Virgin Island Water
Creed (2007)

I can tell a difference between a 2016 batch and a 2022 bottle, which is good news for me because I only have a small decant of the 2016 and a full bottle of the modern. I found chatter about a reformulation. If there is any major formula deviation someone with a better nose can pick up on well that's just as valid as my opinion. Maybe more lime up front in the new one and a more atmospheric base in the og. I like how the new one is more in your face about it, it feels confrontational. Whereas the og sort of tries to hide its personality pretty fast, which is fine, feels more mature for it however how mature do you want your fun little beach vibes? But I think VIW is a safe bet for modern vs og formula creeds, unless you have a real nose+opinion on the matter. Amazing summer scent goes without saying, probably the best use of lime and booze in the genre, would love an older formula bottle since my modern one is competing with Dior Homme 2020 as favorite dumb reach and will both be empty within a season. Paid too much for the modern one anyways :D

Not for me. Makes me smell like a coconut scented car air freshener.

The only Creed I've ever scrubbed off.

Virgin island water

This smells good. It is an aquatic but it also sweet. To my nose it's like laying on the beach catch the ocean smells sipping a Pina colada and catching whiffs of your sunscreen...creed makes great scents but the money I'll pass.

Longevity: medium
Sillage: medium
Compliment puller for sure

For the price, I wouldn't spring for this one. I have about half a bottle left. If anyone wants to trade for it let me know ( I received it free so the cost is fully negotiable)

I got a decant of this and having tried this twice, feel comfortable giving my review.

Opening scents, olfactory first impressions, are tricky things. We humans are trained to make quick assessments within a minute that then become hard to shake. For many fragrances this means that a bad or harsh opening blinds us to a wondrous dry-down.

In the case of VIW, the opposite is true. I first applied this after a shower on a gorgeous, sunny 68 degree (F) morning, and the lime/coconut/jasmine bloom transported me to a power chord montage of all of my best tropical beach vacation moments. I walked around for a few hours with this buzz going through my head, but there was a nagging feeling in the back of my head that I was able to ignore for some time.

At about the 3.5 hour mark, however, I took a good smell as to what VIW had developed into. Gone was the lime, jasmine, salt, rum, etc. All that was left was copra (not coconut) and a bit of white musk that smelled like the cheap oil I used to buy at Garden Botanica. And it never changed. The next time I tried it, I realized that it hit this point at around 1.5 hours. Just flat, repetitive and kind of boring, which is unacceptable at $400 per bottle.

I didn't have the absolute drop in duration, possibly because I applied this strongly enough to be able to get comments from my friends and family, but this ends up as a meh two-trick pony. Disappointing.

Ahhh well. This is the king of summery scents.

Many others here have written much more poetically about the scent evoking, suntan oil, pina coladas and relaxing at the beach. That's all true. Also the best lime note I've ever smelled (though it doesn't last of course).

Surprising to me, this may have the best longevity on me of all my Creeds.

If you a want a fun scent to evoke a holiday in a warm locale, you're crazy not to try this.

If you're looking for a more affordable option, go with Gorse from Laboratory Perfumes. However, if you're willing to splurge, Creed Virgin Island Water is a great choice.

This fragrance has a lovely combination of lime, sun-tan lotion, and coconut notes. While it may not be the most complex scent, it does an excellent job at boosting your mood. Many reviews have covered the basics of this fragrance, so I don't have anything new to add.