Acqua Fiorentina with white roses and carnations in 2010

“I visited the store, and my favorite CREED fragrance is a slightly different color than I’m used to. Why?”

This is a great question.

Color variations in hand-blended CREED perfumes occur naturally year to year. Why?

Sixth-generation master perfumer Olivier CREED and his son, Erwin, annually travel the globe to buy the best natural ingredients for fragrance, meeting personally with farmers, growers and cultivators of flowers, fruits, woods and spices on virtually every continent of the world.

In a given year, the jasmine, daffodils, sandalwood, cinnamon or other crops the CREEDs buy might vary in color or strength from the prior year because of natural changes in rainfall, soil and sunshine. Always blending by hand, CREED is certain to add precisely the right amount of each ingredient for a result that is a fragrance clients love. Yet a yellower daffodil or pinker rose will, of course, mean a color change in the perfume itself one year versus another.

Many connoisseurs say that CREED fragrances are like fine wine, bottled each year by hand with a new crop of grapes that’s a bit different from the prior year’s crop because of changes such as more or less rainfall. This is a good comparison (although CREED fragrances are to be enjoyed only on the surface of the skin, of course).

Some readers have asked about CREED Acqua Fiorentina, which is lighter in color in 2010 than in 2009. This is a very special case and cause.

Acqua Fiorentina with pink roses and carnations for National Breast Cancer Month in 2009

While the Acqua Fiorentina scent itself has not changed, Mr. CREED used more pink Renaissance roses and pink carnations in the original 2009 blend because it debuted during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, when items of pink color make a strong and visible statement about support of women’s health. Part of proceeds from sales of pink Acqua Fiorentina in 2009 went to the National Breast Cancer Coalition Fund. The pink blend is a special commemorative item.

In 2010, Mr. CREED has chosen to use more white Renaissance roses and white carnations in Acqua Fiorentina, resulting in a lighter color overall. However he assures his clientele that the actual scent is identical in 2009 and 2010.

Tags: color variation, creed acqua fiorentina, creed perfume

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