I was at my brother’s house over the Holidays and had access to his perfume wardrobe (which is pretty good) and it gave me a chance to sample some scents he has but I don’t own.  I zoomed in on ‘Love In Black,’ by Creed because, well, Michelle Obama has been in the news promoting her book and I thought this was her scent – of course when I googled it, I was mistaken – her signature scent is Love in White by Creed, this perfume’s twin-set match. ‘Love In Black’ still has First Lady pedigree, though, as it is inspired by Jacqueline Kennedy.

It’s classic Creed – you can tell it has good quality, and you can also tell it’s expensive because of that. But again with me and Creed, I found it hopelessly boring. It isn’t unique, and its violet-iris accord smelled just like a lot of other things out there. As time wore on, it became a straight-up iris scent for me – the papery, library kind. It’s nice, but my cheaper Atelier Cologne Vanille Insensee does the same thing, and better. So why pay Creed prices?