Calico Jack

[WidgetAlley]

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.

 

Imp: Salt, aquatic, seaweed, and wood.

Wet: Incense, musk, salt water, and the weird rubbery vanilla smell that leather notes always turn into on me.

Dry: Sweet salt water and musk. This is actually less offensive than some other leather blends but still doesn't work on me.

[sarandipitee]

Reminds me of a salty, and leather Ekhidna. I kinda like it.

[Miss Despair]

So far the first BPAL aquatic that stays aquatic on me for longer than an hour!

 

Salty sea spray and cedar, maybe some other evergreens thrown in. While Jolly Roger was cut, dried wood, this is more like living trees. Fresh and outdoorsy. There's just a hint of leather against clean, aftershave-splashed skin.

 

Despite the sea spray I keep thinking lumberjack, not pirate. I think because the wood in this smells so fresh and alive on me.

[JuliskaMarie]

In the Imp: Like being on a pirate ship! Salty air, ocean, salty wood, musk, old leather & a hint of mixed spices.

Wet on skin: Kelp! Salty, oceany kelp & some salty driftwood - surprisingly lovely. The spices, leather & musk are just barely there in the background, keeping it piratey, instead of just a generic ocean smell.

Dry on skin: The scents have faded, but otherwise about the same as wet. It's not like being on a live pirate ship anymore, more like walking alone in a deserted cove & finding the remnants of an old pirate ship left on the shore to rot.

After a few hours: VERY subtle & pretty now! Quite beachy, but with the feel of being a beach from a pirate story, not just a normal beach.

Verdict: Perfectly piratey! I love this one! It's certainly not an everyday perfume, but I'll definitely get a few wears out of it in Summer (especially on beach trips)! I might even add some to my homemade sea-spray (for my hair)! I don't think an imp is going to be enough for me, not long-term anyway!

[tyche]

I enjoyed this in the imp, it has a woodsy saltiness that is right in line with pirates. I actually like to wear it when I read books with a nautical theme; it seems like I'm in the book!

[Heaven_Star]

In the imp: Ozone and salt "sea air", kelp. Turns out I've developed a nose for what 'kelp' smells like. Awesome.

 

Wet: Leather pushing the kelp/ozone out of the way, a little bit of slightly spiced musk coming through - it's a man's cologne musk. The sharp saltiness is pulling back a bit, too.

 

Dry: Sea air, salty wood, a little bit of man's cologne, and maybe some leather? This is hard for me to pull apart but essentially it's a rugged, smokey pirate man!

 

This was amazingly evocative. I probably won't wear it much but if a pirate captain had a smell this is it with all the nuances, salty, smokey, leather-y, somewhat cologney. It's a really great example of the BPAL magic gift of being able to make you smell something and go "yes! That's it!" without ever before smelled such a thing. This. With a pirate captain.

 

I'm going to try this on my man at some point in the next few days because it's begging to be put on an actual man (though it works fine on my girly skin!). I'll update this with brief results. I'm hopeful

 

Update! Tried it on the boy, surprisingly it didn't change much on him. It was maybe a smoother blend of the parts and the leather was nicer on him, but it didn't turn into anything more exciting than it had been on me. If anything it was more manish on me! He wasn't a big fan, it didn't go bad or anything, he just tends to prefer fougere/cologne scents.

Edited September 11, 2014 by Heaven_Star

[inhumation]

My friend had an imp of this and we both tried it on. My friend's boyfriend thought it smelled like Axe body spray on both of us.

[agirlnamedfury]

In imp: sea air.

 

Wet on skin: Same as above. Very aquatic, though not exactly fresh. Starting to get a bit of the leather as it dries, but there's also some kind of sour note surfacing that I can't identify.

 

Dry on skin: Soft leather and damp wood. I wish I were getting some of the spices in here, but nope.

 

Verdict: Meh. This reminds me a bit of Havana, which I also wasn't that into. It's okay, but not one I see myself reaching for.

[Veronica]

Sharp aquatic notes and a sharp black musk. Aquatic men's cologne.

[Soupy Twist]

A pleasant but unremarkable floral marine. Generic; no leather or spices. I'm always disappointed when the description is so much more interesting than the scent.

[LizziesLuck]

Wood Salt. Smells like sweaty man. Not sure if it's in a good way yet. It actually smells like natural man-smell to me, if that makes sense. Like the way a guy's skin smells, only..more so. So I guess I do kind of like it. But I sure don't want to wear it! It's growing on me more and more though, and I do think I would really like t on a guy. It's clean, while also smelling very masculine, a bit musky and sweaty, but in a clean way. It's kind of sexy, really. Very light. A skin scent, for sure.

[renfair]

I got this as a tester as a bonus goodie with an order I placed with another member. I've wanted to try one of the "pirate" scents for a while, so that was cool!

First Sniff Impression: Ooh, kind of stinky. (But in all fairness, I have zero idea how old the tester is, and there was really barely anything left in it)

Wet in Vial: Because this is a tester, there wasn't much there for me to smell. It smelt kind of sour?

Drying Down on Skin: Ok this is much better on skin! Actually a really nice spicy, warm, ever-so-slightly aquatic. There's definitely a wood/leather-type note, and the spiciness is a really warm, sweet one. Like frankincense or myrrh, maybe?

Dry on Skin: This stuck around as a pleasant, unisex smell. Warm, spicy, and the tiniest bit sweet and aquatic. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the "pirate" ones, since I love pirates but not usually "ocean" perfumes. But this one was great.

Conclusion: Unfortunately I only got about a tiny tester bit of this, and I also don't know how aged it was, so I think I'll end up buying a whole imp and comparing the scent. It's a really great one, though! Especially if you want something non-traditional.

[achildoftime]

I really dig this scent. It's fresh, sea air. Just like sitting along the coast. Both wet and dry it's a warm breeze over the sea. I get very little, if any, leather. The spices is what I'm thinking is making it smell like a warm breeze. I'm getting a little musk, but I wouldn't call it rough. It's more rugged because it's not aggressive or sharp.

 

This does feel a little masculine, but not enough to turn me away from it. I can't wait to wear it this summer.

[Coldfire]

Imp: totally ocean. bright sunny day ocean and sea air
Wet on me: still happy sunny ocean/sea air
Drying Down: wood is starting to come out and play with the salty sea air/ocean and tiny teases of the spices
Dry: dear geds this is magnificent! I just want to keep huffing the back of my hand!!!!!

[Cali]

This is what I hoped jolly roger to smell like! A lot less wood in this, more salty and wet! Sexy sexy leather that BPAL does so well.
Awesome! However, it is a LOT like Caliban on my skin minus the tropical flowers and nature-y sense, so I honestly won't need more of this. It also fades much faster on me. But if you're into that sorta thing, this'll be the one for you!

[doomsday_disco]

In the imp: This is mostly a salty aquatic. I'm mostly getting the sea air and some cologne-y woods from the imp.

 

Wet: Curiously enough, this isn't as sharp smelling as it was in the imp. The aquatic notes are currently the most prominent, as I'm getting the salty sea air, kelp, and a hint of woods. This actually does have a watery quality to it on me, which is surprising, because most aquatics just turn to soap once they hit my skin.

 

Dry: The aquatic notes continue to reign, but I'm finally getting the plundered spices now! Aquatic with spice! I can also smell some of the musk and leather now, and the wood is lingering in the background.

 

After few hours, I mainly get the aquatic notes and the musk.

 

Verdict: This is better than I thought I'd be, but it's not really 'me'.

[gloame]

A REALLY nice aquatic. Not soapy to me, and not sneezy. More of a masculine scent to my nose, but would definitely work unisex. The salty wooden floorboards really shine here — it's woody, but has that salty-wet crispness to it. Very summer, very bright.

Where I'd wear this: To a themed waterpark, high summer

[Joyleaf_]

Almost headache inducing aquatic with a very odd salt note.
I feel like I can taste the salt water? Its super strange and very much not for me. I know that I dont like aquatics anyway, so if you do, please try this! Its so unique and I have tried anything like in the rest of Bpals catalogue.

[theseagrows]

i received a frimp of this, it was not something i would likely try myself because of the aquatic notes. still i like trying BPAL's so here goes. it starts off with a slighty salty aquatic note. it's a nice scent at this point, very spa-like. after about 5-10 minutes, the saltiness gives way and it's just aquatics and maybe some woods. i don't seem to get spices, leather or musk at this point. the salt seems to come and go-it's just all woodsy salty aquatics on me.

[DryFrogPills]

In the imp: Sea air, leather, and salt.

 

Worn: Yep, sea air! There's hints of leather, water, and wood underneath it, but the crisp scent of air at sea is dominant the whole time. That's my experience the whole time, really, the sea air is always dominant. I'd call it an aquatic, which isn't my favorite, but it's a very easy to wear, pleasant scent, if you want to invoke the sea. It was fine, but didn't do a lot for me.

 

Definitely a very unisex blend, maybe leaning to the masculine.

[lady_pandora]

This was a frimp. It goes clean manly aquatic soap on me. Nothing wrong with it per se, but not me.

[Extria]

In the imp I liked this. Strong seawater. Reminded me of being on the beach in Europe. Not a bright sunny beach but an overcast day, the air filled with saltspray and waves coming in.

 

On me however it turned to pure men's cologne with a seawater note. Gave me a headache.

[monocainsheresy]

Mostly kelp and salt on me, with leather in there somewhere... not bad it's dangerously close to tipping over to a "febreezed bathroom" smell...

[torischroeder9]

Source: Lab frimp, rested two days from shipping.

 

In the imp: Salt, wood, and leather. It does come across as an aquatic, but perhaps not as aquatic as some other BPAL aquatic blends I've tried. (Also, is there a record for the number of times using aquatic in one sentence?) It feels like there's more dry land substance here. 

 

On my skin:

 

Wet, sea air and kelp dominate. As it dries, a hint of spice, leather, musk, and wood come out, balancing the more aquatic notes and keeping the blend from going to soap on me. 

 

Hrm. Grmmph. Given time to settle, the salt, aquatic, and kelp come back to life, making the scent reminiscent of a slightly grubby bar of Irish Spring soap. It was going so well, too, until this. 

 

If I was going to be a pirate (as, like, a Halloween costume, not as a profession) and wanted an oceany pirate character scent (as opposed to a rummy pirate character scent), this is the one I would choose. But it's not kind to my skin chemistry for everyday. 

[Hades_Girlfriend]

Got this a frimp in my last order. Yay for freebees, thanks lab! ❤️

 

I am so happy for this one. I really feel like a sexy shripwreck or something, while wearing this. It smells very oceanic, with something woodsy and a little sweet to it, but very fresh and crisp. I am normally not much for aquatic scents on me, although I like the idea, but often they smell fresh in a too strong or heavy way, even sometimes giving me a headache. But this is perfect! I did not expect to enjoy it THIS much!

I am a person that can get quite stuck in "having to smell a certain way" either due to the narrative I see myself as part of, or what I hope for others to perceive me as. I have been quite stuck in looking like a forever 12 year old, while being a grown ass woman, and leaning somewhat into this role, because of things like daddy issues and the like ... And not being comfortable smelling too "mature and womanly" or even worse ... Like af dude! (not trying to gender scents here, this was just my scarred angsty feelings that is formed by the discurse that have been about these kind of things). But I have used scents to help me get out of this headspace and it finally seems to start working. I would very much enjoy smelling like this "manly mature not even human kind of shripwreck on a rainy stormy beach" anyday, not even caring about what others might think, being busy sniffing myself in this kind of scent (still not trying to gender og put ageappropriateness on stuff, just listing all my anxieties)! ❤️ Thanks bpal for helping me change my narrative!!! Not that there is anything wrong with being a forever 12 year old (or 12 year olds in general), with identyfing with gender specifics or anything the like. I just want for MYSELF to not be stuck in this headspace anymore - being able to choose by myself and true wants and feelings, if I want to smell like a "girly youth", "mature woman", "like a dude" or even "like a shripwreck" or something else non human and out of this world.

 

Might buy this, or something else that makes me feel the same way, someday, but will have to experiment more with these kind of scents beforehand. But it is deffinetly 5/5!

Edited December 7, 2019 by Seifos