Jungle Jezebel

Jungle Jezebel. The perfume with either an adorable or over the top tacky bottle, depending on your personal tastes. I was in the “yikes!” camp from the time I first saw it. I found it shockingly....bad. And because of the bottle I had no interest in trying the perfume. I tuned out all the reviews, I literally had zero interest. Then about a week or two ago, I learned it was inspired by Divine, the famous drag queen who died in the 80s. Hmm. This changes things a tad. I googled Divine and read a bit, then looked at pics of the bottle again. It was strangely starting to appeal to me. Even starting to look kinda cute. I watched videos of Divine. And googled more. And read some VERY mixed reviews. Some wonderful. Some downright frightening. Okay, I HAVE to smell this thing. I searched sample sites and had no luck. I didn’t see how to buy one sample from Sarah’s site. So, I reached out to a generous fragrance friend who had told me previously to let him know if he ever had anything I wanted to try. The sample arrived last night but I had to go meet a client and there was NO WAY I was putting this on before going to meet him after reading those reviews. So, I had to wait until today. I can’t recall being quite so curious to smell anything in a while. I literally woke up thinking “oh boy I get to try it today!! ”. Almost a Christmas morning sort of feeling. I’m excited but also a little scared, because let me tell you, some of the reviews are NOT flattering. A few semi-traumatized me. But this feeling of excitement was thrilling. Okay, so here goes. I go to the little taped up box with the sample, lift the lid off...heart semi pounding, there it is...“Jungle Jezebel”. I really don’t know what to expect but I’m feeling pretty positive and brave, so I go ahead and spray on plenty on the back of my hands and wrists, and bravely dab some on my neck. Okay, okay, not so bad! It’s sweet...bubblegum and banana. Not so scary! What is so scary about this?! I’m happily sniffing this banana Bubble Yum scent and something else starts happening. Something that’s not so yummy. Ah boy, it’s the civet. And it’s the type I have issues with. While I love vintage civet immensely, there is a synthetic type used in modern perfumery that can send me for the hills. I just can’t abide. It smells too butt-like, too funky and it’s just not the good kind of funk. It’s just funk. For me at least. So, I’m like okay, I see what they mean, this stuff is just not wearable. Like how could I get around people smelling like this? Musty butt and banana. I mean....just no. So, while I’m sniffing it, I decide to listen to the Divine song, Jungle Jezebel, her trademark song, so I can experience it fully before scrubbing it off. See if I’m missing something somehow. I sat there watching this 300 pound actor, dressed in drag, sweating up a storm, spewing profanity, just generally acting vulgar....and it hit me, this perfume “is” Divine. It’s vulgar. It’s trashy. It flashy. It’s over the top. It’s a work of art. It tells a story. It describes a human. The good and the bad. The sweet and the sweaty. It’s not exactly “pretty”. Neither was Divine. But he thought he was. And “she” convinced us she was. Right up until she dropped dead of a heart attack at age 42. That’s what Jungle Jezebel does. She’s not pretty...but she bats her eyelashes and makes you believe she is and she won’t give up until she’s gone. So...I’m left trying to decide if Jungle Jezebel is an absolute disaster or some sort of masterpiece. I wonder the same thing about Divine. And I think the answer is the same for both: Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 💋 Harris Glenn Milstead aka Divine (1945-1988).

Okay, I love this. I admit, there are times when this is hard to take, particularly midway through. Not animalic, indolic, or pissy, as some here say, but almost like the smell of perfume that has gone bad. It's that horrible, synthetic civet which in some perfumes reminds me of the smell of used motor oil. I get that same smell in the reformulated Paloma Picasso too. Yuck! Fortunately, I only smell that if I smell it directly off my skin. If I didn't know better, I would have thought the perfume was shot. But since I've never heard of a perfume deteriorating only in the middle while leaving the top notes and base notes intact, I know that it hasn't gone bad. As for the fragrance, as crazy as this sounds, I love that delicious banana gum opening which reminds me more of the scent of Bonomo Turkish Taffy that I loved as a kid, than bubblegum. If anyone grew up in the 60s, you'd know what I was talking about. That banana taffy scent last about 30 minutes on me. Then it goes through that crass, funky, motor oil stage, which also last about 30 minutes, but that too is swept away as the florals, in particular a huge, full blown, Tuberose, along with a custardy ylang, come busting down the door. I'm still getting the banana, but it is much lighter and adding creaminess and a little sweetness to the florals. The scent does eventually lighten up somewhat as it wears on, but this is so well made that it was evident until I showered it off. Even though I love this in the end I decided against having it in my wardrobe because it is such an oddity that I really don't know where and when I would ever wear this novelty. But if I were to ever purchase a bottle, it would be the regular bottle and not the special edition. For if I cared enough about it, which I don't, I could dress it up myself with a pair of false eyelashes from the $ store and save myself $100 bucks. Just putting that out there.

The first hour of this is mindbogglingly good. It’s got the rotten fruit/banana in the garbage can thing that I adore.( If you’ve been slumming it in the tropics you know). It’s got squeaky fleeing bats and freaky luminous mushrooms with its cave mould accord. There’s chemical bubble gum from the bin. My sample is not even remotely fecal, I don’t know what the sheltered pearl clutchers are smelling. But then it seems to fizzle out, leaving a pleasant amber almost old fashioned musky base. (I suppose that’s the problem). In that first hour I can’t compare it to much else. Edit Trying to eke out my 2ml sample because when I run out I’m in the firing line for a fb. This consequently is only my third wear. So now I’m tortured by having to wait for the dry down again. I’m strangely putting it into the God of Fire category atm. That was a perfume that I quickly put into the same male category as ... La Capitale, the red leather one from Xerjoff that I found profoundly masculine. But then after trying GoF more I fell in love with it for myself. But you know, I often think I’ve smelled it all, but this jezebel is quite unique. It jangles. It’s got a psychic loudness totally marrying smell-word-image-sound with what I’m thinking of as my memory of the drag artist. Like a toucan, larger and gaudier than anything you could imagine in the bird kingdom. Edit WTF is a tonsil stone Edit II Fecal, poopy? Yah nah not going there, no wonder the human race is self imolatiting HAS ANYONE ACTUALLY SMELLED POOP Okay now I’m going to revise Peaches Revenge which is just bangin stonkin brilliant and I don’t care about influencers

I have fallen completely head over heels for this stuff. After a rocky start when I Initially smelled it (and saw it) I came to appreciate it for the art of making Divine come to life. I didn’t see it as something I would wear but more something I could appreciate. I’m not sure what has happened but the overpowering civet and “filth” that I initially smelled seems to have nearly disappeared into an embrace of the exotic fruity bubblegum heaven heart, and all I’m left with is some kind of eyes rolling back in my skull bliss. When I first smelled this fragrance and I heard some influencers raving about it, I thought they had to just be “acting” because it was just so.....well, “daring”. I have to take all that back, maybe they just appreciated it faster than me. But I think the animalic aspects are not as apparent to some people and for whatever reason (hormones maybe?) that part just isn’t as overwhelming as it was to me at first. Maybe what I smell now is what the others folks were smelling all along. What actually made me fall in love with this perfume, believe it or not, was the hand sanitizer in this scent. I put it on my hands and it was really curse worthy how good it smelled to me. I started splashing it on myself like perfume. And it actually lasted quite a while!! I didn’t expect it to last more than a couple of minutes but it lasted a couple of hours! Long enough for me to become mad for it. Anyway, I couldn’t get the scent out of my head. I don’t know what it is about this perfume but it’s haunting, it buries itself in your brain and I crave it like a drug.

I was torn whether to blind buy this thing or not...at the initial release i was so intrigued by the name and the cute (or garrish?) bottle... But i couldn't find this at that time. I was like, okay, let's wait a little more meanwhile i kept reading people's review on Jezebel. It got many negative reviews, and people kept saying how nasty this perfume was, so I cancelled my plan to find this. 1 year later, I found this online, from a shop in my country, and was still affordable, I was still torn. But review from Forever Neil, saying if one likes Zoologist, then they would love Jezebel, so I decided to get this. Wow, I'm so glad I bought this. I don't regret it a bit. As mentioned by others, Jezebel opens with a loud bang of bubblegum and banana, much like the ones that I always consumed as a kid, then the tuberose comes out, and it feels like Miller Harris' Tuberosa. The civet is detectable but for me it gives off indolic atmosphere to the tuberose, just like indolic jasmine, except that it's civet. It was nothing, and I'm still waiting for the worst. 4 hours deep into the Jungle, the civet is now appear in all its glory... And it's beautiful. I you have smelled Hyrax from Zoologist, this is a very tame and beautiul civet, it even creates a vintage (80's) nuances, a time where Divine lived, and I guess that's what Miguel Matos attempts to create. In the 5th or the 6th hour, the civet return at the back, and the floral going upfront and this phase goes on until the rest of Jezebel lifespan. It's wonderful, very niche indeed.

One of the most impressive releases of the year, Before I talk about the smell, I would like to point out the beautiful limited edition bottle, which I find quite fascinating and a true work of art, I mean just look at it, is gorgeous and eye catching, I’m so honored to own one of the 250 pieces made in this special edition. Now, into the perfume itself, well the talented Miguel Matos signed the intoxicating composition, and I genuinely feel like he nailed it. Let me elaborate, Jungle Jezebel opens up with a bubblegum accord and prominent banana sprinkled in juicy citruses, but as fruity as the description sounds, it is never too sweet, in fact as the bombastic perfume begins to warmup on skin, the introductory accord takes a backseat to the floral arrangement, releasing an exotic aroma with an ultra sophisticated vintage vibe. Once the heart notes kick in, civet begins to dominate the entire composition, encapsulating the creaminess of tuberose and sandalwood , the elegance of ylang as well as the sweetness of tonka beans and the banana/bubblegum accord in a smooth animalic ride, adding a different dimension to the floral notes, and tons of character to the perfume. Jungle Jezebel is stunning, in my two wearings I’ve gotten huge longevity and big projection throughout, this is a big perfume, quite exotic and unique, but you must love civet in order to enjoy it, I know I do, so for me is pure joy.

Jungle jezebel is amazing. I must say that Miguel Mateños is becoming one of my favourite noses! The opening is just marvelous. A fruity bomb full of banana, a note which is not used a lot un perfumery, with this synthetic-sweet vibe of the chewigum... Boom! Direct to your nose!!! Soon the character of the fragrance behind to change becoming more and more animalic, but very pleasant at the same time. The civet gets the protagonism of the fragrance together with the White and yellow flowers over a sweet background. The last phases of the perfume are for me very similar to civet by zoologist. It is incredible how different is the development of jungle jezebel on a paper and on my skin. On the paper strip the banana-gum vibe keeps for lot of time being the civet only a companion. However on my skin the most noticeable note during the most parte of the duración of the fragrance is the civet, looking like a different perfume. The perfume is very intense, Deep, dense and animalic so I think It fits better with night dressing and under not tío warm temperatures. I think It is totally unisex. It goes Direct to my wishlist with no doubts! Scent: 10 Longevity: 9 Sillage: 8 Quality/price: 8 Versatility: 6 Originality: 10 Global: 9.5

Ok, this is not your everyday fragrance! This is not your crowd pleaser! And this is (probably) not your comforting scent you reach out to snuggle in the couch and watch a movie. This fragrance is very particular and it aimed to be particular. This is why the master of particularity was chosen to make it. Miguel Matos is (to me) one of the greatest out there to create specific images with his creations. Here, I will not refer to his inspiration nor his intentions. At first sniff, I recall the smell of a lady wearing make up/lipstick, heavy scent and a fur while going out at a night club in the 80s. Such a decadent yet indulgent smell. And in the dry down this gem is bringing the atmosphere of a night club with drag show at 3:00 am. Not its smell but its image. I cannot really explain how it does that but id does. And this works all the way for me as I have been a night person for decades and this is really a scent i would wear in such occasions. This is decadence in a bottle in all its glory. A statement fragrance, only for the bold ones, male or female.

No doggy poo note? :) A fragrance inspired by Divine (PBUH). I've not tested but I'm sure this is an impressive piece of olfactory art! I've been a fan of Divine and John Waters since the '70's so I'm genuinely intrigued! Judging by the number of dislikes I believe I'll take great pleasure in testing this on a crowded bus headed to a Trump rally. None of them will be wearing masks and I'm sure none of them will appreciate the intoxicating scent of a fragrance inspired by Divine. Fun fact: When I worked as an esthetician in Baltimore (early 2000's?), Divine's mother was one of my clients. She'd come in to have her eyebrows waxed. I heard many stories about Glen (Divine) as a child! EDIT: The Sarah Baker website has a discovery set with 2ml extrait de parfum strength spray vials of all 8 of her fragrances. It's currently US $50 with free shipping. Worth it for the JJ experience alone, plus you get 7 less divisive perfumes that sound phenomenal. Will be saving my pennies for this one for sure! So glad I stumbled upon this!

This perfume is not just an hommage to Divine, it’s an event. Every spray is a deranged sticky funhouse ride that also manages to be stately, magnificent, and most shockingly of all: wearable. First spray is bubblegum and bananas. Just a melted gob of hot summer candy. Then, on my skin it immediately shoots straight civet. For about ten minutes it’s abrasively and decisively anamalic. Not the anamalics nimbly woven into the Motif collection, this is a predator. Other reviewers used the term pissy apologetically. There are no apologies here, this mother eats the weak. Once the sharp uric and yes, indolic, notes tame and retreat and the fruit is gone, the amber softens into sugared white and yellow flowers. I get cinnamon and vetiver here as well for the transition but this is where it settles for me, frosting and waxy tuberose. This is not a daily perfume, it’s for the hot sweaty nights you don’t tell your family about.

As soon as I smelled this scent I could tell that Miguel Matos is a talent to watch for the future as a perfumer. This is one of the most mindblowing fragrances I have smelled lately. It opens with a flamboyant and unusual blast of banana bubble gum, but this only lasts a couple of minutes, only to reveal some joyful fruit salad that could induce us to think that this could go into the fruity-floral genre. But instead, it goes deep into a floral bouquet that is luxurious, voluptuous and a little vintage in style. These flowers, mainly ylang, are drenched in dirty civet and sweet amber. Jungle Jezebel is quite a trip, changing from moment to moment, giving me different aspects of this complex composition without losing its fun and sultry character. The drydown is gentle and warm. I can say that JJ is really like Divine: loud, flirty, colorful and unforgettable.

I hardly ever wear this, but I still purchased a bottle, because I know one day it's going to be gone from the market and I would forever regret not putting my hands on it while it was still available. It's so different from what else is out there, so unapologeticly taking space, shock and impress at the same time, I just know I am going to be in need of this secret weapon one day. Of course it helps that I really do enjoy the scent, the only downside is that it's extremely hard to find the right mood and occaison to wear it. To my nose/brain it doesn't smell fecal at all. It's very very civet heavy indeed, but not fecal, if anything body-related then it smells more similar to tired breath after a cup of black coffee and warm bedsheets just gotten slept in. That, and old ripe bananas.

When I received a sample of this, I was not expecting to like it. Boy was I wrong. In the opening, I got a huge blast of fresh civet along with a very prominent banana and juicy pink bubblegum. The bubblegum and banana work incredibly well with the civet, believe it or not. The civet lasted throughout the entire wear, but turned into more of a furry second skin after about 30 minutes. In the middle of the wear, the ylang was the only "new" note I picked up, but the bubblegum and banana would still pop in occasionally to say hello. Towards the end of the wear, the amber accord and tonka began to appear on top of the civet and fading floral, giving the composition a nice warmth. This is definitely something I would wear, and feel very comfortable doing so. Bravo Mr. Matos!!

As a tuberose, banana, and bubble gum scent fan I love this fragrance so so much!! I'm grateful that it has the right touch of animalic to work well on my skin without being too much. I'll update and give a more thorough review once I've received my full bottle. If you like animalic white florals I highly recommend! Update 4/18/2025: This fragrance is so fun!! It's everything I wanted Fracas to be. Bubblegummy, fruity, tangy tuberose with an attitude. It's a little weird, a little out there, but somehow still adorable. It's the beautiful woman letting loose on a summer afternoon. Her style is bright colors and bold accessories; she stands out but doesn't look tacky. She drives around in a convertible and laughs a lot. And when you meet her, you can't help but smile.

Wow. I am not a fan or bubble gum fragrances OR fruity perfumes, but this knocked my socks off. The first time I sprayed it it made me giggle. Not something I usually expect from a perfume. But that banana note is a hoot. It fades quickly into an intoxicating yet still fun tuberose that lingers for hours. There is a warm fuzziness from the civet, but I don’t get anything like the filth a lot of other people seem to. Then again, I love BIG animalics (Ma Bete by Eris Parfums, Carnicure by Marlou, etc.) so the funk in this barely registers. What I do get is a fun perfume that quickly turns into a very long lasting, sexy and sophisticated, warm and generous tuberose. I bought a full bottle after giving the tester a full wear.

Well this is fun! A fruity floral with a bit of naughtiness going on in its nether regions. Totally tropical up on top but the promised bubblegum note is somewhat elusive, (Fanny Bal did it better in Sale Gosse for Frederic Malle) although on closer inspection perhaps there is a faint trace of Bazooka Joe somewhere in the mix! The tuberose, ylang ylang and sandalwood at its heart radiates a golden warmth and a touch of civet works its dark magic down below. Miguel Matos has created a remarkably powerful and coherent composition for Sarah Baker. Longevity and trail are impressive. Just the job for boudoir shenanigans methinks! I love it!

This one is interesting, opens up very fruity (banana and bubble gum)but as it dries down something intriguing pops up(maybe civet combined with the florals?). I couldn’t stop sniffing my arm during my test. From the air it almost smells like tonsil stones in not so repellent way as someone described here but if you put your nose on the area that you sprayed it is still fruity and bit powdery. Very experimental creation, if you are looking for something sensual but not too animalic this is it, lasts for more than 12hrs on 3-4 sprays. Not blind buy worthy if you are not into out of the box creations.

Wow! What a perfume. Pure animal attraction. Jungle Jezebel is opulent and full of ripe bananas and flowers that are past their prime. When I first tried this on I didn’t look at the notes and I thought I was smelling an indolic jasmine, but I understand that note to be civet combined with the florals. Call me crazy but I think this is beautiful. I don’t like it close up, so spray it on your wrist or ankle and enjoy the lovely trail. This is not for the inexperienced, and despite the bubble gum note, it’s not for anyone under 30. (Yes, reverse ageism and for that I apologize).

I am NOT a fan of bubble gums, sweet fruits and especially banana in fragrances. Just too artificial and nose burning effect until I smelled Miguel Matos for Sarah Baker Jungle Jezebel. This is so good! Complex, with layers of warmth, and kind of tropical flowery freshness and masterfully blended animalic and fruity nuances that makes Miguel one of my favorites perfume creators, another exceptional is Rules of Atraction from same house. A bottle worthy creation for any one that wants to be original and authentic. Not for fainthearted and freshies a likes.

Jungle Jezebel is an ode to Divine and it does so perfectly. This is as close to campy drag as perfume can come. Cheap fruity bubblegum in the opening, which then soon is followed by a Kouros-like skanky civet note, a cocktail of tropical fruits and even cigarette smoke. This might not sound very recommendable but somehow it works and makes me smirk every time I smell this on me, which is hours on end because performance is through the roof.