CJ Black

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!!

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.

I like this fragrance a lot. To date this has been my staple cologne when I'm in the mood for a more masculine fragrance, and I will be super disappointed when I finally run out.

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!!

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.

This one is a mall scent so let's get that out of the way at the start. This one was bought for me by my ex-fiance as a gift. She said that her dad wore it a lot and said it smelled really good. I wasn't a big fan of smelling like her dad, but it was a gift, so I figured I'd use it. Here are the surprising results: Smell: I really enjoy the smell. I don't see this note listed in the note breakdown, but I get a small incense-like vibe in this. I barely get any citrus. It's very musky, with a hint of incense in there. I get that this scent is geared toward the 13-18 year old crowd, but anybody can wear this. I've heard some say it's comparable to another mall scent- Jake by Hollister. Close, but not quite. Reason? With Hollister's Jake, I can actually tell there is citrus in there. Rating: 8/10 Projection/Sillage: Decent. Not too great, but not bad by any means. It sits in that happy medium. It lasts on me about 6 hours. It projects good for maybe the first 2 or 3 and then dwindles down after. It does, however, last a while on clothes so that's a plus. 6 hours projection for a 13 dollar mall scent? I'll take that any day of the week. The problem? 6 hours falls below my 8 hour mark so it's going to take a hit there. Rating: 6/10 Versatility: Pretty versatile. I'll give it that. I wear this on hot or cold days. I wear it at work or just lounging around. Rating: 10/10 Price: I haven't done this too often. I'm adding it to put into context that you're getting good "bang for your buck" if you buy this one. It's fairly cheap ($13 + tax is what I think she paid for it). You won't break the bank buying it and you can get solid usage/performance at this price point. Overall rating: 8/10. In my opinion, one of the best mall scents out there. I still say Fierce by Abercrombie is the best, but that's personal preference. At this price point, it's worth a buy. It's a good gift idea if you are looking for something good and don't want to spend over $20.

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

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.

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.

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.

I used to wear this all the time in High School. I went thru multiple bottles. It's good for a kid, but I can't see an adult wearing this. It's just rlly cheap and generic smelling, but I still loved it! Very musk forward.

It's alright. I'd recommend it only if you're on a very tight budget. It's a decent lightweight shower gel scent. Generic, as you'd expect, which isn't necessarily a bad thing...some of the best fragrances out there have scent profiles that have been done to death. But this cologne doesn't make me feel any emotions whatsoever. It exists, it (sort of) makes itself known, it tells everyone within a foot of you that you're wearing cologne, and that's all.

This and a clone of Drakkar Noir were my things in middle school. I found an old bottle of this and it is a blast from the past. Unless you're in middle school or rocking Axe stay away from this it is pretty boring :p

This is a budgeted cologne. Very decent and mild, and not a compliment getter. This brand is what my cousin uses for bathroom spray, and it's not an insult, just very cheap. 5/10.

its nothing special. can even smell the musk. not really anything to say about it other than its citric. 5/10

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.

Very boring. This is something you'd wear when nothing else is available.

Cheap and worth what you paid.

I got this from a friend since he said he would give me one of his fragrances. It's pretty nice. It has this strong citrus scent and I couldn't smell the musk. It has a weak longevity of 2 hours, plus a weak sillage, but my grandma likes it (Most likely due to the citrusy smell). If you're in middle school, you could get this, but there are other fragrances like Nautica Voyage which have a better smell for just about the same price or possibly cheaper than cj black :)

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.

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.

I'm only here because I thought it would be useful if I left a review of two other flankers of the CJ line that aren't on here yet CJ RED is listed as having Tonka Beans & Cardamom(It smells like JPG Le Male IMHO) CJ WHITE is listed as having Bergamot, Cardamom & Cedar(I cannot place what it resembles, but it is a Clean & Fresh smelling vibe, not too soapy, not sweet, nice citruscedar blend, I'd recommend) How do fragrances get added to the database!!?

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.

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.

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 ;)

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.

smells better than nv so im not complaining 5.4/10