CREED
CARMINA
2023
PERFUMER
emilie-bouge
SAFFRON
PINK PEPPER
black cherry
ROSE DE MAI
cashmeran
VIOLET
PEONY
FRANKINCENSE
MYRRH
AMBROXAN
MUSK
‘Carmina is a sensual celebration of feminine allure, captured through exquisite Rose de Mai and luxurious cashmeran, smoldering over a seductive base of amber and musk. A modern woody floral women’s fragrance from Creed, Sensuous Rose de Mai and luxurious cashmeran create an electric sensibility with the debut of plump black cherries and piquant pink pepper, warmed by the golden embrace of rare saffron. With an intoxicating base of precious myrrh and frankincense, together with ambroxan and smoldering musk, this women’s perfume is finely crafted with a powerful sillage that embodies the essence of feminine allure imbued with a captivating charisma’ – Creed
Carmina is a women’s targeted Creed release. Following Aventus For Her & the revamped Spring Flower as women’s releases in the familiar bottle originally used for their men’s releases.
I think Carmina is quite nice, albeit not the most exciting release of the year. It also smells particularly cheap and ‘synthetic’ for lack of a better word, for such an expensive fragrance.
It’s a mix of retro and joyful, with a very fruity floral. Straight away I get a tart, syrupy cherry, plum-esque fruitiness, even leaning words blackcurrant to me a bit. With a lot of saffron. Saffron is one of the main components here. It feels a bit dated. Nothing in this smells natural to me, but I do not dislike the scent.
The rose, others have remarked, is a bit similar to the one in the re-released Tom Ford Cafe Rose and I get the same feeling. with the musk adding a similar soapy tinge. However, here the overall composition is much more fruity, almost like a gummy candy. I prefer Cafe Rose overall.
After a while, a white muskiness comes through strongly and it’s a thin base. It’s mostly a louder, projecting fragrance, not a thick sillage-heavy one.
I like the scent more than I expected (totally unisex to me by the way), but at the same time, this feels like it should be a literal 10th of the price. It feels like something Rituals would sell.