The best Creed perfumes beyond Aventus, grouped by style

How to choose a Creed without smelling it

Buying a Creed unseen is a big step, and the name alone tells you very little. The useful move is to read each perfume in three parts. The opening is what you notice in the first minutes. The heart takes over once the brightest notes fade. The base is what is still on your wrist in the afternoon, and it is the part you live with longest.

Next, look at when people wear it. Community voters tag each perfume with the seasons and times of day they reach for it. A scent most often picked for summer days behaves very differently from one picked for winter nights, even when both carry similar notes on paper.

Finally, treat the "for men" and "for women" labels as a starting point rather than a rule. Several of the perfumes below are listed as unisex, and plenty of people wear across the line. If you are new to houses like this one, our guides to the best niche perfumes to try and to niche vs designer perfume explain what sets them apart.

The Aventus family

Aventus by Creed

Aventus launched in 2010 and it is still the Creed most people ask about first. It opens bright and juicy: bergamot, lemon, apple, black currant and a flick of pink pepper. Pineapple arrives in the heart with patchouli and Moroccan jasmine, and the dry-down turns smoky and dry, with birch over oak moss, cedarwood, musk and ambroxan. Fruit on top, smoke underneath.

It is listed for men. Longevity votes from the community lean long lasting, with eternal the next choice. Its sillage votes lean strong, so one or two sprays go a long way. Community voters reach for it most in spring and summer, during the day.

Absolu Aventus by Creed

Absolu Aventus, from 2023, takes the same fruity start and adds heat. Bergamot, pineapple, black currant and grapefruit meet nutmeg and cloves at the top. The heart is spice-led, with ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, citron and a touch of rose. Underneath sit patchouli, vetiver, oakmoss, sandalwood, tonka, musk and ambroxan.

Where the original feels like a sunny afternoon, this one reads as the evening version. Most community voters call its longevity long lasting. Autumn and winter are its seasons, worn in the evening and at night.

Aventus for Her by Creed

Aventus for Her came out in 2016 and is listed for women. The top is green apple, bergamot and lemon, with pink pepper, violet and patchouli already in the mix. Rose, styrax and sandalwood fill the middle over soft musk. The base turns fruity and warm again: peach and black currant, ylang-ylang and lilac, over amber.

It is brighter and more floral than the original, with the same confident energy. Its sillage votes in the community lean strong, with moderate close behind. Spring and summer are its seasons with voters, for daytime and office wear.

Bright, citrus and sea

Silver Mountain Water by Creed

Silver Mountain Water dates from 1995 and is listed as unisex. It starts with bergamot and mandarin orange, then moves to green tea and black currant, cool and slightly tart. The base is clean and quiet: musk and sandalwood with galbanum and petitgrain keeping it green to the end.

This is the Creed to wear when you want to smell fresh rather than noticed. Most community voters rate its sillage moderate, and summer and spring days are when voters pick it.

Millésime Impérial by Creed

Millésime Impérial, also from 1995, is the salty one. Sea salt and fruity notes open it, then Sicilian lemon, bergamot and mandarin orange run through the heart with a soft thread of iris. Sea notes, musk and woody notes sit in the base, so it feels like skin after a swim.

It is listed for men but wears easily on anyone who likes marine scents. Most community voters rate its longevity moderate, and voters most often pick it for summer days.

Virgin Island Water by Creed

Virgin Island Water is a holiday in a small bottle. Launched in 2007 and listed as unisex, it opens on coconut and lime with white bergamot and Sicilian mandarin. Ginger, ylang-ylang, Indian jasmine and hibiscus warm up the heart, and the dry-down is white rum and sugar cane over musk.

Think of a cocktail on a warm deck rather than a beach towel. Most community voters rate its sillage moderate, and voters choose it for summer days.

Green, powdery and aromatic

Green Irish Tweed by Creed

Green Irish Tweed launched in 1985 and shows a different side of the house. Iris and vervain open it, violet leaf gives a sharp green edge in the heart, and sandalwood with ambergris settles it into something soft, clean and slightly powdery.

It is listed for men and suits the office well. Community voters lean towards long lasting for its longevity, with moderate next. On sillage, most community voters say moderate. Spring is the season they give it, at the office or anywhere in daylight.

Bois du Portugal by Creed

Bois du Portugal, from 1987, is short on notes and long on character. Bergamot opens it, lavender sits at the heart, and the base is a wall of wood: sandalwood, cedar and vetiver, rounded by ambergris.

It is the classic barbershop idea, told entirely in wood. Most community voters rate its longevity long lasting. Autumn and winter are when voters most often reach for it, and they wear it from the office through to the evening.

Warm and woody

Royal Oud by Creed

Royal Oud arrived in 2011. Pink pepper, lemon and Sicilian bergamot open it, and then it turns green and woody with cedar, angelica and galbanum. The base is sandalwood and agarwood (oud) over musk: dry and polished rather than dark or heavy.

If oud sounds daunting, this is a gentle way in. Its sillage is moderate by most community votes. The seasons voters give it are autumn and winter, and it works at the office, by day and in the evening.

Delphinus by Creed

Delphinus, from 2024, is listed as unisex and leans sweet. Almond and incense open it with pink and black pepper. Orris, heliotrope and orchid form a powdery middle, and the base is bourbon vanilla, tonka bean, leather, amberwood and patchouli.

It smells like marzipan wrapped in soft leather. Longevity votes in the community lean long lasting, then moderate. For voters it is an autumn and winter scent, worn in the evening and at night.

Floral and ambery, for evening

Carmina by Creed

Carmina, launched in 2023, is listed for women. Black cherry, saffron and pink pepper open it, dark and a little spicy. May rose, peony and violet bloom in the heart over cashmere wood, and the base is frankincense, ambroxan and musk.

A rose with a velvet lining. Its sillage votes lean moderate, with strong next. Voters save it for winter and autumn nights.

Queen of Silk by Creed

Queen of Silk is the newest here, from 2024, and it is listed for women. Saffron, osmanthus and magnolia start it. The heart is lush and tropical, passionfruit and tuberose with patchouli and agarwood (oud). Madagascar vanilla, myrrh, incense, cedarwood, ambroxan and musk make a deep, resinous base.

This is the richest perfume in the list, made for going out. The community's sillage votes lean strong, moderate next. Autumn and winter nights and evenings are when voters wear it.

Wear it before you buy the bottle

A full bottle of any Creed is a real commitment, and a paper strip in a shop tells you about the first ten minutes at best. The only honest test is your own skin, over several days, in your own routine. That is the reason 10ML exists: every decant is filled from the original bottle, so what you wear at home is the same perfume you would be buying.

Here is a simple way to do it. Pick three Creeds from different sections above, say one fresh, one green and one warm. Order each as a 3ml, which is around 60 sprays, enough to wear it for a week or so. Wear one per day and notice which one you reach for on the fourth morning, not the first.

When one stands out, move up to a 10ml decant. At around 200 sprays it gives you weeks of daily wear, and it fits a pocket or a travel bag. If you are still happy after that, the 30ml holds around 600 sprays and is the best value per ml of the three sizes. How long any scent stays on your skin depends on the perfume and on you, so treat the community votes above as a guide rather than a promise.

Want to know how far each size goes in daily life? Our piece on how long a 10ml perfume lasts works through it. You can also browse every Creed perfume in the catalogue, or, if you lean towards the fresh Creeds, compare them with our best summer fragrances.