Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Classic Spotlight: Creed

Honestly, I am not sure whether Creed is considered classic or not.  I'm putting in that category because it's an old perfume house, started in 1706 in England and moving to France around the 1830s.  Maybe it should be considered niche, although I think in my head "niche" means it must be more recent.  Perfume rookie strikes again, but let's not miss the point here.  There are some beautiful, fabulous fragrances to be found at Creed.

(credit: joshuakennon.com)

The Perfume Rookie also learned the value of chit-chat with employees.  The girl working at Creed the day I stopped by was young (though, I guess, so am I, ish), had only been there a few months, and is "very passionate" about all things perfume.  Her colleague went to lunch while I was there, taking my sweet time smelling different fragrances.  At the end of my visit, I asked whether they have samples, and she gave me FIVE free samples - Love in White, Spring Flower, White Flowers, Jardin d'Amalfi, and Sublime Vanille.  "Our little secret", she said.  Score for the Perfume Rookie!

(image taken from creedboutique.com)

But onto the scents themselves.  I found Creed a very love/hate experience. If I liked a scent, I really liked it.  If I didn't like it - ahem, Love in Black - then I hope to never smell it again.  Love in White was my first crush of the day.  It starts off bright, and settles into something truly lovely, that feels like a little secret haven you're wearing on your skin.  When I first smelled Spring Flower, I wasn't turned on.  Too pretty, too girly - maybe its the peach in the top notes, I don't know.  But when I came back to the touche five or ten minutes later, the fragrance had settled into something fun.  The first impression of teenage girl turned into something more sophisticated, and I was sold.

I had thought that I would love Fleurissimo, the scent that was created for Grace Kelly to wear at her wedding. The salesgirl made the claim that Kate Middleton (excuse me, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge) wore Fleurissimo at her wedding as well, and I let her make that claim though I knew it was false.  That honor went to the elegant and stunning White Gardenia Petals from British perfume house Illuminum.  Apparently a French magazine reported that she wore Fleurissimo, and the rumors went from there.  In any event, Fleurissimo felt old to me.  Grace Kelly was amazingly beautiful, and this perfume is too, but it felt like something from another era.


Royal Exclusives is the newest line from Creed, featuring four scents - Jardin d'Amalfi, White Flowers, Sublime Vanille, and Spice and Wood.  These perfumes are offered only in 250ml bottles that are definitely gorgeous - and definitely expensive, at 300 euros per bottle.  In truth, that's not that expensive, it's just that they're only sold in such a large quantity so as to make it expensive.  I didn't smell Spice and Wood, but the other three are really very nice.  I'll blog more on them after playing with the samples I snagged.

(image taken from creedboutique.com)

The Perfume Rookie's take on Creed is that there is more to be explored in this perfume house with such a proud and storied legacy.  It's amazing that the business is still privately held, with a Creed family member (that would be Oliver Creed) as the current master perfumer. And while its been a French company for almost 200 years, it still feels a bit British which makes it a different experience than visiting other French perfume houses.

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