Licwiglunga

[starwild]

Hemp paper, frankincense, dried pomegranate juice, lavender, gum mastic, verbena, fennel, star anise, and Dittany of Crete.

Imp: Spicy pomegranate, and lots of fennel.

Wet: A huge whiff of fennel, grounded out by herbal notes and a splash of fruit.

Dry: Spicy, fennel-crusted paper stained with pomegranate juice.

It's slightly sweet in a very dry way. The fennel behaves on me, but the overall effect is very unique to anything I've tried in the BPAL catalogue. It's warm and dry, but not hot. It threatens to go sour and only long-term skin testing is going to reveal whether it does or not.

I'm glad I tried it, but I don't know that I want to smell like this. If you want something "different," try it! Extremely unusual. A tiny bit like The Robotic Scarab. Edited July 29, 2008 by Shollin
fixed BPAL tags --Shollin

[Iceblink]

This smells like musty, herbal anise. I would never have guessed there was pomegranate or verbena in here! It smells old and dark and dank--not for me at all, but a very unusual blend if you're into that sort of thing.

[oakmoss]

Starts out very herbal, the lavender and anise basically shoving everyone else out of the way (as they do, herbal bullies). Then the pomegranate elbows to the front and turns the whole thing into sort of a musty sourball scent. It's not UNpleasant, just not.... pleasant. An imp is enough for me, but I'm glad to have it as a curiosity.

 

Edited to add: I just figured out what it smells like on drydown -- it's like a sour-pomegranate candle that has been blown out. So those of you who like the candle-blown-out scents can add this one to your list and see if it does that on you too.

Edited August 3, 2008 by oakmoss

[edenssixthday]

Licwiglunga - This smells strongly of hemp and lavender, two of my least favorite notes. It dreis down to a soft scent (I can't identify what note it reminds me of), but it's slightly floral/herbal and gently sweet. It's definitely not a blend for me with my dislike of both hemp and lavender.

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

The anise and pomegranate stand out in the vial.

 

First on:

Incense, florals, green herbs, tangy pomegranate – so far, not as bookish as I hoped.

 

Dry:

After about 15 mins, it's a wine-like scent of mainly pomegranate, mixed with some anise and lavender. It's doubtlessly exotic and puzzling.

 

It mellows to a delicious pomegranate and incense scent on me. Yum.

Finally:

I really like this, since I'm a massive fan of pomegranate and frankincense, but... What on earth would I use it for? Would it just stay in my imp box, unloved and unsatisfied?

[Greensleeves]

In the bottle: Medium yellow oil. Delicious fruity herbal lavender.

 

Wet: Tangy, spicy lavender, herbs and fruit, with a pronounced hint of anise. I hate anise normally, but it seems very nice in this blend, adding a dimension of richness that is very compelling.

After a few minutes on skin: Lavender, pomagranate, and incense in an Indian food restaurant.

After first hour: Pomagranate and anise, smells almost like Indian food.

After two and a half hours: Pomagranate and anise and a really pungent, almost ammonia note - might be the hemp.

 

After 5 hours: Pomagranate and anise.

 

Final Verdict: Not bad, but it smells too much like Indian food for my tastes.

[Lamia]

I tried this in field conditions (specifically Pennsic), and it was hilarious how this smelled EXACTLY like cumin. "My god, it smells like I'm cooking Indian food!" I exclaimed to everyone's amusement. I had to have this, and traded for it. Home, and clean, it STILL smells like cumin, like I have taken a shower and started to make dinner. There are some quiet scents in the background that round this out somewhat, but it is primarily just the smell of cumin. Thankfully, the combination of ingredients that create this scent manage to NOT include the stale-sweat part of cumin's smell, for which I am grateful.

 

This imp cracks me up.

[grashopper8]

WEIRD!!!!!

 

Star anise. WEIRD!

 

This is definitely the most unique *ahem* weird BPAL scent I've ever tried.

 

The exotic anise note fades after a few minutes, and I can smell the papery note, a hint of lavender, and....and....Hell, I don't know what the hell I'm smelling!

 

Worth a try, just to experience the craziness in this one!

 

I could never pull it off, though

 

2.4 out of 5

[zankoku_zen]

This is one of the strangest BPAL smells ever. On me, this smells like some sort of basil curry. Spicy and savory.

 

Erm. Yeah.

[yeahbutnobut]

Licwiglunga

 

In the decant: a soft hemp note infused with lavender and frankincense.

Wet on skin: ohh, now I smell the scent of warm dry herbs, mixing with resins.

Dry on skin: wonderful! This smells like a beautiful mix of lavender, wild dry herbs warmed by the sun, hemp (the hemp note is reminiscent of Yule, it has a mushy green scent to it), a hint of anise, and golden piercing resins. It does smell a bit like old paper infused with incense and herbs, but to me this smells like a Mediterranean evening. And I love that. A scent of lavender and herbs hanging in the air, and dry wild grasses (the hemp has a lovely grassy scent to it here) and a hint of resinous sap. The anise-frankincense combo also reminds me of the Robotic Scarab, which I love. At times I smell a hint of pom juice.

After a while: the dry herbal summer evening scent from before goes down as the hemp really takes centre stage. It seems to be going down that bitter olive route, like what happened with Yule, but in here it’s more bearable. I don’t love it as much as before but I still really like this. The resins are wonderful. The fennel and anise are not turning to all-consuming liquorice. And now there’s some pomegranate adding a hint of sweet red fruit to it all. This is a really unique and complex scent.

The drydown is a lot more papery. Now the hemp smells drier and browner, with hints of the herbal notes, those gorgeous resins now burning gently as incense.

Verdict: a fascinating fragrance! It starts off with that wonderful scent evocative of golden, balmy August evenings filled with the scent of wild herbs, distant lavender fields, hay and pine and the sound of crickets, it reminds me of a childhood holiday I spent in the south of France. It’s gorgeous and it’s the kind of dry herbal smell I love. Then it changes as the hemp comes out, with it’s papery-pulpy-green scent, mingling with the sweetish scent of pomegranate. And the end stage is back to that dryness, but this time it’s scented with incense and paper, not herbs. I must say that I wish the just-dry stage of this scent, the wonderful herbal scent, lasted longer as it is my favourite stage in this fragrance, but I like this scent overall to get a bottle. a very unique and intriguing perfume!

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Yes.

If you like this, try: Yule, Robotic Scarab, Scales of Deprivation, Arcana, The Norn’s Farmhouse

[Czarina]

In the bottle: hemp paper. How does Beth DO that?

Wet: fennel.

Drydown: fennel/pomegranate/paper/lavender.

 

Wow. This is a carnival all by itself. Love this!

 

Fortunately, I am not one of those people to whose nose this smells like body odor.

[nightbiscuit]

My first impression was Licorice incense tacos....very interesting, but not what I want to smell like. Someone mentioned a cumin-y note early in this thread (i think it is the Dittany of Crete which is the culprit) And actually as it dries on me, it becomes the prominent aspect. I am left smelling much like an old packet of white trash taco seasoning. Hmph. I am not above testing this again, though.

[voodoocatwoman]

Am I sniffing the right stuff? I read reviews about lavender and hemp and pomegranate? I smell pine and anise. I like it but I wonder where the other notes have gotten off to.

[tinyvulture]

when i first apply this, it smells licoricey and lemony, like some sort of herbal elixir you would drink when you have a cold. after a glance at the description, it seems that it’s actually fennel and anise i’m smelling, rather than licorice. they, and the lemon verbena, are the strongest notes. after awhile, the pomegranate comes out and adds some fruit juiciness. but i’m still not caring too much for the strong citrusy, medicinal qualities of this scent.

[FandF]

Curry.

 

And it's OMGgetitoff curry too. And as it dried it did not get better and I really wanted to wash it off. I kept it on to see if it would morph or bloom or SOMETHING, but it stayed in some weird curry zone....curry with papers, curry with dirt. Not good. Needless to say this did not match well with my skin!!!

 

[Miss Lynx]

Interesting -- this scent is sort of a warm herbal, with a strong note in it that smells like hay or cut grass -- maybe that's the hemp? Apart from that, no one note stands out -- I'm not getting much in the way of lavender, pomegranate, verbena or fennel/anise, all of which are usually pretty strong notes that can easily dominate a scent. But here, they all seem to just blend in together into a slightly medicinal herbal blend where no one thing predominates.

 

It's definitely a pretty unique scent -- I can't think of any other that it at all resembles. But it doesn't really smell like something you'd want to wear deliberately as a scent -- as noted above, it's more medicinal than anything. Hay and bitter herbs. Not entirely unpleasant, but not pleasant enough that I'd want to smell like this on purpose.

 

Grade: C

[auburnette]

Licwiglunga

 

In the bottle: spicy, herbal. Definite wet anise. Smells a bit like a mojito cocktail!

 

Wet, on skin: much of the same. There's a lemony note which must be the gum mastic - I think this is a note in Fascinum, as this smells like what Fascinum could have been on me if it hadn't turned to rankness.

 

Dry, on skin: The anise dies down on me after a while, leaving a green, herbal, almost peppery scent. I think this scent would smell very good on most guys...it's certainly unique, and quite light. I can definitely smell some sort of cumin...weird! I think I'm going to hang on for this one for future experimentation, but it's just about one of the weirdest things I've ever smelt.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Sharp and sweet and herbal. Smells like an organic energy bar or herbal tea. The anise is not kidding. Wet: Very green. Lavender, fennel, and anise are strongest, but the effect is strongly herbal and the pomegranate is quite noticeable. It’s quite distinctive and richly womanly. I think this is what the empress in the major arcane would smell like. It morphs a lot with various elements rising to the top. Dry: Remains surprisingly heady and complex for a long time, though the pomegranate fades out quickly.

[lioness]

At first I didn't like it, but I left it on because I wanted to see what it was like after the dry down.

 

It has a nice herbal scent to it, everything is mixed very well, with a slight fruity/incense note.

 

I think this one would be very nice on a cold gray January day, it reminds me of the changing from summer to autumn.

 

I don't think I'll be getting a bottle of this, but I won't be trading my imp after all!

[kjirstiben]

Quite an odd one, this Licwiglunga. "I have never seen graphemes such as this before," indeed!

 

The scent went on peppery--something I've come to expect with frankincense, but on the skin it dries to smell leathery or parchmenty. There's a background scent-memory of fennel, but nothing up-front or in-your face about it.

 

I'm getting a salty, twingy, noticeable scent here that increases the oddness factor of all the other scents, but nothing I can put a finger on.

 

This mellows over time to a smooth, tangy anise with herbs scent. It's rather light, very different than any other scent I've tried, and quite enjoyable.

 

It's an interesting, almost contradictory scent, with the herbs, leather, and anise stages that it has. A very lightweight, subtle scent.

 

I think this would be a good day-out casual-wear scent, when you don't want to overpower people...

[Champagne]

The most prominent notes on me are the fennel and the anice mixed with a herbal heaven, that make this blend so relaxing for me. The hemp goes out later and gives it a old paper twist, and I really enjoy the morphing. It`s a serene countryside vibe to me, in the sunset light on a lawn with some liquorice around It`s easier to try than explain it

[jrk1857]

When fist applied, this was a huge waft of cumin and pomegranate. Like someone in an Indian restaurant got something very wrong. After that first blast, though, whatever I'm reading as cumin settled down, leaving a pleasantly spicy note. The pomegranate also settled, making the scent a lot more cohesive. That said, I'm not really sure how to classify the settled blend at all. I find it intriguing, which based on my BPAL past means I'll probably fall head over heels for this after a few wearings.

[Persephone76]

I'm definitely smelling cumin here as well. This IS very unique, but not in a good way (to me, anyway). It smells like someone trying to cover BO with some light fruity room spray. And then they smoked a joint and ate some curry.

 

[catattack]

Wet: Tart pomegranate and lemon verbena stand out. Then I start to smell lavender. Initially, this is very sour.

Drydown: The sourness has mellowed. Several minutes later, I start to smell frankincense. In this blend, it is staying tame and giving off an incense note. Thank goodness. Nothing like frankincense to ruin a scent for me. Later, I get a smokiness.

Overall: Like others have said, this is an interesting scent.

[milo]

Wet, I get a strong lavender with a bit of citrus, probably the verbena? As this dries, the lavender fades and the citrus strengthens. Along for the ride is a creamy note. I do not like my citrus creamy, I like it straight up fresh and zingy. Unfortuneately, this one does not deliver.