Jack Black Signature Black Mark (2005)
by Jack Black

odysseusm and darfoo offer good perspectives below, albeit a little different. TropiRock touches on something important as well. My perspective is that this fragrance is composed of truly high quality, natural ingredients that do take you to a different place. Extremely well-crafted and near minimalistic...the red cedar is dominant, but the saffron offers a nice warmth and special touch. This is real saffron - the small strands that are ultra expensive and you just need a dash in a large cooking pot, and that's what you get here.

The issue is not the scent - just judging that, I am feeling that this is a niche fragrance that is both unique and masterfully poured into a bottle. 4.5/5 stars!!

The longevity and sillage (and this is an EDP) are not much more than a dilute EDT or even EDC strength. The aroma for the first 20-30 minutes is fantastic - you are in a grove of cedar trees in the spring time and you just so happen to have some saffron strands in a small glass jar. You lay back and look up through the canopy and see the warm light in your favorite leather jacket...and then, suddenly, you come to and realize that you were just daydreaming. The smell is now just a skin scent and you keep going back to your wrist for more and it drifts away within a couple of hours almost entirely. I would love to find something to layer this with - but I cannot imagine degrading the beauty it offers, even if short-lived. I can appreciate that natural materials are not as potent as synthetic, as I've said before in this forum, but there needs to be a better balance. I cannot reapply this more than once (and that is with 5+ shots each time) and not go through a bottle in the blink of an eye.

Overall, I recommend this for connossieurs who want to sample and savor something special, but not worry about the longevity and sillage. Let it evoke a memory...however, for people wanting a true EDP-strength woody scent (or potent EDT), this is not it. My rating, in my personal context, is a solid 4/5 stars - I just wish beautiful moments and scents like these last longer.

12nd December, 2011. (Last Edited: 30th December, 2011.)

Oh, my. To write an honest review of Jack Black Signature Black Mark is difficult. I sincerely enjoy the fragrance - it's my kind of smell. Refined, atypical, not overpowering, not "fresh", not aqueous, not citrus. More like a classy soft spice with a hint of cedar. It leather is in there, my nose isn't detecting it at all. So far, so good. But then comes the matter of longevity and sillage. This is an Eau de Parfum, not an Eau de Toilette and so I expected something with a little more...um...punch! Instead, I find Black Mark to be shy and short-lived. Maybe it's just my skin, I don't know. This put me in a compromising position regarding a Neutral vs a Thumbs Up rating. In the end, I pondered whether I would buy JBSBM again when the bottle has run dry. The answer was "yes" and so I think a Thumbs Up is appropriate. So it is written, so it shall be done.

8th January, 2011.

Dear Black Mark, you certainly bring it on with your stripped down saffron coriander cedar leather. Unfortunately, the simplicity of this starts to grate on my nose. After the saffron and coriander start to subside, the cedar starts getting what I'd call "fat" and cloyingly numbing. It's really missing a complexity in the middle, and I'm now considering this a mixing device to put a macho blast into other less masculine scents. In short, Black Mark is a rather simple construction that's kind of a kick in the head - good to send the message that you are not to be messed with. But you may want to layer something on top of it to fill in the olfactory gaps and smooth it out.

6th March, 2010.

A milder, more modern interpretation of the masculine woody aromatic. The astute selection of spices lends an interesting contrast to the oft-unruly cedar for a tighter composition with few rough edges. I can't detect the leather either. While not particularly outstanding, I find BLACK MARK to be as comforting as the easy-going charms of a favorite uncle. This is indeed a well-tailored option for the confident man.

4th October, 2009.

I can imagine being in the mood for this fragrance, but not very often. There's nothing particularly special about it, especially considering that I also have the Derek Jeter Driven Black fragrance, which features a lot of orange up top, but is otherwise similar. I think I like having that big orange note up top, but as I said this is not my favorite kind of fragrance so I don't wear them often enough to really develop a strong sense of either one. Unlike others, I prefer Gucci Pour Homme this, though I don't wear that one often either. I also find this lacks enough dynamism for me, though it's a nice scent (unless you don't like saffron, as foetidus said). If you like woody fragrances and you enjoy the smell of saffron, this should be a safe "blind buy," but don't expect anything incredible here.

28th August, 2009.

Fragrance notes: Kashmir saffron, coriander, cedar, leather
I like woody scents and this is indeed woody. The aromatic cedarwood is complimented by the spice notes. I’m a bit surprised at how woody this is – no complaints, but this definitely registers on the Richter scale of wood-dominated scents. Cedar can sometimes ‘go south’ and get obnoxious… it stays civilized here. The spices give it a bit of an old-school barbershop vibe. There is a faint hint of leather. I’m hyper-sensitive to vanilla, and I don’t get ANY of that here. I don’t find the saffron problematic, indeed on me it is just part of the spice mix. (For those interested in more prominent saffron scents, I recommend Safranier and Palisander. Zafferano… each person needs to try it.) Back to JBB, it is a cool-weather scent – not heavy or sweet, but I find it to be substantial.

18th August, 2008.