High John the Conqueror

[FathomBelow]

A fast-acting, powerful scent used to overcome adversity through positive means. Attracts wealth, prestige, good health, and enhances others' opinions of you. Grants courage and steadfastness.

This is one of the imps that I was looking forward to the most when I received my order...

In imp: like everyone says, smells like grape - not too sweet, with something floral mixed in. Really nice, but faint.
On skin: Good lord, I'm getting really strong grape candy. Just sugary grape. That's when it's wet - when it dries it turns more into the scent I get in the imp, which is what I was hoping for.

I don't know about the voodoo properties of this blend (but I'm having an important meeting today, so we'll see how it goes...) but I could definitely get a bottle of it.

Edit:
"I could definitely get a bottle of it" has turned into "definitely get a bottle of it." I've used this twice so far, both for occasions where I need to overcome adversity, enhance others' opinions of me, etc. And it's worked (or something's worked!) both times. The first meeting mentioned above turned out really well - I was a lot more outgoing than usual, and I made some important connections. The second time was for a presentation for my architecture class. I did the first presentation of the quarter, and afterwards the teacher said that I did a great job and that my presentation was a good example for others to follow!

Sorry this post is so long by the way. Edited January 16, 2010 by AmberApple

[starfish327]

straight uncut high john the conquerer oil is one of my most potent ritual tools lately and I was interested in the comparison sine this blend is more likely to be wearable.

 

this strikes me as being a lot weaker with a vanilla undertone. I don't get the same confidence boost with it either. a day's wearing will show what effect if any this has.

[impolight]

 

 

 

:::HIGH JOHN THE CONQUEROR:::

 

Huh...

From the freshly uncapped Imp, High John the Conqueror smelled an awful lot like a cherry hard candy.

After several deep, slow sniffs, the effet was much the same...

It was set aside for a few moments, and the wee spritz that acted as trace element on the noses end hinted at Magnolia.

Admittedly, at this phase; that is, that which has yet to react with body chemistry, the only forseeable increase in prestige would be with wee ankle biters...

On with the adventure!

On the Skin: The Cherry is still here! There also seems to be some strawberries, Cream, Magnolia, Water Lily, Neroli, and Narcissus.

Super-sweet!

By it's moniker, High John the Conqueror was originally believed to be a commanding sort of fragrance for Him.

Experience paints a different picture entirely...

This is good fortune, a winsome smile, and an almost magical dalliance for Her.

High John the Conqueror is sweet, Floral and breezy.

Spectrally a translucent white.Fresh!

4.4 of 5.

[melrose]

In the imp: wet, green herbs.

 

On, wet: laundry detergent.

 

Drydown: something incredibly sweet slapped me in the face along with an undercurrent of something hard. I know ''hard'' sounds weird, but whatever this scent was, I involuntarily clenched my jaw and got an instant headache. I raced to wash it off. I always try to leave scents on a while because there's a good chance they'll change into something wonderful, but this was just too horrid.

 

I really wish I knew what's in this.

[ami226]

On the skin: musky grapes? Musky candy grape.

 

Not too bad actually. Not something I would like to smell like though...

[laslibres]

Hmm...I don't know why I don't get grape out of this like everyone says, just rose and herbs. Interesting. Maybe also honeysuckle, or some other floral...a very pleasant floral, smells fresh and just-picked but...proper, too. Tasteful and appropriate.

 

And it is a very nice, nuanced, complex floral, with the scent of herbs and a little bit of resins. I don't feel like conquering anything just yet, though. It's a calming scent, and it makes me smell more competent and mature, I think, so that might achieve the blend's desired effect. However, I still put on either Wolf's Heart or Faustus when I really feel like conquering stuff.

[DraloreShimare]

In the vial – Woody fruit, only slightly grape-y at further sniff.

 

On the skin – Strong, sweet. Much like a grape-vine. A little clean soap mixed in gives it a masculine scent.

 

Dry – A clean, dry, slightly fruity scent. I think there’s some white floral in the mix, too. Jasmine, perhaps?

 

[zagadka]

Definitely sweet, but more floral than fruit or food. I get something floral and sticky at first, then amaretto, a hint of vanilla, and then maybe sweetpea?

 

My mom put this on yesterday while we were in our store. We just lost my papa (her dad) and its been hard to go back to work and put on our happy selling face, so we thought this might help. Not only did it help clear the air and make us feel more positive, but a man came in not too long after we applied and spent over $600. It was pretty nuts.

 

 

Edit... this reminds me a lot of Aeval, but a warmer less sharp version. It dries into a powdery, light floral on me. I don't necessarily LIKE the way it smells but every time one of us wears it, there is a buying frenzy in the store

 

Edit Edit... this definitely gives me a raging headache, sharp florals do that to me. But, my mom loves the way it smells and works so much that we got a bottle.

Edited October 30, 2010 by ECLECTIC

[cupcakegernade]

This is vine ripe grapes wafting out of the imp, so rich and sweet. This is absolutely delicious. Once on my skin, the grapes smell slightly fermented, but only for a few seconds. I start to pick up the scent of wild flowers and herbs, and sadly the grapes fade off to the background. It does start to take on a soapy and powdery smell to it. As this dries, it is all soapy wild flowers. I differently won't be picking up a bottle of this, but I may hang on to my imp.

[blu°]

High John is not a scent I'd wear as a perfume anymore. I used to really like it when I first got into BPAL, but now I've started to dislike the weird fruitiness in here a bit. I still think the scent is pleasant as a whole, and I use it sparingly on occasion when I want to leave a good impression somewhere, but I'd usually layer it with something I like better scent-wise.

 

It's an incensey, slightly chalky, voodoo-magical scent first of all. But then there's this one weird fruit note others have identified as grape mixed into it. It puzzles my nose a little, and it's not entirely unpleasant, just a bit weird. Enough so, however, to make me not reach for it more often. I think to remember that I smelled something similar in Tzadikim Nistarim, but I'm not sure right now.

[theatrically]

I can't quite figure out how I feel about this scent.

 

I'm not getting the grape that everyone else seems to be smelling -- there's definitely a sort of round sweetness to the scent, but it's hard to define what it is. Mostly I'm getting clean soapy florals. Which aren't usually something I'm a fan of, but it's actually quite pleasant.

 

Strong, too -- it amps to high heaven on me! As for any voodoo mojo it might have, I'm not sure yet. Certainly I feel energized, but perhaps a little too much so? If anything, I'm feeling kind of manic. Between that and the throw it seems to have, I might have to reconsider how much I apply next time...

 

ETA: It's getting soapier and soapier as it, and I, calm down. Which is not necessarily bad, just not quite what I'd expected. I feel very...um, clean.

Edited February 1, 2011 by theatrically

[SophieCedar]

Hmm.. I don't get grapes so much..more just a slight boozy note when it's wet. Cream note throughout, water lily, oh wait..grapes slightly when dry. Light herbal background but I can't tell what it is..may actually be high john root?

[V294]

Well I really didn't like the wet stage as it was SUPER sweet, but it's quite pleasant as it settles and smells quite nice and subtle now. I will have to try it's voodoo properties and will hopefully have the same luck as others as I could seriously use it about now!

[Gateau]

I got the sweet grape, wet greens, and floral in the wet stage, but dry a very bitter hard white flower comes out and turns the whole thing into rest stop disinfectant hand soap. I could not go into any important meeting wearing this, I'd be totally distracted by the pungent smell.

[PumpkinGuts]

Wet: Grape cough medicine

Dry: Powdered grape candy à la Fun Dip (or Baby Bottle Pops)

 

A lot more bearable in the dry stage, but still too sweet for me. It reminds me of something a prepubescent girl would wear, or how kids smell when they eat too much candy and have a sticky ring of it around their mouths.

[senju88]

High John the Conqueror is my no1. go-to good luck scent. Seriously. Lucky.

 

Not lucky in the sense of "oh I found $100 on the street" but bad days do not happen when I wear this. Problems are easier to deal with. If I sense that "today is going to be hell, oh GOD, how will I get through it??" I chuck on lashings of this in the morning and IT'S ALL GOOD.

 

What does it smell like? A little sweet, a little grassy. Heck, if it smelled like a dog turd I wouldn't care. I wear this baby for its EFFECT not its scent.

 

Great for public speaking, job interviews and days that you know are going to be stressfull.

[SadariEvenstar]

This smells like cherry Robitussin when I first put in on. It then quickly morphs to highly floral cheap hotel soap. It's one of the very few 'get it off me right now' scents that I have found. My eyes are watering right now it's so pungent.

[maiea]

Sweet and fruity is what I get from this when I wear it.... however I don't care so much about the scent of this one...

 

I NEED this oil. Whenever I wear it, I FEEL good, confident. My anxiety and little nagging worries seem not quite as big when I wear this. It lets me push them aside. I got this as a freebie imp from a forumite, and I think I need a bottle.

[Cattastroficka]

I get cherry too when this is wet and in the vial. Then it mellows into this lovely floral soap. I myself love roses and old ladies soaps, so this is a keeper for me. Big bottle too. LOVE this!!

[stellamaris]

This is one of my everyday scent and mental boosters, I am about to order my second BB of it.

As a scent it is a wonderful rich floral and fruit melange. Strangely I get strawberries? Not actual cherry but that rich cherry feeling.

Sweet, very very sweet.

And like Cattastroficka, I love o'lady junk too, so this one is for me.

 

As an aside, I always work with High John, candles, herbs, oils, I have always felt an affection for him. And so it continues...

[mymymai]

In the Imp (ITI): It smells like Dimetapp (grapes and cherry cough medicine), some jasmine, and a little bubblegum (but softer).

 

Wet: The bubblegum might be lotus, now that I smell it on my skin . There is still a sweet and flowery aspect to this, but there is also a slightly soapiness to this as well.

 

Dry: It fades really quickly! I’ve applied twice and I can smell nothing, even after two hours. After 20 minutes, it smells like lotus and jasmine with a little spice that I can’t name. Too bad it fades so quickly.

[bellumed]

Imp: Grape that almost goes to Kool-Aid, but with an herbal edge to prevent that.

 

Wet: It smells like grape medicine, but thankfully it’s not strong enough to be obnoxious.

 

Dry: As it dries, High John loses the Kool-Aid entirely and most of the medicine to become a leafy scent, and then, yes, it develops a laundry vibe. Clean smelling and a little grapey. I can see where some people are smelling cologne; for me HJtC wavers on the line of laundry detergent and cologne, closer to laundry.

 

High John the Conqueror is inoffensive but not particularly interesting to me. It doesn't last long, I can't smell it at all a few hours later.

 

I will say that I had a very confident, happy day, but I'm not sure I would chalk that up to voodoo.

Edited September 1, 2012 by bellumed

[fufu_berry]

This is a very light scent - I definitely get the grape that others have mentioned, but it's not an artificial cough syrup or grape soda grape, it's more like a fresh peeled grape. There's also an underlying herbal smell - I've heard the smell of High John essence described in a lot of different ways, from vetiver to mace or allspice, so this might be that hard-to-pin scent. It wouldn't be my first choice for a personal fragrance, but it did feel calming and grounding. I was performing and was really nervous, and it definitely gave me a little boost. I'll be using this again.

[Acushla]

This one doesn't morph too much for me from bottle to skin; I pretty much get that grape candy scent several people have mentioned here all the way through, but it reminds me of kudzu and wisteria blossoms, so I actually kind of like it. Definitely not something I would choose for myself at a store, but it does give me a nice boost of "courage and steadfastness" so I've kept it around for job interviews and situations when I'm feeling down and it seems to do the trick. I'll at least get another imp of this once mine is empty since I don't use it as an everyday scent.

[lucycat]

In the imp: Grape candy

 

Wet: Grape candy

 

Dry: Old-fashioned floral soap. I'm reminded of the smell of the linen closet at my grandfather's house when I was little. I'm sure there were some boxes of fancy soap in there that were probably older than I was.

 

This is a light scent on me. I didn't really have a chance to test the "enhances others' opinions of you" aspect of it, but I wanted this for job interviews and such. If I wear High John the Conqueror for something like that, I'll report back.

Edited July 29, 2013 by lucycat