Gorse

Received my bottle this morning so after a full day of wear, I'm ready to give my review. Yes, I did buy it blind because of what everyone has had to say about it's similarity to Virgin Island Water. I tend to ignore these kind of "affordable alternative" suggestions because in my experience they're almost never accurate, but in this case I had to take the chance. And in this case, IT'S REAL, Y'ALL. The similarity is uncanny. Aside from the distinctly lemon drop fizzy candy opening in Gorse being an obvious departure from the mouth wateringly tart lime opening in Creed, if someone were to bottle this and sell it to me as Virgin Island Water, I would absolutely believe them. I would have no reason to doubt it, given how unique and inimitable Creed's Virgin Island Water is. There simply is nothing like it. Except Gorse, apparently. The key difference, as far as I'm concerned, is that where VIW has a certain sweet pungency that remains sort of sticky and boozy all the way down, Gorse seems to have a smoother and more natural blend while still hitting the same fragrant check-points. And it also lasts far longer than the Creed ever has, having been applied 11 hours ago now and still being readily detectable on my skin. Following the lead of the reviewers who came before me, I won't even bother to lay out the similarities. This is essentially the same fragrance. It makes more sense to explicitly list out the few differences: Gorse opens with a nose tickling sweet lemon candy. On my skin (which takes scents to their base notes with record speed) this lasts literally less than a minute, but a mildly sweet citrus quality lingers even up to now, though faintly. It lends a consistent freshness that I don't necessarily sense in the Creed. VIW opens with a sweetened but noticeably sour lime that is more than slightly bitter, and I find myself waiting for the dry down when that sharp bitterness is entirely gone. But this is not the case here. The coconut of VIW is very nearly identical to the dominant scent in Gorse, but Gorse has a consistent, fresh floral quality which I can only assume is in the likeness of gorse flower itself (though I've never encountered a gorse bush so I can't be certain). But for the first 15 to 20 minutes I also detected something waxy, which called to mind the texture and smell of tearing a flower petal, but could also come across as the wax of an unlit candle (in reference to the lament of a couple other reviewers). That waxiness was short lived and in no way pronounced enough to have been a deal-breaker. Lastly, with the exception of the opening, Gorse overall isn't quite as sweet, and by comparison VIW is actually a little cloying. To be honest, next to Grose it almost smells synthetic. As if it were a lower-end dupe. ...I like Gorse more---there I said it.

Fresh, creamy and gourmand. Gorse is like a lemon meringue pie mixed with piña colada. 🥥🍋 This scent is bloody gorgeous. What opens up with a fresh, creamy lemon slowly fades into a smooth, zesty coconut that flows into the background and sticks with you through the rest of the day. This scent has so much flavour to the point I would eat it if I could. I adore JPG Le Beau Le Parfum, but it can be quite overwhelming, so I've been wanting a coconut scent that feels more light and airy, that I can wear with ease. This is exactly what I've been looking for, as it gets the balance between fresh and sweet spot on. It reminds me of summer staycations in the UK when I was younger. The coconut brings that holiday feel, but the lemon and floral notes bring a localised nostalgia to it that feels closer to home. Fields of flowers, blue skies, the beach, camping, and summer BBQs. It's a perfect spring and summer daytime fragrance for anybody, and breakfast-friendly, which is a massive win. Throw it on anywhere, and you'll smell fantastic without offending anyone. The drydown is genuinely brilliant, and I've been impressed at just how long it lasts. It definitely quietens down, but it does it in this really smooth and indulgent way that feels special. Even after 6 hours, I still get a dopamine hit from pulses of creamy coconut, and it's even better on clothes. After testing the Laboratory Perfumes range, this one is the undeniable king (or queen) for me. It feels fresh and nostalgic in the same way Samphire does, but brings a more unique and flavoursome profile that makes it stand out as its own, which I think makes it the pinnacle of success with what the brand has aimed to achieve. Brilliant fragrance, great ethical brand, well worth the price and something that will never fail to put a smile on my face. 10/10 👑

I ran out of Virgin Island Water and decided not to repurchase, since Greed increased the price from 165€ to 265€ over the past two years. Besides, my bottle was a letdown anyway. While the faint drydown was absolutely heavenly, the opening was thin and shrill and within 30 minutes it became a skin scent. In my search for a new fragrance, I gave Malibu Party in the Bay by Simone Andreoli a try. It opens with an incredibly lively and realistic burst of lime, followed by a velvety coconut. The overall scent is quite different from VIW and Gorse; it does its own thing, in a good way. However, it's not quite what I was looking for. So next up was Gorse. The lime and lemon opening is very natural and refreshing, accompanied by a very noticeable coconut right from the start. There's also a slight touch of saltiness which gives off a perfect beachy vibe. I found it delightful, well-blended, and versatile enough for both summer and spring. I was initially concerned about reviews that compared it to lemon candy, candles and cleaning products, but it turns out that Gorse smells just as natural as Virgin Island Water, if not more so. In fact, I actually prefer Gorse by a significant margin. This is not to say that Gorse smells "just like VIW but better". They do share a lot (!) of similarities, but they also have their differences and I just so happen to prefer Gorse's scent profile. These are the official notes : TOP: Bergamot, Coconut, Lime, Lemon, Mandarin, Ginger, Cardamom HEART: Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Lily of the Valley BASE: Musk, Amber, Milky The only negative points are that the sprayer is not great and the cap is very thin and flimsy – if you squeeze hard enough, it will bend.

Never in my life have I experienced a fragrance "clone" so perfectly like its progenitor. I own Creed Virgin Island Water and after hearing the hype about Gorse being a "Creed Killer," it was with giddy anticipation that I awaited delivery of my bottle. Having now experienced this fragrance I can confidently say this: Gorse is not similar to Virgin Island Water, it IS Virgin Island Water. With only three notable differences: 1. VIW has a very pronounced top note of lime that Gorse lacks. 2. Gorse outperforms VIW in both sillage and longevity. 3. Gorse is approximately $300 cheaper. Gorse (like VIW) instantly transports you to the sun-drenched isles of the Caribbean. You can almost feel the warm, turquoise water lapping at your feet and the ocean breeze gently caressing your skin. The opening is a blast of coconut (actually the flowers of the gorse plant, hence the name) with faint hints of lemon. After a few minutes the coconut continues its robust presence but a boozy, rum note introduces itself and helps Gorse transition into a base of sugar and cardamom. As mentioned earlier, the performance and sillage are fairly impressive for a warm weather fragrance. It radiates about an arm's length for the first two hours and becomes a skin scent for the next seven. Much better sillage and longevity than I get from my Creed bottle. This is truly a masterpiece Summer fragrance. I don't know if Laboratory Perfumes set out to clone Virgin Island Water but, whether they did or not, it's the finest dupe job I've ever smelled.

I own both VIW and Gorse and also smelled multiple clones of VIW on the market. Gorse is indistinguishable from VIW after short opening and, by far, the closest to Creed out of all on the market. This is a very well done scent with quality no less than Creed's. The two differences that were already mentioned by many: opening has a bit more lemon and less lime than VIW (a welcomed change in my opinion since it brings it closer to a more traditional cologne not just a tropical scent) and gorse plant oil is, I guess, what Creed used for coconut note but here it is more "full spectrum" as I assume Creed used an isolate, not whole oil. Overall, an excellent scent, spoken by someone who does not believe in clones. Also, performance and versatility is better than current Creed's (and on level with my vintage VIW from 2014). Now, if you never smelled the Creed before and just buying it as an original perfume: this is very unique and not like your traditional cologne. It still has this tropical coconut vibe to it, the note is not for everyone, even though many like to smell it on somebody else. I get 8 hours of longevity every time with strong projection going to modest after 1-2 hours. If you like VIW, this is a safe blind buy, IMO, if you are OK with the above.