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Creed Virgin Island Water

post #1 of 18
9/25/07 at 7:03am
Thread Starter 
I bought this blind yesterday and will receive the bottle shortly. Ironically, today i received a tiny sample of VIW from a generous basenoter who included it with another purchase that i made from him.

I have tested this twice during the day and i am just not impressed with it.
This smells like so 'uncreed' like. To begin with there is no 'ambergis'. It just doesnt have that creed 'housenote' that is so prominently projected in Himalaya, Millesime Imperial, GIT, SMW.
VIW begins with hint of lemon and mandarin with the coconut note lurking in the backdrop. Soon the coconut takes over and then never really goes away. It is then joined by something really sugary. I read 'sugarcane' as one of the basenotes in it. Yes sugarcane juice did spring to my mind when i tried hard to think what it was.

For me VIW is a VERY sweet cocunut syrup. Almost to the point where i think i will classify it as a 'gourmand'. It smells like a cocktail of several fruits juices. I am not aware of 'coconut' note in another fragrance. That way it is unique, yet it is not special in a way. Honestly, i just dont want to admit it but it smells like an inferior,sugary, syrupy cloying perfume. These may be harsh words for a fragrance that retails for 225USD and is not heavily discounted online but i can't think of it in another way, atleast for now. Tomorrow is another day and i am ofcourse going to try it numerous times during the coming week to really grasp this one.

Ofcourse things may change once i give it a 'complete' wearing but for starters i don't understand the 'raves' about this and the astronomical price tag on it.

I would love to hear opinions of fellow basenoters on VIW.

gupts
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post #2 of 18
9/25/07 at 7:15am
You've got a spray bottle coming, so give at least one full-day's wearing applied that way. I find the lime note gives the whole scent an edge and pulls back the sweet elements sufficiently. Maybe the lime note (which lasts a LONG time for me) will project more clearly if you apply the scent with more coverage the way an atomizer allows.

However, it may be the wrong season to experience VIW at its best -- looks like your high temperatures these days are in the 60s to low 70s (°F). In my opinion, VIW really shines in the heat of summer.
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post #3 of 18
9/25/07 at 7:15am
I like Creed and now own OV, GIT and Himalaya but I discovered this one is not for me. I had a bottle of this and I sold it.
(I also sold Bois du Port, I respect it, it's well made, but again, I don't feel comfortable wearing it.)

I like the lime note, but the coconut started to anoy me after a short while.
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post #4 of 18
9/25/07 at 7:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by gupts View Post

I bought this blind yesterday and will receive the bottle shortly. Ironically, today i received a tiny sample of VIW from a generous basenoter who included it with another purchase that i made from him.

I have tested this twice during the day and i am just not impressed with it.
This smells like so 'uncreed' like. To begin with there is no 'ambergis'. It just doesnt have that creed 'housenote' that is so prominently projected in Himalaya, Millesime Imperial, GIT, SMW.
VIW begins with hint of lemon and mandarin with the coconut note lurking in the backdrop. Soon the coconut takes over and then never really goes away. It is then joined by something really sugary. I read 'sugarcane' as one of the basenotes in it. Yes sugarcane juice did spring to my mind when i tried hard to think what it was.

For me VIW is a VERY sweet cocunut syrup. Almost to the point where i think i will classify it as a 'gourmand'. It smells like a cocktail of several fruits juices. I am not aware of 'coconut' note in another fragrance. That way it is unique, yet it is not special in a way. Honestly, i just dont want to admit it but it smells like an inferior,sugary, syrupy cloying perfume. These may be harsh words for a fragrance that retails for 225USD and is not heavily discounted online but i can't think of it in another way, atleast for now. Tomorrow is another day and i am ofcourse going to try it numerous times during the coming week to really grasp this one.

Ofcourse things may change once i give it a 'complete' wearing but for starters i don't understand the 'raves' about this and the astronomical price tag on it.

I would love to hear opinions of fellow basenoters on VIW.

gupts

I have to agree with your assessment. I do hope you change your mind the more you wear it, but I agree that it smells very (mostly) coconuty, and doesn't seem to smell like a $225 fragrance. Honestly, and I don't mean to offend, but if you took the Creed label off, and stuck a Demeter one on, I'm not sure I could tell the difference.
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post #5 of 18
9/25/07 at 7:25am
I thought VIW precisely managed to avoid the sticky over-the-top synthetic coconutness of many "summery-beachy" fragrances. Yet it came across as a highly situational fragrance to me - warm summer days, best at the beach, on vacation. I could not see a regular daytime usage for this (well, perhaps on weekends after the sauna) and I also found it better suited to a lady dressed in summery white or pastel than myself. I'll be sticking with Acqua di Parma for summers or save up for Selection Verte.
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post #6 of 18
9/25/07 at 8:51am
I think that VIW's sweet notes settle down quite nicely in the drydown. But, yes, VIW still remains very coconuty (albeit well-blended coconut). I didn't end up using this scent as often as I had expected to. I wore it primarily for warm, summer, casual weekend days - never to work. I'll hold onto it for a while, as you never know when or how your taste will evolve, but in the end I just couldn't get it to feel like "me." It's not a bad fragrance, by any means (I think it's far better than Royal Ceylan), but it's important to remind yourself that Erwin is aiming for a broader, younger clientele these days, and VIW is obviously part of that strategy. Now, Feuille Verte was outstanding without including the ambergris housenotes, but that one seemed to have Olivier's stamp all over it. All of the other newer, more-hyped fragrances in the emerging era of Erwin (from Original Santal on) are far less "Creed-like," as many have pointed out here, and ultimately harder to get a good "read" on.
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post #7 of 18
9/25/07 at 9:13am
I was very dissapointed in this frag as well. I got the same syrupy cloying coconut as you did and never understood the hype over it.

There was a great fragrance I smelt passing a coworker a few days ago and it didn't register until I was down the hall and stopped dead in my tracks. I'm not sure who they were but hopefully I'll see them wondering the halls again so I can ask them. It was a more masculine coconut frag and the coconut note was not the least bit cloying. I thought maybe it could have been VIW but then I got home and tryed it on again and by no means was this VIW that they were wearing. I would never wear VIW to the office, whatever he had on I could wear anywhere.
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post #8 of 18
9/25/07 at 9:29am
There was a thread here listing plenty of other coconut fragrances - back in early summer, when VIW was released.

I've heard a number of people say that they'd never buy VIW because it too closely resembles Bath & Body Works' Coconut Lime Verbena, and they don't want to be assumed as "smelling cheap."
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post #9 of 18
9/25/07 at 9:30am
I have been through almost a full 2oz of this since summer began and it's been the perfect "scenttrack" to my summer here in south Florida.

the lime is to die for, and it just keeps on and on. i've never had another citrus anything that lasted on me the way the VIW lime does.
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post #10 of 18
9/25/07 at 9:45am
Virgin Island Water smells much more complex to me than the reviews I read on this thread. After 6-7 hours I get these wonderful wiffs of coconut/rum/lime that are amazing. I do find it extremely unisex but I don't limit myself to just wearing it for a specific situation.
I find it 'just smells damn good'; when I know longer think that, you may see it for sale.
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post #11 of 18
9/25/07 at 9:45am
I have never gotten any lime from VIW. Well, I only get it for the first minute. After that though it is pure coconut. Just a syrupy, cloying, coconut.
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post #12 of 18
9/25/07 at 10:59am
I agree that VIW leaves out the Creed 'note' that you expected. I didn't miss it.

I love VIW. Love the coconut (it is the most subtle, well done coconut note I have smelled), the lime (a salty tenacious lime) and it just lasts and lasts on my skin (unlike any Bath & Body Work product does).

Of course, it would only seem 'worth' the high price tag you paid for it, if you loved it.

I agree with some of the above comments - VIW really shows it complexity and true compatibility in hot, sunny weather. Which works fine for me, here in hot Miami.
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post #13 of 18
9/25/07 at 10:48pm
Thread Starter 
Just want to add that VIW smells like the cocktail 'Pina Colada' to me.
I was out for drinks last evening and there i read this on the menu and it just struck me how identical VIW is to Pina Colada.

I think i should try dropping some of this cocktail on my clothes and see how it compares with VIW.

gupts
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post #14 of 18
9/26/07 at 10:11am
I received a sample from Neiman Marcus. I like it alot as you can tell the quality is there and all and it's very nice...however, it smells waaay to much like a ladies scent than unisex on me. I don't know...perhaps if it had a pepper note or something.
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post #15 of 18
9/26/07 at 10:17am
I love mine..
I don't get very good longevity out of it (not very detectable after about 5ish hours), but I absolutely love the first while. I can understand why someone wouldn't like it (i.e.. if you don't like lime or coconut) but for those of us that do, it's so delicious. Someone on the emergency board said someone about how they loved it so much and it was so delicious smelling, they almost wanted to just spray it in their mouth. I agree. It's tempting
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post #16 of 18
9/26/07 at 10:38am
Reminds me of that scene in A Fish Called Wanda, when Jamie Lee Curtis's character, readying herself to seduce John Cleese's character, finishes her perfume application with a quick shot in the mouth. To freshen up her kiss, presumably.
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post #17 of 18
9/26/07 at 1:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrd4t View Post

I love mine..
I don't get very good longevity out of it (not very detectable after about 5ish hours), but I absolutely love the first while. I can understand why someone wouldn't like it (i.e.. if you don't like lime or coconut) but for those of us that do, it's so delicious. Someone on the emergency board said someone about how they loved it so much and it was so delicious smelling, they almost wanted to just spray it in their mouth. I agree. It's tempting

I can see Chandler Burr now, using a 'Virgin Island Water' cocktail at his Scent Dinners...
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post #18 of 18
9/26/07 at 1:32pm
I had it, but it's a one trick pony. Good for the beach scene, not a "real world" scent for me. I sold it on ebay.
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