Royal Water Creed 1997

At first sniff, Creed's Royal Water didn't capture my heart. I was even tempted to sell my early 2000s batch bottle, but due to its lack of popularity, it was a hard sell.
However, now I'm delighted it didn't sell.
I do understand why it is one of the least popular and least loved Creed fragrances. After trying modern citrus scents from brands like Roja, Xerjoff, Acqua di Parma, and Louis Vuitton, you might initially think Royal Water is 'meh.' The citruses may seem too old-school and not photorealistic. However, this fragrance resembles more of an Italian lemonade than a typical citrus scent, which is truly amazing. It often takes time for most people to appreciate and fall in love with it. Imagine being served a homemade, refreshingly sparkly citrus and fragrant basil lemonade, garnished with a juniper stick and basil leaves in an Italian restaurant. That's exactly how delightful it smells.

Sillage is moderate, and longevity is above 8 hours. Unisex. Leaning
masculine. More suited for people over 30 years old.

8/10

Most people I've seen reviewing Creed fragrances usually skip this one, they barely mention it or describe it as forgettable and even though it's really nice I get where they're coming from however, Creed's Royal Water is very clean, nice and classy.

It opens with a nice citrus blast followed by a big dose of Juniper Berry and a hint of Basil, once again all very bright and classy and very safe and that's my only complaint (if you can call it that). I'd hope for something a little more daring, a little more exciting and Royal Water seems a little bland or plain, it won't offend anybody though, you may not get any compliments but EVERYONE will remember how good you smell.

Great office wear, very distinguished but the key word here is 'uncomplicated', it does nothing exciting, it doesn't go out of its way but what it does it does goes a long way

You know how some scents envelop you with a radiant satisfactory smell bubble, that you start to call them "easy reach"? This is one of them.

For me, "easy reach" is not a description I toss around lightly. It's also a title I find hard to describe hence I can't really justify the reasoning behind giving it. And this is exactly why I love the notion of it. The scent basically calls my name and I'm there to oblige.

Royal Water starts on my skin with an invigorating splash of Bergamot and Lemon, joined quickly afterwards by a dab of Mandarin. Without the Mandarin, those top notes can definitely smell "old school". So, the shocking team-joining of the Mandarin is a truly nice touch! See, it's all about the little things :)

So far so good, but what's so special about this you might wonder. Well, It's what's underneath. Beneath the citrus lies a gorgeous animalic Ambergris base, along with a perfectly inserted basil accord that mixes so beautifully with everything.

Creed is known to have this signature Ambergris accord. They try to use it in most of their scents. But here in Royal Water, it's highlighted in 3D, possibly due to how "transparent" the top and middle notes are as opposed to other Creed scent profiles.

A staple for summer for me and truly one of my favorite Creeds.

This would be much closer to a 10/10 across the board for me if it lasted at all on my skin. Others do not have this problem so, as with all reviews, take this with a big grain of salt. The scent is gorgeous, clean, crisp, herbaceous, watery. There’s citrus but it doesn’t overpower the other notes, which is a refreshing change from lots of popular perfumes (including ones that I like!). A very artfully blended fragrance in my opinion (longevity notwithstanding) and the basil really does come through, for better or worse — I personally love it. I think that it can be worn year-round and for all occasions from formal/professional to casual. But by the gods, the longevity... I swear this stuff is gone within the hour whenever I wear it. And especially at this price point, that stings. Maybe I just got a bad batch of this otherwise stunning offering from Creed.

Fragrances come and go in my collection, it’s always in motion... but a certain core always remains. Those are the scents from Creed and Kurkdjian. Perhaps it’s also because my very first niche fragrance, which I smelled about 3-4 years ago, was Creed Silver Mountain Water. They say you never forget your first (and last!) love. Next came Aventus, Green Irish Tweed, Millesime Imperial, and now Royal Water. All of them impress with their freshness. At first sniff (or a one-time test with a 2ml sample), they are all very close together except for Aventus. They all have the "Creed essence" similar to Guerlain, Kurkdjian, or even Nasamatto... like a red thread... and yet they excite me because they are all "differently fresh." GIT has a green-mineral note, SMW has blackcurrant and tea, MI has more maritime and salty notes. Many share the beautiful sandalwood drydown; when GIT is smelled after 5 hours, it has the exact same wonderful note as in MI. I don’t care about the marketing nonsense and batches... I’m not even interested in whether Napoleon, David Bowie, Lady Di, or Mother Teresa wore it.

Royal Water is citrus-fresh, green-yellow like not quite ripe lemons, not particularly natural but very beautiful. For me, it’s a mix of unripe lemons and a lot of bergamot oil, not unlike Earl Grey tea. However, it doesn’t contain a tea note like in SMW. Instead, there’s a beautifully total verbena note, like GIT and earlier (!!!) Joop Nightflight had. If this note, along with juniper, is present, I can almost be sure that I will really like the fragrance. And yes... I really do... I just can’t get it off my wrist... like if there was a "addictive" ingredient like Iso-Super or Ambroxan in it. But I suspect it’s the laundry musk that gives the fragrance the necessary depth. There are also very light traces of mint. The greatest compliment I can/want to give Royal Water is that it simply smells different from all the other so-called fresh fragrances. It radiates a certain majesty and calmness like MI. It reminds me of Italian colognes (more Borsari than AdP) without being old-school. The Creed fragrances come closest to the term "masculine style" for me, timeless and rarely trendy, perhaps Aventus... but there it was more the outstanding sales success that made it seem "trendy."

Royal Water belongs in the category of light summer fragrances, even though it has a decent longevity of nearly 6 hours. In winter, it naturally gets a bit lost outside... but I enjoyed wearing it, especially when office spaces are heated with dry air. How beautiful will Royal Water be in spring and summer when everything is blooming and fragrant outside and a light breeze is blowing??!!!!

Conclusion: For me, another great Creed fragrance, this time however not 100% (more like a tendency of 95%) with a small deduction due to the lower longevity compared to GIT, MI, SMW. It’s recommended for fans of fresh fragrances like Molecule, Laundromat, Kenzo PH, Vetiver Babylone, who don’t like overly loaded scent bombs, as well as fans of Chanel Blanche or Atelier Colognes. It’s unisex but for me 65:35 masculine.

I’m sure that in spring, "Original Vetiver" will complete the series and (for now) conclude it.