High John the Conqueror

[Tesseljoan]

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.

I haven't made a review for this yet because I can't for the life of me figure out what this smells of. I can't smell grapes. It just smells slightly like soap, but not quite, with some white fruits -but not quite. It has the same herby feel of the Voodoo oils, and as a scent it doesn't stick out.

It is very effective, though.

[Shollin]

First sniff: How odd. I wasn’t expecting sweet fruity cherries from High John. It’s yummy!

 

Wearing: There’s something in this that I’ve smelled in Lush soap, and I can’t identify it. It’s a lot less sweet on my skin – a bit of a green-wood scent, with that indefinable Lushness hanging around the edges.

[kythryne]

This smells like grapes and cleaning fluid on me. I don't like it as a perfume, but I do find it calming and and strengthening, and people who had previously been snarky with me over stupid things started behaving themselves again yesterday, so make of that what you will. I'll put a dab on somewhere inconspicuous from time to time if I'm going up against something challenging, and I dabbed a bit onto the door and the window of my office.

[Thorne]

I had a really good experience with High John the Conqueror last week, so I'm gonna paraphrase what I wrote about it on the BPAL LJ commmunity:

 

I'm convinced that I got a fantastic grade on a recent presentation about Machiavelli because I wore High John the Conqueror to class. I don't know if it was voodoo stuff or just that I believed it made me more confident, but it worked!

 

High John the Conqueror smells really good to me - sweet and floral and clean. I usually don't care for florals, but this is not overwhelmingly flowery. It's more like a soapy, clean, fresh smell, with a hint of floral. I can't pick out individual notes, but it does little lemony, maybe.

 

I have horrible stage-fright. Any time I have to talk in front of people, I practically hyperventilate. I've been known to actually vomit from the stress of public speaking before. So it's no small thing to me to be able to get up in front of a class and give an hour long presentation and lead a discussion.

 

Before class, I put on the High John the Conqueror, went over the material one last time, and then just went in and blew it out. It was awesome. I felt calm and centered and totally prepared. I mean, I did do the research and was prepared, but I wasn't nervous about presenting it, which is a big change for me. Like I said, I'm not sure if it was the properties of the oil, or just believing that the oil would help me that did it, but I was totally impressed by it.

[thespring]

It's perfect.

In the vial I smelled cherries but on my skin I get grapes too. There is the typical herbal voodoo blend base which I adore. It's soapy in the best possible way. I hate soapyness but not this one. It's soft and round most wonderfully blended. I think the secret is that it makes me feel very comfortable and that makes me stronger. I love John.

[LiberAmoris]

High John the Conqueror is one of those imps I keep in reserve. I like knowing it's there, even though I don't need a bottle of it. For me this was less grapey and more melony, with a lush and sweet herbal greenness. I’ve tried this on a few separate occasions in order to give it a good empirical testing.

 

My extremely unscientific results:

 

Um, it seems to work. On Day 1 of wearing it my boss gave me two extra paid days off, for no apparent reason. I was out of days for the year because of an unexpected health problem, and although he is normally a by-the-book kind of guy, he told me that he would be giving me some extra comp time. I am going to chalk this partly up to High John and partly up to the fact that he’s a really compassionate person.

 

On Day 2 of testing, I was able to look a work nemesis straight in the face and tell them that they needed to stop badgering and harassing me. This is something I think I would be able to do without High John, but it really gave me a boost of confidence that helped carry me through an awkward moment.

 

And yesterday I wore it and was able to finally put some chronic low-grade pain behind me. Somehow High John just carried me over the way a Tylenol might---but High John smells so much better!

[shelldoo]

wet grapes and lotus

 

as it dries it goes thru a quick flash of something gone rancid but after a couple second it is back to a nice grapy, herbal, lotus scent, very nice

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

I am testing this one out in celebration of getting a lot of writing done today, so I already feel triumphant...but any random acquisition of money or success that might happen is welcome, too.

 

This smells...clean and bright. A red-wine note slightly like in Wanda, but sweeter. Soft herbs around the edges, coming out more on the drydown. I have a mental image of raising a goblet to toast some major celebration. This one would be good for graduations as well as job interviews. This and Water of Notre Dame will be my most-used Voodoo blends, since I'm all about managing the stress...

[olympia301]

 

I did so want to like High John, so many nice things have been said about it. Alas, this is another scent that does not like my skin. It never smelled anything like grapes on me. It was the smell of old dirt and dust with an unhappy bit of something like dryer sheets in the background. There was nothing good my skin did for High John. Gad, it was dreadful on me and I had to wash it off.

 

So that just means that some other person out there will have the pleasure of getting to see if High John is right for them. I hope it is and I hope that it goes to a good home on the next go round, the best would be someone who is too timid for their own good, a bit of courage is always welcome. Thank goodness, that's not my problem.

Edited July 17, 2005 by olympia301

[feline.by.design]

I have little luck with Voodoo Oils, with the sole exception really being Wolf's Heart. There seems to be a common tendency for the oils to be super-sugar-sweet and really syrupy.

 

So, with that caveat, I shall begin my review of High John the Conqueror.

 

You know what? It really surprised me.

 

High John the Conqueror had that sweet-syrupy note in it when I first applied it, to the point it made me kick my head back and go "Oh, nooooo!" It was like cherry-coated gardenias, or something equally hideous. Then, like, three seconds later, the smell of a neon-lit IHOP immediately withdrew. I don't know where it went, but I'm left with this clean, "skin" smell. After peeking at a couple of other reviews, being a cheating bastard, I concur with the "wet grapes" crowd.

 

I'm not a wine-drinker (pass the beer!) so I don't know if this is a wine smell or not, but it reminds me of grape seed extract, or the grape skins. You can't really tell it's there. High John the Conqueror isn't a strong fragrance with a lot of throw, but I find it much more appealing to me than most of the other fragrances in the Voodoo Oils I've tried. It's very clean, and I like it. Scent-wise, High John seems like it would be suitable for men or for women.

 

If you're trying to wear this as perfume, you may want to re-apply regularly if you're trying to get a lot of fragrance out, as it's a very light fragrance. Then again, my honker could be totally askew from smelling this patch of skin over and over. It *may* be able to be layered with other oils if you're trying to get the benefits of HJ the C, but I'm not much for layering, and I kind of like its own fragrance of grape peels. It's actually starting to make me crave grapes, but at the moment I'll settle for any type of food.

 

A bigger bottle of High John would not be out of the question for me. I'll hold onto my imp to see how often I rock the Conqueror before I put it on my order list.

 

-doreen

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Grapes, herbs, and soap.

 

Wearing: Once this is on my skin, I don't really notice the grapes - it is just an herbal soapy smell.

 

Final Impressions: Meh. I didn't really feel any more confident, but the smell is ok.

[couscous]

Ack! I never reviewed this one?

 

I've burned through a 5ml of this already since January, and I just got a 10ml of it a few weeks ago. This scent goes on the list of BPAL I will order consistently as my supply runs out so that I shall never be without it. It's extraordinarily light, cheerful, and clean-smelling. It isn't what i normally go for, but its the best "after-shower", job-interview, meet-the-parents scent I've come across so far.

 

The most prominent notes in High John for me are grapes, olive oil, herbs, and something like lotus' lighter sister.

 

The "olive oil" I'm imagining comes from the fact that the grape note in High John smells almost savory, NOT at all like kool aid or juice. This smells like green grapes in a salad, if that makes sense- cool and refreshing. Its savory, grown-up grape made complex by LIGHT herbs ( no sage, basil, rosemary that i could smell, for instance) sweetened by something that could be lotus but probably isn't. Lotus gives me a cotton candy sweetness, but that sweetness feels and smells sheer, like I'd dusted my skin with sugary water. This note gives that same sugared skin smell but without the candied associations. The combination smells like fresh, sweet grapes in a mildly sweeter syrup, like you hadn't washed off all the syrup from a can of fruit salad . Grapes and leaves with sprinkled parsley on top. Delicious.

 

The oil is also thick- thicker than any bpal I've tried. I guess Beth uses a different carrier for this little guy, or perhaps there really IS olive oil in this one . This gives it great staying power despite the extreme lightness of the fragrance itself. And if you're a slatherer, like I am, you can reapply throughout the day and never scare anyone out of an elevator.

 

I LOVE this fragrance, I love Beth for making him, and I will love him and squeeze him and train him .......er....never mind.

 

As for the voodoo properties- I wore this to my first new job interview in 4 years and I got called back for a second and then a third. It's been a week and they have not called me, so I guess I lost it right at the finish line. But getting so close definitely upped my confidence and made me think that looking for something better wasn't such a waste of time after all.

Edited June 11, 2005 by couscous

[quimerula]

It has a foody touch.

I can pick up almonds and lotus on an aquatic and green botom line.

Very nice.

[astrid]

I didn't expect this to be so wearable...it is absolutely gorgeous!! Soft, gentle, golden...kinda floral kinda sweet, but just plain beautiful! It's so pretty and enchanting, really like a spell! I don't know what sort of affect it will have, but even if it's only pleasing my nose, I'm thrilled!

[Savannah]

My first oil! My first review! I am so psyched!!!

 

I bought a 5ml of this off the forums because I need personal empowerment talismans like whoa.

 

First sniff in the bottle: Wow! Very sweet and... sort of mentholated, like cherry cough drops. Yikes. I hope it settles down on my skin.

 

Wet: Ooh, soapy and green. The sharp fruity sweetness retreated into the background. It's still there, but mingled with the other scents it's quite pleasant. It smells like the handmade soaps you can get at street fairs, with bunches of herbs embedded in them. I can smell grapes, too, but more like smelling a bunch of grapes than eating a grape-- a bit subtler and more dusty, less juicy and sweet. Like standing in a vineyard, maybe.

 

Dry: Two hours after application, the only change is that it's all softened a bit and the different scents are harder to pick out from the whole. Either it has a really long drydown or it's just really consistent on my skin. I really like this-- I agree with the person who compared it to baby powder for grownups. It smells clean and comforting but also complex. Really good staying power so far, hasn't faded one bit.

 

Voodoo efficacy: As yet untested, though I really like the mood the scent seems to put me in-- not so much calm and collected, as just... okay, no matter what. I wore it to my appointment with my therapist just now and even while I was crying over some very difficult things in my life, I felt better and more able to articulate what I need and want then I have been for a long time. I don't know if it was the High John or the other forces I've been enlisting to my aid, but I am definitely keeping my 5ml and will possibly keep you updated as to its effects!

Edited June 16, 2005 by Savannah

[emz83]

In my notes I've put this in the same catagory as Black Cat in that it's "quirky". However, this doesn't have the mischeviousness of Black Cat, it's more mellow, calming, and centering. I wore it today to a midterm and absolutely ROCKED the exam.

 

The scent itself is green, but not sharp, it's very slightly powdery but a bit deep, and floral without being 'girly' or flowery. Definately a keeper!

[Cagedflame]

I get something lightly floralish and after a while, grape Kool-Aid. And with someone mentioning olive oil above, it clicked, and something definitely does smell like olive oil in there. I don't really like the smell.

However, the first three days I had it I got called to resubmit an application, got hired, two of my necklaces sold , one of my Ebat items went for nearly twice what I expected to get, and I completed a sewing project in record time.

You betcha I immediately went and made a prosperity charm dressed with the oil, and will be dabbing on a bit of it today when I actually start work.

[joseybird]

Very sweet, oddly powdery grape...more like grape cough syrup than grape gummies. I detect a slight undercurrent of florals as well.

 

Not a favorite at all

[Anbreen]

Smells EXACTLY like Vent vert by Balmain, on me.... and I LOVE that scent.

 

ADDED Dec. 16:

 

YES! Grapes, spoapy something... I CANNOT break it down. I woulda thunk it wasn't my type (I like vanillic orientals) but.......it's addictive! And....it DOES work!

[mercutia]

Smells kind of like grape and kind of like some nonspecific cleaning fluid, as was mentioned above several times, but this actually doesn't take away from the pleasure of the scent. Also, as someone else pointed out, a round, non-bitter scent of green herbs and a touch of almond.

 

The only bad thing is that it goes very quiet and powdery on me after only an hour or so and then I have to stuff my wrist up to my nose to smell it at all.

 

I can't speak to its efficacy per se because I had a good day, but there was no special reason for me to have had a bad one (a meeting did go pretty well, though).

 

I think I'll be saving this for any major obstacles and just letting it rest otherwise.

[Eros]

A bit of not too sweet fruit and floral with a hint of herbs. There's something that seems to be a common floral note in all the Voodoo blends that I can't place. High John makes me think of bright and warm golden sunshine and it stays true through drydown. Haven't really put it to the test but hopefully, it'll work as intended

[Bean Rua]

High John is like an old friend...I used to use this oil alot for ritual/hoodoo purposes years ago.

 

Few days ago, it popped up as a passed-on imp from the LJ forum, and, anticipating some big, bad family trouble on the horizon, I jumped on it.

 

The timing of its arrival was perfect. I received it yesterday, after having one of the worst days of my entire life. Really, I'm not drama queening...I was absolutely emotionally devastated. Bad, bad stuff.

 

I reached for my old friend, High John.

 

Opening this imp invoked strong scent memories. There is nothing quite the same as High John the Conqueror root, and this is all of it, no doubt. I've had some powerful oil before, but none so refined, and so, well, well mannered and powerful.

 

While wet, spicy, sweet, and grape-ish can get in the ballpark of this scent, I find it unique. I think if you need it (and I need it), it will smell right for you. It's not perfume...think of it as a cloak of good fortune, or perhaps, your own invisible, but highly effective armor.

 

Immediately, my mind turned, and then quieted. I was able to go to bed, sleep restfully. Waking up, I feel surprisingly balanced...quite a difference from the emotional hostage fighting for freedom that I was yesterday. I am focused and confident. I am flying the flag "Do Not Tread On Me."

 

I wouldn't hesitate to use this for powerful workings. I will order a bottle of this soon.

 

More information is available at http://www.luckymojo.com/johntheconqueror.html.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: the lab included this in my order. wine.

on: like wine, but sweeter. actually, this is getting even sweeter as i'm typing this. very nice. sweet, but not heavy. very bright.

1.5 hours later: lovely. light and a bit sweet. very cool. this is fresh and a bit floral, with a touch of a fruity undertone.

2.5 hours later: very soft.

overall: this is definitely an interesting scent. i don't think i would use it solely as perfume, but i'm curious to see if it works for its intended purpose.

[WavyLocks]

As usual, my nose never detects the notes that others mention, which baffles me, and makes it hard to figure out what I am experiencing, since I'm not much good at finding notes. The first thing that sprang to mind on putting this one on, was White Shoulders. Not necessarily the loud tuberose-ness of it, but something else in its' drydown, maybe?? The reason I say this, is that an old family friend wore White Shoulders as a signature scent for decades, and somehow that immediately sprang into my mind on first sniff.

 

On first application, this struck me as a definitely perfume-y type scent, and I couldn't imagine a man wanting to wear it.

 

I don't detect the herbal-y qualities others have mentioned, or anything medicinal or grape-y. Hmmm ... . On the other hand, I find this a lovely, wearable scent, and I'm definitely considering this one for a larger size purchase.

[brownbear]

mmmm i like it

 

It doesn't really change a lot from the imp to dry on my skin. It's grapey and green and a little bit sweet. It's a fresh scent. A keeper. Can't comment on voodoo properties yet.