This should go without saying, but I wanted to mention this so those new to Creed can have a better experience: You can't just buy a Creed and start wearing it every day, expecting it to have good longevity and projection. Even now, long after the Creed family has divested from the business, it remains true: Creeds need time to macerate in-bottle."
This prompted another member, "Scents & blooms," to comment with the following:
"I am a chemist & perfumer and just wanted to share my clarification on some comments here about the requirement of a perfume macerating in a bottle after purchase. I don't mean to offend anyone, just thought it needed clarification. Shop bought Perrfume in a bottle simply can't be macerated (will explain in detail below). This is misguided information currently circulating online."
I updated my comment in response, and you can read it there in its entirety if you wish, but I won't quote the whole thing here because it includes a few snippets from the abstract of an academic paper that describes the feasibility of in-bottle maceration by suggesting that it may happen when manufacturers cut down on non-profitable maceration wait times by prematurely bottling formulas that have yet to fully coalesce.
Of more interest to me is that people are still denying the reality that Creeds macerate in-bottle. This particular person described in-bottle maceration while simultaneously claiming it's impossible, and went to some lengths to state that the evaporation of denatured alcohol might essentially concentrate a fragrance into smelling stronger to someone after long pauses between use. The whole point of calling it "in bottle" maceration is that it's a chemical change that occurs after the bottling process.
I've said it a million times before, and I'll say it again: Creeds absolutely get stronger and more complex after first use. That initial two or three wearings are always less than stellar, with disappointing longevity and projection. If you leave them for a few months and then come back, you'll find that they are not only stronger, but eventually (after more than a year) become beasts. There's no denying it, yet people still do!