
A Brief History Of The House Of Creed
The house of Creed has a long history that spans over two and a half centuries. It was founded in England in 1760 by James Creed to provide the English Court with custom made clothing, scented leather gloves, and fragrances commissioned by King George III. The king would use the scented leather gloves while horseback riding and loved the scent so much that he commissioned James Creed to create a fragrance for him. In 1781, Creed’s first fragrance was created, Royal English Leather. It is said to be a mix of ambergris, mandarin and sandalwood.
In 1824, Henry Creed II was born and was the third generation perfumer of the house. He was considered the most innovative perfumer of the house and helped expand the Creed brand throughout Europe. In 1854, the house officially moved to Paris, France in order to be at the center of the fashion & beauty industry. Fast forward to 1970 and Creed officially made its niche fragrances available to the public under the tutelage of Olivier Creed, sixth generation of the Creed family. It would be in 2010 where Olivier created its most famous and best-selling fragrance to date, Aventus.
Creed continues to churn out excellent fragrances and is very well-known in the industry. The thing that stands out for me is that fact that the business has remained in the family for over 250 years, which is quite impressive.
For me, Creed makes superb fresh fragrances using high-quality ingredients. I personally own three Creed fragrances: Aventus, Royal Oud and Virgin Island Water and have tested several others.
Fun fact – the following celebrities wear or have worn Creed fragrances: Jay-Z and the late David Bowie and Frank Sinatra.
Aventus
Aventus is an excellent fresh fragrance that is super popular in the fragrance community. Please read my blog post to learn more about the different niche olfactory families.
These are the notes that make up Aventus:
Top notes: bergamot, blackcurrant leaves, apple and pineapple. The pineapple really shines in this fragrance and is the note I notice the most.
Heart notes: pinkberries, birch, patchouli and jasmine
Base notes: musk, oakmoss, ambergris and vanilla
Royal Oud
Royal Oud is a spicy, woody fragrance and is a very sophisticated scent, best suited for mature men for use during formal occasions, date night or when you would like to make a statement. Please read my oud niche fragrance blog post if you haven’t done so already to learn more about this unique and precious ingredient. Oud is an ingredient with a distinct smell that is regarded very highly in the industry. This is one of my favorite oud fragrances and should not disappoint!
These are the notes that make up Royal Oud:
Top notes: lemon, pinkberries and bergamot
Heart notes: cedar, galbanum and angelica roots
Base notes: sandalwood, oud and tonkin musk
Virgin Island Water
Virgin Island Water is a fresh fragrance with citrus and coconut tones that makes for an excellent summer fragrance. If you are feeling creative, you can layer on equal parts Aventus with Virgin Island Water to concoct what smells like a piña colada! But don’t worry, you won’t smell like you are drunk by any means, it actually smells quite lovely. Either combined or on it’s own, this is a great fragrance that I personally just purchased very recently and have enjoyed wearing it very much during these hot summer days.
These are the notes that make up Virgin Island Water:
Top notes: Sicilian white bergamot, Jamaican lime and Sicilian mandarin
Heart Notes: hibiscus, ylang ylang and Indian jasmine
Base Notes: Tonkin musk and tropical wood