The Jersey Devil

[Blood onmy hands]

The scent of the wild, hauntingly beautiful Pine Barrens of New Jersey! Pitch pine with blackberry leaf, cranberry, cedar wood and tomato leaf.

I've tried on The Jersey Devil several times over the last few days, trying to understand what it's doing on my skin and what memories it is conjuring up for me. I know that this is supposed to be the Pine Barrens of New Jersey... but I grew up in the whispering pines of Missouri where my father had a garden in the middle of the pine trees... where we had a blackberry patch and a tomato garden. I feel like this is *my* childhood scent from the description.

In the bottle, this smells like a yummy fruit juice. A sort of watery, sweet fruit juice that reminds me of Capri Sun (the juice that I fondly remember from my childhood, the frustration of never being able to get the straw in that little hole at the top of the packet).

First on my skin, The Jersey Devil smells a bit like a less frosty version of Mistletoe. Definitely evergreen, with a slightly smoky and a slightly earthy edge to it. Then, after several minutes, that faint fruit juice smell begins to come back. It doesn't really remind me of cranberry though. I can pick out the interestingly warm spiciness of the tomato leaf every once in a while as well.

I really like the fruitiness mixed with the evergreen, and this reminds me pleasantly of when I was younger and wandering around blackberry patches in the forest.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is pine trees and cranberries. When first on this is pine with a touch of sweet from the berries and a fleeting wisp of tomato leaf here and there. This one is very interesting so far. It softens quite a bit after an hour or so and has become very feminine. I really like this but it fades kind of quickly. I'll probably use up the imp and might try layering it with Dublin.

[Diana]

This is a nice mixture of soft pine notes, a gentle hint of tomato leaf & a bit of berry. To me it is very soft & sweet, and very evocative of my beloved Skadi. It's a little less crisp, but it has that same combination of piney greens and sweet berry notes. Yum.

[xoe]

Oh Jersey Devil how I've longed for you.

 

The scent is much sweeter and softer than I'd imagined.

Beautiful sweet, soft, berrypine. I can't smell the tomato leaf at all. But it must be there.

 

To me it doesn't smell like the pine barrens actually smell, but it's evocative of the place.

 

GREAT!

[Medici]

Wet: pine and tomato

 

Drydown: In the intial stages, the tomato leaf takes backstage and the cedar wood comes to the fore. It dries out the blend considerable. As it wears a little more, I get a hint of blackberry and overall it gets a little sweeter, but I miss the sharp green earthy edge of tomato leaf. I was hoping it'd have more longevity with my skin chemistry, but apparently not.

 

Nicely blended, but not for me.

[LiberAmoris]

The Jersey Devil's like summertime in the woods! I love the pine and the cedar here, the blackberry and tomato leaf is wonderful, and the cranberry is wonderfully subdued.

 

This is good stuff. Another tremendously evocative blend that really transports!

[Miss Lynx]

This one sparked my interest when I first saw the description, and quickly moved up to the top of my wishlist as the reviews came in. And I finally got an imp at the most recent meet'n'sniff.

 

When I first tried it, I was a bit disappointed, though -- it didn't seem as complex or interesting as I'd hoped, and was a bit more like a cliche Christmas candle scent. But I wasn't willing to write it off on the basis of that, especially since I'd only tried it on my wrists and scents often smell different to me depending on where I apply them. And I held off on writing a review until now.

 

So... I'm trying it now on several parts of the body, and I have to say, thus far I like it much better this way. In the crooks of my arms and in my cleavage the scent seems a lot richer and deeper than it does in my wrists. It's definitely more foresty, and less sweet, though the berries still give it at least a certain sweetness. Smells like it's in the same scent-family as Bewitched and Lampades, and also has more than a passing resemblance to Nocnitsa, and even a touch of Hexennacht. It does sometimes get a bit too berry-sweet, but overall, not bad at all.

 

So, definitely liking it more this time around. I don't know that it's necessarily going to be a top favourite, but it's a nice one. And given that I don't really have much in the way of distinctly wintery scents that I like, it could fill a useful niche there. I'll look forward to trying it again once winter really kicks in.

 

Grade: B/B+

[jolarocknrolla]

Jersey Devil is LOVE. just fabulous as fabulous can be. actually the fresh green is very bright on me and the pine is way in the background. the tomato leaf is also in the background, it adds just a slight piquant note and blessedly there is very little sweetness. with just a touch of berry (which must be the cranberry) absolutely gorgeous.

[Emma2403]

In the bottle: the berries come first (it smells more like blackberry than cranberry to me), then the pine comes immediatly after. I usually don't really crave for pine, but this makes me feel like trying it on at once.

 

On my skin: pine and cedar, and something sweet that I would think is coconut even if it makes no sens!!

 

After a couple of hours: it gets drier but not TOO dry. Boy, I love this.

 

Verdict: refreshing, very pleasant, I want to wear it again and again. It's a VERY nice surprise!

[Meg]

In the bottle: Cool, ozoney pine with a hint of berry deep down.

 

Wet: Very airy green pine, with tomato leaf coming out.

 

Drydown: Tomato leaf and cedar, a very pleasant, outdoorsy green scent. There's a breath of ozone wafting around like a cold breeze. After a while, a berryish slightly gooey scent comes out, with some typical cranberry bitterness. Pine comes back, but it's a very discreet scent mingling with the berry.

 

Overall: Hmm, it's a very pleasant smell, but it does remind me a teeny bit of toilet deodoriser between pine and berry. I love the tomato and blackberry leaf mingling with the cedar, generally it's a quiet, woody and fresh blend. Probably a bit too masculine for me, but very foresty, and very true to its description.

[hbrogan]

Being from South Jersey, I just HAD to get an imp of Jersey Devil.

 

In the bottle, I can really smell the cranberry with just a little pine coming through. Once dry, though, it's all sharp pine. After about an hour, the pine has mellowed a bit and the smell reminds me of a bayberry scented candle. Which isn't bad, but also isn't what I was hoping for. The staying power is good, as seven hours later I'm still smelling it when I move around.

 

Overall, I like it, but I don't love it enough to go for a whole bottle. I can see wearing it more around the holidays because it definitely seems like more of a Christmas scent than an everyday.

[maijasu]

This is surprisingly sweet and berryish. Usually, pine dominates any blend on me, but this is a nice balance of berry, pine, and wood. It's a fresh scent that also has depth, and it would work equally well on a man or a woman. I'll definitely be keeping my imp.

[Jishin]

I want to try this a second time, because the first time I tried it, it turned completely into cherry Nerds candy on me. /: Noooo ...

 

I'm hoping that was just a side-effect of being part of a large order and already having another scent or two on me. I'll be editing once I try it again.

 

Edited to add:

 

Nope, it still turns out very sweet on the second try. *sigh* I am so disappointed. I am having a hard time finding a pine scent that works on me -- my skin seems to eat pine and ramp whatever sweet things are in with it.

Edited November 28, 2006 by Jishin

[Bijoux]

I like this scent. I did not smell the tomato leaf in it at all, which was disappointing, but it was still very pretty. I definitely smell a berry scent that's got a little kick to it, maybe pine. I also noticed throughout the day that it smelled a little like a candle that my sister had given me for Christmas one year. It has a bit of a candle-waxy smell on me which is very pleasing. Unique and lovely.

 

4 out of 5

[supremegoddessofall]

In bottle: All cranberry and blackberry, with a hint of evergreen.

 

On me: The pine is coming out more, but the fruit is still behind it. As it warms, the tomato leaf is coming out. Very interesting, but not for me.

[Dymphna]

When I saw the Jersey Devil on the "coming soon" list earlier this year, I was so excited! I've had a soft spot for that little guy since I first read his legend and saw a drawing that showed a pixie-ish being sitting on a rock, looking wistfully out at the water. I knew I'd order it no matter what notes were involved. When I read pine and cedar, I figured I was doomed, but I still had to have it. Surprise! This has become one of my favorite blends EVER and I immediately put it on my big bottle list. Fortunately, since my GC Order of Doom earlier this year I only have one other scent on that list, so it's right there at the top. Which is good, because my imp is dwindling rapidly. Impressions:

 

In the imp: Very pine-y and soft. Reminds me a bit of Nocnitsa.

 

Wet: A lot like Nocnitsa, but not quite the same thing. Reminds me of Christmas, that wonderful, cold-but-warm scent of a new Christmas tree that fills up your home as soon as you bring it in. It's so soft and welcoming.

 

Dry: As it dries, I smell some rich, brown warmth from the cedar (no overwhelming cedar-stink, yay!) that makes for a nice, subtle base, plus something sweeter that I think is the blackberry leaf and a tangy hint of cranberry. I have no idea what tomato leaf smells like, but maybe that's the peppery feeling I'm getting on my tongue. Whatever the case, I really, really like this scent a lot and can't wait to wear it around Christmas time. The longer I wear it, the creamier and more rounded it gets, less sharply pine-y and more like, as I said before, a tree brought indoors. The indoor scents of berries and sweet treats are blending with the bracing pine and making a beautiful, fresh-yet-warm winter scent.

 

How this scent makes me feel:

 

I forgot to mention the most important part. Once this has fully dried down, that cool/warm pine scent reminds me of going outside very early on a summer morning when you're on vacation somewhere and inhaling deeply. It's that quiet, cool, soft, green scent that makes people say things like, "Aaah, smell that fresh air!" I see bright blue skies and tall, shady pine trees when I smell this. (Wow, I guess my love for a blend is directly proportional to how long my review ends up being.)

Edited December 5, 2006 by Dymphna

[stardreamer]

First impression: Cranberry candle! Fortunately, on drydown the waxy "Yankee Candle" impression goes away.

 

This is extremely cranberry -- more cranberry than Lampades, and more than Punkie Night by far. I think the cranberry impression may be reinforced by a "christmasy" undertone of pine. Cedar is a mere sharpness, and I don't get tomato leaf at all.

 

Long-term, the pine note does come up a bit more, so that by the end of the day it's a very seasonal cranberry/pine mix. Staying power is decent; after 9 hours it's barely there, but I can still catch a whiff if I sniff closely.

 

Bottom line: a definite keeper, and probably an alternate for Bordello; they're both very "red" scents, but this is darker and more complex, better suited to cooler weather.

[Gale]

This is fantastic!

 

Wet: True pine and berries. Very fresh and clean.

 

Dry: It smells piney, sweet, and fresh.

 

After 4 hours: More cranberry than pine, and there's something woody in the background.

 

This one always gets compliments--it's great for any season, but is especially evocative of Christmas/Yule.

 

I'm really happy I have 5 ml of this bad boy!!

[lanablade]

In the imp: Bright. Just very bright and happy.

 

Wet: Cedar and pine and bright berries. It's a very bright, happy, greenish red and yes, very Christmasy scent. There IS green in the background, but it never comes forward.

 

Dry: Cedar and pine and that same fruity note I get from Urd. I think my skin takes all berries/grapes/red and purple fruits and makes them smell dead on the same. Or it could be my nose.

 

This is definately more interesting and nicer than I thought it would be. It's surprisingly soft and the pine doesn't try to kill me. Yay. I'll give this one another try in a few days and see if the berry note is different, but for now this one is pretty, but not me.

Edited December 13, 2006 by Lana Blade

[Voleuse]

Oh, wow! I didn't expect to recognize the tomato leaf, but it's the first thing that hits my nose, pulling back to my mother's garden in the sun. Wow, I repeat. Already I love this.

 

After a moment, the wilder notes intertwine with the tomato leaf, the sharp musky pine, the sweet berries. This is sweet and fresh, a forest and lush, green weeds blooming underfoot. This is much warmer than the other forest scents I adore, but I love it. Definitely going on my bottle list.

[juniperus]

Bottle: bitter leaves and woods

Wet: ohh pine. and cedar. like a pine cabin with fresh-hewn cedar furniture.

Dry: back to the bitter/sharp leaves (esp. tomato), no cranberry to be found.

Later: aaaand it's gone, just like that. zippo.

[melrose]

On, wet: Fresh breeze blowing in a forest. From far off, the faintest bit of incense drifts in on the breeze.

 

Near drydown: Spices and woods.

 

Far drydown: Woods and dirt.

 

I think I'm in love.

[QueenFae]

Oh this is lovely! A refreshingly piney scent, but not evergreen pine in the traditional sense. This is a fruity pine scent, beautifully mirrored by the brightness of the cranberry. I can detect the crispness of the tomato and blackberry leaf, which are very unique. The cedar note is hiding underneath, but it gives the blend a very clean feel. This is so pretty, I've never smelled anything quite like it. This would be lovely on either of the sexes and has medium throw. Just beautiful, I honestly might need a 5 ml!

[tinyvulture]

when i first apply this, i smell pine, sweet red berries, and earth. it seems like a potpourri/holiday scent. but as it dries, some notes fade out and i’m left smelling dark wet soil, sweetened with something i can’t put my finger on…sometimes i think it’s a coffee note (the cedar?); other times it is more like sweet powdery incense note. whatever it is, it evokes certain memories (even though i’ve never been to jersey) and i really like it. smells great on both sexes.

[urbanruralferal]

It goes on a bit sharp, that pine is not a typical evergreen and it seems almost like there is a touch of ozone. I like it, but it the kind of scent my husband crosses the street to avoid.

With a bit of time, it gets sweeter and sweeter. There are some interesting phases as it dries, but it seems to have settled into a weird cross between the Rexall drug of my childhood (candy) and the shop that sold Job posters and porcelain figurines (scented candle.)

Well, it was nice to try...