Vert Instinct

This is one of those fragrances I don't necessarily love but find myself reaching for quite often. It fits perfectly on a cool day in late winter, like a declaration that spring is here. To me it has Fahrenheit vibes with a noticeable honey/pollen note (ginger?) that really delivers the concept of a green meadow with lots of flowering dandelions. Definitely masculine but very grounded in nature at the same time. Not woody at all.

I've only tried two fragrances from DUA, but I am pretty sure they are simply re-bottling cheap (but not necessarily bad) oil knock-offs that can be bought in bulk on places like eBay. I bought Vert Instinct as I had been looking for a Green Valley replacement for years. Unfortunately, it was literally the same thing as a $5 roll-on bottle of "Green Valley Type" oil that I already had. In terms of accuracy, this clone is probably 95% of the way there. The problem is something in the basenotes, which has a bitter note in it that you will either love or hate. I've seen other people claim it smells like "urine", which I don't agree with, but after a while I grew to really dislike it. I've also noticed something similar in a lot of other Creed clones. I am going to guess it's synthetic ambergris. If this were replaced with something else, or possibly even entirely removed, I think they would be on to something great. For anyone looking for a good Green Valley alternative, I ended up going with Kiton Red (the old version, which is now absurdly expensive -- never tried the new version), and more recently Montblanc Individuel (about $25 for a tester bottle). While not the same as Green Valley, they give that same clean, green feel that is enough to satisfy me until someone makes a better clone, or Creed rereleases it.

Gotta love Dua for bringing back vintage classics. I don't have this one but few years ago I got their version of Davidoff Goodlife and was blown away.