Creed / Epicéa - one of the best pine scents I've yet tried

[WhosYerBob]

Today - while being slammed by a winter snow storm - is the perfect opportunity to try Epicéa, which was described to me as Creed's effort to create a winter season pine-based scent. I think they have a winner here, folks!

As I've posted before, I REALLY like pine-based colognes and have been testing a bunch of them in recent weeks. However, I was unprepared for the natural pine scent and complexity of the supporting notes in Epicéa. This one is nice enough to wear all year round and has a better rounded flavor of a fir forest to it than the other pine colognes I've been enjoying.

It starts off strong with citrus and lavender, which dries down in about a minute on me. Then a cardamom (sweaty? animalistic?) note rises for about another 3 minutes or so before it begins to rapidly mellow into the most wonderful pine forest scent I've encountered to date. It really reminds me of wilderness camping among the firs and breathing their scent deeply so I can take it home with me. Wonderful, wonderful juice.

Alas - it also has a downside. Like many other Creed scents, longevity is short and sillage may be too little for some folks. However, this one is perfect for my work environment where people are sensitive to fragrances.

Cindy gave this one a 9 - an amazing rating considering she isn't the pine aficionado that I am. And what's more, she grabbed my wrist to smell it more carefully - something she hasn't done with the other frags I've been running by her. I give it a 9 as well and will be buying some of this.

Here is my rating of the pine scents I've tried recently:

1. Creed / Epicéa
2. L'Artisan Parfumeur / Fou d'Absinthe
3. Silvestre / Pino Silvestre

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From the Creed website:

Classification: Green / spicy
Top notes: Bergamot, lavender
Middle notes: Clove
Base notes: Russian pine
Comparatives: Bois du Portugal, Baie de Genievre​

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From the Basenotes website (no fragrance notes posted)

 

[bradyarz]

i'm new to wearing colognes. in fact, i never really have, but once i started wetshaving, it seemed like a natural extension. really, just another AD
i do like pine scents though, so your post intrigued me.

when you say it doesn't stick around long, does that mean only an hour or two?
are there others in your list that you've tried that last all day without being too strong?

 

[WhosYerBob]

Longevity = YMMV.

Creed is renown for having scents that don't last long to some people, but I find that a number of their more notoriously short lived fragrances work real well with my skin, giving me average to above average longevity in some cases. Also, longevity can be adjusted somewhat by the amount applied; more juice = more longevity in some instances.

As with any of the products being covered here on B&B, YMMV. The best bet is to try for yourself and make your own judgement.

 

[Kouros]

You should try Cypres Musc as well.

 

[The Nid Hog]

As with any of the products being covered here on B&B, YMMV. The best bet is to try for yourself and make your own judgement.

Thanks for the great review! This is one that really wasn't on my radar, but now I'd like to give it a try.

 

[Joe Frances]

As a onetime user of Epicea who considered this a signature fragrance for years, I have to agree with the sentiments stated above. It is wonderful but short lived, and that is it's only drawback. The fact that it doesn't project very well is something that I have, over time, come to consider a virtue rather than a drawback. On trains, people put out ungodly amounts of noise on their cell phones and those stupid annoying earplug devices to play bad music on their ipods, but no one tolerates fragrances very well anymore. Low silage is a good thing. The perfect fragrance would have a magic combination of longevity and low silage. Epicea ultimately does not carry forth far enough into the day for something so expensive.

 

[WhosYerBob]

You should try Cypres Musc as well.

I'd like to, but I can't find it. Neiman Marcus no longer carries it in any of their stores and says it has been pulled from the retail market so Creed can sell it only at their own stores.

 

[Aaron01]

I'd like to, but I can't find it. Neiman Marcus no longer carries it in any of their stores and says it has been pulled from the retail market so Creed can sell it only at their own stores.

Cypres Musc is no pine scent, but it's a very good one. You can find decants and (legit) testers on ebay sometimes. I scored a tester on basenotes and the do show up from time to time. I think it's a far more rounded scent than Epicea, it has a slight lavender base that works well with the cypress.

I think I still have a decant of Epicea and use it sometimes with German Pitralon, the two smell fairly similar IMO

 

[WhosYerBob]

I think it's a far more rounded scent than Epicea, it has a slight lavender base that works well with the cypress.

Thanks for the description! If the lavender is too obvious my wife cannot be around it, so that knocks out a lot of scents for me.