin this perfume house. Hey, here's an idea: How about, not having Erwin help to create perfume anymore, and instead of raising your prices (as was just done), lower them or keep them at their original retail value! Just a thought.

Love in Black needs time to mature on the skin. An hour or so and you have a wonderful, deep , earthy, elegant fragrance. Dont be put of by the violets , after all they are the flowers of the Gods.

I received a sample of this free with another order and couldn't wait to try it.
Well to say I was underwhelmed is an understatement!
I couldn't find anything about it I liked. It's dark, creepy and not a little "goth"-like.
Morticia Addams could carry this one off, but I certainly can't.

I don't agree with the totally negative reviews: Love in Black is a pleasant and interesting variation on the violet theme. It reminds me a lot of Bulgari pour Femme: a simple violet opening, followed by a heart other flowers and a myserious note at the bottom I didn't manage to identify, that is good and adds some mistery. It's very ladylike. I think people were disappointed because we had to wait for it too long: it was annouced for september and come out only in mid-october. My rating is neutral: not irrestible or very memorable, but a good, wearable, stylish fragrance. A nice little black dress in a bottle, with the Creed griffe to add glamour to it.

This is a very original perfume. It is quite different from what I am used to, and I am one of those who tries a hundred samples a month. It definitely takes some getting used to but if you like perfumes that drastically evolve over the course of its first two hours, that are very feminine and sensual, and if you enjoy something DIFFERENT, then you will like Love in Black.

The first 45 minutes in particular, there is a very odd ingredient, somewhat nutty but it's hard to say. The beginning reminded me of what I felt when I sampled "Cumming" perfume, by the actor 'Alan Cumming'. As you'd read in Cumming's reviews, it is quite unique and not for everyone, but it is so original that many people love it.

Now, Love in Black is not that original... but its beginning has something in it that will weird out some and intrigue others. I was intrigued by it, but as is often the case for weird smells, I enjoy them especially if they evolve into something more for everyone later on, or if they just end up weird. This one becomes feminine, sensual and very sweet at the end and seems halfway flowery-sweet, half-gourmand-sweet.

Whether you end up liking it or not, Love in Black is definitely a unique experience and worth the try, especially if you are open-minded enough for its beginning.

I was given a sample of this at Selfridges several days ago.The first day I wore it, I was not overly impressed but i persevered as I know from experience that one try is sometimes not enough to know whether I like a fragrance or not and yes I'm glad I stuck with it as I am beginning to really like LiB now. The very first top note that hits you ( and yes it does HIT you) is violet - the smell is very reminiscent of parma violet sweets or devon violets perfume . Thankfully on me at least that pure violet note doesn't stick around as it is soon joined by a far earthier tar note, I'm guessing this is the 'black' from Love in Black's title. After about ten minutes a beautiful deep rose joins in and underscores the tar.The rose reminds me of the rose in L'artisans voleur de roses, though LiB is a much warmer fragrance than VdR. The violet assumes its proper place and behaves, as i believe a ( shrinking) violet should, i.e. just poking its head out to say hello now and again but generally blending in well with the tar and rose. I find LiB to ber an interesting and edgy ( well at least by Creeds standards) perfume. Recommended. I shall certainly be adding this to my wish list, it's a long list but who knows ...

I also smell the note oolala30 is talking about. I just received today some creed little vials I got for me an my gf, one of them LIB. The first impression on her skin was this smell produced by those little green shield bugs (Palomena prasina) when disturbed... I mean it, not kidding, I told her and we really had a good laugh. I looked through some sites to look for these bugs and find out that "...f disturbed, stink bugs will emit a pungent liquid, whose rancid almond smell is due to cyanide compounds...". Maybe this helps.
But it's true, next time you have a green shieldbug in your clothes, take it off vigorously with your finger and then smell it (your finger), then you'll save the money or the time trying to test LIB.
On the other hand, my gf loves fleurissimo, love in white and VIW, and I'm really into original vetiver and GIT.

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.