What do you think of Creed Epicea?

Hey Ted
I think I can be of help here as I went through a little Epicea phase at one point.
At first I had a sample and thought it was awesome, so I jumped on the opportunity for a cheap bottle when I saw it. At first I was extremely impressed. I loved the fresh, true to nature scent it has. Really a nice, natural pine smell, like what you might get on a day of skiing going up the chairlift as you pass over a foresty patch. Another comparison: It almost smells as one's fingers might if they rubbed their hands with pines and grapefruit. Not air freshenery, cologney, or X-mas tree-ey. Ey. I also got one of the best compliments of my life on it-I was sitting in the middle of the room, about 5 rows back from the front, during a chemistry lecture. When it was over, I walked to the front to ask a question. After I asked the question, as I turned to go back to my seat, a girl in the front row said "Woh, that's YOU who smells amazing! I kept getting these great wafts of scent coming from behind me, kind of distracting really." So that added to the fun. The interesting thing though was that this was from my sample!
Maybe there was something wrong with the bottle I got, who knows, but at any rate when I wore it out of the bottle I just didn't get nearly as good of an overall scent impression as I did from the sample. The top notes were still nice but it simply didn't last on me. It would disappear/lose character very quickly, even if I applied a lot. I eventually gave up on it and sold the bottle. Very sad, because it was absolutely awesome from the sample.
I'd try it out if I were you and see if you can get some lasting power out of it. It is at the very worst a very pleasant and natural smell, so you certainly won't dislike it. Very different from the majority of Creeds that I've tried.


p.s.-I'll be back in the Lou soon. I'll be busy at the get-go but we should definately meet up down the road a month or two once I'm settled in and in the rhythm of things.

Writing all that ish about Epicea just inspired me to order a decant of it. Who knows, maybe it will last on me this time! If not, I know that I'll at least enjoy the top notes immensely. Should be a nice boost in the morning trudging to class through the snow. I have low expectations for the lasting power, but hey if it's there this time around I'll take it.

Epicea is one of the few Creeds that I don't like. It just doesn't appeal to me because of the type of soapiness it has...something similar to Gendarme's Grabazzi. It was almost too clean and harsh for me.

I do expect that lots of people would like this one, though. It is nicely crafted, just doesn't appeal to me.

The Giraffe - would you compate Epicea at all to Blenheim Bouquet by Penhaligons? Penhaligons when I sniffed it from a sample, gave me that mental image of pine tree needles smelled from atop a ski lift...right down to the pine tree sap. But then BB became almost nauseatingly alcohol-ish and reminded me too much of pine oil floor cleaner mixed with dirty mop water.

I am currently wearing Mazzolari by Mazzolari, truly a pine beauty!

One of the best Creeds of all. But I don't get anything that I would describe as pine from it at all. It's far more interesting.

Pine solifore this is not, but Epicea does have an excellent pine note complimented by spices like clove, cardamom etc to give it a "warm" feel. If overapplied in warmer weather, the spices overwhelm the pine note; there's no need to overapply because it sports good longevity with 3-4 sprays. At times it smells like a brighter, less smoky Tea for Two. It works really well in colder weather.

Unfortunately the Penhaligon's line is one of my biggest gaps in fragrance knowledge...I've never smelled a single one! However, from my experiences with Epicea, it does not dry down to the pine oil floor cleaner mixed with dirty mop water type scent that sounds oh so wonderful.

Put a vote in for me in the "Blenheim Bouquet does not smell like dirty mop water" ballot.

Blenheim bouquet is very harsh; alcoholic pine.

TNMA

I only had a brief testing with it, on the paper, but I didn't get much pine notes from it. Obviously the paper doesn't allow the frag to blossom like skin does, but I found Baie de Genievre to be better and still in the same ballpark. That being said, I would have still purchased Epicea, and may in the future.

If you like coniferous scents I hear, never tested, that Cypres-Musc fits the bill.

Tested this today for the 1st time.

I'm kind of on a 'smell of a Christmas tree' kick recently, in case you haven't noticed (Winter Delice, Polo, Fou D'Absinthe...), so finally getting around to testing the sample of Epicea I've had for a long time seemed like good timing.

The pine notes are wonderful - actually better than Polo. They aren't very muted or creamy, instead they're very resinous and strong. I expected the cardamom to overpower, but it didn't, it complemented quite nicely.

It only lasted about an hour or so, then it was gone. But when it stuck around, it was a beautiful, wide-angle HDTV pine note. Breathtaking!

Tested it at Harrods last week,


I can understand if people like a good, warm, pine scent but this is bad.. I really didn't like it, good thing that the longivity was not good (2 hours max). It smells very very simple, as if they took some water and crushed pine leaves, and mixed it together, labeled it Creed Epicea and voila..

To boring for me.

If Creed is the house with more % of oldfashioned colognes,Epicea is in the top 3. Very bad,
you want pine ok? POLO CREST..........

I love Epicea. The lemon top is great and the pine doesn't smell greenish-floor-cleaner like, but smokey, like glowing embers of pinewood in a log-cabin fireplace. While not revolutionary it's extremely comforting and well made.

I agree that epicea is very well made. My experience of it is that the pine accord is very good, natural smelling, resinous. It blends with the lemon well. Unfortunately, I find it drops off into the intense spice heart all too quickly. This heart is warming but I just don't like cardomom, it always ends up smelling of "generic spice" to me. So this ends up being one that, despite a couple of tries, I just don't like or want to wear.

Beautiful description -- I agree that Epicea has a wonderful pine/smoke note.
I love pine scents, I call that being a "cone-head." But I have come to the conclusion that, generally speaking, pine is a difficult note to do well and one often has to pay more to get good quality. Otherwise, you do get a air-freshener, pinesol type of note.
Blenheim Bouquet is excellent, I think of it as a lemony-frosty scent with a bit of pine.
Cypres-Musc is absolutely superb, it is in my top 5. Hard to get, and the notes are of cypress rather than pine (but still lovely, resinous and coniferous).
Fou D'Absinthe -- another top 5. Beautiful warm pine notes, really well done.
If looking for an introspective pine scent, try Zagorsk in the Comme des Garcons Incense line. It is a quiet, contemplative pine/incense scent. A bigger, bolder and woodier version of that is their new Monocle One: Hinoki.
Cheers!

Epicea is not the typical Pine/evergreen smell that we associate, regardless of the spices/herbs that are in Epicea. Even those with aversion towards "Pine" may like Epicea alot. I liked it, but not enough to buy a bottle.
It is the best evergreen-dominant scent I've tried, including Blenheim Bouquet.

I've gone through a couple of samples of Epicea over the last few years, but somehow I haven't felt like buying a full bottle. The scent is pleasant and very comforting, and it doesn't remind me of air fresheners etc at all. In fact, I like Epicea a lot, even though I find it to be rather linear. The problem is that after wearing it for one day I don't feel like wearing it again for a long time...until next x-mas, that is. What a pity, it is really a great scent.

It's one of the only Creeds I like - good stuff!

The new Italian Cypress by Tom Ford reminds me a lot of Epicea. Which is odd, because I expected IC to remind me of Cypress Musc, another Creed scent. But no...it's TF's version of Epicea / Polo / (insert pine prominent scent here)

I like it a lot! One of the best Creed scents from their EDT line.. Just ordered a new bottle.

I agree it is a very nice scent definitely more suited for formal occasions. Creed seems to be discontinuing a lot from their Edt line, you think this one is In danger to?

Which one has been discontinued?

Have it and love it.

Ditto.

Personally not a fan. Never was, but some love it.

Sampled it, finally bought it, and keep trying to like it. I like pine scents, but Creed Epicea -- I get this hard-to-bear celery note. I keep thinking I'll eventually "get it" and love it, but so far, not so good.

My favourite pine frag is Serge Lutens Fille en Aiguilles. A rich spicy Pine