Calico Jack

[Ina Garten Davita]

Sea air, driftwood, waterlogged kelp, and the memory of plundered spices sprayed over worn leathers, rough musk, and the salty wooden floorboards of the Revenge.

Calico Jack is spot on with his description. He's warm and sexy from the woods and leather and cool and salty from the ocean spray. This scent is very aquatic at first, but the other components really start to warm and dry after is sits on the skin awhile.

Aquatic and leather scents are not my cup of tea but I'm finding this scent quite pleasant and I'm happy I got to try it out.

[edenssixthday]

Calico Jack - On me, this is fairly masculine, and not something I'd find myself wearing again, but definitely a nice, warm, manly scent. It's a really well-blended combination of woods and spices with a touch of leather, and the sea notes add enough of an aquatic feel to this blend to keep it from being just another boring masculine scent. It's warm, aquatic, woody, and sexy.

[filigree_shadow]

When I first put this on, I thought it was mostly aquatic. However, that faded out, and it turned into a slightly spiced leather scent. It's surprisingly sweet. I'm not sure what that's from. The wood, perhaps. It smells like a sweet, dry wood.

 

This reminds me of laundry that's been hung outside to dry -- it has that clean and fresh scent that I usually associate with linens. Not like soft fuzzy dryer sheets, though. It's much crisper than that.

 

My husband just tried it on at my insistence suggestion, and it smells even better on him than it does on me. He said, "Hey! I think I'll buy a bottle."

[slave1]

CALICO JACK

 

In Bottle: Sweet sea and leather

 

On Skin: I’m pleased by how this one turned out on me. I thought it would be full of patchouli like some of the other piratey scents, but no… this one is soft and sweet. It has the beautiful sea air, the wooden planks of the ship and the rugged leather of the swashbucklers. Sexy and very manly. If you read my reviews, you know I LOVE leather scents on men, this one included. Usually leather scents are a bit dry and warm in feel. This one has the wetness of the sea and the cool breeze that gives it a nice clean contrast. The spises are light and combined with the musk they give a nice background that isn’t too dark since the other notes keep it in check. I really like it, lets hope the hubby does. Plus it has a freaking great name. Medium throw and average wearlength.

[cecelle]

This on me seemed like quite a masculine scent. The aquatic notes are predominant. After a few minutes they faded, and the wood/leather started to poke through. I am not getting much in the way of spices.

 

About fifteen minutes later, the wood/leather notes seem to have decided to go into hiding again, and this smells yet again like an aquatic - reminds me of Sea of Glass a little bit.

 

I am not getting 'warm' from this - to me this seems a 'cool' scent.

 

Over all, not bad, but I might pass this one on to my husband...

[supremegoddessofall]

Very masculine. Salt and leather mostly. Fairly musky. Ok, but not great.

[impadua@aol.com]

Oh. Jack, I had such hopes for you. You scurvy knave! I was prepared to be awashed in leather and musk and spices, and although you don't smell bad, I just expected something more...dangerous, I guess. This scent I can enjoy, I just don't lust after.

 

I hate when that happens.

Edited March 27, 2007 by Esscentual

[Blood onmy hands]

I'm not too fond of Calico Jack, though he smells better to me than his partner, Anne Bonny.

 

First on, this is a salty, murky, intensely soapy aquatic. It smells like sharp laundry soap with a whiff of muddy salt water. As it dries down, I can pick out a slap of dark leather in the mix (and I do like the leather note in this), but it's still mostly soapy, unpleasant aquatic.

 

Not my cup o' tea, and not something that I feel would work well on my boy either. A soapy, sharp aquatic with whiffs of leather.

Edited June 6, 2011 by Little Bird

[Athenae]

Very aquatic, which I cannot wear. It turns overpoweringly powdery and artificial on me. I was hoping for something a little more masculine than Port Royal, which I adore but sometimes find too girly. Oh, well.

 

A.

[PilotKitten]

I got an imp of this for my husband to try out, but neither of us has wound up liking it. Drat. Mainly Calico Jack is a strong, musky leather with a sharp, verrry salty aquatic layered over it.

[emzebel]

Happily, I get a lot of leather, musk and spices from this, with a generous splash of the ocean on a good day. I like leather, musk and spices - and the aquatic is one which I can wear - I think this is a keeper for everyone of oil wearing age in my house.

[storme]

In the imp: wow, masculine aquatics and salty wood.

 

On me, wet: salty woody aquatics, very sea-airish and fresh-smelling.

 

On me, dry: fresh salty woodsy sea air, like lying on a deck at the beach and just breathing in deeply.

 

Verdict: I think this one can stay around - I may not end up reaching for it in the near future, but it's pretty evocative.

[euterpe414]

At first this one smells strongly of cologne (both on the bottle and in my skin), but once it begins the drydown that wonderful spicy wood smell begins to come out. The leather, sea and musk sort of make a mishmash in the background- this is mostly a wood scent on my skin. (kind of like smelling the wood on a ship- you are inadvertently smelling the sea air and surroundings, too) I wore this one on a walk by the water and it was so lovely to smell wafting around me. Very appropriate

 

This is not an everyday kind of scent for me, it seems more like a novelty, but I will keep it anyway since I do love pirates and I can see times when I will want to wear this.

[jainabee]

"Masculine," was my first impression. But I like to play with identity. What would life be like as a swashbuckler?

 

At first, I felt like I was borrowing a jacket from a beau. After awhile, my chemistry integrated the oil & I just felt ravishing. Dangerous.

 

Later, I felt utterly ravished. Just the lingering traces of the salty dog on my pulse points. This is one of my favorite scents so far.

[porcelina]

Bottle: Wood. Spices. Musk. A green note that must be the kelp- this is the best men's scent ever.

 

Wet: On me this disintegrates into a typical sort of spicy musky men's cologne. It does have an interesting sea salt feel, though.

 

Dry: This is a really deep, complex, musky aquatic scent. It's hard for me to pick out individual notes at this point, but mmm. All pirates should smell this good.

 

Overall: It is worth noting that while this smells good on me, if you have a boy handy, slather Calico Jack on him. I dabbed it on my boyfriend, largely against his will, and it was even better.

[forspecial_plate]

This starts out very potent, salty and cologney, like a blast of sea spray in my face. As with many aquatic/sea scents, the initial sharp blast fades pretty quickly, the intensity fades a lot, and the other notes come out more strongly. I recognize the woods from other scents. I like how this smells, but I'm not sure I would reach for it real often. I think I really wanted to try it because of the musk and woods, and just the description in general sounded great. I'm glad I tried it, but I know I don't need a whole 5ml bottle of it.

 

Edit: Um, hello.......this scent is really wonderful! It's a fabulous mix of bright green woodsy notes with something salty.....I do stand by my 'sea spray in my face' impression......but for whatever reason, this scent is knocking my socks off right now. I'm so, so glad I didn't get rid of this Imp..... : )

Edited June 10, 2008 by Forspecial Plate

[JennyGardener]

Very manly, except on my friend who loves the ocean. On her, it's just right. Unless it's Calico Jack blended with Black Pearl. That combo made me want to lick her! (And I'm straight)

 

ADDED July 12:

 

This is the absolute Sexy Pirate smell. It even made my brother-in-law smell attractive, which squicked me out a little! If you have pirate fantasies, make sure you set sail with Calico Jack.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is spicy and salty and sooooooooo cap'n jack sparrow

 

once applied this gets very aquatic remaining spicy and salty~

this is definitely a superbly masculine blend so off to my dad it goes...

 

ironically, a day before our vacation to glorious Ptown...he'll be smelling very

piratey for sure

[lanablade]

In the bottle: Sweet water? Smells a lot like my old favorite, Cool Water.

 

Wet: Smells A LOT like Cool Water. Very aquatic and sweet. The throw, however, is warm and subtle woods.

 

Dry: Woods and aquatics. Not really much in the way of spices, but they're there occasionally.

 

This is Port Royal lite. Port Royal is richer and heavier to me, but this has those same salty PIRATE characteristics. If Port Royal is a Pirate, then Calico Jack is a Privateer.

[Rheliwen]

Whoah, this is a ton sweeter than I would have expected. I am immediately blasted with salty air and water and sweet, sweet spices.

 

It mellows pretty quickly once the oil sinks it but it's still really salty and sweet. I can sense the musk far in the background as well as the leather (which is crazy since I amp leather usually) grounded by th waterlogged wood.

 

This is a nice scent but a little more feminine than I imagined and a little too sweet for my liking.

[theGreatMissJJ]

Ohhhh, Calico Jack, you are the first BPAL scent that didn't work with me. My chemistry generally works well with nearly everything (although I don't like "heavy" scents like red musk or incense) but Calico Jack, you've failed me. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE pirates and I had to try you based on...well, based on the fact that your Jolly Roger hangs in my room. (I would LOVE to be able to pull off Anne Bonny but the heavy musks make me run FAAAAAAAAAAAAR away.)

 

In the vial: Whoa. Cleaning fluid. Astringent and chemically. Individually I think I can pick out the leather and the salt air and warped wood, but put together this turns into bleach.

 

Wet: Not any better. Usually something that smells overpoweringly strong in a bottle will mellow out and play nicely on my skin, but Calico Jack isn't playing nice.

 

Drydown: I can definitely smell the leather now, but unlike the smooth, sexy, and YUMMY buttery leather note that's in De Sade, this is Leather Couch. None of the spices are making themselves known and the salt air, while nice, is definitely making this blend way too acrid.

 

If I could get past the chemical-ness of the blend, I would probably say this is more masculine than feminine. Not working for me, so will probably pass this along to my friend.

 

Edited to add: Okay, this has improved with age. The cleaning fluid smell has gone entirely, but in its place, a far more traditional men's cologne appears. Hmmm. Will see how this one smells on Bear.

Edited July 25, 2007 by theGreatMissJJ

[bryghtrose]

Wet=wet

Dry=wet. It smelled wet while drying. Ozone-y, damp, salty, ocean-y. Then it started to throw Old Spice.

 

It didn't smell all that good on me. Makes me wish I had a man to smell this on, because it's so very masculine.

[camaro199183]

Intoxicating..... Doesn't work well on me, but it smells wonderful on my husband. I think it's a masculine scent.

[harmonyfb]

More of that 'sporty' masculine aquatic action. Spicy, salty, and warm, and there's something there that reminds me strongly of a popular men's cologne (can't think of which one, though). Might try it on Manly later, but it's not for me. Classed with T.hunder Moon, J.azz Funeral, and S.hadwell for masculine charm.

[waternight]

In the imp: Salty-sweet aquatic. Maybe the barest hint of spice. A faint, creamy-woody note.

Wet/Drydown: I can barely smell anything at all. There’s a very faint creamy-wood smell. If I really shove my nose into my skin, I get the sea air and some salt. A bit of gentle spice. But it stays super close to the skin. Someone would have to be practically chewing on me to smell this at all. Ok, it’s a bit stronger now, and the spice is really warming up the cool aquatic base. It’s like Port-au-Prince that’s been way gentled by a sweet aquatic.

Dry: The stronger phase didn’t last – it’s faded down to an incredibly faint scent now. It’s nice, but it’s not special enough to slather in order to give it more oomph. Edit: And after an hour or two, it’s gone. There’s a faint suggestion of something lingering around my arm where I applied it, but basically, it’s gone. Off to swaps.