J.Crew No. 57

Really enjoying this now that the weather is colder! I bought this on major clearance at J. Crew, together with No. 31. Of the two, I think I prefer this one, No 57. It is, as others have said, a warm, golden, whiskey-inflected, vanilla woodsy composition. It has a sweetness to it that I don't find cloying or gourmand. It smells to me the way whiskey should taste if whiskey tasted good (I'm not a whiskey drinker). I don't pick up a lot of the cinnamon, just a touch, which is good because I don't want to smell like one of the ubiquitous cinnamon brooms that haunt supermarkets right now. On me, this last pretty well, at least 5-6 hours although it gets softer and softer. By hour 7, it is mostly gone. Glad I bought it (on sale) when I could!

This is a nice unisex vanilla for 20 bucks. Just don't go into it expecting something more. When I first tried this i was turned off because I was expecting something much darker, heavier, and boozier. There are woods and smoky peaty whiskey notes, but the drydown is all about vanilla. A woodsy, cinnamon-kissed vanilla that is perfectly cozy, unisex, and lasts all day. Nothing essential, but very wearable and pleasing. 7.5/10

Pretty surprised. Got this on clearance for $20 and I was stunned at how good the scent was. I get a woody, boozy, cinnamon. Performance could be better but for the price I cannot complain. If this lasted longer than 4 hours it might be a perfect 10. 9.5/10

I smelled this today and the first thing that hit me was Escada Sentiment which I owned a but over 10 years ago. You really get the cinnamon burst in it followed by hints of sweet vanilla; very solid for $70.

It's amazing in it's simplicity. Ive not smelt anything with these notes that comes off as reserved like this perfume does. I have the roller and it's my the perfect sweet resin vanilla for work.

I get whiskey, but not so much on the rocks. This is gorgeous, warm, comforting and great for layering! It’s pretty linear; cinnamon speckled whiskey in a homey (not outdoorsy) woody base with a syrupy vanilla teetering between sweet and gritty, fine on paper but once it’s warmed up on skin it is so rich and so, so pretty. The only thing stopping this from being a full love for me is the projection/longevity, the vanilla whiskey molasses richness fades into my skin so quickly it’s kind of heartbreaking. And usually I’m not that pressed about throw, or how long my perfume lasts, but this one is worth sticking around much longer! It stays right on the skin for hours but you really have to *huff* to smell it so I suppose it’s a good date night pick for that reason alone but I usually layer this under other things to give them a bit of a boozy twist. And for the record, it’s a nice booze. Not a “you have a problem and you’re day drinking on your lunch break” booze.

Picked up rollerballs of both Arquiste for J. Crew No. 57 and No. 31, hoping for a rather cheap and accessible introduction to Arquiste. No. 57 starts off with a smooth hit of whiskey - smooth because it could be a lot headier and sharper to get "whiskey" across - but this is tempered by the vanilla and woods. It dries down to a soft, clingy veil of golden, woody vanilla. I'm not getting as much cinnamon as I'd like. It's not bad, but I won't be needing a full bottle. The rollerball will do it for me. I can see myself dabbing it on when I'd like a comforting (but not entirely edible) vanilla, but it's not blowing me away either.

A safe, unisex whiskey laced vanilla scent on a bed of wood notes. All the ingredients mixed together create an incense, church vibe. For a mainstream fragrance, No. 57 is well done. Reminds me a bit of stash by Sarah Jessica Parker, another popular hit that has a rabid following.

Vanilla with spice and a bit of booziness, unisex for sure, my gf and I have both been passing the sample around. There's a small bit of woodyness I pick up in the drydown, while pleasant and light, it's nothing ground-breaking

reminds me of a manhattan at my favorite whisky bar....

Testing this blind from the ScentXplore bag, and while I did notice the brand and name, "No. 57", this isn't all that revealing and I don't really know the brand, and didn't look up the notes. It opened up amber, aromatic, with a hint of spice, like cinnamon. It later becomes more musky and slightly more green (in comparison to the opening) and warms up a bit with hints of leather but largely remains aromatic. As the day progressed it was warm, ambery, and echoing a softer and drier version of itself with a bit of vanilla. Looking at the notes, there's no surprises at all, you can pretty much identify each in the blend. I feel the whiskey note is pretty mellow though, not being a very interesting whiskey. I'd say it opens more labdanum, and ends more vanilla. I didn't notice till later this was branded with "J Cew", which seems fitting, because it essentially comes across to me as a more upscale version of mainstream aromatic warm fragrances, but too reserved to be bold enough to have any 'real' character. At the same time this keeps it more unisex. Performance was clearly better than most mainstream fragrances, lasting twice as long. This had a roller ball, and I don't really like that application technique because too often the ball glides, and does not rotate, and I have little sense how much I'm applying. Edit 9/4/23: This time around it came off more vanilla amber. I didn't recall what I wrote last time and whiskey now seems distant, so as said, a pretty mellow whiskey if whiskey at all. Easy to pass up for something with more character, but this seems pretty office friendly.

Unisex whiskey vanilla. Heavy on the whiskey and woods. I was obsessed with this in stores maybe a decade ago, whenever it was first released. But after I got it I only wore it rarely because it was heavy and a very fall/winter only fragrance. I ended up selling it years ago because it felt a little too masculine for my tastes.

Watered down, synthetic whiskey. Synthohol.

While the ad-copy for the two new Arquiste for J.Crew scents is utterly compelling in its specificity and art historical citation, the scents don’t quite live up to what the copy or the note lists promise. No. 31 and No. 57 are a pair of uninspired EdTs that fall prey to the worst homogenizing effects of commercial perfumery. No. 57 is more attention grabbing than No. 31, but it’s pulling the same trickery: a handful of intriguing top notes designed to mask the Sephora-style blob that exists underneath. This one opens with something that resembles coffee—the listed notes of whiskey, cinnamon bark, and oakwood, however, are largely vacant. It’s a mildly gourmand and sweet affair that, like No. 31 reveals a standard-fare structure after 10-15 minutes. The base is a cliched synth sandalwood and sugary vanillin thing akin to what’s in 75% of contemporary fragrances. Once more, the omnipresent sweetness is rendered humane in attempt to preserve the wearer’s dignity. As with No. 31 the goal is clearly to move units; therefore, all character has been erased in favor of a homogenous blob of crowd-pleasing sugary-woody-amber. This is somewhat cynical and slightly condescending perfumery; frankly, it's the kind of release that presumes the buyer to be uninformed (especially if you get to see the training material that accompanies the scents). Both No. 31 and No. 57 are stationed by the cash register and priced “appealingly” as an impulse buy or an afterthought. One can only hope that these scents turned out this way due to massive budgetary and creative restrictions as opposed to a lapse in Huber’s otherwise judicious (albeit pedestrian) judgment. While the ad-copy genuinely led me to believe that there might be some hope for these two, they succumb to the same problems of most modern commercial releases: mass appeal necessitates vague clichés drained of personality. In fairness, they’re probably on par with the kind of thing you could buy from other similar high-street clothing chains (such as GAP, for example), but given the perfumer’s history alongside such a promising concept, these can only be described as missed opportunities.

I received a generous 10 ml sample from the brand. This is the second perfume I tried from this brand. The concepts of the perfumes from this brand come from some moments in history. I really like this idea for a fragrance. I think it's quite interesting to connect historic moments in a scent. Because of the concepts, I consider this house as a niche house. According to the brand, the concept of the fragrance is an only female art exhibition, which happened Jan 5th, 1943, in 51 St., New York. And it's inspired by an aromatic cocktail and the gallery's curved oak wall. The scent itself is around the notes listed above. It opens very boozy but after a minute, there is a very gentle, soft, airy, and warm scent left in the skin. It's not very load and has feminity in the scent I personally use it for relaxing or before sleep. 7/10

I was very surprised that this was as nice as it was. I get woods and a little cinnamon, and as it wears, a little booze, and a small amount of vanilla in the background. It's warm and cozy, and could actually pass for a high-quality niche fragrance, in my opinion. It may even be fb worthy!

This was lighter and more youthful than I expected. Almost smells like a sun tan lotion. Boozy, woody, slightly floral, and very smooth. Leans feminine. I would not want to smell like this, but I would very much like to smell it on a female. 7/10.

I get a nice wood with sweet resins. This really has a Rag + Bone DNA. Overall it's nice, but not what I expected from the notes. I get no vanilla and no booze at all, and while there is sweet resin, it doesn't really read as labdanum to me.

Warm whiskey with cinnamon. I can detect the booze and cinnamon at 0-1 or 2 hours. Only vanilla on my skin after the two hour mark. Very sweet. Nice but not special. I love it for layering with deeper wood frags though.

Shockingly surprised how good this one smelled. Woody, cinnamon, and vanilla are the main notes in my opinion. Whiskey in the background. I think I'm gonna take a bottle. Solid juice for a J Crew fragrance.

Can anyone tell me if this smells like Soivohle Pink Praline at all? I love the notes of this J.Crew and Soivohle has similar...wondering if it would be a match for me. thanks

Yep a dull blob halfway between ck euphoria and Kat Von d sinner. Pretentious but lacking in development, complexity or vision. Pass.

I really wanted to like this one, but to me it smells like Cinnabar mixed with Neutrogena Rain Bath.