Jolly Roger

[metaldog32]

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

This I received as a *frimp* from the always generous Lab...thank you!!!

Not something I had on my list of scents to try..but intrigued with it anyway. I myself am actually attracted to more *masculine* scents..being one of the few chicks who actually like and bought L'Artisan's Navegar..which basically is supposed to be a masculine scent..but I had to have it anyway..so THERE.

Okay..onto the reveiw:

Inital sniff from imp: Okay..I am swooning...(knees buckle)...I get the dry woods..and sea salt tinged air...no dryer sheet here..just pure sea type scents wafting out of this imp. I know this is going to be good for me.

Applied wet on skin: OHHHH..yes..the leather is here..and the dry wood and the sea air..and HECK YEAH...the bay rum...dear Lord..this is *meow* to me..on a guy or gal.

Couple of minutes on skin: Definitely an aquatic...this to me is just so wonderful...the salt air has taken the backseat and its still a party with the bayrum and a bit of the leather still peeking...all in all for me very, very *MEOW*.

Drying on skin: Same partygoers...more the bayrum and leather..with the salt air fading...but boy does this smell fabulous...

Drydown: Salt air..with a bit of bayrum....aquatic feeling...sigh...

Bottom Line: This is basically a scent that would make ME pounce on anyone...guy/girl. I don't care what season wears this..it definitely makes me mad!!! MEEEOOOWW!!! I am SO tempted to buy this outright.

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Salty wet wood. It makes me think of wooden piers and how they smell as you walk out over the water on a cloudy morning. That damp, slightly squishy wood that creaks under your feet - that's what I smell.

 

On me: On the skin, the sea spray is much stronger. It's now like a wave rolling up against that pier, bringing the fresh essence of the sea forward. Hints of leather boots and bay rum definitely recall a pirate standing proud.

[telesilla]

Why I tried it: The last in the series of masculine/gender neutral scents that I picked up in an eBay lot.

 

In the bottle and wet: Bay rum and wood. This is a guy smell to me.

 

Dry: It's totally a pirate scent; leather and Bay Rum and the wood of the deck and sea spray ... makes me want to watch PotC again.

 

I'm not wild about it on me, but I might just bat for the other team again if I got close to say, Liam Neeson, Jason Isaacs or Sean Bean while they were wearing this.

Edited August 4, 2005 by telesilla

[erehwesle]

Jolly roger was one of those scents that I had such high expectations for that it could have smelled like unicorn sweat and happy roses, and I wouldn't have been pleased.

 

On a sniff, I got a lot of sweet notes, and a cologne like smell (sorry that isn't descriptive is it? but the every cologne in the world note, I guess I think of it like, and I mean the store-bought cologne not BPAL) It is a masculine scent, but a bit bland

 

First on, however is very different. Spicy with the rum and wood notes everyone talked about. There is also a hint of mint, kind of like Cathode, another fav, that creeps in.

 

On wear it is very aquatic. After the initial spicyness dies down a bit (never goes away) the sea notes sneak through and it smells a little maritime and salty

 

It is on the die down that the leather starts to come through for me, and is my favorite time with this scent.

 

Well, despite what I said, I am pleased, it just took me a bit to get used to the quirks of this one.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Woah salt.

 

On me:

Wow. I gotta say, I ordered this more out of curiousity than desire. I'm drawn to all things piratey, and so this was a given. I didn't expect to like it though. But this has turned into such an amazing scent. At first, it was strongly aquatic - like a blast of salty seaspray. It settles down after a while though and the woody scent comes out pretty and soft. The leather is definitely there, just like the scent of raw leather is wafting on the ocean wind. I cannot put my finger on why, but this scent is powerfully nostalgic for me. It brings about a sense of comfort and calm, and joy. And I couldn't tell you why, but it draws me into this scent even more.

 

Final note:

It IS a little masculine, but I could see myself wearing this now and then. I mostly want to keep it to sniff and feel comforted by. Probably use it as a room scent as well. This is one lovely blend, it's just so unique.

[Cagedflame]

I had such hopes for this, but I could not smell any of the notes listed. No leather, no wood, no salt. I might be smelling the bay rum in that it smells like a not-icky but not-truly-appealling masculine cologne, but I'd think bay rum would smell like, well, bay and rum. I smell neither.

[Bellatrix]

I got that salty ocean spray out of the bottle. The naughty girl in me wants to say it smells exactly like waking up next to your favorite pirate at dawn. Reminds me very much of that first breath of air at sea when you wake up. The bay rum doesn't come out too much for me, strangely enough. Leather is working it's way through, though, an hour after the fact.

 

I'm going to sleep with this oil on tonight, and hopefully have some very rewarding dreams!

[wolfie13]

Wow - I can't believe that I get NOTHING of the lovely notes that everyone else seems to.

 

In the bottle it smells like a generic aquatic and some creosote.

 

On me, all I get is that perfumey "ocean" scent that is found in many candles, air fresheners, etc. And it lasted FOREVER (why do the ones that don't agree with me seem to linger?)

 

I grew up by the ocean and was hoping this one would smell "real" to me. But I have yet to smell a realistic scent of this genre, bpal or otherwise.

[leapylees]

My experience is very similar to wolfie13's. In the imp I got a lovely, light aquatic scent. On I get a powerful and generic ocean-themed room spray/scented candle/pot pourri smell. And is it ever strong!!!! It's really rather overwhelming and I think I'm going to have to try and scrub it off I'm afraid. I found this too sweet to be reminiscent of the sea or piratey things. I know ozonic and aquatic scents have a tendency to go sweet on my skin but after sniffing the imp I hoped this would actually work. It doesn't, sadly.

[WidgetAlley]

I got this in my first ever bundle of Imps... it was the scent that explained the genius of the Lab to me. This one is just.... *swoon* Indescribable. It starts out pretty sharply-- crisp clean salty air smell, definite ocean rather than just beach, but with a curious, creamy undertone (I think it's the rum) that keeps it from being all top notes. Once applied, a more organic woodsy sort of note sort of pokes its head out and says hello: it's never very prominent, but it adds another fabulous layer to an already gorgeous perfume. The leather is in there somewhere, mixing with the rum to provide that fabulous smooth background.

 

Jolly Roger never morphs drastically on me; just gentle wafts of salty air and wood and rum and leather, smooth and spicy and sharp all at once. It's very much gender-neutral: it would be fabulous on guys or girls, particularly ones who didn't want a floral. It goes on like a second skin, too: decent throw, but nothing that screams perfume... I could see how people could think this was just the way you smelled if you wore it regularly. It lasts about half a day on me; not a whole lot of stamina, but enough. Playful and soothing and even a little sexy, all at once.

 

I'm restraining myself from buying 5mls at the moment, just because there are so many scents I haven't tried yet, but when I finally break down, JR is on the top of the list. This one could become a habit.

Edited August 16, 2005 by WidgetAlley

[Ajila]

Wet on me this was salty water, with a little bit of leather and bay rum in the background, it's a bit odd, but a very good encapsulation of the sea side. Dry on me it goes a bit perculiar, it's a bit floral and quite perfumy although the salt is still there. I really like the first stage, but when it dries it's not for me.

[DarcyPennell]

The Guy says, "Floral shampoo." I didn’t get floral, and I would have said room spray, but I agree with his point that it did not smell good on him. Just artificial and perfumey. We didn’t have a chance to wait for the notes like leather and wood to come out: he made a face and washed it off. Oh well, it might have improved in the drydown but getting him to try BPAL at all is such a victory that I'm not going to push it.

 

My ranking: "meh"

His ranking: "ugh"

[Blood onmy hands]

Much thanks to verbosa for sending me a sample bottle of Jolly Roger

 

I love this just as much as I thought that I would. It reminds me so much of being on a cruise ship and feeling the cool breeze and salty water as you speed through the ocean. I have a deep fondness for cruise ships (ships in general) and the water. Jolly Roger evokes wonderful memories for me.

 

The leather seems to be an always present note in this for me, lingering in the background and holding everything up. At first it is very aquatic and I can practically taste the salt water on my lips when I smell it. Then after about two hours it gets sweeter (bay rum and woods?). It's a wonderful creamy sweetness, like pina coladas and icy mixed drinks.

 

The staying power and throw with Jolly Roger is amazing. It's a very strong fragrance. I don't get any florals out of it and I don't think that it's perfumey at all. This is a wonderful salty aquatic with a firm presence of leather. I can't wait to try it on my boy.

[Firewaver]

YAR!

 

I really like this, though I was hesistant about including it in my order. It basically came down to it being a pirate scent.. and it beckoned to my romantic demeanor.

 

In the bottle, it's a masculine scent, definitely. I smell bay rum (which I love) and maybe something like vetiver? Not sure, but it has a kick in the bottle.

 

On skin.. ooh.. this dries down just beautifully. I can now smell salty leather. Like a pair of sailors boots. A bit of lemon or something citrusy, and spicy rum. Just delicious.

 

After a while, it smells clean and rummy. Like a freshly washed sailor. I love it, it's a quirky smell, perfect for the scallywag at heart.

[sun_set_bravely]

Jolly Roger

 

In Bottle: Salty! Fresh scent with a little sweetness underneath.

 

Wet, On Skin: The dryness emerges first, then turns a little dusty. Definitely gives the sense of a seaside breeze.

 

1.5 Hours on Skin: It's settled down well. It's very light, but that's good, because at first, I was getting a little nauseous from the strength.

 

Drydown: Delicate scent now, with barely any of the Bay Rum left. It does, as other forumites said, blend well with sweat!

 

Conclusion: I like it well enough to keep the imp, but not enough to buy a bottle.

[tinyvulture]

like all other “water” scents i’ve tried, this turns cloying and overpowering on my skin. so i’ll have to swap it. it’s slightly salty, and there’s a bit of leather although it doesn’t really stand out. i thought it would be more complex -– i don’t smell any rum or wood at all, unfortunately.

[erikasilverstein]

I loved this, conceptually.

 

However. In the bottle, and on my skin, it did not translate well

 

I'm getting a very masculine, cologne-like, rugged-scented male-deodorant smell with a touch of salt-water, and yes -- I think, a little wood (cool!).

 

VERY strong. Wasabi strong. It does soften and become more aquatic, over time, but never settles into something I would wear. Off to swaps.

[Lycanthrope]

Gonna keep this short, because otherwise I'll ramble on about the glory of Jolly Roger for ages. Bottle: salty sea spray, just like the description suggests! On me: Starts off a wonderful burst of salty ocean air, followed by the scent of bark that's been marinating in said air for years. A touch of leather and pirate rum, and I'm standing at the helm of a frigate, heading to go fire cannons at Spanish ships or whatnot.

 

Mmm.

[olympia301]

Very masculine and would smell grand on my own personal pirate. I'm getting a whiff of citrus from the hold just now, as the salty spray washes across the deck and the gobs are scrubbin'. Perhaps a bit of lavender, or is that leather from the cat-o-nine-tails in me hand? Arrrr, and how could I forget to mention the boozy rummy smell that sets me heart a thumpin'?

 

Aye, 'tis a manly scent indeed. Not one that this fine lady will be indulging in but keepin' it in the cask for the Cap'in. Arrrr, we can have a merry romp 'pon this 'un under the stars 'round Hispanola! *wheezy laugh* 'Ar 'ar 'ar 'ar 'arrrrrr!

[Dark Seraphim]

This is certainly one of the more potent scents. So strong that it eminated from the imp bottle(I got this as a frimp from BPAL). I love this scent. It smells like a very nice mixture of sea water, wood, spices and a little bit of leather. Does fairly well on my skin too. A keeper. 9/10.

Edited December 3, 2005 by Dark Seraphim

[Miss Lynx]

OK, I know this is supposed to be a men's scent. But a friend sent me this among a handful of other imps, and while I lost my "try anything once" standing by not wanting to try Grog or Dana O'Shee -- both smelled too scarily sweet and foody in the imps for me to be able to cope with -- I figured I could at least try Jack and this. Besides, I kind of like the whole pirate mythos, and some "traditionally masculine" scents do work out nicely on me.

 

In the imp, it does have a definite men’s cologne type of scent to it, but not in a bad way. On, it doesn't actually smell all that masculine -- my skin seems to have grabbed hold of some sweet note in it and amped it up considerably, to the point where it's actually kind of perfumey. And there are some notes in it that are nice -- I think maybe the bay? Some kind of aromatic/spicy herbal scent in there is appealing to me, anyway. If it is the bay, I guess that bodes well for Delphi, which is coming to me soon in a swap.

 

But there's also something in there that I don't like, or maybe that doesn't like me. Something dry and weirdly cloying and bit plasticky or fake-smelling -- I think this may be the leather, because Loviatar had something like this as well that put me off. Then again, Hamadryad was also kind of like that, so maybe it's one of the woods? Don't know, but it's kind of killing this scent for me.

 

Oh well. An interesting experiment, but not a keeper. I ended up washing it off and replacing it with Titus Andronicus, a "guy" scent that really does work on me.

 

Grade: C-

[sophia_helix]

At first this had a lot of lemon on me (most oceanic/ozone ones do), but not as sharp or sour as Storm Moon or Lightning. It was sweet, and quite salty, which is a note I haven't managed to get from any aquatic yet, so I was very pleased.

 

I think the bay rum and woods came out sweet on me, as this as almost creamy. So, aquatic, salty, citrus, sweet, woody, creamy -- what a nice blend!

 

Hard to judge the throw from the little smear I had on, but the staying power was about average. I feel like layering this with Anne Bonny just for thematic fun, and to see what happens.

[northatlantic]

I should preface this by saying that my three favorite notes are ocean/aquatic, leather, and sandalwood/woods in general that are not pine. So I was HUGELY excited to try this.

 

In the imp: sharp, very fresh and salty. Mmmm, promising.

 

Wet: WHOA salt. And then...sob. The dreaded cologne effect described upthread. And not even good cologne, like, very alcohol-laden designer imposters' version of Escape for Men or something. Maybe the combination of the bay rum and aquatic note together went bad on my skin? whatever it is, it's bad. whoabad.

 

Drydown: I couldn't wait for the drydown. I couldn't stand it and had to wash it off. I gave the imp to a coworker who is usually my scent anti-twin, and true to form she loved it and it smelled like a stiff sea breeze and slightly...floral, weirdly enough? but much, much better than on me. Alas for my skin chemistry--I wanted to smell like a pirate, dammit.

[quimerula]

It starts with a strong sea salt note, with leather and woods in the backstage.

 

As it dries down the salt goes a bit lighter, and that's a good thing IMO.

It's an intense everyday perfume, a bit masculine.

 

I've tried to layer it with Anne Bonny and it goes even better!

[Nachtwulf]

In the bottle, it does smell of sea air, but there's something sour under it I'm not sure I like. It kind of reminds me of Zombi's sour-rancid qualities.

 

Wet: Yup. Still there. There's definitely something gone squidgey under the deck, matey.

 

Dry: Well, at last, the sourness has gone away, but it's left behind something that smells to me rather like 'Sea Breeze Bracing Splash'. It looks like this one is not for me. Ah well, there be other fish in the seas, me hearty.