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metallica22 – :
Not bad for $10. Simple yet effective. Good smell, but weak performance. Still, at $10, I would buy again.
night – :
Several weeks ago I went to rue21 for maybe the second time in my life. I am 29 years old and thought that I could check out the cheap fragrance because sometimes we find steals and rue21 promotes $9.99 fragrances. I was interested in their new scent Uncaged. I found that but the cashier got me into trying two common scents that “men like.” One was Black Diamond, the other was this one. I smelt a spray of CJ Black and got a common citrusy scent but still good despite that. So I bought it along with Uncaged and Black Diamond. Hey, I had tax return money and they were $9.99 for 1.7oz sized bottle. Worst comes to worst, it becomes a travel bottle.
rue21’s CJ Black bottles are as common just as the scent. They remind me a lot of the Polo Black clone Black Extreme produced by Preferred Fragrance that you can find in Big Lots. Just replace the golfer with CJ Black. Also like other rue21 fragrances, a plastic top. Not the worst but the paint isn’t the best on it. But we all know that the bottle isn’t often what we base fragrances on most times unless we are looking for a unique bottle.
CJ Black is very young. I am young and I feel young (even if I am 29) but this is really a high school or college version of Polo Black minus the mango or a stripped down Playboy Malibu. Luckily, I actually work at a high school. That said CJ Black has a simple common scent to it. It is a nice musky citrus. The musk makes CJ Black clean that can go aquatic while the citrus is spicy. Especially the bergamot like accord I get (rue21’s website includes it as a note) along with mandarin orange and grapefruit. The lemon note listed on fragrantica I find is barely there. Those are the only real notes and accords I find.
Performance on CJ Black is pretty good. I sprayed it on after work and it projects pretty good for a cheapy that isn’t a direct knock-off or Big Lots/Dollar Tree clone. When you first spray CJ Black it seems moderate but quickly settles into a soft sillage. I find that the longevity is about at least 3 to 5 hours tops. CJ Black can work on date (especially if she is sensitive to most scents), work and casual settings easily. It is pretty much a day scent for spring and summer and good one to put on after a workout as well.
CJ Black I will rate a 6.8 out of 10. I re-rated it after use because while it is good, I think it isn’t a 7.1, except for price. It isn’t a bad scent at all, nor is it a price ripoff, it’s a great cheapy to buy for sticking in the car, gymbag or luggage and not worry about it all that much BUT it isn’t a fumehead must have. I like it but I recognize I have smelt this scent before with both Polo Black and Playboy Malibu, just soapier.
leor – :
NOTHING SPECIAL BUT STILL GOOD:
CJ Black by Rue 21 is a good fragrance with moderate performance. This is a rather simple smelling fragrance and somewhat generic but it is still very good and for the price it is definitely worth it.
NIKO300 – :
Exact copy of jake by hollister. Definitely for a younger guy in teens and early twenties but its a likable scent but kind of your generic fresh citrus scent though.
dimanav – :
Beside this rue21 I have $400 creed,tomford,cartier.. and this $10 bottle gets just as many compliments. Definitely worth having in the collection. Doesn’t smell cheap!!
golubew – :
Hands down…without any doubt…the absolute BEST of the Rue21’s male fragrances.
I kid you not…of the 150+ fragrances that I own…this is probably in the top 20 most complimented that I have. I’m not exaggerating.
I go to work with this bad boy on…and people are constantly following me around and telling me how good I smell.
I wouldn’t necessarily say that you can pick out the notes and smell them individually…but it looks dead on because it smells like citrus and musk. Very well blended. I love it.
I went to the mall yesterday to buy another bottle because my 50ml bottle is running low…and to my pleasant surprise…they began making the 100ML bottle!! I’m stoked! And it only costs about $15!
Longevity – 5-6 hours depending on amount of sprays
Sillage – Very good. 4-5 feet.
Smell Itself – 8.5/10
Overall Rating – 8.5/10
Big thumbs up! Easily worth it’s price and then some. I would probably even purchase this fragrance for $30. I can’t believe how cheap it is and how good it smells. Thanks a lot Rue!!
flouttSox – :
This is what I would recommend to someone first getting into fragrances. This is the perfect beginner’s fragrance. Generic, simplistic, & inoffensive. It’s a nice, pleasant smell, but don’t expect to be “wowed” by this fragrance. This was made with the sole intention of attracting a more youthful crowd, so don’t expect a whole lot of diversity here.
As for the actual smell itself: It opens up with a nice sharp citrus smell, which is quite pleasant. The musky drydown is also very enjoyable. This definitely has a masculine edge to it. This garners a nice bit of compliments from the ladies. Overall, a very easy to like scent.
Performance is kind of on the “meh” side. This is a pretty light scent, so expect to have to reapply after a few hours. This only comes in one size bottle (1.7oz) currently, so this is pretty easy to carry around in the event that you would have to reapply. I personally get around 3-4 hours with this one. It also projects pretty close, probably about an arms length away.
This is a great beginner’s fragrance. You can wear this year-round, and girls love this stuff. This is what I wear when I’m out running errands, since this is pretty safe, and has shorter longevity. My only complaint is that I wish they would make this in a 200ml bottle, so I don’t have so many little bottles lying around. A good one to try out if you’re new to the fragrance game.
azoner – :
Excellent for young guys. I picked up a bottle of this simply because of its price. I am in my late 20’s and I perfer stuff that is much better than this. This is good for wearing at home after shower and feel fresh. $10 for a bottle? Why not?
lzz435speagoessenda – :
I am not well versed in colognes, so this review is from a somewhat uneducated point of view.
This is a good smell, not my favorite. But I think it is solid. Not very complex, the website lists all I can smell in it. It has a lot of citrus with a good amount of musk and it smells slightly spicy in my opinion.
A little juvenile, but not bad.
EDIT: I still own this cologne two years later and now that my nose is a little sharper than when I first started collecting my review still stands, however I would like to throw in that it has a very synthetic quality to it.
VALERY-SS – :
This is one of the most cloying scents in the world. All the boys in high school wore either this or the detestable Axe. It did NOT endear them to me; I didn’t mind the scent at first, but the more I endured it, the less I liked it. Even some of the girls wore it. I never understood why it was so popular with so many. It’s unremarkable, common, and overdone. Do not wear this anywhere near me if for some reason you wish me to give you the time of day.
den7zk7 – :
The mandarin and lemon smell synethic, but pleasant. The musk drydown is beautiful and is worth waiting for. Longevity is beast mode for me, over 12 hours. This out performs my designer fragrances. For $10, you can’t beat this.
23Igor95 – :
Even though it is a pretty cheap fragrance it still smells pretty decent. Citrus but holds an air of manliness for a teen. Its non-offensive and perfect for work or if you want to smell nice while running errands.
I personally throw it on when going to a store or some place else where I don’t care much to impress.
Projection and sillage are ok and on my skin it lasts maybe 4 hours. Perfect for a teenage beginner but I wouldn’t expect any ooo’s or aahh’s at a high school with this one (my 9 year old sister thought it was ok but had no real comment on this one).
6/10
Evidefrinaife – :
The #1 guys cologne from Rue. Every guy that buys cologne usual gets this. I’ve sold 7 bottles of it in one day before, and that’s good for where I work lol. It smells pretty nice and for $10, it’s a steal. I’m pretty sure there are some missing notes on that list. I’ll get the notes list from the store I work at and see if they match up. 8/10 for me.
ksardas – :
The associate at the gym wears this and it smells awesome on him and it seems it projects well on him. Sadly, I bought a bottle and it does not last on me at all and the projection is capoot. This goes to show you how everyones chemistry reacts to different scents on different people. This smells to me like Liz Claiborne’s original curve. I just wish it lasted on me cause really like this scent.
axel111 – :
My husband wears this and I am all over him. I love love love the smell of it. It’s clean, sexy, and just overall great.
We have tried more expensive colognes, but this one is actually my favorite. 🙂
Sifesmisy – :
Well i’m over 19 and grown women love this stuff. It is really clean smelling. It is not very strong but it is good. Asked about 20 women(ages 21 – 53) about this and they just love the freshness of it. Really good smell. The problem for me is staying power, projection, sillage, but for something so cheap that is o.k. If a woman gets a whiff of this on you, she is going to tell you that “you smell great/good”
Wweter48 – :
I bought a bottle 4 years ago when it came out. I was freshman year of high school, and at the time, it smelled great! I’m in college now, and I’ve had more experience with fragrances. I went back to a rue 21 store and tried on the fragrance, but this time the smell was less than impressive. It smelled very juvenile, too poignant, and unrefined. It’s a decent cologne for teenagers from 13-17 but anybody over 19 should stay away from such a scent. I now wear Penguin, true religion, and Armani Code. I also keep a bottle of nautica voyage for spring and summer.
thiefMax – :
With this I tell you everything. I was approached by 3 girls from my university all in one day just to ask me what I was wearing. Guys you can’t go wrong
10/10
irs007 – :
im sixteen and this smells great i cant resist a guy when he wears it. it smells so fresh and clean! perfection in a bottle for such a little cost.I EVEN BOUGHT IT FOR MYSLEF 😉
vedmac1982 – :
Another usual fragrance that smells good with citrus and musk combo. A combo that majority of people will find it appealing. While it is not gonna blow anyone’s mind, it’s better than not wearing anything at all. I used to have it in my car for an emergency situation (last minute date night for instance) It’s also relatively inexpensive; perfect for a beginner.