Calico Jack

[Finch]

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.

Trade spices, ocean spray, and a hint of wet boot leather. Yep. It is masculine, but at the same time it can be somewhat subtle and fresh.

[SophieCedar]

I'm holding back from making pirate jokes. Those should only be tossed around on act like a pirate day.

 

This is reminiscent of a gautilier scent..bay rum, salt spray, kelp. yes it's there! Mmmmmemmmoriesssss... Does it make me want to run down the street to the ocean with high waters and a stripey shirt? Maybe. Am I getting punchy after a long week andwith many bpals ruminating in and pickling my brain? Definitely.

 

This scent is exactly how I would have pictured it, ideally. I feared that the kelp would have been a touch rotten but nope! Nice and seaweed salad grade fresh.

[donnatron]

Imp: Seaweed and a faint hint of wood.

 

Wet: Hooboy! Lots of salty seaspray aquatic! Not a lot of anything else at the moment.

 

Dry: Oh my, this is lovely. The seaweed/seaspray dominates over a nice warm base of leather and musk and sexy manliness. It smells like all the romantic parts of a pirate's life (so basically the sanitized version from Disneyland). It's not necessarily a masculine scent but it's a manly scent, if that makes sense. It's very evocative of the Calico Jack name.

 

Throw: Moderate.

 

Overall: Hot damn, why am I so in love with aquatics lately? Bottle list.

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting a definite sea-scented cologne. We'll see if we get any of the rest of it. On my skin, it's a definite sea scent, all the rest of it isn't showing up just yet, though the leather is slowly showing. We'll wait it out a bit and see if anything else shows up. Not entirely sure what to think of this atm, going to give it a full skin test to be able to do its thing.

 

On my skin, this is definitely a seaish scent, salt water, we'll see if the leather and spices show. Still unsure. Going to let this sit a few weeks and come back to it.

Edited April 2, 2010 by Venneh

[Greenwoodtree]

Received this on the Orphanage thread. I really was hoping it would show the spices and leather...wet and on dry down this is basically a refreshing men's cologne, and I cant recall which one. It seems anytime there is an aquatic or floral of any kind, they amp on my skin and I cant get anything else. (

 

I'll let it sit another 15 minutes, but then its getting washed off. I have plenty of men's scents I LOVE (like Bluebeard).

[voorishsign]

in the imp: fresh, salty, leathery aquatic

 

on wet: light, spiced aquatic with some depth, and not at all soapy - nice! Some musk here too, which I like.

 

Drydown: Oh my god, this is amazing. This just explodes into a variety of notes as it dries salty leather, musk, wood, a hint of spice and the promised breath of sea air, which I've been hoping for with each Lab aquatic but which only appeared here. Rough and raw and salty! Freaking amazing I am going to give this a full-day test eventually. This imp is a keeper.

 

[FathomBelow]

I love this one!

Wet on skin: Dominated by the same wood note in Jolly Roger, although in this, something is tempering it, making it softer somehow.

As it dries: Leather (the good kind - subtle and soft, not astringent or new-car-ish at all) becomes apparent - maybe it was this that was tempering the woods note earlier.

After it dries: Leather and woods in equal proportions. Mmm, this makes me want to lean in and breathe in more! The overall impression, on me, is of warmth - smelling it makes you (or rather, me) think of being hugged by a guy friend you admire and like and miss because you haven't seen him in a while. It's not an obviously "romantic" scent. It's soft and friendly and inviting. Definitely unisex.

[ajansuz]

I bought this for my husband. He really, really hates commercial colognes and is always complaining about how strong they smell and how they give him a headache, but I really, really like for my man to smell good. Like the good sport that he is, he agreed that if I bought an imp of this, he'd give it a fair try. He has been enjoying the various BPAL scents I've bought for myself mainly because they don't have an artificial odor and don't give him headaches like a lot of perfumes do.

 

So, we both took a whiff of the imp. He smiled. "Hey, that's really not bad. Kind of pirate-y without the B.O."

 

No, not bad at all. I think I may have had a little drool on my chin. I hope he didn't notice. "So, you ready to try this?" I asked nonchalantly, lashes lowered so he wouldn't see the crazed look of lust. Leather? Salt? Kelp?! Jeez, Louise, this should be called "Verra Sexay Pirate". Ahem, I digress.

 

He let me swipe it on him with the imp wand.

 

Not only did he really, really like this, I really, really love it. All men should smell that good. Seriously. Seriously. It came out really balanced with his skin chemistry. Like...a delicious sort of bay rum without whatever gets sickly in bay rum that makes me hate it and added leather. Maybe even some tobacco. I dunno. I could smell this on him all day and night and never get tired of it. Delectable. Sexy. Sinful. The throw was good without being knock you down and in your face, and it lasted for hours. I won't wear this, because I'd wind up molesting myself and never leaving the house. I will be getting a bottle of it for him with my next order. Thanks, you wonderful, talented people at the lab for making something my husband will actually wear that smells divine. I've only been trying for 20 years to turn him on to something scented he'll wear!

[starfish327]

ivory soap and bay rum. this is a definite cousin to jolly roger...unfortunately jolly roger works much better with my skin chemistry. this wanted to be very masculine soap in the imp and wet (in fact there's a guy i work with that smells like this when he comes in for shift every night...), and slowly morphed into rum and woods. this may be one of the few blends that is too masculine for me to be able to pull off- my first instinct was to find something to layer with it to cut the masculinity a little.

 

i think that i'll stick with jolly roger for something in this scent family.

[angelicruin]

Definitely getting the salty sea air note with this one. A bit of wood on the drydown, but it's also borderline "soap" on my skin.

[Argentwolf]

Aquatic cologne...I'm not going to say Aqua Velva simply because I've never smelled that. But, uh...yeah.

[Gold Dust Kitten]

Musk, leather, seaweed and wood. This leaked from the imp so I had no choice but to test it. It's masculine but not something I could wear because there is no sweetness. This is Jolly Roger's hairy, dirty uncle.

[Vega]

Sniffed: A salt-laced blue aquatic, touched with woods and spices.

 

On skin: Like most aquatics, Calico Jack is initially a thick, foamy wave bursting over a ship's wooden deck. That's the imagery I got when I first slather it on my skin! The aquatic recedes upon drydown, and now the other, darker notes emerge. I can pick out light woods, plus a hint of musk and faint spices (indeed a memory), all whipped with salt and thick, oceanic water. This ends up a slightly perfumy melange of light woods, spices, salt and water. Colour impression is light blue-green of shallow, tropical waters, but I get a strong visual image of a wooden tall ship plunging through that tropical ocean, spray leaping around its prow, foamy water pouring across its decks.

 

Verdict: Even though it's not a favourite, and gets a bit "perfumy" in the end, Calico Jack really does fit its description! If you like blue-green aquatics like Selkie, Ogygia and Kiyohime Changes From a Serpent, this is a slightly darker, rugged variant. Yes, very piratical!

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: a rough ocean and waterlogged kelp on the boards of the salty deck. leather and musk. very masculine scent, because the musk combined with the aquatics and the leather. I adore the aquatics, but am less than crazy about the leathers and musk. there's also something in it that reminds me of tobacco.

 

On my skin: turns even muskier and more leathery on me, to the point that the ocean spray is all but drowned out (pardon the pun). the leather thankfully is stronger than the musk, but only by a bit. I would've absolutely adored this if the ocean had stayed the main note, but it didn't. *le sigh* dries to lovely aquatics (like a calmer sea) with hints of leather, no musk to speak of.

 

Last thoughts: manly musk and leather, with a rough and angry ocean spilling over the deck behind you. I like masculine scents, but not this one - just too much musk and leather and rough-and-tumble stiff upper lip for me. this is _very_ masculine IMO, and quite rough. think bar fights and too much rum. very Pirates of the Caribbean, if Jack Sparrow had been less comic relief and more over-masculinized jackass.

Edited June 17, 2011 by frecklestars

[Gateau]

In the imp -- just smells perfumey

 

Wet -- definitely getting an aquatic, wet smell, and picking up leathery spices. Very pleasant.

 

Dry -- not getting anything that screams pirate; it smells like a pretty standard men's cologne, sort of like something Ralph Lauren would make. But it's a very nice men's cologne. Getting wet aquatic notes, something spicy and a touch of leather. Though my mom and husband don't care much for it, my dad really likes it, and it smells right on him.

 

Gave dad the imp and may have recruited a new convert!

[StevenBoatman]

Calico Jack:

 

In imp: Water and spice! Cool, refreshing spring water (isn't this supposed to be a PIRATE scent???) and some mysterious collection of spices. Very nice, but not what I expected!

 

On, wet: Water! Wet, wild water. In fact, it's cold water-like a river after a storm. There's no trace of other scents though. But hey, it's still awesome-I love smelling like fresh, clean water!

 

On, dry: Now, the water has warmed up as the day draws to a close. It's also mingling with sea water, giving it just a hint of salt. And there's a spicy, musky, leathery scent floating on top. Perfection!

 

A++++! 5/5!

[Ghost of a Rose]

This was a lab frimp that I never would have thought to try - the description sounds too aggressively masculine for girly-girl me. But it goes to show why the lab includes random frimps with our orders, because I really liked it a lot! What a great surprise!

 

In the imp: A clear, peach-colored oil. Mmm, this is nice: wood, spices, and an undertone of musk.

 

On me, wet: Same as above - wood is the main note. It's not at all aggressively macho like I had expected from the description. I'm not getting any saltiness or fishiness (such as from the kelp), either.

 

On me, just dried: Just mildly sweet wood and musk with a hint of spice. Gentle, warm, and lovely: a perfect unisex blend. It's definitely aged wood and old spices, without the sharpness of freshly-cut boards or the heat of fresh spice. Just like the description says for those things. I'm not getting any leather or kelp, though, which is fine with me. I'm thinking that since this is worn, not new, leather, its scent might be merging with the musk so that they are indistinguishable.

 

After an hour: It's now developed a mild smokiness that melds beautifully with the wood scent.

 

After a couple of hours: The spice notes gradually become more dominant as the wood notes fade, making the scent lean more towards masculine. But still not so much that I wouldn't enjoy wearing it myself. I really like this blend a lot, and would totally fall in love with a man who smelled like this . . .

 

My rating: 4 stars

[Klolly]

I received an imp of this in a PIF. I can't stand wearing masculine scents so after reading some reviews on it I used it on my husband. It is a very light aqua. Like clear spring water or sunny beach water as opposed to dark, cold water. It almost had a sweetness to it. The other notes were there but very faint under the water. The longer he wore it the more those notes came out but they were never strong or harsh or intensely masculine. I actually would wear this. It smelled great on my hubby but I had it on my fingers and enjoyed it a lot. I don't find it too masculine at all but more a unisex, like CK One.

 

Just editing to add that my husband, who begrudgingly tried this on for me, has worn it every day since then much to my delight. I'll have to get him a bottle sometime!

Edited October 22, 2011 by Klolly

[rhubarb3point14]

This stuff is great. Very aquatic and green and sexy and spicy. It's very biting straight out of the imp, and it carries a long way, so a light application is the way to go.

 

I find this to be very, very masculine, so it seems like an odd choice for me... unless I planned to sit around fantasizing about pirates. But it does develop absolutely gorgeously as it fades. The next morning, when all the greenness and aquaticness has worn off, there is just a tiny bit of spice left, like cinnamon and black pepper and a smudge of poppy resin. Really yummy and worth the wait.

 

Wish I could get my husband to wear this! He won't, though, so I'll just have to do it myself!

Edited November 15, 2011 by rhubarb3point14

[mazikeen]

Salty and gently masculine. Almost a cologne-iness to it, which if I were reading this, would turn me off... but no, don't be scared. This is good. I like this one. A really nice surprise. My imp has been put into regular rotation.

 

I'm not sure how this compares to the other salty scents, since I've only recently discovered that I like them. Perhaps I'll update at a later date.

[venusinfurs]

Got this as a frimp from the lab.

 

In the bottle: Aftershave? Really, it smelled soapy and masculine, like aftershave.

 

Wet on skin: Salty and aquatic. Still smells soapish on me. I expected this to smell more similar to Anne Bonny, with that "pirate" something, but it hasn't yet.

 

Dry on skin: It maintained the salty/aquatic character for quite a while, at least 30 mins. The warmer woods and spice started to come out, but it is still very masculine and soapy on me. It smells a bit like a manly version of BBW Sea Island Cotton. It isn't unpleasant, but it's not me. Maybe in the summer months! It could be dead sexy on the right man though! I actually see it more on a preppy New England man with a sailboat than a pirate...haha!

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): Ugh, aquatics. It smells like the over-chemically ocean scents with the pungent aroma of kelp tossed in for good measure. There is an element that smells like men's cologne and just a hint of sweetness from the amber.

 

Wet: Nope, not for me. Men's cologne with Glade Ocean and kelp. Help! I can't smell any of the nice complexity that I did while in the bottle. It's a pure aquatic nightmare.

 

As it starts to dry, the musk, leather, and spices peak out, but nothing can save the headache that is coming on from this scent.

 

Dry: Oddly salty, but balanced with the leather, musk, faint spices. It's not bad dried, but I'm not willing to work through the wet phase to give this as much love as it deserves.

[curlsandpearls]

Bottle: Smells like a mix of sea and sweet, verdant landscape.

 

Wet: The kelp immediately comes out swinging, but spices barge in soon after. The lab has nailed the "pirate ship" smell, all sea and spice and salt and sweat. It's "green" enough, though, that I'm not sure I'm a fan. We'll see how it develops. The musky texture is present, but not the overt musk smell, if that makes sense. And I'm not getting any leather yet.

 

Dry: Honestly, there's something a little "perfumey" about this to me -- like that indiscriminate perfume smell you get when walking through the cosmetics and perfume section at a department store. It's an interesting smell, but it's not for me, personally.

[PixieSkull]

I love pirate-themed scents. The idea of a wet and salty scent evocative of being on a pirate ship is enough to catch my attention.

 

Wet - Dry wetness... got the driftwood and musk with a little manly cologne.

 

Drydown - This reminds me SO MUCH of my husband's Axe deodorant (Clix, from the dry line, this ain't some Old Spice, cough syrup-y deodorant.) This won't make many people want this scent, I may have messed this up for you guys and gals, but I do really love this scent! I really love these notes playing together. "Need to hand this back to hubby immediately!" I instantly though on smelling this after a few minutes, and I did.

 

Dry - This smells amazing on me, if just a tiny bit manly due to the association with my husband already. It's a sea water smell, minus all the bacteria, so it's sweeter. The spices are like... beautiful. Bleh! Words! Escaping! Must. Will. Shatner. Through! Sarsparilla, yeeeeah, that's the spice! It dries to a milky and salty fresh dew scent. LOVE. When hubby is gone, this shall be put on his pillow to remind me of him.

 

Bottom line: I almost didn't even try this since it was one of the ones my husband was iffy on. It's amazing on me and great on him. Where I get a milky type of note, he amps the spicy leather part. I love it on him.

[BoneBone24]

Wet: Fabulous! Spicy, almost creamy rum, dark wood, and blasts of salty sea spray.

 

Drydown/Dry: More of the same. A deep and spicy aquatic sweetened by rum and deepened by rich, earthy wood notes. Perfectly balanced. Smooth yet tumultuous. It smells like a cross between Jolly Roger and Mary Read, with moments of woody mandrake thrown in. My skin tends to turn scents sweet, so on me this is gender neutral and quite yummy.