Mr. Croup

[angelicruin]

MR. CROUP
'A fox and a wolf', thought Richard, involuntarily. The man in front, the fox, was a little shorter than Richard. He had lank, greasy hair, of an unlikely orange color, and a pallid complexion; as Richard opened the door, he smiled, widely, and just a fraction too late, with teeth that looked like an accident in a graveyard.

Pompous and predatory: tonka bean, black musk, bourbon geranium, and crushed porcelain.

I get boozy, spicy, musk & geranium notes and a little bit of smoke on my skin. A dark, resinous blend on me. I ended up buying a bottle of this after the skin test at C2 went so well.

[Dark Alice]

Not what I was expecting. Wet: This is sinister black musk. The geranium gives it a spicy note. As it dries...it becomes sweeter...the benzoin is coming out....and damn it if I don't smell porcelain...it's pretty damn amazing.

 

ETA: for spelling error.

Edited April 27, 2010 by Dark Alice

[ami226]

 

On the skin: Wow. This does not smell like the black musk I am used to. Very dark and slightly earthy? I feel like there is some vetiver here... Very earthy.

 

Definitely not for me. Quite a dark blend.

[whome]

bottle sniff is all spicy geranium and black musk

Wet on skin it is much lighter than expected! Tonka immediately comes out ,sweetens and melds everything together.

When dry, it turns into a light, spicy cologne. Quite delightful.

Not much throw.

It is but a pleasant memory within an hour.

 

 

[voorishsign]

Ah yes! Along with Mr. Vandemar my most anticipated oil in the Neverwhere line I adore the Old Firm. And when I found out Beth had added the porcelain note to Mr. Croup, I was ecstatic

 

In the bottle, you've got musk, tonka, a pleasant but not overwhelming cologne, and the faintest whiff of china.

 

On wet, tonka and bourbon, and deep musk. This reminds me, pleasantly so, of another one of my favourites, Mr. Hyde.

 

Drydown - definitely a cleaner, but still psychotic Mr. Hyde The musk is beautiful, barely any geranium (thank the heavens), lovely warm tonka, a clean, sly little cologne, with yes, just that powdery little whiff of a nice bite of the finest bone china imagineable . . .

 

Croup & Vandemar are instant winners and pure masterpieces. I waited for so long for these, and I would've been crushed if they'd not worked - but my, yes, they are wonderful, and a thousand thanks be to Beth for her wonderful work

Edited June 16, 2010 by voorishsign

[edenssixthday]

Mr. Croup - I can rarely, if ever, wear dark or black musk. On the other hand, geranium is my favorite note. I was pretty sure this wouldn't turn out well, but curious to smell the outcome. Sure enough, the dark musk doesn't exactly work, but the addition of the beautiful, lovely geranium, along with the warm, delicious tonka, makes it almost work, and it's definitely interesting. I definitely don't want to wear this myself, but I kind of wish I could get my husband to try this out. I have a weird feeling I'd actually really like it on him (assuming the musk doesn't disagree with him the way it does with me).

[MCS4096]

Immediately it's black musk and geranium.. I LOVE black musk, but I wasn't sure how the geranium would mix with it. The result is kinda sour and green (I'm used to black musk being warm and incensey). I don't really get much tonka. Overall it's slightly bitter, deep and dark.. fairly masculine.

 

ETA: 06.22.10

 

Eeehhh.. this has turned into a sour, bitter mess with only a month of aging in the imp. I brought it out to let my boyfriend have a try with it, and when we opened it we both said "eeew!" I'm not sure what happened but all the musk seems to have given way to the geranium-- it smells like crushed, stinky weeds out in the woods.

Edited June 17, 2010 by MCS4096

[Dharklady]

In bottle: a dark musky geranium

Wet: Wow, it really does evoke imagery of crushed porcelain...

Dry: I’m not entirely sure what the tonka note smells like, but the evocative porcelain imagery fades with it’s accompanying note upon drydown, and what I’m guessing is the tonka shows it’s flavors under the musk and ever so slight floral.

Notes: Drydown appears to be a dominant musk with some nice subtle tonka and florals. Fun but I prefer my musk to be a supporting note, not the star of the show. Definitely glad I tried it though.

 

[rayvn1]

Dark and biting The tonka and musk really make this blend and the bourbon geranium lurks in the background giving it an interesting twist. One of my favorites of the series.

[Ondine]

It smells like the pickled peppercini I sometimes eat

[Little Bird]

Black musk is usually bad (cheap, musky men's cologne) and overpowering on me, but I love tonka and geranium, so I was excited for this scent. Aaand... Mr. Croup isn't as good as I had hoped for or as bad as I thought it might be, lol.

 

The black musk here is strong and masculine, and smells slightly dark and smoky on me. The geranium adds a bit of a spicy, green feel underneath the musk. And I don't smell anything like tonka or porcelain, but something smells like dry wood chips underneath the musk. That dry wood smell gets stronger on me over time.

 

Mr. Croup is a little too dark, musky, and smoky for me (and then smells too dry after a while). I tried it on my husband and he said it was okay (gave it a 6 out of 10 score), but neither of us really like this enough for me to justify keeping it.

Edited June 3, 2010 by Little Bird

[Iceblink]

Eeee. I love black musk and tonka but Mr. Croup is primarily green geranium on my skin, and geranium and I do not get along.

I may age this a bit to see if that green note fades and the musk comes out more.

[Diva Urd]

Bottle: Huh. Smells a bit mustardy. How strange. Wonder what's doing that - my guess would be the bourbon geranium or the porcelain note.

 

On: Thankfully, the mustard scent goes away on skin contact, just leaving an underlying sharpness. Tonka and musk are definitely in the foreground, and there is a dustiness to the scent - crushed porcelain?

 

Later: This goes rather dusty after only about half an hour, although the geranium is keeping it from completely descending into Swiffer territory. Will have to do a daywear to make further decisions on it (and try it on the husband, although knowing his skin, I bet he'll amp that mustardy thing that's going on in the vial), but for now, the decant stays.

[devilot]

Mr. Croup

In the vial: Black musk and something. I don't know what, but it's insanely strong. I'm guessing the geranium? But my only experience w/ geranium is via LUSH's "Magic" bath bomb and this barely seems similar.

 

Wet: The geranium wet, on, smells closer to the geranium I know from LUSH. Green. Herbal. But boy is that black musk full of gloom and doom! Hovering over everything. So. Damned. Strong. It makes me want to cough. Think I've been sniffing it a bit too hard, a bit too long.

 

Drydown: Weird. Just weird. Herbal black musk? Ick.

 

Verdict: I am so glad that I didn't spring for even a decant of this untested. This is just so out there and I'm starting to think I can't handle black musk. This isn't the first blend w/ black musk that has gone odd on me, weird, considering all the other musks I've encountered play v nicely w/ my skin-chemistry. BIG THANK YOU to the C2E2 sniff circle started by GypsyRoseRed!

 

ETA: Now it smells slightly spicy, which makes it more tolerable, but it's still outside of my comfort zone. Far far outside of it.

[bluerose]

In the bottle: Sweet black musk with geranium.

 

On the skin: Sweet geranium with hints of musk.

[milo]

Pretty much a dark blend. Sweet, woody musk. A bit too masculine for me, but certainly glad I got to try this!

[Gwydion]

MR. CROUP 2010 (C2E2):

 

In bottle: This is likely way too strong for me, but I knew that when I agreed to the swap. This is musky aftershave. I like the dryness of the tonka and porcelain. The geranium is understated, but lightens the feel of the blend subtly. Wet: The geranium is stronger on my skin, moving this almost into the realm of florals, but the musk/tonka/porcelain manage to drag it back from the brink. This is beautifully balanced. On someone who doesn’t have musky skin, this would be menacing and sexy all at once, but my skin ids naturally musky, so while the tiny test amount is fine, I can tell it would simply be too much in the normal quantity one applies for normal wear. This is not the blend’s fault at all, and it’s heartbreakingly interesting to my nose, especially given the way the porcelain evolves within the blend as it warms. Dry: Mostly musk, with a touch of the other elements.

Edited January 2, 2011 by Shollin
Removed Lab description

[hereunto]

Imp: Black musk and geranium and it's potent upon opening. I foretell this either giving me a headache or going straight to baby powder on me as black musk is wont to do.

 

Skin: Huh. Nuts. *sniffs arm* *checks note list* *sniffs again* Yep. Nuts. Bizarre. It gets two points for not giving me a headache but not something I would buy.

[jencallisto]

In the decant: Dark, dark vanilla.

Fresh on the skin: Weirdly grassy. Sinuous and dark.

5 minutes in: So, so bitter. Ew.

35 minutes in: Still bitter and dark, almost leathery. I don't like this.

1 hour in: Basically, bitter leather. It's rounded out into something that's not actually terrible.

3.5 hours in: Huh. Faded down to perfectly reasonable warm woods, quite light.

4 hours in: This stage is rather nice, actually. Still not really me, and not worth an hour plus of bitter leather, but. Faded sweet woods, light and warm. Could be a lot worse.

6 hours in: Very faded wisps of wood.

 

Verdict: No.

 

One word: Dark.

 

[zankoku_zen]

Again, another darker blend - but less bruising than Mr. Vandemar. There is a musky resinous base, a touch of something light (could that be you porcelain?), and the benzoin adds a little sweetness to the blend. Not to say that this isn't masculine, but it's less brutish than Mr. Vandemar.

 

Perfect for Mr. Croup.

[whisperstilled]

Crushed porcelain? This I need to sniff.

 

In imp: The victorian villainy of my dreams. Cologney, a touch musky, and evil as sin.

 

Wet: What an odd scent. I expected more throw, but this is one villain who is playing his cards close to his chest. Dark, floral, and fading fast.

 

Dry: The tonka and black musk layer over something dusty that might be the porcelain, though I really wish that note had made itself known more. Great in the imp, a disappointment on my skin. 3/5

[crebbsgirl]

This went surprisingly cologney on my skin. I blame the porcelain. It started out heavy on the tonka and musk. Dark, sweet and slightly vanillic. But as it wore, a sharper edge came out. It wasn't ozone but it had that same cold and bracing feel to it. I liked this but it was too masculine for me.

[grrrlennyl]

Mr. Croup

 

On: Wow. Lots of black musk.

Half an hour in: A simple black musk. Very nice.

1.5 hours in: All black musk, all the time.

3 hours in: Did I mention black musk?

Overall: This is just a single note on me, so (since I already have Black Musk single note), I won't be keeping it around.

[DamnSatyr]

In the bottle: Dark, so very dark!

 

Wet: The black musk is so strong. Really, almost more than I can handle. I nearly ran to wash this off but I decided to just wait it out. Slowly, so slowly it dried down into a much more ambient sort of scent and finally the geranium comes out.

 

Dry: Amazing, really. Closing my eyes and sniffing this, it brings to mind pictures of a strong, dark guy possibly in need of a shave. Leather coats and dusty boots. Very sexy and even almost cloying. I'm glad I let this dry down because it's quickly risen to be a top favorite on my list!

[strahlend]

This is one of those blends where I feel like I'm sniffing a different scent than all the other reviewers. On my skin this is simply amazing. The black musk is there, but not as strong or sharp as it sometimes is (Haunted, Black Temple Burlesque Troupe). What I get is a sense of a more mellow, warm dark musk and a feel of dry woods. It's like if a nice warm and musky gentleman handed you a bundle of fragrant dried twigs. It somehow manages to be intense but not overpowering. I'm head over heels in love with this scent right now and very happy to have my first backup on the way.

 

After some more testing I think that the dry woods I described is actually a blend of resins and just a faint touch of oakmoss.

I pass this one over way too often because in the bottle it seems very faint to me, but I realize that I just have a hard time smelling resin scents in their containers. I need to get this into rotation more often, it's fantastic.

Edited January 10, 2012 by strahlend