Christougenniatiko Dentrophobia

[nightwing]

Ghastly misshapen branches casting long, twisted shadows and clutching at you with prickly needle-like fingers: pine pitch, bone-white dried fir, and spruce tar with opoponax and blackened tobacco.

First off, take this review with a bit of salt. I just got it in the mail this morning and my bottle was so cold it misted up when I took it out of the box. But I was dying to try it, so here we go.

ITB: Pine and something almost lemony sharp. Unsettling for sure.

Wet: That lemony thing is totally gone, replaced by a sweet pine. The combination of the balsams and the pine is both sweet and dark and very masculine on me. Evil christmas tree is very much the right frame of mind for this. It's obviously pine and tree resin, but something else lurks in the background that's a little sweet, a little unsettling and very wonderful.

Drying: Opoponax tends to be a sweet resin on me, and I can really notice that sweetening here. It's still a very dry scent, but there is something almost fruity about it, the way I had hoped Skadi's berry note would behave. I can barely notice anything I could call tobacco, which is a shame because I love it, but there is something blackened about this for sure. Right now it's prickly to the point of being a bit sneezy when I really huff it, but its not at all cleaner fluid, which I was worried about with all the pine.

Dry: Surprisingly sweet. While there is still a bite to this, it settles into something that's a lot more unisex than I expected from the first initial blast of pine and woods. The brightness of the pine takes a back seat and I'm starting to get a wee bit of the tobacco, which I expect will be more pronounced as this ages and develops.

My other really woody blend in my collection is Jupeterian Phoenix, which is an amazing and very snuggly wood scent. This, while still being wood dominant, is like JP's evil brooding brother. It's dark, pine rich and really wonderful. I made a good choice for my single bottle Cyber Monday purchase.

[poofie]

Surprisingly sweet! On me, this is a sweet piney scent, with sweet and resiny opoponax, wood and tobacco. It's dark, but not... you know... scary, at all. I am really surprised how NOT blast-me-in-the-face pine this is, since I was really expecting some industrial cleaner strength pine. It's the opoponax and tobacco that sweeten this up and make it special, to me. I agree with the above review saying it's almost fruity.

 

I like this much more than I thought I would, and I'm so glad I impulse ordered it. I tend to like dark and resiny scents, but this is lighter and easier to wear than I anticipated and I can see this being a regular wear.

 

Edited to add: it reminds me of Bewitched!

Edited December 24, 2014 by poofie

[HerbGirl]

Definitely a beautiful evergreen scent with tobacco underneath threatening to take over...but it doesn't. This is pretty wonderful.

[lady_pandora]

It's another episode of My Little Smellie: Resin is Magic!

 

I originally ordered a decant of Christougenniatiko Dentrophobia figuring it might smell good on my boyfriend. Then, when I put it on to test it, I was hit first with a combination of aftershave and tobacco; that is, my grandfather. And I decided neither of us was wearing it. But then, a few minutes later, it started morphing and I realized: sorry, Boyfriend, I love you, but I'm wearing this one.

 

So like I said, it starts out too masculine for my taste for just a few minutes, with a combo of the tobacco and the initial sharp blast of the evergreen notes. But immediately afterwards, it blooms beautifully, first becoming a big green glorious Christmas tree with a little sweet resiny opoponax rounding it out. Then, gradually, the opoponax becomes dominant with pine in a supporting role, and something almost minty bringing up the rear, and a bit of smokiness.

 

This reminds me of nothing so much as the Sloth phenomenon, where the myrrh rounds out the vetiver note so it's softer and less macho than it sometimes is in other blends. The opoponax in Christou tones down the pine in the same way. This is so much more wearable to me than a lot of other "tree" blends. I'm really glad I gave this a chance.

 

ETA: I just figured out what this reminds me of. It's when you burn pine tree boughs and it smells sweet and amazing. I can't call that exact scent to mind to be sure if it really smells like that or not, but that's the vibe.

Edited January 9, 2015 by lady_pandora

[Auspicious Q]

The tobacco, conifer, and other notes combine on my skin to form a very masculine and dapper smelling cologne. As a straight woman, it makes me want to ask myself out on a date. I recommend this for anyone who needs a dress cologne to go with their hippest suit and tie.

 

Edit to add: This is my final conclusion after the dry-down. I agree with earlier reviewers who report that this starts off very sharp and aftershave-y and morphs a great deal in the first few minutes.

Edited January 8, 2015 by Auspicious Q

[doomsday_disco]

In the decant: The pine pitch jumps out to me, as well as the opoponax and tobacco notes.

Wet: Not nearly as dark as I thought it would be when my decant first arrived. (I let it settle for a few days prior to testing it.) I smell tree, opoponax, and tobacco. I believe it is the opoponax that adds a bit of sweetness to this scent.

Dry: The opoponax really stands out to my nose. The tree notes are still present (it is hard to pick them out individually), and the tobacco is more prominent now, lending a smokiness to the scent.

Verdict: I like the smell of trees, but I guess I don't really care to smell like them. I would prefer this one as a room scent.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: The opoponax is the puppeteer here, sweetening and taming the fresh cut evergreens. The tobacco paints a soft cozy background. This is beautifully designed. I was expecting the evergreens to be overwhelming. Instead they are strong, but beautifully set off by the opopnax and tobacco to make something truly lovely. Wet: Smokier and less sweet on the skin. The evergreens differentiate more clearly with fir dominant with the pitch and tar in support. The opoponax lends a hint of sex appeal, while the tobacco lends balance. Dry: The opoponax strikes back on the dry down and the evergreens soften. It’s gentler and more resiny and less sexy.

[zankoku_zen]

Pine, opoponax and tobacco. This smells like a dark, evil Christmas tree. Or rather, a Xmas tree that likes to smoke cigars. Which is weird to think about. Masculine. Good throw, good wear length.

 

Pine, tobacco, smoke.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Lovely mix of all the notes.

 

Wet: The dried fir takes over, in a powdery fashion, alas.

 

The dry-down: The pine pitch, the spruce tar, the tobacco, and the opoponax move back into the blend, and make it a gorgeous winter evergreen forest scent. Not so much the scent of a real and living woods, but as though bits and pieces of the forest had been brought indoors for the Yule greening. I like this, but I would like it better as an atmosphere spray. My notes from WC only say "a goth Yule tree", which sounds abt right.

 

I'm also reminded of the 1st 'Doctor Who' Christmas special from 2005, "The Christmas Invasion", where the Christmas trees suddenly whirl in a frenzy, and try to attack everyone in Rose's mum's council flat.

[LiberAmoris]

Christougenniatiko Dentrophobia starts out when a green crush of needles and then dries down to a predominately wood and tobacco blend on me. It's a lovely progression if you like evergreens but only want a few minutes of strong greenery...seasonal but still very wearable. I'm adding this to my husband's BPAL drawer because I think this will smell very good on him.

[milo]

Whhaaa? This smells like fruit on me. Very christmassy, there's a bit of a evergreen vibe, definitely sweet, but it really smells like there is red berries in here. Zero resins, it doesn't smell evil at all, in fact, more fruity and happy. OK, more pine now, but still sweeeeeeet!! There's a note here that I'm not fond of, but it was fun to try.

[agirlnamedfury]

Ash, resin, and pine. It gets quite woody as it dries down -- pure forest. I generally like more "masculine" scents, but I think this one might be too much for me!

[tinyvulture]

In the decant vial, it's a frightful brownish-green oil. But the scent is heaven for a pine fanatic like myself. Heavy, sweet pine resins, fir and spruce as well. The opoponax adds more sweetness and darkness. A sinisterly sweet scent, if you will. I agree with nightwing, it's almost got a berry note that, IMO, sends it reeling towards "holiday potpourri". But then the tobacco note pops up and adds an interesting complexity. Thinking of adding to my bottle wishlist.

[Auspicious Q]

I am checking back in after almost a year. The tobacco and pine notes that were sharp when this oil was fresh have mellowed considerably. The chief impression now is the fruitiness of the dried tobacco, with a resinous bass of evergreen woods. This seems dark and mysterious, but the individual notes are much harder to identify. MUCH more wearable and unisex than the first impression I got a year ago, I'm so glad I held onto my imp!

[Nyx_DevineNight]

In the bottle: Trees! I love it!

Wet: This is beautiful. I'm being surrounded by so many trees of different varieties with a smokey touch in the back.

Dry: Ok, so the trees have really toned down now and something has really come out making the scent much sweeter. I'm thinking that must be the opoponax since that is what other reviewers are stating. I can vaguely smell the tobacco still, it adds just the slightest touch of smokiness to this now sweetened scent… It gets even sweeter as time passes. The tobacco has actually even come out more. Now it's the trees that are completely in the background.

Im not entirely sure what to think of this. My favorite part is when it's wet on the skin. I'm not as fond of the dry down. It's not bad, but it's not great either. Though I am very intrigued at how this morphs.

​

[Little Bird]

Pine tree scented car fresheners and something weirdly fruity + menthol, which is making me think of grape flavoured cough syrup. Also some dry, powdery sandalwood in the drydown. Not good on me at all

[Casablanca]

2016 version

 

Yes, evil Christmas tree.

 

Ashy pine pitch, opoponax, and tobacco with a little frosty fir and some blue spruce. Begins fairly sweet, and softly camphoraceous, and settles into a soft conifer scent with hints of ash, smoke and camphor.

 

I like.

 

ETA: I have to add this, because it cracked me up. Last night my friend tested this. Whereas on me this is very much the evil Christmas tree, on her it turned to candied fruits.

 

We were like whuhhhh? It was like the scene from Mary Poppins when she pours medicine that turns a different color in each spoon.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Casablanca

[Mountaingrrl00]

This is such a great olfactory impression of a Christmas tree! There's lots of sticky resin, a whiff of pine needles, something like vanilla candle wax and cinnamon lighting it up, and a faint breath of Grandpa's pipe tobacco. I smell some things in common with the incense of Midnight Mass, which I love, but this is much deeper and stronger.

[Elspethdixon]

Wet/in imp – sweet/rich opoponax with hints of pine, almost fruity

Freshly applied – pine air freshener with hints of bathroom cleaner/urinal cake

Five-ten minutes – slightly fruity tobacco with hints of urinal cake. Why? I had such high hopes for this.

One-two hours in - The urinal-cake-like aspect went away after about a half hour, and now everything has dried down to a fruity leather with hints of tobacco. I don't know what on earth in the listed notes is causing the fruity aspect, but this is sadly not the Christmas tree scent of my dreams. It is a rather nice masculine cologne-like scent, for a man who doesn't mind smelling like a candied fruit/leather/humidor//hint of Christmas tree mashup.

This has staying power as well as decent throw - I could still catch whiffs of leather from my wrists eight hours after applying it. (There must be spruce tar in some of BPAL's leather notes, because leather's not a listed note here but the late drydown is basically SN black leather on me).

Edited January 6, 2017 by Elspethdixon

[LizziesLuck]

I think my eyes skipped right to the opoponax and tobacco, and I chose to overlook how awful all the other notes could be on me...lol.

 

 

Wet: Pine/cat pee. Off to a stellar start. Gosh that's awful. No tobacco or opoponax yet, just forest. Used as a toilet, by a cat.

 

 

Dry: Much sweeter than before, almost fruity? It's quite odd, not at all what I expect from any of these notes. It doesn't really smell like tree (or cat pee) anymore, but I don't know what it DOES smell like. It's masculine though. I guess it kind of just smells like clean man? Not a bad thing. But not for me!

[VetchVesper]

So I was really digging this at first, very nice fresh, chilly pine, with something bright, but not sweet shining through.  Very refreshing and gender neutral.  But now something dark and heavy is mucking it up and smelling uncomfortably like an undercurrent of poo.  😕  I do'nt think it's oud, so I'm not sure what's going on here, but this one's a no go.  Alas.  

 

Eta - This is like .... coming down Christmas morning to your lovely, sparkly Christmas tree, only to find the cat's have laid a turd among the presents.  Christougenniatiko Dentrophobia indeed.   

Edited March 5, 2019 by VetchVesper

[Lucchesa]

I had such an odd experience with Christougenniatiko 2019 that I wondered if my decant had gotten mislabeled.  On me, this was primarily fruity.  It smelled like the blackberry or blackcurrant note smells on my skin, in other words, like berry candy.  There does seem to be an evergreen note as well, but it's subsumed by the fruit.  I kept reading through the scent notes to see what could be causing the berry sensation -- opoponax?  Never reacted to it like this before.  Anyway, I'm hoping to see another review soon to see if anyone else had this reaction or if maybe I was smelling something else.  

[mandragora369]

Strange, after initial blast of pine, my sample transforms to funnel cake on my skin. Sweet funnel cake with background of pine. 🤔