Jolly Roger

[AthenaRose]

Sea spray with an undercurrent of leather, Bay Rum, and salty, dry woods.

Another imp for my fiancé that he was indifferent about, so i claimed it.

It starts out fresh and salty, and then turns to salty leather, and then warms up and turns a little spicy on me. Interesting. It has quite a range, from the cool, fresh sea spray, then the leather, then the warmth of the rum and wood. It morphs a lot of me, but maintains aspects of the saltyness, like a gentle breeze blowing over sea air and leather grounded by rum soaked wood. I feel very piratey indeed, yeargh! So much so, that i now want to dress up as a pirate for halloween.

4/5

[porcelina]

i bought this for my boyfriend, because we both love the way calico jack smells on him. on him, it was nothing special, but surprisingly it smells very good on me! it shares similar notes with calico jack but is somehow less aquatic (though very salty upon initial application) and warmer. it is very dark and spicy but i'm not sure about the leather note. it seems to be turning to plastic the longer i wear it.

[skepticism]

This is exactly how I would imagine a rum-soaked buccaneer would smell like. A whiff out of the imp and all I picture is holding him close to me and smelling his saturated pirate garb. Getting a strong leather note when wet and during drydown. I'd really love to test this on my body chemistry when exposed to some strong sunlight and a little bit of sweat.

[sirsaber]

arrr mateys...if ye be lookin fer somethin ta remind ye o the waves and brine o the deep...here be treasure!

 

Immediately when on the skin it wafted up my nose and reminded me of my days when visiting Maine. A total scent reminscent of pirates aboard a ship. A total win!

[ReikoSazanami]

In imp: Men’s cologne at first, kind of heady and musky. I smell some leather, but it’s like a new jacket, not a well-worn piece. After a moment it smells fresh and breezy, a good sign.

 

Wet on skin: STRONG leather! I thought I picked up De Sade at first, not Jolly Roger. I’m not really smelling “ship” or “pirate” yet, but I don’t exactly have experience in those scents. There’s now a tangy scent coming out that tickles my nose, so I think I’ve found that sea spray note. The headiness from earlier I believe is the rum.

 

Drydown: The cologne is back, but it’s more of a classic smell, not Axe or those other scents that are popular now. The rum and leather have mixed together pleasantly, and that overall sea breeze is still there without being astringent. Just now I’m starting to get a whiff of “Beach!” from the breeze and dry wood notes. When it all settles, I get well-worn leathers that have been cracked by salt and sand airing out on the beach. In a good way.

 

Overall: Definitely a man’s fragrance, but I want to keep it for myself! Friends and I have dubbed it as smelling like “a rather sober Jack Sparrow”. The beach scent isn’t all hot sun and lotion, but rather wild spray, coarse sand and the scent of traveling on the seas. There may be a bottle of this in my future.

[MrGrey]

All through the day, all I got was a Sea Breeze type of scent. None of the other notes showed up. Still a nice soothing scent.

[Coldfire]

Imp: the smell of salty wood at sea

Wet on Me: a cedar chest at sea

Drying Down: the tiniest tease of the leather and rum appear now under the wood and sea smell.

Dry: oh my! The leather really showed up to play now so it’s leather and wood and a brief whisper of sea salt. No rum! WOW! KEEP!

[Ravenclaw79]

Salty wood with a dark, spicy sweetness about it (must be the rum).

[alianthe]

This review is mostly going up because of the raucus laughter that ensued at a recent Meet & Sniff when four people around the table all tried it on and started talking about what they smelled.

 

It's a pirate themed scent, so of course, there was lots of pirate imagery. On one arm, this scent was all sea air and stormy ozone and freshness. On a different arm, it went through various incarnations of "Jack Sparrow pouring a martini (NOT rum!) on the ship's deck." On a different arm, after drydown it was like the ship sank and all she got was oceany rum. 

 

On MY arm? Well, it was a Jolly Roger alright. A big, burly, quite clean-shaven, and very jolly Rodger wearing purple tights with bells on, doing a playful and somewhat effeminate dance with a whip, exuding a pleasantly airy cologne, and singing a jolly show tune whose double meanings suggest strongly that he'd love to roger his shipmates! THAT kind of Jolly Roger. 

Edited December 29, 2008 by alianthe

[sharybaby]

Totally hot unisex pirate-y goodness. Mmmm ocean and leather and wood.

[rayvn1]

Fantastic brother to Calico Jack on me Very piratey! One of the aquatics my skin can handle. It's mellowed by the spice and leather. Hot, very hot

[mooncityminx]

In the vial: woods and aquatics

 

Wet: Woods and water, kelp, and ozone.

 

Drydown: This is the perfect pirate scent. It's the smell of the ship and the ocean. It's not the sort of thing that I think I would wear, but if I could get my husband to wear aquatics, I think it would be great on him. A lot of people are calling this one unisex, but with my chemistry it is somewhat masculine. It never goes soapy or sharp.

[asciident]

Wet: Florals?

 

First on: ...Roses? Maybe one of the salty dry woods is rosewood.

 

Dry: Sharp and acidic. Yikes.

[zomathesadist]

I reviewed this without looking at the notes. It's a lab gift, which is awesome because I've really wanted to try this.

 

My first impressions, et on skin: leather, patchouli, and some sort of aquatic. I looked at the notes then, and while I don't see any patchouli listed, I feel like it's lurking in the background. Maybe those are the wood notes.

 

After ten minutes: The salt comes out. This is a clean, bracing, aquatic blend, which reminds me of being on a boat and letting the spray hit hit me. It's very fresh! It's quite masculine, and strong though, and I could definitely see it causing a headache if you weren't feeling well, or put on too much.

 

After twenty: I think the leather is mostly in the background, which is a shame, as it's my favourite of all the listed notes.

 

verdict: it's a lovely scent, but there are others that are more me. I'm not personally drawn to aquatics (odd, given my Pisces-ness), and there are other fish in the sea (pun TOTALLY intended). It also may be too masculine for me, which is weird, given how much I love Dorian, Sin, and any number of other traditionally 'male' scents. This could definitely be unisex, though, in that CKOne sort of way.

 

I may hang onto it, but honestly it reminds me a lot of Mary Read, only masculine, and I have a full bottle of her. So it'll probably go live somewhere else.

[smokey188]

this was a much lighter pirate scent than anne bonny. It was a nice salty sea soaked leather strap tied around a bit of driftwood. Very nice

[Twitch]

Got this one recently in a swap (thanks WidgetAlley). It's quite nice. Woody, spicy, salty, but still has that clean aquatic quality. It reminds me of Bluebeard (which I love) but while Bluebeard is a foul pirate that never bathes and covers himself in lavender perfume to disguise that fact, Jolly Roger is just a clean guy who doesn't need to disguise his pungent odor. I'm glad I have a bottle of this, I'm not certain I plan on repurchasing if I run out, but it's nice to have what I do have.

[fairnymph]

Sniffed in imp: Extremely pale yellow oil. Salty aquatic with loads of dry, dry warm wood. Sandalwood and CEDAR. A little astringently (bay rum?) herbal. Not getting much leather, though what little I get is the slick, polished kind.

 

Wet: I get an aloe sort of note from this, and loads and loads of cedar and sandalwood. Not actually very salty on my skin, more of juicy aloe-cucumber aquatic.

 

Dry: Definitely cucumber as well as aloe - this really make the blend refreshing. The leather - though it's the whip kind of De Sade - is fairly light.

 

Later: This reminds me of some of the lunacies - it has that 'lunar herbal oils' smell, which is light and lovely. This is also not even remotely soapy despite being 'aquatic'. Ahh it's Bony Moon!

 

Summary: CEDAR and luminous aloe, with a bit of sandalwood, cucumber, and chemically leather. A very smooth, dry scent - not really aquatic, and unisex to masculine. Morphs so much on my skin. Low throw.

Edited April 12, 2009 by fairnymph

[magikalbrownies]

im smelling some aquatics in this one...but overall the leather grounds it. and im a sucker for leather and rum scents...

 

this one is exactly what youd think you'd be smelling on a pirate ship. very masculine. id gnaw off my boyfriend's neck if he wore this but...its slightly feminine.

 

maybe an andro. scent...it works both ways and i definately will keep it around and not add it to the wishlist just yet but i'll wait to see if it grows on me even more.

 

 

overall: mixed

[Tess]

In the bottle - Very salty and green, not at all the dry wood that I expected. I'm getting no leather or rum, but a strong "perfume" scent which is probably those.

 

Wet - So freaking green!

 

Drying - Okay, it's very salty, but the greenness is coming across as decaying wood and leaf materials, really. Which is confusing my nose, because my brain keeps saying "it's a salty bog!" There is some leather here, nothing overpowering. The decay scent is really getting to me here, though. It's almost a floral decay, very cloying. If only this were pure salt and leather. Sigh.

 

Dry (2 hours) - That decaying plant life scent is still there. It's making my head hurt like mad.

 

Overall - I don't get any of the fun things from this.

[Banyangirl]

This.... this is fascinating. I'm not sure I actually like it, but I can smell the rum and the leather and the woods. It's also got a fine layer of salt over everything else. It's very, very true to life (or how I imagine life as a pirate would be). I'd love to try this on the fellow to see what it does on him (and what that does to me, haha!).

[djsiberia]

woods, leather and the sea. i don't get any bay rum.

 

[hkhm]

imp: very brisk aquatic.

 

wet: leathery aquatic. nicer that it sounds, those notes are usually terribly sharp on me but they're blending and the scent smells almost christmas-y.

 

dry: this is probably my favourite aquatic yet. i don't care for aquatics and leather rarely works on me so this is a treat. it smells like wet, salty leather.

[isentropic]

How have I not reviewed this yet!

 

Jolly Roger is both my most loved and most hated scent. That's because the imps I've gotten (haven't yet braved a bottle) are either super aquatic (yay!) or super leathery (boo!).

 

The super aquatic batches are glorious; it's like breathing in great gulps of (sweet, not salty) ocean air. It smells almost juicy with its freshness and warmth. I could wear it all day if I could find more of an imp of this 'batch.'

 

The super leathery batches are the bane of my existence. It seems that everytime I try to get backup imps, I get one of these. The leather is so strong it is bitter, dirty, almost peppery, and it burns my nose. Bleagh is the best I can say to that.

 

So, Jolly Roger is really hit or miss for me, but when it hits, it hits so well that I'm suffering through the leathery imps for what I'm sure will be another delicious aquatic.

[Seismogenic]

Today seems like a good day for PIRATES. This was a Lab frimp, and one I was pretty excited to get. Even though it wasn't on my wishlist, I've had good experiences with the couple of pirate scents I've tried so far, so I'm hoping that trend continues.

 

In the imp: Saltwater, wood, and a teeny tiny bit of bay rum.

 

Wet on skin: Saltwater is the predominant note, with the wood and the bay rum present, but still in the background.

 

Drydown: As this dries, the leather really starts to come out, and it blends really nicely with the bay rum and wood. The saltwater is accompaniment to these notes, rather than something that drowns them out. By one hour in, the balance has become even smoother, with the bay rum and the leather and the wood complimenting each other extremely well, and the saltwater serving as an ever-present background.

 

Five hours later: Still going! Not as strong as at one hour, but the balance is pretty much the same.

 

End of the day: The leather and bay rum have since departed, but the remaining salty wood and water is still quite piratical.

 

Overall: This is another one of those scents where the concept has, at least in my opinion, been perfectly captured by the notes, and even more so by the balance. The wood and leather of the ship as most prominent, the bay rum as more of an atmosphere, the saltwater as a backdrop. These are some excellent pirates! This is also a good scent for days that are stupidly hot (as so many Riverside summer days are), as it brings a sort of cool sea breeze along with it by default. A definite keeper.

[Animae]

This was one of my first Bpals. I really love it. On me it smells like I've spent the day at the beach, but in a good way.

 

It also invokes a very strong childhood scent memory of being very little and having my father carry me off the beach after a long day of playing in the salt water and building sandcastles.

 

 

I don't get to much rum, just sea spray and leather on my skin.