Kroenen

[Tramp]

KROENEN
Shining black leather, gleaming metal, labdanum, and myrrh.

I flat out love this one. It is very darkly elegent and uber sexy. Woods, vetiver, maybe patchouli and frankincense and musk. If a guy was wearing this I would be totally snuggling up to him but it smells like awesomesauce on me so who needs men.

[evanescence]

I'm generally not for the heavier darker blends so to my nose it was a bit much in the bottle, but of course I had to give this a try! I was pleasantly surprised on the drydown, it quickly mellowed to a rich masculine blend of musk and patchouli. It's quite complex and a bit sinister. I have a friend who loves Hellhound and Minotaur, and I think she will really love this one!

[Eutectic]

This was a surprise scent for me. At first sniff from the bottle I get Pine, green wet pine needles. After application the pine falls back and a smokiness comes to the top. Not a forest fire smokiness but something like smelling your clothes after you've been home from camping for a while. Long dulled wood smoke. Then the other notes start rising to the surface. Vetivert, frankensense, something cool and clean but not floral. This is a dangerous scent. Not in a rampaging elephant kind of way but in a sleek, smart, beautiful kind of way. Just amazing and the throw was haunting me long after application.

[Lycanthrope]

Whoa momma vetiver.

 

I have the unfortunate tendency to make vetiver smell exactly the same no matter when it touches my skin. No different with Kroenen, although I can tell there's a hint of something more pleasant, smooth, running under the whole scent - I think it's trying to be a little musky, but I can't tell.

 

The drop I tried from Eutectic didn't really change much except fade, though.

[Ina Garten Davita]

Kroenen is the type of scent that I usually run like hell away from. First sniff yields dark vetiver, evil smoke and ash, I was seriously scared to even skin test it. I would have missed a golden opportunity as Kroenen is delicious and smokey sex and as evanescence so aptly put it, rich and sinister. It is amazing layered over Liz.

[The_Witching_Hour]

WOWSA!

 

The beginning of this blend starts out like Urd but without muscadine. Red and/or black patchouli, and in one of the most beautifully rich and sinister forms.....oh, how GORGEOUS!!!

 

I agree with Tramp....who needs a man with this scent in your hands???? So similar to Doc Buzzard but without a sassafras note (which gives Doc a bit of effervescence).

 

Kroenen is dark, sinister, elegant and sleek....if you're on its side (wearing it).

 

Another fantastic impression scent.....this one will be a bottle purchase when/if released.

[thekittenkat]

I tested this late in the evening at SEWC. By that time, I guess my nose was "broke" because I couldn't pick up much of anything from this--it seemed well-blended and somewhat sweet. I hope to be able to test this again when I don't have so many scents to test, as the other reviews here make it sound like something that I would adore, on the bf.

[ivyandpeony]

My skin amps vetiver, smoke and leather notes to the extreme, so at first I found Kroenen just as frightening in perfume form as he is on page and screen. I braved the skin test, though, feeling very lucky to have the chance at this sneak peek. Much as expected from my chemistry, I had lots of vetiver, smoke and leather for quite some time. But when I sniffed the back of my hand after allowing Kroenen to dry down for an hour or so, I was greeted with a really gorgeous and complex scent, although it's still quite manly for my tastes. The many, many BPAL fans who can wear blends that are on the dry and masculine side as well as those who love vetiver, leather &/or smoke should be head over heels when this goes live, though.

[edenssixthday]

Kroenen - I hate the smell of wet vetiver oil, and almost didn't try this one on because of that strong, nasty wet-vetiver scent. But then I remembered how much vetiver changes on me once it dries down, and sure enough, my skin turned out to absolutely love Kroenen. Once it dries on my skin, it takes on this awesomely warm, husky, masculine, and dark quality full of warm woods, a hint of patchouli, and of course, that gorgeous gravelly and gritty scent of vetiver. Mmmmm! It's uber-sexy and would smell fantastic on a guy, but smells fantastic on me, too. I definitely want some.

[wintersmelody]

WELL HELLO THERE VETIVER!

 

I gave Kroenen a test anyway though all I smelt upon opening the vial was my dreaded nemesis vetiver (as you might've guessed). Upon drydown tough though it was I believe I detected some patchouli as well some musk. Once fully dry and given time to mellow Kroenen turned out to be not so bad even though I amp vetiver to the point of headaches. Not for me but I can see that some will absolutely ADORE this scent!

[Gwydion]

In bottle: The labdanum is surprisingly strong here, and not entirely ideal with the leather and metal. The effect evokes rotting leather and rusting metal. I’m edging towards declaring labdanum a note of death thanks to this, as leather/metal/myrrh should be glorious for me. Wet: Even more of what it smells like in the bottle, though the leather comes out more as it warms. This is really not working on me. It is all smoke and chemicals. Dry; the leather comes out stronger and tries to wrestle the labdanum to the floor, but it just can’t quite manage it.

[rayvn1]

This is gorgeous. Drop dead sexy A bit had leaked onto the plumbiong tape around my decant and the dried scent of it had me crossing my fingers it would be this good on the skin. It's vetiver and a really strong dose of vetiver at first, but it morphs quickly into a confident, sexy, masculine scent that is dark, and almost foody like I could snuffle close then take a bite out of it This is the winner hands down of Hellboy for me (which is a surprise since I thought Liz was a sure thing. I'll have to try them mixed as someone suggested!)

[Venneh]

In the decant vial, I'm getting VETIVER, which is not entirely promising. Wet on my skin, so far, the vetiver is predominant, with a hint of doctor's office in the background? Not a good sign...

 

EDIT: Yeah. I'm getting mostly vetiver with maaaybe a hint of leather? Not working, sadly.

 

After I've washed it off I've got what's maybe an afterscent, or how it would've turned out. It smells predominantly like a leather jacket, with a tinge of metal, maybe from the buttons. A niceish scent, but, again, vetiver is note of doom and death on me, and I think I could probably get this from other scents, or just from wearing a leather jacket.

Edited October 6, 2009 by Venneh

[patina]

At first I get Vetiver. But then the scent calms down. What I mainly notice is the leather, a lot like DeSade, but not as harshly leather as that. I think the reisens calm this scent down.

There's something (the metal-myrrh combination?) that smells like medicinal aftershave.

 

This should be on a guy, so I'm gonna trade it off.

 

The picture I get is this man who wears leather armor and is horribly burned underneath. There's not any charred smell left over, but there is disinfectant ointment under there. As stated before, I'm sure this would smell better on a guy!

 

EDIT: As it dries, this smooths out some. Resolve...weakening. I may hold onto this for a while.

Edited October 9, 2009 by patina

[Diva Urd]

Vial: Strong vetiver over leather. Hopefully, it'll tone down a bit on me...

On: Yessss, the vetiver does calm down... even before drydown, it turns into a tiny smidge of sharp green-black vetiver with a rather feral musk and sleek black leather. This is Iago on speed on me, and I'm loving it! I also put some on the husband, and... RAWR. Who would have thought steampunk cyborg leather nazis smelled so sexy?

Later: Sharp musky leather. Tasty. Bottle list.

[angelicruin]

Wet on my skin, it screams vetiver. As it begins to dry, it mellows out a bit and I begin to discern the leather and myrrh notes. There is also a sharp metallic note within the blend.

 

I usually love leather blends, but this one is not really playing nice on my skin.

[aquazoo]

It's a machine. Well-oiled and leathery. It's a seriously manly scent, just delicious.

 

[zankoku_zen]

Okay, for you gals that are missing DeSade, this might be a good substitute for it if you can handle vetiver. Despite the smoky (slightly baconny, but that happens if a blend has copious amounts of vetiver) vetiver, the leather here takes the forefront. Black, shiny, sleek (although slightly chemically on me). This is the black leather note from DeSade, tempered by vetiver and a hint of metal.

 

Too masculine for me, and leather notes are an even worse evil for mr. zee_zee, so pass...

[Little Bird]

I was disappointed when I smelled this in the bottle, because it had that strong, charred vetiver smell to it (smells like mesquite bbq on my skin). I usually amp up vetiver, so I was sure that this would turn into smoky bbq on me, but it doesn't. This actually smells rather amazing. The vetiver pretty much disappears entirely once this oil touches my skin.

 

At first, I can smell a cool leather, sweet, cologne-like metal, and sweet, golden resins. It starts off more resinous than anything else on my skin, but I can pick out the leather and the men's cologne smell from the metal. I smell something like a hint of earthy patchouli here as well, but it's light and disappears in the drydown. The words sweet, smooth, and cool keep coming to mind when I smell this blend. As it dries down, the metal smell seems to take over, the resins go to the background, and the leather fades away. It winds up smelling like a sweet, clean men's cologne on me, with a hint of resins (a lot of the metallic/citrussy/clean men's colognes available smell like sweet lemon ice on my skin, and I kinda get that here).

 

I expected the vetiver and leather to be strong here, but I'm getting a clean, sweet men's cologne and polished resins more than anything else. It's a really nice scent, and one that smells good on me and on my husband.

[forspecial_plate]

This is total dood-fume on me! I like it. It's about as traditional as I want to get, as cologne-y scents go. It's the leather and metal that make it cologne-like, cold, and kind of hollow to me (very fitting of the character). I'll be honest, the first few times I wore this, I wasn't sure if I could really enjoy it. But tonight I happen to like it. I think the labdanum and myrrh are really saving it for me, even though they are really subtle. The resins smell almost like sweet smoke when played against the metallic notes. This stuff lasts and lasts. I put it on almost 8 hours ago and it's still going pretty strong, although by now the leather has faded back a lot. Overall, though, it's a very well-balanced scent.

 

It's funny to me that most other reviews mention vetiver because I don't detect it at all. But, I am not opposed to vetiver, so it probably wouldn't stand out as much to me. But to me, this is all gleaming leather and metal, with little puffs of sweet smoke here and there. I was expecting sinister and dangerous, but the feeling I get is more stern and cruel. A subtle difference but there ya go.

[Dark Alice]

Wet: Old cracked leather with hints of something smoky...

 

Drydown: Old leather with hints of something smoky and myrrh.

 

The myrrh keeps this from being too gross...but the leather has a salty/smoky note that keeps coming in and out.

 

It's still very nauseating so this will definitely go on to another home.

 

 

[voorishsign]

Kroenen keeps changing on me. It's really funny. Either I have a wonky skin chemistry or it ages interestingly. When I first got it fresh, it was sharp black leather and metal and nothing else. I loved it. Then for a while it was nothing but old leather and overwhelming incense and made me ill. Now, it's lightened up again. I'm still not sure about it. Somedays I really like it and others it's too dark. Anyway - as it is, in its present state, the leather is a well-worn and intense leather, vetiver and incense, but barely any metal. I'm still battling over whether I should get a full bottle or not.

Edited January 26, 2010 by voorishsign

[fairnymph]

Cola-coloured deep brownish oil. Sharp, dark, intense. Slick-plasticky-chemically-harsh leather, piercing chrome (the one note I like here), and bitter, heavy, slightly sour resins. This one smacks you in the face!

 

Very earthy, there has got to be a rooty sort of pathchouli in here , and the myrrh is SO strong, perhaps the strongest I've ever smelled it in any blend. The leather is a bit more complex now, both plastic-De-Sade like/powdery but there is also a rawer, more 'old' leather, suedey note. Reminds me kind of like the note in Sacrifice, actually - though not exactly.

 

Dusty, musty, powdery, harsh, evil. The leather note in this has become utterly disgusting. I dislike myrrh when it's light, but here with this bad leather note I'm overwhelmed by nastiness. Definitely an utterly masculine scent.

 

[Bamels]

In the imp I can smell labdanum pretty strongly! On and wet I can still smell the labdanum. The leather is coming through as it dries. I seem to amp leather, normally it drives me crazy (in a good way), but there's something stopping it, I guess it's the labdanum. It's quite resiny and I doubt I'll wear it again.

[voodoobaby]

There is very little difference between the smell on the bottle and the smell wet on the skin...and the smell dry on the skin. For the first hour or so, all I get is pungent metal and motor oil. Sniffing it stings the back of my throat. There is a very faint hint of myrrh every now and then that disappears as quickly as it comes. As the scent sits, the metal is tempered by very intense leather. I generally really love leather, but this is way too pungent for me. Still, it smells better than the metal/oil scent from before. Catching whiffs of it in this stage isn't so bad, but I really just don't think I can handle how strong and sharp it is.

 

While I wouldn't consider this a pleasant scent, I am so glad that I got to try it. It's incredible that Beth was able to capture the scent of sharp metal so effectively. This IS the smell of steampunk in a "dripping with testosterone" sense. For someone looking for a steampunk scent that will punch them in the face, this is fantastic. However, I was looking for a steampunk scent that I could cuddle up with. I really wanted to love it, but judging by the responses above, there will be plenty of other people who will.