Another thing that doesn't jive is the style. A green tea fragrance? In 2008? And it's part of the antiquated Creation line by Ted Lapidus, which means it's a direct descendent of something released in 1984. The box style and color scheme, the bottle with its wavy lines in the glass, common to all Creations, and even the weirdly built-in atomizer (mine is broken beyond repair), all of it looks late nineties to me. We're talking a time when folks were making noise about Y2K and getting into Bible codes. "Spa-like" and "zen-like" were phrases applied to everything, from foods, to beverages, to fragrances, and Thé Vert feels pretty "zen," with a delightful accord of green apple, spearmint, and, you guessed it, oakmoss! It doesn't get any more approachable or sedate than that.
The real reason I don't believe the stated release date is that Thé Vert smells too good for 2008. It goes on rather chemically and nondescript, with that muted green dankness that nearly every brand fobs off as "green tea," but after twenty minutes some interesting stuff happens. For one thing, the fragrance gets stronger. Seriously stronger, which is the opposite of what 2000s freshies do. For another, the green apple and mint begin to dance and shine, with a distinct sparkle and shimmer that only excellent perfumes made with above-average materials have. Lastly, the mossy base is smooth and satisfying, the perfect ending to something that feels timeless yet classic.
Good luck finding a bottle -- the merchant on eBay who sells them for under fifteen bucks sent me a busted bottle with over an ounce of fluid missing. The rest are all going for over forty dollars. But hope springs eternal, and this perfume is worth taking a chance on. Get it while you still can, as it's been discontinued for quite a while now.