Acier Aluminum: love the destination, hate the journey

AA - the only Creed I've really liked so far in my newly-started scent adventures. It's different from anything else, which is the reason I like it, and is also the reason why this one is surely not for everybody.

As for the 'metal' note, yes, that goes away quickly on me also, unless wearing a ton of it (which I can't do, since the rest of it is so pungent). The smell of rubber (ambergris) that it noticeable on the bottle diffuses quickly into a kind of smokiness too.

It's the extreme overripe, almost fermenting pineapple/peach notes combined with the subtle smokiness that makes it decandent, indulgent, excessive, and completely unique to me. With all the citrus/fruity clones available out there, it's kind of fun to smell like you've pushed the fruitiness over the top, past its peak and down into decay, way past where so many other frags with their fresh produce have gone.

The smokiness doesn't last forever either, fading out after 5-6 hours; what's left is much tamer, with the vanilla and spices more noticeable, almost a light fruity oriental.

Dude, you love the famous Creed house note. It's an ambergris accord. Check out Ambre Canelle for a very clear picture of what that is all about. I also love Fleurs de Bulgarie with is roses and the Creed house note. It's in a lot of the older fragrances released by Creed. The newer releases don't seem to have it.

Why, thank you for the compliment! I might also add that the Bond 9 boutique in NY aka Creedirect on Ebay is selling Ambre Canelle for $35 plus postage for a 2.5 oz tester bottle. This is a great deal from a reputable dealer.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQ...3aMEFSQ3aMESOI

It would seem that their listing for AC just ended about an hour ago! Keep watching because it will show up again. The link above is their product page. They also have Neroli Savage for cheap.

Well, to each their own.

I find AA perfect in every way, and I find nothing at all metallic about it. Just warm, sensual fruits and spices atop the most devine drydown of ambergris and vanilla. I am so pissed that my sprayer broke and caused most of the bottle to leak. This fragrance (to me), is in a league of its own.

had my eye on aa for a while now.still haven't tried yet, I wonder how it stands compared to himalaya,which I like a lot.

AA is perfect this time of year. It is very voluptuous and therefore really does echo the aboundance of the holidays for me.
AA also reminds me of three of my favorite frags. There is the sharp sweet fruitiness of Dunhill (1934), the boozy richness of JHL, and that smooth black velvet drydown echoing Antaeus. What's not to love?
As for it being like Himalaya....nope. Not even close.

Ohh.. I have blind buy a bottle of this after reading all the good comments here on basenotes. I`m looking forward to it. Can hardly wait!

Having never tried this and reading the posts, I ordered a sample from Essenza along with a few others to try.
It's not one I'd rush out and buy, but there is something that makes me want to keep sniffing it. It's so unusual, in a pleasant way

Famous and el cheapo aroma chemical AMBROXAN is said to have an metallic undertone when used to heavy. I've got a vial of that vile stuff. True! So, CREED may have found it more profitable to deploy that annoying experience as it's houses label, instead of using real ambergris - and loving it! Me too, leaves more for perfumery then, since sources are limited. Could that otherwise mentioned pineapple be PHARAONE by Givaudan? This I have too. Great fragrance!

Mysteries revealed:

Acier = French for STEEL
Aluminium = French for ALUMINIUM

What should that mean as a name of a scentual composition?

btw: why, as an US American company do they name their offerings in French?

That's an expensive bet. No chance you could find a sample first?

I have tried many, but not yet find a Creed fragrance i don`t like. The only Creed fragrance i have blind bought is Baie de Genievre. Loved it! Hope I have the same success with AA. (A member here should send me a sample, but it`s been a long time now. I just couldn`t wait!)

This is the first I've ever heard it considered an American company. I'm 99.9% sure it's French.

If they had to do with France, France would have asked them to go US. It's the business case, you know. We 'old Europe' people don't accept fraudulent advertising that easy, as You do over there. CREED has nearly no customers in Germany. I asked a Sales agent (SA?) in Bonn, the former capital city of Germany about that. CREED - no go. We are anti-monarchy, anti-fraudulent, pro-tech, and we know romanticism is a part of history not to be conserved today as to avoid plain fake.

Take a chill pill dude and lighten up on the rhetoric; how long can you beat the same drum?

To the OP: It was the same for me...

Too gourmand for me

**Sigh** Please Merry, get off your high horse. Here, read this -------> http://www.topdare.com/2010/01/top-1...-in-the-world/ Look at #88, oh what's that!? Creed? Founded in 1760 in Paris!? No way!

I am quite fond of Acier Aluminum. It was an acquired taste for me. First couple of times, didn't really care for it. Several wearings later -- yes. It's unusual, well-crafted, and rather on the addictive side. I say buy, even it it's blind. You can probably ditch it on eBay if you hate it, which I suspect is highly unlikely.

It doesn't smell of metal to me, and I don't mind. It smells very nice and has good projection and longevity.

Seriously, Merry, you do not mean that - do you? I bet the rate of the same 'Old Europe people' who still believe that 4711 (Muelhens) invented the one and only original Eau de Cologne is closer to the nineties than in to the tens! Only the more educated among them know that this laurel is owed to the Farinas. Reason: Muelhen's (owners) shameless marketing since day one.

What I personally share with you is a deep rooted contempt of fraudulent marketing, particularly when it borders attempts to falsify history, of which this (French) company is certainly guilty of. Creed have simply been taking advantage of their customers' limited education or intelligence during the past 30 years. It's dangerous to generalize personal impressions, but from the bits I happen to know, Creed's standing among French professionals does not seem to be the best. Also, traders in Germany as well as in Switzerland have occasionally complained about Creed's ruthless distribution practices. My personal grudge: the smallest size bottles of 30 ml have not available in Switzerland (for more than 10 years) by 'owners decision'! A shop that tried to import those bottles directly was then boycotted by the general importer and finally closed up.

But since Creed has opened to mass markets with 80% of their line Creed may become more popular in Germany, too. Go to Wuchsa's Aus Liebe zum Duft for more sad details.

I have to admit that CREED is said to be located at Paris, France. But I never read a French word of them. Their internet presence is located in USA, or for a minor part in GB. CREED seems to be an international corporation by now, paying taxes in very different countries.

Most of the evidence of them located US is their Disney romanticism, Neuschwanstein castle (Bavaria), royality as a pop show. Erwin Creed 7th generation master perfumer in spe, skiing the Himalaya to gather inspiration. A bit of a Mickey Mouse success with everything. A naive template, as it is the kernel of royalty. A surrogate, a proxy to once's own subdued higher self.

If from the above one would conclude that CREED is considered kitsch, be it. I know French kitsch. CREED wasn't thereby. For me CREED isn't French.

French and royalty (CREED!) is like water and boiling oil. It takes fries to survive an attempt to bring them together. In spite of being name giving to roman-tics, French people rather invent something to get rid of royals, the infamous L'Eau De Guillotine.

I know my assertions, my 'notes' seem as being overblown, wide spread. But, CREED and French, that's easily opposite directions. The more You follow one idea (CREED) the more You leave the other (French). To hard to bring them together, doesn't work ... .

I think you have made your extreme dislike of Creed plainly clear in this and many other threads. It is when you drift off-topic into politics and bizarre cultural stereotypes that I begin to wish you would just...stop. The main evidence that Creed is a US-based company is because it reminds you of Disney kitsch that you dislike? Really?
All of this is off-topic in the thread, as is my response, but I am tired of biting my tongue all the time as you rant about Creed and display your poorly-veiled distaste for the United States.

I have had a sample of AA for almost a year now that I have never tried
must try now!~

Please let me remind You this is a British site, not US. I don't dislike US as I'm not a nationalist, neither pro nor con. What comes out to be poorly veiled it an omnipresence of CREED products in many threads that do by no means reflect their quality or even market presence - at least in Europe.

IF fragrance is art, or iconic for a certain time, it's vibe, then fragrance is embedded in culture. By that it is justified to question where a fragrance company is located despite their own may be not so true claims.

The initial question ain't answered. By which reason CREED uses French and English words to name their products? "Acier Aluminium" is "Steel Aluminium" - so what does that mean? Would it be the same if it was named "Steel Aluminium"? Would You buy "Steel Aluminium"?

It seems indeed a little strange that Creed have their own e-trade centers in New York and the UK but none in France where they seem to maintain production facilities (35 employees). But according to a French blog of theirs, they have a Boutique in Paris:

" CREED’s Paris boutique at 38, Avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie (or Avenue Peter the First of Serbia) is charming and historical, in the same location since CREED relocated to France from England in 1854; as many readers know, CREED was founded in London in 1760. CREED’s Paris boutique is a must-see on any visit. Occasionally, one can find master perfumer Olivier CREED personally assisting customers — but only when he is not creating new fragrances in his country workshop with his son, Erwin, the seventh generation of the House." New source: Creedboutique.com

Based on the fact that there is no contemporary evidence or anything claimed by O.Creed relating to that 'house', no single sample of their vintage/historical perfumes, nor even a collector's item like empty old bottles, I seriously doubt whether 'master perfumer' Olivier Creed and his tailor forefathers have personally created any perfumes at all. The 'maitre parfumeur' has once been the well respected, official title of professional experts in the trade. Other than in context with Creeds I have never heard any French perfumer being called MP. (edit: some third party or Hermes may have called Ellena 'maitre parfumeur', as a compliment perhaps. I don't think it's a title you can gain in France or elsewhere after so many years of professional training in acknowledged schools.)

A well reputed French perfumer has obviously stated that he made at least one of their more famous perfumes. I would be good to find out who else may have worked on the others. And who, except Olivier Creed knows what a Millésimé is exactly?

35 Employees for the global supply of Creed fragrances - what an impressive number! But can it be true? I suppose they also sell in Moscou, and according to their own press also maintain a boutique in Dubai now. To me, the story that 35 men and women can manage the global supply of 57 (BN) perfumes sounds absolutely crazy.

It doesn't take much to realize that a leather note in perfumes would have been next to impossible before 1900. Maybe if I knew that Coty was behind Royal English Leather I might want to own it. Claiming that this juice had been created in 1781 (and reformulated about 30 years later)... - how stupid does Olivier Creed believe his customers are? All this wouldn't even be necessary, because quite a number of their products (not 'macerated' and supposedly supplied by Symrise, Roure... Givaudan or whoever) are indeed at state of the art level.

Niche: Until about the turn of the century, Zurich had ca. five independent perfume boutiques carrying Creed products. By now all three major department stores carry them, and I hear that Creed have recently made arrangements with a major perfume chain to also sell Creed in this and other European countries. To me that sounds like flooding/going mass market. It will be interesting to see how long those boutiques will accept the new situation.

@ merry.waters re fragrance names: they use French and English names. I also saw an Italian one. Other French companies also use English names (Bois d'Orage aka French Lover ) I think that means nothing regarding their identity.

Creed have a boutique in Paris. I have been there. It contains perfume at the front and clothing at the rear. It is a very small shop. The company has been in existence for a long time as a Tayloring business. Whether or not they have any history as a perfume house as they claim is debatible and thought by many to be dubious.
Michael Edwards agknowledges that Olivier Creed at least has a part in the creation of some fragrances with his attributions.

so what do you think of it?

They are being sold via Costco. Do they still really qualify as a niche house?

That is an interesting question. Personally I think they do because the quality of the ingredients in, for example, Acier Aluminium, are still far higher than in any mass market 'fume. Though no doubt they have been going downhill as Creed expands and will likely continue to do so. Or maybe not. Maybe they will just continue to release fragrances made from cheaper materials for the mass market and keep quality up on the older ones, who knows? i doubt it though.

So the use of high quality ingredients is the only criterion for labeling a firm "niche?" Guerlain is niche then too?

do NOT buy this if you are expecting anything like Himalaya. In fact, don't buy it if you expect it to smell like any other Creed, because it doesn't.

I've been wearing Creed a long time, never ran across anything I didn't love. So I went ahead and took the AA plunge. Got a bottle from creedboutique, BLIND! It came yesterday. I will write an official review once I get my head around this thing, but I am far from that right now.

This one absolutely confounds me.

One minute, it is a cheap old-man's fragrance. The next, it's a unique, sexy modern scent.
Then it reminds me of (as Dullah eloquently puts it), an astronaut's toilet water. Next, it's a rich floral/fruit combo with infinite depth and beauty.
Then it's a transport back to a hot 1974 summer, in the back seat of a brown Buick with vinyl seats, making drunk, sweaty, hairy sex with a FINE woman with a massive bush of pubic hair. Next, it's perfectly at home in a modern martini bar in L.A.

I can not WAIT to get my wife's reaction to this one. She loves most all of my "normal" Creeds... green, fresh, light. She despised Bois du Portugal because it was a "dad's cologne". She will either force me into the shower, or jump my bones. One or the other. I'll update after tonight! :-)

he he.. I feel exactly the same about this scent. Have used it sometimes from a sample now, and it`s so unusual so i think i need some more time to "get it" The sillage and longevity seems short on my skin. Looking forward to hear your review!

Received a 75ml. bottle of Acier Aluminium from parfumsraffy today. Unfortunately the spray-nozzle was leaking, so I have to send it back. In the square on the back of the box it was printed 2002. The Box Was also plain white, without the Creed logo printed all over the box wich is usual. I have never seen this box before.. Enyone else seen this kind of Creed box? Is it the old one? It is so irritating I have to send it back. I like the fragrance, but i wan`t buy from them again.

Forgot to update this...

So I put it on, waited 5 minutes, and stuck my wrist in her face, expecting the love/hate reaction.

She said, "ehh... a little too powdery".

Just goes to show that there is probably nothing more subjective than one's olifactory tastes. Discussion about it is fun, but arguing about a scent being "good" or "bad" or "better" or "worse" is a futile and senseless exercise.

MY UPDATE - I have finally accepted and have begun to understand AA... and have come to like it quite a bit. It's not like any other Creed, where you wear a scent that reminds you of nature depending on your mood. No... wearing Acier Aluminium is like bringing along a personality wherever you go. It's hard to describe. This scent has a life of its own. You're just there for the ride. And the ride can be damn fun.

you got hosed, dude.

buy from Creed Boutique. Or if you HAVE to use a discount place, use BeautyEncounter.

what does "hosed" mean? Do you think it`s a fake? Parfumesraffy is a autorized creed-dealer. The Creed boutique doesn`t ship to my country. Maby Strawberrynet.com is better.

My brother loves AA, i hated it at first, i got some samples of it and i kinda like it. Spicy, fruity with some vanilla, strong gourmand with a masculine vibe. I would buy it but I like royal english, bois and virgin island better.

I think there are some similarities with Habit Rouge in the dry-down. Enyone agreed?