Juju

[TygherRayn]

Both a fearsome crossing and fiercely potent uncrossing blend, depending on your intent.

There's a sweetness in this I didn't expect .. and with only a small amount on my skin, I call smell this every time I move. I'm liking it though. It's a strong floral scent .. like gardenia, or honesysuckle, though I'm not certain either of those are in it. Something spicy as well .. perhaps ginger? .. or maybe carnation?

It wears very well, I have to say, and with my last attempt at just wearing one of thse oils didn't go all that well. This one I think I could wear in a mundane way .. though I'm not certain I would. I'd have to have some sort of intent with it, I think. It's powerful .. I can smell it around me, and I don't get that with every oil .. it's like it's screaming for attention, and if I don't give it the intent it desires ... well, lets just say this imp is like a petulant child with an expensive vase in its hands. However ... it's a very good smelling petulant child.

[fairywingmaker]

JUJU ~ I'm getting Gardenia. This reminds me of Old New Orleans. But this has a smokieness underneath. Not stong, just lingering under the soft Gardenia Scent. I like this. This scent is a soft floral (to me) with a darkness underneath.

[heartbeast]

Wet, this smells like a voodoo oil. I know that's not helpful, but...there's a certain vibe that the oils in different kinds of magic shops have. New agey fluffy magical oils smell one way, and earthy pagan or wiccan oils smell another way, and the oils in a very old school, bad part of town, people of color magical shop smell a different way entirely. More honest, desperate, dangerous, real. The smell I know from going into those shops is what this reminds me of when it's wet.

 

As it dries, though, it gets more and more powdery floral. Like those rich, expensive floral dusting powders we associate with "old ladies". Only, not in a bad way. Beth consistently creates these scents that I associate with a genre of scent I don't like, only I like hers, and I'm left scratching my head trying to figure out the difference. This smells "old lady", but in a moneyed, grande dame, goes to the opera, donates oodles of cash to the arts sort of way. And y'know, I'm getting there (aside from the moneyed part, which maybe this will help), so that's okay. I'm all for things that make me feel good about aging. What's cool, too, about the way this morphs from that poor people of color magic shop smell to wealthy older woman smell, is that I get a sense that the oil is in disguise. That yes, you're using this to get things you want and need, but in the meantime you've got the olafactory equivalent of Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. Nothing to smell here folks, just perfume, move along.

 

Very late in a hot humid day, after running around and sweating, all the flowers in that floral dusting powder have bloomed and come alive. Suddenly it's not powdery any more, just a riot of moist wet flowers. Very interesting; very fun.

 

As for crossing and uncrossing? As I put it on, I did a general little chant about crossing those who would do me harm, and uncrossing any harm that may have already be sent my way. So I might never know if that did anything, but if I get an inkling that it has, I'll surely post about it in the "Old Paths" forum.

[Countrymouse]

In the vial: Sweet floral scent, can't really pick out a specific flower.

 

On: This turned instantly powdery on me, and stayed that way all day. It didn't morph at all, just a sweet, floral powder.

 

Heartbeast is so very right. This is an "old lady" floral dusting powder that I would never have chosen for myself, but oddly, I really like it.

[eleventhousand]

This smells dark and musky, but also smells of lemony herbs. It has a bit of patchouli, I think...as well as violet (the old lady power scent that other folks have identified). It is a dissonant mix.

[Ina Garten Davita]

First Impression: Jasmine and ginger.

 

Second Impression: This is a potent floral, beautiful. I'm not sure how to "use" this, but it sure smells great on.

 

Final Analysis: The jas and ginger stay strong and true. A very self assured smell. I think I'll wear this when I want to feel just that way.

[Astarte]

In the vial it smells like a bitter gardenia, after it's settled a little, the gardenia sweetens and the violet comes out, and bam(!) this is wonderful stuff.

 

Two notes that usually mess up with chemistry have melded together and made a beautiful combination.

 

My next step is to learn how to "use" this now

[minilux]

Juju reminded me of Noir. I've only tried Noir a couple of times, but they both gave me an initial impression of gorgeous spicy floral, though somehow too sophisticated for me. Unfortunately, Juju turned way too powdery on me.

[diabolique]

jasmine and violet are two evil components that must be avoided at all costs.

 

..except in this blend.

 

the oil smelled muggy, damp, and cloying. i was afraid. i was petrified. i put a small dab on my wrist once curiosity got the best of me, and mmmm. it's a tad sweet, but it's still muggy and dark. it's sexual and evil. this is the perfect oil for a malicious, gossiping southern belle.

 

ETA: for the record, this doesn't turn powdery on me like it does on others. this is a product of my skin chemistry being COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY FUCKED; it makes beautiful unpowdery blends turn to powder, and beautiful powdery blends seem normal.

 

another ETA: it is such a shame this was discontinued. i really like it, and probably would've ordered more.

Edited January 1, 2005 by diabolique

[inkstone]

I just received an imp of this today from loracj. Since it's one of the blends slated to be discontinued, I wanted to add this review since Juju doesn't have that many.

 

In the vial

Why, hello Miss Jasmine & Miss Violet, how are you today? This is a very strong floral. I'm getting whiffs of the gardenia along with something sweeter. Honeysuckle, I think?

 

Wet

On me, the florals remain really strong. I'm not sure how much of this is a result of the blend and how much of it is a result of my skin. I feel like I'm standing in a garden full of jasmine, violets, gardenia & honeysuckle. It's a little overwhelming. It is very southern though -- hot and slightly muggy.

 

Drydown

The sweetness of the floral is starting to fade and it's softening even more. Something else is starting to come out -- something dark. I'm not sure what that darkness is; it's faintly spicy, I think. That might be ginger since it tends to do that on me, but I'm not sure. Ginger usually doesn't have that darkness on me. Whatever it is, it's adding a different dimension to it.

 

Final Thoughts

This reminds me of a scheming southern belle who's very pretty & looks deceptively harmless. This is a woman with another face that's dangerous, not someone to be trifled with. She's someone who leaves her mark. It's a nice floral and I like it... on someone else. It doesn't suit me at all. There's a sweetness to the flowers that just doesn't work on me.

Edited October 25, 2004 by inkstone

[Shollin]

First sniff: Dark, smoky resin/herbal. Green incense.

 

Wearing: Right when it hits my skin, “floral” is about the last word I’d use to describe Juju. It goes on dark and smoky and makes me think it’s the smoldery sort of darkness I’m going to like… and then immediately flips around into a sweet white floral that gives me a headache. Traitor!

[Northernminx]

Herbal, light, incensey. I didn't get a lot of strength or anything incredibly different from this one, although it was not unpleasant. It was a very "voo doo" scent, reminiscent of smokey, dark places that sell mysterious things. Nice but not going to miss this one. Off to swaps.

[surf-tormented]

Oil reminded me of the bubblegum (read sweet) type dragon's blood oils found at Azure Green and other occult stores. In fact, it seems many occult oils smell this way. After a while it mellowed out from the bubblegum/dragon's blood to more of a floral. It is strong and last more than the average oil I have tried, but I mainly got this one for de-hexing myself (don't ask). So the power of the oil sold me more than the scent.

 

I get the idea from this that dragon's blood has used to cover up maybe pungent herbs used in such brews. I tend to do this with my own witchy oils. Put an incensey smell over rue, mugwort or anything that can smell horrid on, but does its job.

 

Five hours later if smells like old lady flowers to me--violet, maybe...I am definately keeping the imp of this and can't really buy anymore since it has been taken out of circulation. An imp is enough for my magickal intent, so that is fine by me.

[LaLisa]

Just a tad smells floral spicy with a sopy undercurrent, but more than a whiff is overpowering, musky. I put a drop on my wrist and had to wash it off wiht soap and alcohol because of the heaviness.

 

However, I'm using it, not wearing it, so I'm more concerned with results than scents!

[tart]

Oof! Juju epitomizes my idea of headshoppy. Something herbal and resiny with what I think is civet. Spicy. It smells old. This reminds me of one of my parents' eclectic/eccentric friends and his lady friend. They would decorate their apartments in "worldly" furnishings and cook worldly food... I imagine Juju to smell like a wooden brown color, much like it looks in the vial.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

I got an imp of this from Andrabell quite some time ago and I'm just getting around to trying it now.

 

First sniff:

 

Juju smells very familiar to me, but I can't place it. It smells like some sort of resin but with a sweetish, powdery note...amber, maybe? It smells like an occult store to me for some reason and that's a good thing. I can say now I won't be able to say whether this blend works because I don't have any need for either a crossing or uncrossing blend right now, but I'll review the scent itself, anyway.

 

Wet on skin:

 

I think that is amber I'm smelling. I wouldn't swear to it, but I'm almost positive. It's golden and powery and semi-sweet all at the same time and it's also threatening to turn into sour milk, which is normally the hallmark of amber on my skin.

 

Dry down:

 

If there's no amber in this, then there's something else that turns to sour milk on me because I smell like an unplugged fridge. I know it's just my bad skin chemistry doing it, too, which is frustrating an more than a little disappointing.

 

The bottom line:

 

I can't vouch for the efficacy of this blend, but I can say I smell amber and maybe rose in it and not much else. This is getting swapped.

[Gin]

This is a lovely powdery jasmine scent. I'm quite surprised, since I expected something more bold, but maybe that's the point? Innocuous on the outside, fierce on the inside?

[shelldoo]

on me it smells like some sort of metal, i do get the traditional oils smell but the top note is metalic

[k00kaburra]

Since Juju is definitely not a perfume fragrance as a voodoo fragrance, I don't know how I would wear it. So instead, to test it I burned some in an oil burner.

 

Tons of flowers and a patch of patchouli. That is how I would describe this. Gardenia, violets, jasmine, lilies...these are some of the flowers I accuse of being present.

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): This is a little sharp, got a little bite, and has a hint of the antiseptic smell to it. Probably perfect for some spellwork.

 

Just On: Wood, and the little bit of sharp, and not really antiseptic anymore. I can certainly see this as being a good focus oil for some spellwork.

 

An hour or two later: It mellows down to a nice woody scent.

 

Around 6 hours: It's woody, and pretty.

 

12 hours: There's only a tiny hint of sharp wood left now.

 

Overall: It doesn't start out perfect, but it morphs through the day as a very nice blend. I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep this around for some workings.

 

After reading other reviews: Wow, I didn't really get any flowers out of this, and I think I'm the only one to get woodsy as well. I think it's patchouli that does the antideptic thing on my skin, but it's not such a bad thing really. I'll be trying this out for workings, and see hwat happens from there.

[QueenFae]

This is a very dark, incensey scent for me. It has an underlying sweetness, almost like baby powder, that gives it quite a bit of complexity. It's a deep red or brown scent for me, reminiscent of languid, smoke filled, incense burning evenings. I like this one a lot, it's intriguing and sexy. I'm so glad I could snag a 5ml.

[coulrophobe]

In the imp: Sharp, a bit astringent, and a bit "heavy," like vintage perfume.

 

On: Jasmine and earthy dried herbs. Also a bit of smoky wood... this is reminding me of the smoky phase of The Magician, but with jasmine. Maybe a dab of patchouli, too.

 

It's interesting, but jasmine isn't a very good note with my chemistry - it has a tendency to turn cloying and allergy-inducing... it's one of the few florals that actually smells pollen-y to my nose.

 

The smoke notes really intrigue me, though - probably not for me, but glad to have an imp of it.

[BlackDahlia]

This is very nice.

 

From the bottle and wet on my skin ~ this smells like New Orleans (very dusky florals, only darker and deeper)... so on that note alone, this is a keeper for me.

 

For the magical properties I cannot say since I have not utilised it for that purpose ~ but the scent is fabulous.

[Ryvre]

This is definitely a voodoo blend!

 

It's smells deep and herbal, with maybe a touch of something floral. And maybe some sort of wood? It seems to change everytime I sniff it. It smells like a voodoo shop more than a perfume.

[Little Bird]

I was a bit afraid to try Juju after so many reviews mentioned it having jasmine in it (my skin amps up jasmine to fierce and overwhelming proportions). Oddly enough, I'm not getting jasmine at all though.

 

First on... definitely floral, though I couldn't say what sort of flower it reminds me of. Something dark, bruised, and with a smoky, slightly powdery edge. I'm also getting a hint of something that smells like dusty wood. It makes me think of my grandmother's old wooden dressing table with her ancient floral perfumes and powders.

 

After a few minutes, this is intensely powdery. Baby powder with a hint of smoky floral. It's pretty strong on me too. It's interesting and has an intriguing way of smelling somehow old, but it's not something that I could wear as a perfume.