rue21 CJ Black Cologne
My favorite cologne has been discontinued, but I fortunately bought enough that I should be alright for a long time. A very long time.
When I was in high school, I explored a couple of different scents. I wore my friend’s Diesel Fuel for Life when I would go to his house over the weekend. I bought a bottle of Abercrombie Fierce because a girl I had a crush on said it was her favorite scent. But the biggest source of cologne for me was rue21.
I was already in rue21 frequently as is. They had clothing that I liked for cheaper than a lot of the other mainstream apparel retailers. Plus, their cologne was only $10 for a large bottle. I could try out different scents and use way too much without spending a ton. That $60 bottle of Fierce was a Christmas gift, and I couldn’t be spending that much on cologne all the time.
They had several scent options, and I think at one point I had a bottle of each. One of them was themed around being eco-friendly, and it smelled like “clean trees” according to my cousin. Another was a sweeter smell that I liked, but I didn’t want to smell like that all the time. The one that I ended up wearing the most was CJ Black.
Not only did I tend toward it most frequently, but my (now) wife loved it. Obviously, if you’re courting someone with the intent to wed, you want to improve your chances in any way possible. Wearing cologne that they like is an obvious solution. I had found the scent that would come to be a trademark for me.
Since I wore CJ Black so frequently, I went through the bottles faster. Because of this, I would pick up a few whenever I went by rue21 to keep a backup bottle available. They didn’t frequently discount the cologne, but it was cheap enough as is, so it wasn’t a huge lift to keep some on hand.
Several years went by before the bankruptcy scare of 2017 (which was their second bankruptcy, after the first instance in 2003 before I started shopping there) (Weil & McCrory, 2024). I went by a nearby store and bought several bottles of CJ Black. I wasn’t sure if or when they would start closing the locations near me, but I didn’t want to be left empty handed. Four bottles, if I remember correctly, seemed to be enough for the time. I decided I would buy more if I got word of stores near me starting to close.
From 2017 to 2024, there was a period where things seemed to be cautiously stable with rue21. They weren’t doing great, but they seemed to get enough business to stay afloat. I couldn’t fit in their clothes anymore, but I did still love their cologne. I didn’t keep a stockpile of CJ Black, but I would swing by on occasion to pick up an extra bottle, much the same way I did in my youth.
In May of 2024, it was announced that rue21 would be filing for bankruptcy again, and this time it would be closing all of its stores. That became a much bigger problem. If all stores were officially closing permanently, there was no way I would get more cologne after they sold out. The only option would be absurdly overpriced resellers online. I don’t support scalpers, so that wouldn’t even be on the table.
I started by investigating exactly what scent CJ Black had, and whether there were alternatives available from less dire retailers. Even if I had to pay an upcharge for a more premium product, I wouldn’t mind as long as it smelled the same. The box for CJ Black describes the key notes as “grapefruit, bergamot, & sandalwood.” I can’t say I detect grapefruit, and I don’t have a clue what bergamot is, but I definitely recognize the familiar scent of sandalwood.
One of the most ironic comparisons was Hollister Jake, which I haven’t personally smelled, but it would be HILARIOUS if the successor to my main scent was also my name. The good people of reddit recommended Ed Hardy Villain, which seems successful enough that they won’t be going out of business for a while… oh wait. Looks like it was discontinued as well (u/ON3Bot, 2024).
Even if the alternate search was going poorly, I could at least buy some time if I bought up a few bottles of the real stuff. I ran by the closest location that same day. The fragrance display only had a single bottle of CJ Black, so I snatched it up before someone could dash in and beat me to it. I asked at the counter if they had any more bottles in the back, but they did not. Alas, one bottle was better than none.
Because I’ve got friends (in low places), I put out the word on Facebook. Turns out two of the other nearby stores were completely sold out of all fragrances. I considered buying up what was left of the other scents for the potential option to trade for CJ Black or scalp them on the internet, but again, I hate scalpers. No dice.
A friend from about an hour away went by her local store, and thankfully, they still had plenty. She bought ten (TEN???) bottles. I might be on the hook for a small fortune, but I had some cologne to last a while. When I asked her how much it was, she only quoted me a little over $50. That didn’t seem right, since bottles were priced at $10 each in my store, but I wasn’t going to complain. Turns out, her store had already discounted fragrances even further to unload the rest of the inventory. Winning!
With the bottles I already had and the additional bottles that I was able to source from others, I now have 13 small and a single large. As much as it seems excessive and looks like I might have a problem, I just wanted to make sure I had enough of that particular scent to last for as long as possible. For some people, that might not last all that long. I know plenty of people that almost bathe in cologne, and they wear it every single day. I only wear it maybe once or twice a week, and four sprays is all I need. This is going to last me a WHILE.
I need to start monitoring how long a bottle lasts me. If the math works out, maybe I never have to buy another bottle of cologne in my life. If I do, it’s probably years or even decades into the future (provided they still even have a scent after that long). That should be plenty of time for me to find something similar or something else that my wife likes. And if the obsessive people of the internet are as consistent as they tend to be, someone is going to do the legwork to figure out the absolute closest thing available and make sure others know. I’ll hold out hope for that unsung hero.
References:
u/S_L_U_S_H. (2024, April 2). R/colognes on reddit: Colognes like rue 21 black?. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Colognes/comments/1bu4qzk/colognes_like_rue_21_black/
Weil, A., & McCrory, C. (2024, May 3). A teen clothing retailer is going out of business and closing all its stores. WNEP. https://www.wnep.com/article/news/nation-world/rue21-bankruptcy-closing-all-stores-full-list-locations/507-19106445-2aa7-4062-b5b7-f0ae040c3da3
I was already in rue21 frequently as is. They had clothing that I liked for cheaper than a lot of the other mainstream apparel retailers. Plus, their cologne was only $10 for a large bottle. I could try out different scents and use way too much without spending a ton. That $60 bottle of Fierce was a Christmas gift, and I couldn’t be spending that much on cologne all the time.
They had several scent options, and I think at one point I had a bottle of each. One of them was themed around being eco-friendly, and it smelled like “clean trees” according to my cousin. Another was a sweeter smell that I liked, but I didn’t want to smell like that all the time. The one that I ended up wearing the most was CJ Black.
Not only did I tend toward it most frequently, but my (now) wife loved it. Obviously, if you’re courting someone with the intent to wed, you want to improve your chances in any way possible. Wearing cologne that they like is an obvious solution. I had found the scent that would come to be a trademark for me.
Since I wore CJ Black so frequently, I went through the bottles faster. Because of this, I would pick up a few whenever I went by rue21 to keep a backup bottle available. They didn’t frequently discount the cologne, but it was cheap enough as is, so it wasn’t a huge lift to keep some on hand.
Several years went by before the bankruptcy scare of 2017 (which was their second bankruptcy, after the first instance in 2003 before I started shopping there) (Weil & McCrory, 2024). I went by a nearby store and bought several bottles of CJ Black. I wasn’t sure if or when they would start closing the locations near me, but I didn’t want to be left empty handed. Four bottles, if I remember correctly, seemed to be enough for the time. I decided I would buy more if I got word of stores near me starting to close.
From 2017 to 2024, there was a period where things seemed to be cautiously stable with rue21. They weren’t doing great, but they seemed to get enough business to stay afloat. I couldn’t fit in their clothes anymore, but I did still love their cologne. I didn’t keep a stockpile of CJ Black, but I would swing by on occasion to pick up an extra bottle, much the same way I did in my youth.
In May of 2024, it was announced that rue21 would be filing for bankruptcy again, and this time it would be closing all of its stores. That became a much bigger problem. If all stores were officially closing permanently, there was no way I would get more cologne after they sold out. The only option would be absurdly overpriced resellers online. I don’t support scalpers, so that wouldn’t even be on the table.
I started by investigating exactly what scent CJ Black had, and whether there were alternatives available from less dire retailers. Even if I had to pay an upcharge for a more premium product, I wouldn’t mind as long as it smelled the same. The box for CJ Black describes the key notes as “grapefruit, bergamot, & sandalwood.” I can’t say I detect grapefruit, and I don’t have a clue what bergamot is, but I definitely recognize the familiar scent of sandalwood.
One of the most ironic comparisons was Hollister Jake, which I haven’t personally smelled, but it would be HILARIOUS if the successor to my main scent was also my name. The good people of reddit recommended Ed Hardy Villain, which seems successful enough that they won’t be going out of business for a while… oh wait. Looks like it was discontinued as well (u/ON3Bot, 2024).
Even if the alternate search was going poorly, I could at least buy some time if I bought up a few bottles of the real stuff. I ran by the closest location that same day. The fragrance display only had a single bottle of CJ Black, so I snatched it up before someone could dash in and beat me to it. I asked at the counter if they had any more bottles in the back, but they did not. Alas, one bottle was better than none.
Because I’ve got friends (in low places), I put out the word on Facebook. Turns out two of the other nearby stores were completely sold out of all fragrances. I considered buying up what was left of the other scents for the potential option to trade for CJ Black or scalp them on the internet, but again, I hate scalpers. No dice.
A friend from about an hour away went by her local store, and thankfully, they still had plenty. She bought ten (TEN???) bottles. I might be on the hook for a small fortune, but I had some cologne to last a while. When I asked her how much it was, she only quoted me a little over $50. That didn’t seem right, since bottles were priced at $10 each in my store, but I wasn’t going to complain. Turns out, her store had already discounted fragrances even further to unload the rest of the inventory. Winning!
With the bottles I already had and the additional bottles that I was able to source from others, I now have 13 small and a single large. As much as it seems excessive and looks like I might have a problem, I just wanted to make sure I had enough of that particular scent to last for as long as possible. For some people, that might not last all that long. I know plenty of people that almost bathe in cologne, and they wear it every single day. I only wear it maybe once or twice a week, and four sprays is all I need. This is going to last me a WHILE.
I need to start monitoring how long a bottle lasts me. If the math works out, maybe I never have to buy another bottle of cologne in my life. If I do, it’s probably years or even decades into the future (provided they still even have a scent after that long). That should be plenty of time for me to find something similar or something else that my wife likes. And if the obsessive people of the internet are as consistent as they tend to be, someone is going to do the legwork to figure out the absolute closest thing available and make sure others know. I’ll hold out hope for that unsung hero.
References:
u/S_L_U_S_H. (2024, April 2). R/colognes on reddit: Colognes like rue 21 black?. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Colognes/comments/1bu4qzk/colognes_like_rue_21_black/
Weil, A., & McCrory, C. (2024, May 3). A teen clothing retailer is going out of business and closing all its stores. WNEP. https://www.wnep.com/article/news/nation-world/rue21-bankruptcy-closing-all-stores-full-list-locations/507-19106445-2aa7-4062-b5b7-f0ae040c3da3
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