Reflections on Creed

I'm becoming more and more of a Creed fan, it seems
I wear either Erolfa and/or Neroli Sauvage at least once each week
I am completely mad about Himalaya
and I've just received a full 4oz of Original Vetiver in the mail today which might possibly be my new favorite scent for the summer (so fresh and so clean, clean)

New Tabarome, BdP and Ambre Canelle are all great, but more dress up/winter wear affairs for me - and probably will be tucked away for the summer season

I've still (believe it or not) have yet to smell either GIT or MI - but plan to remedy both situations soon. And I'm actually really interested in Original Santal too. Oh and SMW, and VIW. oh and.....

LOL
--------------------------------------
btw, if you decide to sell any more of your Creeds, pls let me know

Ha, strange how our perceptions change.

My recent experience with Santal Imperial, Aubepine Acacia, Bois De Santal, Vetiver '48, Acier Aluminum, Cypres Musc and Virgin Island Water has shown me how much this house rocks.

And I totally love the spicy woody accord of Original Santal - it baffles me how people who bath in the typical Lutens frag find this one to be "too sweet"

I'm new here, but I have Erolfa and Himalaya and think they are legendary. I have a sample of BdP on the way. Maybe its the marketing/price but to me they just smell "quality". I'm fast becoming a big fan.

I guess I pulled an opposite of ChuckW. When I first really smelled a bottle of Creed, I was less than impressed. It was Original Vetiver and I thought, "it's ok." The sales rep gave me a tester and I went on my way. I wore it that evening and thought that it was nice, but that it lacked something. I owned Guerlain Vetiver and thought the latter had more character. A few days later, I tried it again and thought, "Wow! This is exactly what I have been looking for." I ordered a bottle and when I sprayed it on me I actually started laughing at how beautiful and clean it was.

The same thing happened with Erolfa. Completely unimpressed, but little by little it began to reveal itself. Now, I am totally hooked. (And when I get done with this and take a shower, that one is coming on.)

I started off as someone who thought that Creed was a very overrated house. Now it is the only house that I am seriously looking at. Will my tastes change like Chuck? Possibly. However, right now things are quite delicious.

Don't know how many others you have tried, but being quite the Creed lover myself, most of those you've listed are the ones I do not much care for: OS, MI, Erolfa, SMW, Himalaya.
I do love Tabarome, GIT and OV. Still, I'm wondering whether you should not try Bois du Portugal, Royal Delight and particularly some of the older ones: Royal English Leather, Baie de Genièvre, Orange Spice, Angélique Encens, Bois de Santal, Vetiver 1948, Acier Aluminium. Magic stuff.

I'm with you in both respects, good life.

1) I'm a big Creed fan, can't see what the bagging is for, I don't care much for the marketing but I damn love their fragrances.

2) My favourites would be BdP, GIT, old and new Tabarome, and OV. I like Himalaya, but bought Paco XS so cheaply I couldn't justify owning both. Tried some others while I was in US - Royal Delight was indeed a lovely delight, butdidn't seem to last long on me, nevertheless I thought it was a beautifully soft gently sweet frag. Got little samples of Angelique Encens and Aubepine Acacia at the drugstore near Harvard, Cambridge, and love both of them. Loved REL.

In short, I respect Lutens, L'AP, et al, but for my conservative tastes I find Creeds far more wearable.

I have yet to find a Malle or Lutens that have stayed in my wardrobe. Like Ged, I think my tastes are more suited to Creed these days. I own OV, VIW, and Erolfa and will eventually end up with Vetiver 48.

Now that I love Kouros, it may be time to visit Orange Spice.

barry

I've tried a lot of Creeds. I like Orange Spice, Vintage Tabarome, Acier Aluminum well enough, but I've always found them either too conservative or lacking in the longevity department. There is one that I spray on a test strip whenever I come across it in a store. I bring the strip home, set it on my desk and enjoy the scent as I work on my computer. Well, yesterday morning I finally sprayed some of that "one" on my wrist at NM. To my surprise, It lasted all day long. I bought it, my first Creed, Jasmin Imperatice Eugenie. It's genius! I have now joined the Land of the Creed.

I agree with Ged here. Creed's marketing approach is almost as execrable as Amouage's!

As for the products? I've never been worshipful of any particualr house - Creed makes some scents I enjoy and some that I do not. Some of the older (or older style) ones, including Santal Imperial and Bois du Portugal, have plenty of character, but come off a bit too stiff or "mature" for me. (And I'm no pretty young thing anymore.) I remain curious about Royal English Leather and Orange Spice.

I find most of the modern millesimes extremely "pretty." Often too pretty for me. I also detect a common base among many of them, especially GIT, Erolfa, SMW, and MI. In fact, the drydown on these is so similar on my skin that I can't easily justify owning more than one or two at a time. (Could just be my defective nose, though.) The lasting power on all of these is tolerable at best, and even then only because I see them as exclusively daytime scents.

Right now I prefer Erolfa, since it's the craggiest and least conventionally beautiful of the bunch. I'm looking forward to trying Acier Aluminium to see if it dries down in a different direction.

I've become a real fan of Creed in the past year. Often, I'll like a new scent and buy it. Then I'll wear it a few times and lose interest and forget about it. With most Creeds it's different-- I'll think they're just OK when i first try them. Then, later I start to really notice a lot of subtle touches and I find that I'm wanting to wear this scent every day. I don't keep track of my "scents of the day", but if I have to think about what I wore on a particular day. chances are, it was one of my Creeds.


I wore Baie de Genievre to work today-- which was really my first time wearing this one out. It was a boring, slow lousy day. I kept getting little whiffs of the BdG and it was a treat. I like that it's kind of a dry oriental. It's a tad sweet, but it stays firm and never loses its edge. I'd initially though it was nice but not my style. It's going into the rotation effective immediately.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I have other stuff besides Creed to wear-- because now that I have 14 Creeds, the question isn't "which fragrance should I wear?", but rather "which Creed am I going to wear?" Like someone said, Creed does a great job of straddling the notions of art and wearability.

Creed's quality isn't something that necessarily blows you away the first time you smell it-- usually it's something that reveals itself to you after a few wearings. (Although I've gotten some unusually enthusiastic comments from strangers while wearing Creed-- not to mention the first time I wore Original Vetiver while at work waiting tables and one of my customers asked me if I came from "money" and if I was a rich kid just "slumming it waiting tables" for something to do. I kid you not!

I tried them out today and I give the CREED fans credit. I do not like CREED at all!

Out of all of them Himalaya smelled like snow and cool winter to me, thats the best one out of all of them.

The sales rep for Creed helped me for a half an hour and she didn't make me try the ones that are multi-gendered, HOWEVER, she did spray Imperiale M. on my left wrist and my wife immediately smelled a womans scent. The rep knew after that to show mw GIT and HIMa. and Santal etc.etc. The more masculine Creeds

I understand the integrity of the line...the name and it's true still owned family name..The Budweiser of Colognes if you will BUT IMHO I just dont get it for me. I was hoping to find something nighttime and sexy and elegant, I did feel rushed in being that I had a lunch date and had only an hour to try all these Creed colognes!

I have to go back and try Amouage Reflection man and some others that Saks didn't carry. The Creed cologne that smelled closest to Aqua Di Parma I thought I would like but it smelled like a pure lemon juice!! lol It was also in the same class as Parsons yellow.

Do I think theres another line out there thats just as good but not Pop cologne...Yea I do. I hope to find that one nighttime fragrance but I just do not see it in Creed.

I do believe in it's awesome oily lay on the skin and how it "Sits" on the skin without dissapating, she showed me that, that was cool.

Have to really try them again and take the cards home.

Just cause it's hard to find and buy doesn't nessecarily mean its thee best IMHO.

I do hope you mean the Czech Budweiser

As others have pointed out trying a Creed - or any quality perfume - within a rushed hour, much less an entire line or house, will not yield deep insights. A good perfume, like a complex recipe or serious poetry requires time and attention and an open mind. Creed indeed may not be the first choice to find a sexy elegant nighttime frag (though, come to think of it: Angélique Encens, Royal Delight, very lightly applied, REL of course...) but you do need to spend more time with these, which I gather you're planning to do.

Well, let's see. I've tired GIT and SMW, at friendly stores.( they saw me coming)

I've gone through decants of Acier Aluminum, Cypres -Musc, Bois du Portugal, Epicea, Selection Verte and Tabarome Millesime.

All of which has led me to one earth shattering question:

When strolling or hiking the great outdoors, which of these is your favorite?

1. The higher % MINT of Selection Verte?
2.The middle of the road minty Epicea?r
3. The lesser % mint of the woodsy Cypres-Musc ?

I know, I could hve started another thread, but I figured the gang's all here, so what the hell, ask it now !

Anyone? Pretty please?

-----------------------------

To continue, I've owned Erolfa, MI, and Tuberose Indiana and I currently own Vintage Tabarome, R E L, Himalaya, OV and 1948 Vetiver.

Conclusion?

NOTHING beats Erolfa by the seashore, but at this stage in my paranormal-psychic powers I can't conjure up sea breezes at will.

So if I were forced to choose between the ones I've smelled to only 2 they would be Himalaya and Vintage Tabarome.


And if I were forced to choose only one, I'd be very, very depressed.

*sigh*

Naturally I'd love to test Green Valley, Neroli Sauvage, Royal Delight, Virgin Island Water, and most of all; Feuille Verte and Santal Imperial.. Hell, I'd love to try them ALL., but who wouldn't?

Cheers,

Mario the Greedy.

1. Millésime Imperial
2. Silver Mountain Water / Virgin Island Water
3. Original Vetiver
4. Himalaya

that´s it...works good for younger people

Creed has a fantastic catalog, but its lacking a musky animalic civet- dominated fragrance.

I dont know whether its because its not a very "english" thing to do, but its about time for a Creed rendition of an armpit sweat + gonad juice! Its time for "English Lover"!

When I started on BN, I pretty much had not found any Creed that I liked.

Since, I have fell in love with Virgin Island Water (da' bomb frag for '07) and Silver Mountain Water (smells like the puddles I used to play in when it was raining, when I was a kid...nostalgic as hell for me!).

I hope to 'fall in love' with more...but with so many other fragrance houses vying for my attention, I am ok with love for just 2 Creeds.

Sorry to revive an old thread, but I thought I would offer my insights.

When I first came to Basenotes, I had a few designer scents... Acqua di Gio, D&G PH, Boss in Motion, etc... I got bored so I decided to see what else was out there. I typed in "cologne reviews" and found Basenotes. Basenotes introduced me to Creed. Creed introduced me to niche scents. Creed MI was my first scent from the company. The rest (for me) is history. I now also have GIT, SMW, OV, BdP, and VIW.

You want to know the funny thing? I bought all of them blind through recommendations from this community. All of them are either medium or big bottles too. There have only been 2 occasions when I had to reject a blind-bought Creed. One was Erolfa (lasts 2 minutes) and the other was BdG (smelled like bad "B.O.").

Today, I have expanded and tried and own other niche fragrances from houses like Lutens, Frederic Malle, Bond No. 9, L'Artisan, Amouage, etc...

I think the best way for me to define Creed fragrances is to call them "transition" scents, because they were just what I needed to go from being a designer scent guy to a niche scent guy. I will always have great respect for the company, but I wouldn't call myself a "fanboy."

That's a very interesting way to look at Creed, as being "transition" scents. There are several niche fragrances that I like quite a lot, but most of my wardrobe consists of designer scents. I've tried to like Creed, but so far I have only purchased Bois du Portugal. I like it well enough I guess, but it's not in my top tier of favorites. I don't think of designer scents as being necessarily "less than" niche scents though. I try to judge each fragrance on its own merits. I love so many fragrances, but my very favorites tend to be from the designer houses, not the niche houses. So far that is... things could change at any time.

Oh, I don't think designer scents are bad or anything, as a matter of fact, there are quite a few I own that could have been released by any niche house (Ungaro III, Platinum Egoiste - which comically probably "inspired" Creed's Himalaya since they smell similar to me). I define niche as just that, something special that not many people own. I started moving towards niche fragrances just for that reason - I was tired of smelling like everyone else.

I agree with akshay03. The most popular creeds are actually quite good but simple scents, easy to approach and easy to wear. The more I explore other houses, the less impressed I am with Creed. Nowadays, I only consider Acier A. to be FBW

I think I am in agreement with Irish. At onset, It was Creed all the way for me, then (thru Bassnotes) I discovered Caron, Lutens, Malle and more. Currently I own Green Valley, Tabaarome MI and GIT. I have owned Erolfa, Silver Mountain Water and Imperial. All I consider close to great, with possible exception of GIT which to me now is so common it seems to be used in all kinds of applications (hand soap laundry det. ect).

Tastes change. Now I like Third man by Caron, Yatagan, and PuH as well or better than the Creeds at a quarter of the cost. I find no issue iwth serial numbers, counterfeits or lack of longivity or what batch smells like ___.!

I discovered Creeds scents several years ago and still love the ones I love. They remain one of my favourite houses. Every time I come back to a creed after wearing other stuff for a while I remember why I like them so much. It is a style thing. For traditional compositions made from good ingredients they can't be bettered in my opinion. There are quite a number which I have never taken too (BdeG, Ambre C, SMW, Royal W, Royal D, O.Santal, Epicea, ZMP etc) and my thoughts on these do not seem to shift despite repeated tryings.

I think that because the compositions are relatively simple, I either like the smell of the ingredients or not, and mostly, I do.

So far, I've tried ( through ample samples) RW, Himalaya and GIT. They're all good and I'm partial to Himalaya the most out of the 3.

I'm in no way knocking Creeds, they just don't last long enough on my skin to justify the price tag. I wish it lasted on me like it does others because they are elegantly clean in nature and a pleasure to wear for the half hour it lasts.

I wish they came out with one that has longevity for people with skin like mine.

When I first joined BN, I was all over Creed. I owned most of them at one time. Now that I'm a little bit older and wiser (and more full of sheeyat, naturally), I have since grown in perspective.

The versatiles: any time, season, or situation
GIT
MI
OV

The true classics:
REL (still the only leather to date that I can tolerate)
Acier Aluminum
Bois du Portugal

For me, Creed lasts a very long time and no matter if you dislike a particular scent, you can't deny the quality in each bottle.

TNMA

+1

I've had a similar experience with Creed being my first non-designer scents and drawing me into the whole niche parfumery world. I've since found many other wonderful frags and lost the intense fascination with everything Creed. Thanks to BN, I've learned to take Creed's marketing info and references to royalty and celebrities with a generous serving of salt, but I still own three (GIT, MI, SMW) and they get regular use.

It's nice that people can have a Creed discussion without the ire that used to come from some people.

Interesting idea of Creed as a 'transition' or 'gateway' house. I guess this really comes down to what house was the first to get someone into niche. Creed would probably be that for a lot of people only because it's so well known and has so much visibility. Even those fragrance stands at the mall have a few Creed items, but you can't say the same about nearly any other niche house.

I found many Creeds to be nice and well constructed, but not worth the money. When you factor in that they go bad after a few years and that you really have to avoid discounters to make sure you get a fresh bottle, it raised the bar for the quality of the fragrance. I only one one - Royal English Leather - and there's only a couple more I want (Chevrefuille, Scottish Lavender). Though I like Bois de Cedrat, Erolfa, Epicea, etc. I don't think they're worth it.

I don't think that similarity among Creeds is necessarily a bad thing (and I don't think you were implying that, either). The sheer number of Creed offerings is impressive, even if many are pretty darn similar. But I think even the 'doppelgangers' like SMW and MI are distinct enough to justify themselves. Just gives consumers more choice, and what's wrong with that?

For my part, I've always respected SMW, GIT, OV, Erolfa, and Himalaya, and many others. The more I sample the world of fragrances, the more I think Creed fills a need for many of us - clean, natural smelling (even if not natural in formulation), and easy to wear. I could never be exclusive to Creed, but neither could I imagine being without a least a few of their fragrances in my wardrobe.

To Creed or not to Creed? I have the following solution for you people: just carry up a simple blind product / round robin test.

1. Take any Creed
2. Take any designer's brand

Now, scents have to be similar.

Conditions:

Participants must not wear any fragrance, not see the original brands, must try both samples. There should be an interval between trials, say ten minutes.

After trying:

1. Ask which sample is Creed
2. Ask which is not
2. Which one they prefer.

Add up, arrive to a conclusion.

Inferences: if they prefer Creed, OK, it is the product. If they don't, blame it to branding activities.

I do these sort of exercises while lecturing on product development, and it is way fun. Fans can't believe how biased their organoleptic perceptions can be.

Can you give example of which Creeds you put against which designer offerings?

This has been my story. Because I did not transition to niche through Creed (having tried several other niche houses first), I got off to a rocky start with Creed. Like my youthful days as the class cut-up, giggling at classical literature, I was initially unimpressed by Creed. I thought the various Creed scents were too similar. In reality, I was too early in my perfumistic career to understand the "house effect" which - in the same way as an author's style - provides continuity within almost every house. I expected that Creed's "reputation", even if hyperinflated, would still be evidenced by some kind of obvious "wow" factor. I didn't realize that I was operating under an illusion - the expectation that I would not have to make any effort to find true meaning. And finally, I expected that my neophyte sensibilities would not fundamentally change, as I sampled more and more scents other than Creed. Wrong again. Ironically, it was trying many other things that made me begin to differentiate and appreciate the Creeds.

With time, attention, and an open mind, I can now accept that Creed is a rightful member of the core group of quality designer and niche perfume houses. Creed fragrances have their own style, range, and relationships to other scents. Some Creeds - particularly the older, lighter, and citrus - are among my favorites. They are an essential part of my scent library. My feelings toward Creed scents will likely continue to evolve with time. I just hope that I continue to get as much enjoyment from them in the coming years, as I am getting now!

Unfortunately, I don't think really works that much in the professional fragrance world as it might with something else. Unless they WANT to be a knockoff, no one strives for a "similar" fragrance. Take MI and Sean John's Unforgivable. While MI came earlier and a lot of people around these boards say that since it was Diddy's favorite cologne that Unforgivable might have been inspired by it, they don't smell alike to me at all. I would compare Unforgivable more to Wall Street, but even then the similarities might just stay in the top notes and veer off in different directions from there. I don't think Creed's scents smell completely like anything else (same goes for other companies) - you can't do a "Coke" test with them.

I very much agree with this thread. There are only a very few Creeds that I have, but I think the difference is (at least with me) that the creeds that I do have, I Love. There are some that I just don't "get" and some that are so fleeting that I could not spend money for.

Your GIT found a loving new home I think I should revisit the other Creeds I tried and dismissed at first, particularly Himalaya, OS and OV.

Also, does anybody know of a source to procure a sample of Fuelle Verte? This stuff has all but disappeared from the face of the Earth.

I would love to answer to your question but.. Creed is unavailable locally. Please, take in mind I am proposing an exercise on order to infer wether perceptions are brand or product based. On the other hand, be sure that in case of being able, I would spend a whole day analyzing all of Creed's line.


I agree: if I were Mr. Creed I would not develop fragrances the same way Coca Cola works in their products. Moreover, I would make a huge effort in designing 100 % original scents.

However, perceptions are quite tricky. Since they are so, there are tools used in order to asses if these perceptions are a by product of branding or not.

When I first discovered Creed, say 3 or so years ago, I had a naive impression that it was THE house and that all its fragrances were unrivaled. The first Creed I tried was Cypres-Musc and I fell in love with it. In reflection, what an odd place to start! Then I started sampling others; nearly all the masculines and unisex ones. It was a revelation to me that the majority of them produced either indifference or disappointment (as I have now found is the case with virtually every house with a decent size line). When the dust settled, the following were the ones I liked enough to buy:

Bois du Portugal
Cypres-Musc
Erolfa
Feuille Verte
Millesime Imperial
Royal Scottish Lavender
Silver Mountain Water

I don't think I like any of the others enough to justify a purchase. The one that tempts me some is Baie de Genièvre, but I would use it so sparingly that I can't justify a bottle. Perhaps a 10 ml decant someday.

I've done that before. It was 50/50.

GIT or Cool Water? GIT
Himalaya or XS? XS
Bois du Portugal or KL Homme? KL Homme
Original Vetiver or Mugler Cologne? Mugler
Original Santal or Joop! Homme? Original Santal
Millesime Imperial or Unforgivable? Millesime Imperial

These were folks who don't wear fragrance at all and thought the whole experiment was absurd.

Thanks so much for the info!

BTW, don't take the opinions oof participants in mind, they assured you unbiased results.

It is crsital clear: it tells me that should I be able to buy some of Creed's brands, I should get Millesime Imperiale and Santal, and try others that are easily available locally.

Interesting... but there are a lot of things not taken into account on this (not to knock your efforts or anything, just making discussion). For one, they were probably just basing things off the top notes. The top notes of BdP are HORRIBLE to me. The base notes was where that particular fragrance excelled. Same goes for OV (though I'm surprised people found Mugler better... it's good, but not better IMO). Himalaya I can pretty much agree with, though I would compare it to Chanel's PE.

Another thing - a fragrance should be rated for everything: longevity and silage in addition to just the scent. Now some might say that longevity is definitely not Creed's strong point, but if you take OV vs Mugler Cologne, you'll start to see some stark differences. OV lasts all day on me, and MC lasts about 2 hours. What's the point of buying something if you can't enjoy it all day? The reverse can be said if you compare, say Himalaya with PE. Obviously you can't conduct a test like this unless it's a whole day affair. Even then, it is subjective - what about skin chemistry?

Again, I'm not saying Creed > everything, I'm just trying to point out the fallacies of such a test being done in the fragrance world.

aside from the obvious GIT/Cool Water copycat scheme going on at Creed......THE WORST bit of plagiarism has occurred with Paco Rabanne XS (1993) and Creed Himalaya (2005).....in which case Paco Rabanne XS conquers the big ugly niche with a better scent, more oomph, and a much cheaper price. Plagiarism at its worst...and failing.

Other Fragrances: 3829194
Creed: 0

At the end nothing beats Creed...I tried so many fragrances...I also like Bond´s (only Hamptons and Wall Street)...I´m a young person...so the heavy scents are not for me...maybe some year later :-)
What I like about Creed...there are not in your face scent...always smooth and elegant. Maybe some basenoter think the scent disappear, but its not...