These eBay Sellers SUCK!

What a Rip-off!

Ebay is both a blessing and a curse for a fraghead. I use it almost exclusively for my purchases (Fragrancenet and Amazon for the rest), and I've always had good luck with it, but that's because I'm lucky. It's not uncommon for people to get scammed by shifty bats, and this article is intended to highlight the ways a Creed buyer can get ripped off.

Let's start by taking a look at the picture above. This is a listing by a merchant who enjoys the company of a cadre of like-minded assholes that I call the "Red-Liners." Many Creeds are packaged in opaque bottles that obscure their content levels, which makes it tough to know how much product you're getting by a photo alone. This prompts merchants to Photoshop red fluid level lines over the bottles, which is itself no bad thing. My problem isn't with the line; I object to the price. It isn't commensurate with the amount of fragrance being sold, and it almost never is. In the picture is a bottle of Silver Mountain Water that is down a full ounce, as indicated by the red line, yet the merchant prices it at $245, which is $25 more than Fragrancenet is asking for full bottles of the same size. This one has no box or cap, and the price is way, way too high -- it should be no more than $180. 

Then there's this listing, for a bottle that ostensibly includes a box, but no cap. The bottle is legit, and the box probably is too, but here's the problem: the atomizer is aftermarket. Not just the nozzle, either, but the entire atomizer unit, from the crimping on the neck all the way to the nozzle itself. No generation of Creed atomizer ever looked like this, and it's clear that someone removed the original atomizer, refilled the bottle with something other than SMW, and then attached this crappy unit on there, hoping that it looks close enough to the old firehose sprayers of yesteryear. This guy wanted a typical eBay Creed price for this thing, and it's clearly been tampered with. The kicker -- the bugger sold it! 

Above we have what I like to call a "Flashlight Bully." Instead of using the red line, he opts for the flashlight approach, shining it from behind the bottle to make the fluid level visible. Again, I have no problem with people doing this, and actually prefer this approach to the red lines, because at least I can actually see with my own eyes how much juice is being sold, which removes a layer of doubt. The price isn't super offensive, although I feel it's about ten bucks too high. My issue is with how this product is listed and described -- the seller cites the condition as "brand-new" and "unused," yet there's clearly about twelve mls missing. In the description, "Approximately 97/100 ml remaining." Uh, no. That's not three ml, and the item has obviously seen some real use. Nice try.

In these three screenshots we see a listing by "Sketchy Bottle Guy." These guys always post super janky-looking bottles with bizarre deformities that the seller never attempts to explain. The top photo shows a Green Irish Tweed with a strange white area on the upper neck, which looks rather like someone tore the black finish off the glass while trying to pry the atomizer off. The next picture shows what we're meant to think is the same bottle with the atomizer sprayer removed to reveal the white plastic ring characteristic of genuine Creeds, but there's one problem: it isn't the same bottle, which is obvious because this one has no white area by the neck and collar. Clearly a visual misdirection. The last photo shows the bottom of the bottle, and maybe I'm being nit-picky here, but the stamping of "Made in France" looks a bit strange. That's neither here nor there given that the previous two pictures show a fragrance with enough red flags to attract every bull in Pamplona. 

Here we have a listing by a "Fake Boxer." These guys have a little cottage industry going where they crank out these full-production fakes, with graphic print boxes that Creed has never made, with awkward-fitting plastic caps that Creed would never use, and with bottles covered in cheap acrylic that cracks by the lettering, a feature that no genuine four-ouncer ever had (let us be thankful for the little things). But for their trouble, these jerks expect buyers to fork over $400+, mostly because they peddle the supposedly "vintage" 120 ml bottle size, which eBay has automatically deemed worthy of pricing north of $450. They tend to target SMW, Aventus, and Viking the most, so if you see these fragrances with weird graphics on their boxes, or some sort of box "sleeve," run, don't walk. 

And last but not least, we have a listing by "Coffret Guy," the eBay merchant who wants you to believe that at some point Creed made 1 oz mini-me bottles of its three hottest masculines and sold them together in a little gift set. While the box is admittedly well made, Creed never produced anything of this sort, and it's as fake as a porn star's bosom. Close scrutiny of the bottles reveals that they're merely clumsily-made chromos in a humorously diminutive size, meant to represent "travel Creeds," and again, Creed offers 50 ml bottles for a reason: they travel. The 30 ml size has always been an entirely different bottle design, not a smaller version of the 120 ml size. 

Other things I often see: listings asking full retail for bottles that are seven hundred years old, or close to it. This is perhaps forgivable with something like Bois du Portugal or a well-kept GIT, but steer well clear of buying deep vintage Millesime Imperial, Silver Mountain Water, and Green Valley. They age like milk, and spending anything more than $50 on 120 mls is highway robbery. I guess I could see spending a little extra for an older 120 ml bottle of vintage "Imperial Millesime" in gilt gold, just for the cool bottle, but I wouldn't pay any more than $100 for it. 

Also be wary of the larger size decanters, the 8 oz or even 17 oz flacons, as they were never factory sealed, and it's no difficult thing to simply take an empty one and fill it with whatever. This brings me to the reason you never want to use counterfeit perfume: you simply don't know what you're spraying on yourself. It could be cheap but harmless cologne, or it could be battery acid. You have no way of knowing. If you're in the market for a genuine Creed, or any expensive niche frag, and you want to buy off eBay, know what you're after. Study the product. Familiarize yourself with the little manufacturing quirks, the things a company always does, sometimes does, and never does. Read everything, look carefully at every picture, and ask for more. If they decline to send more, pass. 

There are the "One-Pic Guys," those who list a Creed with one lone picture of the actual bottle, and nothing else -- no atomizer pics, no lot code pics, no box/packaging pics. They annoy me. Some of the bottles are probably legit, but why not post a thorough rundown of the product? Multiple pictures means business; one picture means funny business. And in closing I'll mention the "Stock Photo Guys," the eBay merchants who list all of their Creeds with company web images from twenty years ago, or generic Photoshopped (often blown-out) images, without showing buyers the actual bottles that will be sent upon purchase. 

Steer well clear. Buyer beware! 

Understanding Arabian Market Creeds, and the Countless Paranoia-Inducing Inconsistencies in Creed's Packaging

Western Creed on Left; Eastern Creed on Right, with Gold Delete Box

I've always wanted an Arabian market Creed, and I finally bought one. What's so special about the Creeds sold to the Saudis, you ask? Well, not a whole lot, actually. They're still the same old fragrances; it isn't like Green Irish Tweed in Dubai smells like glittering angel spunk or anything. There is an old rumor floating around on Basenotes or Fragrantica that Creed made their Middle Eastern fragrances a touch stronger to better withstand the punishing desert heat, but I believe that's a myth. I'm not after higher concentration, although that would certainly be nice. What I've always liked about the Arabian Creeds is the gold delete on their boxes, i.e., no gold leaf trim around the fragrance name-frame or on the Welsh crest above it. The box itself is uniformly white, and to my knowledge this was how all Creeds looked in that region. 

Here's the funny thing about that: many people have questioned this version of the box and asked if they'd bought a fake when they received it. It elicited a consistently suspicious reaction, mostly from young men who of course stupidly dropped hundreds of dollars on a perfume without researching it first. Those of us who actually read about Creed and obsess over every tidbit of information we can glean from the brand always knew that the Saudi and Far Eastern markets got the gold-delete boxes, while the rest of the world had the gold leaf version. I couldn't tell you the reason for this; I suspect the broader international market had developed a more demanding taste for the brand than Europe or America had, and thus Creed cut down on the slightly pricier detail of adding gold leaf to their boxes to maintain profit margins while still quasi-mass-producing their fragrances. More boxes needed? Make them a little cheaper. Makes sense to me. 

But of course Creed never really addresses its packaging discrepancies, which leaves buyers wondering. The bottles of Fleurissimo pictured above are from different eras, with the newer Western bottle on the left boasting beautiful gold trim on its box and an English-language leaflet, and the Arabian bottle on the right, the bottle I recently purchased, with an even more beautiful gold delete box and Arabic-language leaflet. My bottle is vintage, dating back to 2005, and interestingly it lacks the 1760 embossing under the Welsh crest, while also having a paler green velour name-frame compared to the Western version. When you go back to 2005, you start to creep into a vintage territory with Creed where the packaging details get hazy and harder to understand. I can see how if someone received the Arabian bottle, they would immediately wonder if they'd been conned with a fake. It's a semi-racist knee-jerk response that Westerners have when they see something that they expected would be thoroughly Anglicized is instead bedecked with what looks like a cheaper box and literature printed in a foreign language. 

Last week I joined a vintage Creed enthusiasts group on Facebook, and had a brief chat with one of its founding members about counterfeits. He's been in the game even longer than I have, and told me that when it comes to feminine Creeds, you're almost guaranteed to receive the real deal, even on eBay. He said the exception to this is the recently-released Carmina, which he stated was Creed's real "Aventus for women," (as opposed to the actual Aventus for Her). I told him I had no idea it was that popular, but apparently Carmina is making a splash. I think BlackRock had decided to focus more on the female buyer, which actually makes sense for Creed. I mentioned to him that Love in White and Floralie are also faked, with the former being fairly obvious and the latter more insidious. He pointed out that it would be utterly futile to try to counterfeit Love in Black, given its inimitable bottle, and that virtually all of the clear-glass feminines were virgin territory for fakers, which I must admit sounds right. When was the last time anyone was conned with a dupe of Fleurissimo? Of Jasmin Impératrice Eugénie? Of Fantasia de Fleurs? How many threads have women or their boyfriends posted asking if their bottle of Vanisia or Fleurs de Bulgarie or Tubéreuse Indiana was real? 

The truth is that Creed is two brands split by gender marketing: the "male" Creeds, which are the heralded fragrances of high quality, and the "female" Creeds, which are viewed as if they belong to another brand altogether. The "femme" Millesimes are independent of the rest of the line. Varanis Ridari and I have both made the mistake of claiming that Original Santal was the last of the Millesimes; Love in Black is stamped as a Millesime, and was released three years later, which potentially makes it the last. I overlooked this little fact because like many enthusiasts I tend to forget about the femme line, which seems ridiculous because it is. The feminine fragrances are mostly considered "second-tier" by enthusiasts, although I am not one who shares this view. Fleur de Thé Rose Bulgare is an incredibly gorgeous tea rose fragrance, rather like Tea Rose done on a limitless budget, and with natural ambergris added. I have a review of Fleurissimo pending (provided my bottle hasn't become "eau de bowling shoe"), but remember it as a delicate and creamy white floral with hints of banana-like ylang for extra sweetness, thoroughly beautiful, and hopefully as much in vintage form. Love in Black is a somber but gorgeous perfume, with all the Creed quality there to feel, and Spring Flower is equally magnificent. None of these feminine releases rate as inferior to me. I should do better. 

So I purchased my vintage Fleurissimo with confidence that it is real. But I also marvel at the potential for a less experienced buyer to feel afraid; the packaging is so different! Consider the many variances in Creed packaging, and then ask yourself how anyone knows what the fuck they're buying. There's the Western gold-gilt packaging, and if you go back ten years or so, you have the velour name-frames, the Welsh crest, the 1760 emboss, the gold lettering on the bottom front of the boxes, the lettering on the top, the lettering on the back, the logo-embossed background print on the boxes, the lot number stickers, the velour and flat labeling on the bottles, the atomizers (three generations to consider), the "white ring" under the nozzles (probably the only constant feature), and the question of what are commonalities with fakes. If you can say anything about Creed with 100% confidence, it is that the brand is consistent about its inconsistencies. 

Go back to the mid 2000s and earlier, and things get even weirder. You have the red stamping of various royal crests on the boxes, which look like someone literally hand-stamped them on, which they probably did. You have things like the "sailboat version" of Erolfa, with its pretty little boat painting in the name-frame. You have boxes that have the Creed logo embossed everywhere, and boxes that don't (see below). You have bottles with different cap colors, and some frags that went from opaque to clear caps. You have feminine bottles shaped like masculine bottles. You have different iterations of the "royalty list" on the top of the box, the back of the box, and different versions of the lettering on the bottom front of the box. You have some Creeds that had their names printed right on the glass, and those same Creeds eventually adopted the velvet/velour label. You get into the Arabian market, and you see discrepancies between packaging features there versus here. Because Creed never explained the gold delete feature, one can only speculate, as I have, but regardless of reasoning, it looks badass. Not really sure why I like it so much, but I do. Must be my formal training in graphic design (a BFA in graphic design). For some reason it looks like it makes sense on an Arabian box. Saudi Arabian Royal Water, pictured below, looks beautiful with its silver delete box. 

I imagine dozens of wealthy oil sheiks in Dubai plowing through bottle after bottle of their favorite Creeds, maybe even throwing them around to guests at parties like candy, and Creed struggling to keep up with the demand. Olivier tells his packaging manager, "Get rid of the leafing on all but the lettering, it will speed up box production and keep costs down." He adds, "And lose the full-panel embossing of the company logo on the maculine/unisex boxes." Voila, the Arabian Creed. Clearly the demand was no less for the feminine Creeds, even the more obscure ones like Tubéreuse Indiana.

Or perhaps it isn't so clear. Perhaps Creed simply wanted an easy way to visually differentiate the Eastern market Creeds from their European market counterparts, and so used this simple and cost-effective way to do so. Perhaps it was something that Olivier felt was an apt allusion to an oil sheik's white keffiyeh, which would be a fittingly semi-racist European view. Whatever the case may be, I strongly suspect most of the gold delete boxes have been retired by BlackRock, and Kering will maintain the status quo. 

Add to all of this the imperfections in Creed boxes and bottles, especially the feminine Creeds, with things like bottles with and without bowties, bottles with and without clear corner contouring, bottles with faded lettering, bottles with weirdly marked lot numbers, bottles with faded 'Paris, France' embossing on the glass, and bottles with no laser-etched numbers. The one constant with all Creeds is the clean white ring around the atomizer stem, probably the easiest marker to seek for determining authenticity. 

Everything else is a variable that might or might not be of help.

A Comprehensive Visual Rundown Of What A Real Creed Green Irish Tweed Looks Like (Outdated)

Over on Sherapop's excellent blog is an interesting post that questions the authenticity of a Creed Tabarome Millesime she recently purchased. I can verify that the bottle and the box are 100% authentic based on the photographs she has provided. Sherapop questions the authenticity of the perfume, stating that it does not smell as good as a carded sample she recently wore, and that the coloring is odd. There's simply no way to verify the authenticity of a perfume based on those concerns alone without smelling the juice for myself. Creeds are unmistakable in quality and "content." They're like olfactory pornography: you know what it smells like when you smell it (no need to ask questions), which makes me think she may have been the victim of one of the most unlikely Creed scams imaginable - Tabarome Millesime bottle tampering. Why anyone would attempt to counterfeit Tabarome is beyond me, as it's a bottom-tier Millesime and hardly a big seller. Green Irish Tweed, on the other hand, IS a big seller, probably still Creed's biggest (next to Aventus), and justifiably a cause for concern when found on the grey market.

I posted this thread on Badger & Blade in 2011, highlighting the details behind what a box and bottle of Green Irish Tweed actually look like. My Creed was purchased from the Creed Boutique's web site and delivered via UPS within 24 hours from a warehouse in New Jersey. This blog post, like the thread, is meant to guide the dazed and confused Creed "newbie" through the many elements of Creed's packaging, and will likely serve to better inform about Creed's boxes than their bottles, as every fragrance type bears different labeling, coloring, and whatever else (try comparing Bois du Portugal to Silver Mountain Water, and you get the idea.

At the very least, this will give people a template from which to examine their grey market purchases, but it comes with a warning - WHENEVER POSSIBLE, BUY DIRECTLY FROM THE CREED BOUTIQUE OR AN AUTHORIZED CREED RETAILER. DO NOT PURCHASE CREED FROM FRAGRANCENET, BEAUTYENCOUNTER, EBAY, OR ANY OTHER UNAUTHORIZED RETAILER. Creeds sold from these retailers may in fact be genuine some of the time (definitely not all of the time, do a thread search on basenotes and Google to read horror stories), but even if you receive a genuine Creed, there is a good chance that it is (a) quite old and possibly spoiled, usually in the basenotes with Creeds for some reason, and/or (b) partially used, a returned product being resold at a discount. I can tell you by looking at virtually all of the photographs of Creed products on Fragrancenet that there are several sprays missing from the bottles, as the juice does not top off high enough - this is especially easy to spot in the feminine 2.5 ounce bottles. I've been told by Fragrancenet customers that their Creeds were satisfactory, but none of these people seemed to know anything about spotting a fake Creed, or a used Creed, so I take positive reports with a grain of salt. It's tempting to spring for the discount, but trust me on this one, it's not worth the agita of trying to determine if you've acquired the real article or an elaborate fake. And there are certainly some elaborate fakes out there.

Fortunately, Creed treats its packaging like the Federal Reserve treats its monetary designs - like precious currency in need of protection from forgers. Like American money, Creed boxes and bottles are surprisingly intricate, full of details, and sometimes it seems no two boxes and bottles are entirely the same. I have a 4 ounce bottle of Green Valley purchased from the Creed Boutique that has no lot number anywhere on it, not etched, and not stickered. But as you will see, my Green Irish Tweed bore all the usual markings expected of the real thing. Without further ado, let's examine what a real Green Irish Tweed should look like.

Top:

As you can see, this is Green Irish Tweed with the box. This is the latest version of the bottle and box - the bottle hasn't really changed, but the box has. Earlier versions of the box (going back about two years) did not have the Creed logo and name embossed all over it - BUT COUNTERFEIT BOXES DID! This complicates the quest for truth. But fortunately there are plenty of other details to check out besides the embossing. The real box should be as pictured, about the same height and width as the bottle, and three colors: white, moss green, and gold.

Middle:

Let's take a quick look at the atomizer. The Creed logo should be fairly well-centered with the nozzle. However, don't be put off it yours isn't mathematically precise in its centering - mine isn't, which tells me that the stamping on this piece is close but not 100% centered. Prior versions of the atomizer may have been more accurate, but the current version is not. Also notice that the nozzle is depressed from the atomizer cap and is black. The atomizer attachment to the bottle is the same shade black as the atomizer itself - glossy black metal. There should be a uniform glossy black look to the entire atomizer mechanism, which is clearer in the image below.

Bottom:

The bottle is the hardest thing to spot when dealing with the difference between real and fake. Unfortunately, the GIT bottle is pretty basic-looking, simple in design and coloring, and therefore subject to easy manufacturing by counterfeiters. However, there are quite a few things to look out for - here is what a real GIT bottle from 2011 looks like at a glance. Really the only thing to notice here is that the cap lines up nicely to the short "collar" that extends up off the top of the bottle. This collar should have three semi-smooth sides as pictured (no hard lines are anywhere on the bottle itself).

Top:

Here we have a good look at the bottle with the cap off. Again, notice the proportions of the atomizer to the bottle. It's a pretty good-sized mechanism. Look at how the glass bottle extends a little ways past the collar before connecting with the glossy base of the atomizer - this is only evident when the cap is off. Counterfeits probably won't have these proportions exactly right. Also look at the fine ribbing of the base to the glass, airtight against the bottle.

Middle:

Here we have one of the most well-known telltale signs of a real Creed - the white atomizer ring. When you remove the atomizer, the ring at its base should be white plastic. If it's black to match the bottle or atomizer, it's fake, fake, fake. The nozzle itself should extend a little ways up and is also white.

Bottom:

One thing I notice with counterfeit Green Irish Tweed bottles is that the bottle itself has centered seams connecting two units of glass, which are visible from the top. These seams are usually very distinct and sharp because the glass is not coated the same way as the genuine article. Here, from a top view, you can see how the flask-shaped bottle does have a seam, but it is very soft-looking. Obviously the real Creed bottle manufacturer connects the two parts before the matte black coating process, and that makes the seams somewhat indistinct. Anything that looks like fancy plastic in the seamwork should be regarded with suspicion. Take a look at the more obvious seams on the fake GIT here:

And in this instance, one would be hard-pressed to even consider this "fancy plastic."

TOP:

If you're feeling particularly nervous about your atomizer, take a look at the inside of it. There should be a rather complex arrangement comprised of a milky, semi-translucent plastic fixture to the outer black plastic shell.

Middle:

All Creed caps should have a cap within a cap, made obvious by the wedged ring around the inside seam. GIT, Silver Mountain Water, Original Vetiver - they're all the same, and all look like this, albeit in different colors depending on the type of scent.

Bottom:

I tend to ignore the caps of my Creeds because I think looking at the bottle and box are far more important - caps are interchangeable, and just because you have a fake cap doesn't necessarily mean the whole deal is fake - just that your merchant dabbles in both real and fake Creeds, and mixed up the merchandise. In any event, it's not a bad idea to know the basics behind what a real GIT cap looks like - the same rules apply to all Creed caps. Here you see the top, which has the circular impressed logo (the Welsh crest) firmly centered on it. You should get the impression that rather than this being one piece of plastic, it's two, mainly because real Creed caps are two pieces of plastic put together. NOTE - THE WHITE FLECKS IN THESE PICTURES ARE DUST.

Top:

The bottom of GIT bottles look very simply like this. It should say MADE IN FRANCE/PARIS and have a rather feeble-looking version of the Creed insignia centered on it. The HP and a number (in my case 7) should be there as well. Other letters/numbers may apply, but the most important thing is to see that the logo is there, and that it says PARIS, NOT RARIS. They sneak those "Rs" onto the fakes.

Middle:

At the back bottom part of the bottle should be the lot number. This should be engraved into the glass coating of the bottle's lip and shouldn't really be any other color than the matte black, although if there's some dust or debris in those little numbers and letters, I wouldn't worry about it. If this lot number is present, it's a good thing. If it's not, it's a bad thing.

Bottom:

So let's now look at the Green Irish Tweed box. The new version of the box is pretty spiffy. It should have the Welsh Crest and Creed insignia embossed all over it. 1760 should be just above the label. The main Welsh crest and the framing of the label should both be matching gold. I've seen plenty of GIT boxes pictured by discount online retailers that have a white frame around the front label. That's wrong. I've also seen the Welsh crest in white. Also wrong. There should be an abundance of gold going on here. The framing of the label has a braille-like pattern on it. Looking at the label itself: the green should be a nice mossy green - I've got to say that the mossy green very cleverly matches the color of real moss. If it's a dark forest green, it's wrong - if it's an olive green, it's wrong. This part is actually a fuzzy felt. Creed's insignia, date, the words GREEN IRISH TWEED (NOT Green Frich Tweed), and the Paris address should be impressed into the felt in gold. On the bottom part of the box: Again we see Creed, and a rather dainty version of the word MILLESIME (with an appropriate accent mark) and those two lines of French text beneath. Metric and Imperial measuring units are marked on either bottom corner that state the weight of the fluid within.

Top:

I've read online that a way to spot a fake Creed is by how flimsy the box is. This is misleading - real Creed boxes are basically just as flimsy. What separates them from the fakes is the rigid cardboard box-lining, which I've taken out and placed next to the exterior box. This part fills up the real GIT box and keeps it rigid. It should be totally un-foldable, as it's not entirely connected at the seams.

Middle:

So this is the back of the GIT box. It matches pretty much all the Millesime boxes. But notice how the word MILLESIME does not have an accent mark like its counterpart on the front of the box. Intentional Creed curveball to throw off counterfeiters. If you see an accent mark here, question it and examine the rest of the box thoroughly. It might be a typo, an intentional variation, or fake.

Bottom:

Here's a closeup of the text on the back. You can match your box to this accordingly. Make sure the spelling and accent marks are all there. This should match perfectly. Ignore those on basenotes who claim that a few typos here and there are nothing to worry about - if you see more than one, you should worry. Sometimes large production lines slip up and miss a letter, but usually never more than once, and even then only rarely. If you're seeing two or three inconsistencies in the text on your box, you have a fake box.

Top:

The top of the box should have three fonts on it - the Creed insignia, the de pere en fils line in script, and the famous sans-serif List of Royals. Really a bitch to do, but it's important if you're in doubt to check the list against your box. If someone is missing, someone is added, someone's name is misspelled, or your name is there, you have a fake.

Middle:

Pop the lid open, and the first thing you should see is that silly little card that comes with all Creeds. If you buy from Creed boutique directly then of course the card is there, the card is real, and this point is moot. But any other online retailer may or may not include the card. An absent card is preferable to a card that is on flimsy paper, printed in blurry ink, or without gold. If they went to the trouble to stick a crappy counterfeit card in there, imagine how much work they put into counterfeiting the rest of the product. The real card should be on solid stock, have a bend at its bottom so you can stand it up on your desk, and should have James Henry and Olivier's portraits very clearly printed and gold-framed on them. The de pere line is clearly printed on there as well.

Bottom:

Just under the card is the literature. This is on stiff, grained paper, unfolds to a considerable size, and is in several languages. I can't say if all the Green Irish Tweeds come with the same literature - Creed may or may not change up the languages they print on it depending on where the product is stocked. However, if your literature is in all Arabic, this is cause for worry. Another myth circulating on basenotes is that Creed's middle eastern distributors carry literature written only in Arabic. This is false - there should be at least English and French written on it - if Arabic accompanies these two languages, then I wouldn't worry. If it's going to take a college course in Asian languages to read the literature, you've got a fake.

Top:

It's a bitch to do, but if you're a stickler for detail, you'll have to match up the text on the inside of your box to this photo of mine. Check out Google Translate for the French translation, but the first line should read that the Creed Millesimes are made only with the finest essences and rarest infusions, etc. Olivier's signature should be printed beneath this statement, and the address should again be in script below.

Middle:

The bottom of the Creed Green Irish Tweed box is the part that looks most fake, even though it's not - the technical specs are unsightly and wisely relegated to the part you never see. One mistake basenoters make is in thinking that the sticker should only read INGREDIENTS and not CONTAINS - the authentic sticker has both. Unless you buy directly from the Creed boutique, the barcode sticker may not be located here. If it bothers you, look for the barcode as it's probably stuck somewhere else, or nowhere at all. Barring some foreign release, 99% of real Green Irish Tweed boxes have Arabic printed on only one place: the bottom of the box.

Bottom:

Last but not least, a little extra detail regarding that rigid inner cardboard sleeve of the box - there should be a cut on its top for the cap to fit through. When you open the box and remove the card and literature, the cap should be peeking through that to greet you.

In Conclusion

The 2011 version of Green Irish Tweed has nothing printed on the sides of the box, but older and newer versions may have places for lot numbers and other various words here and there. If your box matches mine to the letter, but the sides have all kinds of weird things and Arabic writing all over them, double check the French and the bottle for authenticity. Also, regarding the Creed insignia and text printed on the bottle - I had a hell of a time getting a readable shot of the de pere en fils line and size labeling on my actual bottle - Green Irish Tweed and the rest of the text is written in a matte text that is only about two shades darker than the rest of the bottle. Here's what I suggest: run your thumb over the text and feel if it's slightly raised off the bottle. If it is, that's good. The real thing has the text printed at a slight emboss on the glass. Also, the CREED insignia is raised, and painted a darker, glossier black than the matte backing.

I hope this blog post helps. I've grown tired of the misinformation about faked Green Irish Tweeds - it's a classic, it deserves to be documented in its real form as opposed to its fake alter-ego. My wish is that by posting these photos, you'll never have to wonder what a real Green Irish Tweed looks like again.