Top Notes 
Heart Notes 
Base Notes 
12/25/2011
Apicius
222 Reviews
Apicius
Helpful Review
5
Once again, like every Christmas...
If you are looking for a decent Christmas perfume for men, then Creed's Orange Spice is a great choice.
It combines two contradictory accords. First, the Christmas part: a delicate and pronounced mandarin orange note enhanced with only slight spiciness. The very discreet spices are reminiscent of gingerbread, but with the prominent mandarin, thoughts of plum pudding also enter my mind.
Generally, I do not like orange fragrances that much, and I would not like Orange Spice either if orange was the only aspect in it. But next to the Christmas accord, there is something explicitly masculine: a clean, soapy and musky Barber shop style accord! Amiable, tender or floral notes are always difficult in gent's perfumes. They require a counterpart or at least side note that adds just that piece of masculinity that the general direction of the fragrance is missing. I think it is not easy to integrate such a counterpart without spoiling the beauty of the original approach. Orange Spice, however, shows us a perfect solution for this challenge. The soapy note in itself is not very dark or rough, so the optimistic and amiable tendency of the mandarin orange is not obscured.
For me, Orange Spice is almost exclusively Christmas eve's wear. (Some rare exceptions may occur.) However gentle and delicate the mandarin seems to be on first sight, in the long run, this note can become strenuous. I cannot imagine this as every day wear, I would simply get fed up with it. But once a year, on that very special day, I use it and I am really looking forward to wear it. Just as you do not eat gingerbread all year, you do not constantly use Orange Spice.
Orange Spice has full Eau de Parfum strength and can last all day. Being released in 1950, it is definitely a perfume classic, so do not expect any modern twist. It has not gained lots of interest at Parfumo yet, maybe because it is so special. I can imagine people put it aside because with the denomination of orange, they might expect it to be on the summery or fresh side. It is simply not fair to compare it with better known mandarin perfumes like Clinique Happy or the Oranges by Hermès.
Creed is not my favourite brand. Their general style is conservative up to point where it becomes boring. Except for Bois du Portugal, Orange Spice is the only Creed fragrance I really like. With its tender but nevertheless expressive mandarin – soapy style it stands out well from all the other rather conventional Creed perfumes.
It combines two contradictory accords. First, the Christmas part: a delicate and pronounced mandarin orange note enhanced with only slight spiciness. The very discreet spices are reminiscent of gingerbread, but with the prominent mandarin, thoughts of plum pudding also enter my mind.
Generally, I do not like orange fragrances that much, and I would not like Orange Spice either if orange was the only aspect in it. But next to the Christmas accord, there is something explicitly masculine: a clean, soapy and musky Barber shop style accord! Amiable, tender or floral notes are always difficult in gent's perfumes. They require a counterpart or at least side note that adds just that piece of masculinity that the general direction of the fragrance is missing. I think it is not easy to integrate such a counterpart without spoiling the beauty of the original approach. Orange Spice, however, shows us a perfect solution for this challenge. The soapy note in itself is not very dark or rough, so the optimistic and amiable tendency of the mandarin orange is not obscured.
For me, Orange Spice is almost exclusively Christmas eve's wear. (Some rare exceptions may occur.) However gentle and delicate the mandarin seems to be on first sight, in the long run, this note can become strenuous. I cannot imagine this as every day wear, I would simply get fed up with it. But once a year, on that very special day, I use it and I am really looking forward to wear it. Just as you do not eat gingerbread all year, you do not constantly use Orange Spice.
Orange Spice has full Eau de Parfum strength and can last all day. Being released in 1950, it is definitely a perfume classic, so do not expect any modern twist. It has not gained lots of interest at Parfumo yet, maybe because it is so special. I can imagine people put it aside because with the denomination of orange, they might expect it to be on the summery or fresh side. It is simply not fair to compare it with better known mandarin perfumes like Clinique Happy or the Oranges by Hermès.
Creed is not my favourite brand. Their general style is conservative up to point where it becomes boring. Except for Bois du Portugal, Orange Spice is the only Creed fragrance I really like. With its tender but nevertheless expressive mandarin – soapy style it stands out well from all the other rather conventional Creed perfumes.
