Licwiglunga

[Heavenlyrabbit]

LICWIGLUNGA
What language is this? I have never seen graphemes such as this before.

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

Starting a thread for a new BPAL has never given me pause. I have met my match in Licwiglunga.

I do love herbals but find this one totally unique. Without notes listed, earlier today I kept thinking cherry or lotus but find it's dried pomegranate. Emphasis on dried. This must be a variation on the usual note Beth uses?

So this is an herbal incense with a smooth character and a touch of fruit. It smells better as time goes on . Thank heavens, cause in the bottle it is quite sharp to my nose. Ultimately, it dries to pomegranate incense.

This is very pleasant. Which sounds like faint praise but is meant in the best sense of the word. I've a hard time imagining someone outright NOT liking this.

Besides being a nice casual blend for everyday wear, I think this would make awesome room scent.

Here's the extra-fun part, researching the Scent's name and notes:

Licwiglunga- Incantation or Magic Circle for conjuring the dead (necromancy), usually for advice.

Dittany of Crete- an herb "used in divination and contact with spirits. When using Dittany of Crete as an incense, it is cautioned that spirits materialize in the smoke." Related to oregano and marjoram.

Gum Mastic- Resin from trees related to pistachio which grow only on the southern part of the island of Chios, Greece and nowhere else in the world. Egypt imported this as a key ingredient in their Kyphi recipes. "Mastic creates a light, balsamlike, fresh, lemony, gentle fragrance. It is cleansing, clarifying and mentally refreshing."

[iiinterstate]

oh dear, Licwiglunga almost fell victim to my premature judgement. When I first applied, this fennel was so strong and reminded me so much of a particular roast chicken recipe that I almost rinsed it off. But I didn't!

 

The fennel disaster phase did not last long on my skin at all, perhaps 10 minutes, and now I am left with a great papery incense smell, and dried pomegranate juice. I really love it and I can't stop sniffing my wrist.

 

I have to agree with Heavenlyrabbit, this blend is pleasant in the most complimentary sense of the word. I want to try some in my oil burner too!

 

 

ETA: wore this at full slather today and found that it worked MUCH better on my skin than on my hair/in my scent locket. The fennel/anise stays too strong. Unfortunately it has a supershort wearlength.

Edited June 27, 2008 by iiinterstate

[AliBabble]

ok, i love this. it's very unusual - almost grassy at first in its herbal qualities, there are things here i'm pretty sure i've never smelled...in tone, there's something akin to the dandelion smell in saggitarius, and the greenness of passionate shepherd, but it really smells nothing like those...there's a freshness here that's dry and bright - it is unisex, but not cologne-y...as it dries the frankincense comes out a lot more, it's a little dry and sharp...very unusual. the scent feels rather ancient, cleansing and magical.

[alicia_stardust]

I am hit with hemp and fennel to begin with, and the fennel really amps up for the first handful of minutes. Once it settles, though, I get more of a dry and crumbly old and yellowed parchment-like paper. It's not quite dusty but it's got that dry, aged feel to it. There are a lot of herbs in here and none of them really stands out over the other; they sort of mingle around with the paper. The only exception is the opening of fennel and the closing of dried lavender. I can pick those out of the rest of them. This blend sort of has an ancient, magical quality to it but there's a mysteriousness there. I haven't tried this as a room scent but I bet it's a good one.

[sarada]

Put aside your expectations for this one -- it is quite complex, and a bit of a morpher. I should know by now that lavender + frankincense is always a good thing but I hesitated a bit on it. Still, that combo always signals something that will be bright and herbal, balanced with something resinous, with staying power and an anchoring darkness. The other elements were what threw me. All of those possibly licoricey herbs -- they can sometimes go wrong. But none of these turn out particularly licoricey. There is an amazing layered complexity to this, particularly in the bottle, as each individual note swirls up and takes its turn, bows, and goes neatly back into the mixture.

 

A bit of fresh wet garden greenery, just the barest hint of a spice cabinet (ah yes, a hint of that fennel and anise, but perfectly blended), something citrusy, something a bit like carrot -- all intermingled with a very steady, pleasant blood red throbbing pomegranate note.

 

Although I love pomegranate, it tends to turn everything into a pomegranate candle after it dries a bit, I've found. But this has so many other elements to play with, that it stays out of candle territory. The soporific spike of lavender and soothing smoked sweetness of frankincense really anchor it all.

 

Incredibly complex and surprising, and an unexpected hit from the set for me. Who knew necromancy could be so much fun?

[Josh]

Something about this just kills me. Obviously my brain is linking this scent to some type of nostalgia in my mind. I know I've smelled this before but I have no idea when or where. This will be difficult to review. It smells like dry herbs, somewhat spicy and there is something here that is giving off a peppery vibe, a surreal rustic parlour for gentlemen. As a room scent this would come off as very sophisticated. Yeah.. its just impossible to review this stuff really. If your tastes are outside the box (and they must be if you're looking at Wunderkammer scents!) then this is a must. This is the weirdest of all Wunderkammer scents, which means it's probably the first one you should try.

 

Highly recommended! This stuff morphs like nothing else.... freaky as all hell and genius to boot.

 

ETA: If you're a fan of anise, black licorice, absinthe or turkish pepper, the anise in this blend is 2nd to none. Absinthe, Kabuki and all the other anise scents are great, but this is in a completely different league.

Edited June 19, 2008 by Josh

[Brianne]

Holy lavender and hemp batman. It is like being beat to death with lavender and hemp at first! Totally not my cup o tea (bag o hemp).

 

Thankfully that settles down a little bit, but this is SO herbally. If you love super herbally scents, this is so for you. It's like opening a drawer full of fresh herbs (a large drawer). I'm a big lover of anise and it was primarily the reason I got this blend. Unfortuantely it barely shows up on me, mostly drowned out by the herbals. If you love herbals, you will enjoy this one. They really aren't for me though, so this isn't quite my kind of scent.

[savage_rose]

Dittany of Crete smells a bit cumin-y to me, and paired with the fennel, this is a very "spice cabinet" sort of blend. In the bottle I thought "hey, herbs I put in my salad!", but on the herbs dampen a bit. And I can smell the cumin-fennel...and something a bit citrusy (verbena). I can't smell the pomegranate at all, but this is really interesting blend without it. And there's something faintly wood-pulpy, I'm guessing that's the paper.

 

It reminds me of this guy I was behind on an airport shuttle once...he was of middle eastern descent, probably college age. And he smelled like cumin and incense, so good! And I just wanted to go sniff him, but people tend to take it the wrong way when you sniff them in public (and you're a stranger, no less). Le sigh.

 

Ooh, and now it's bringing out this sour note...the verbena? I don't think I'd wear this often, but it's a really fascinating blend.

[tartchef]

Fennel & a tiny pop of pomegranate at first, a very natural scent with a cumin-y note coming up in the background. There's something just a bit oily & unctuous here, too, like a drizzle of grapeseed oil... The lavender is gentle, but earthy, akin to Safari. No sign of the verbena, which is unusual, as I tend to over-amp it. In the crooks of my elbows, the Dittany of Crete is prominent, an oregano-like herby green scent. On my wrists, though, Licwiglunga is much drier - the hemp paper really pops, a pulpy papery note...

 

Really, really interesting... very atmospheric. A fantastic scent for when you don't want to smell like you've actually applied any perfume - it's the scent your skin & hair would pick up after a long hot afternoon of hanging herbs to dry & grinding fennel seed... sort of the post-script to the Norn's Farmhouse.

[LunaLovegood]

Licwiglungla: Dont really know what this smells like, but it reminds me a bit of nail polish remover, might be the anise. This needs a full trial before I make up my mind though.

[ClareN]

First of all, I must admit that I don't really like most herbal blends, even though I like the idea of them - they usually don't work great with my chemistry. Also, I'm not a fan of lavender as perfume. But after I made my big bottle order for the new Carnaval stuff, I read reviews of the ones I didn't order, and for some reason Licwiglunga was the one I fixated on like "I have to try this". Found an imp on the sale forums, and it just got to me today, so it was the first one I tried.

 

To me, freshly applied Licwiglunga smells like a herbal tea shop, or maybe a witch's house. It's a fascinating, complicated mix of sweet, dry, rich herbal scents. Lavender and pomegranate are the strongest when freshly applied, with hints of the anise, paper and verbena. The pomegranate definitely smells like a dried fruit - I've never had dried pomegranate but this is what I imagine it would smell like - and it balances the lavender enough that the lavender doesn't bother me. It reminds me so much of herbal tea that I started craving herbal tea, so I went and made a pot of it.

 

As the scent dries I get more of the fennel, star anise, verbena and hemp paper. At the same time, the dried fruit note gets stronger and the lavender fades, so it smells almost like some kind of dried berry treat you'd buy at a health food store. It's still interesting, but I do prefer the wet stage.

 

After half an hour or so it goes all wrong on my skin, unfortunately. Cloying bitter-sweet dried fruit or something - I know I've tried a few other BPAL scents that went wrong in a similar way, but I'm not sure which note is responsible. I can tell this is a chemistry issue, though, so if you have better luck with herbal scents you definitely want to try this one. It would also be great as a room scent, if I used room scents, or to scent an object like a journal.

 

tl;dr: Fascinating, different scent. Doesn't work on me, but I would definitely recommend it if you like herbal scents or if the concept grabs you.

[greenranger]

In the imp, I sniffed multiple times, and got something different each time. One time, spicy resin(frankincense? Gum Mastic?), the next fruity(pomegranite?), the next herby(fennel? verbena?). I have no idea what this is going to do on me.

 

On me, herbs. Strong herbs. Broken sappy stems of some plant. It is making me think of something related to celery, but, wilder and more woody. Eventually the anise comes forward slightly.

 

Ah, there are the resins, just managing to get past the stems. This is interesting. I'll have to try it again to see if it grows on me. Heh.

 

[forspecial_plate]

This really is a bizarre little scent. It's mostly herbal and I agree that it's kind of like sticking your head inside an herb cabinet. It has a strong throw, and there's not any particular note that goes bad on me. I think the problem I have is that it's a little too.....busy, or chaotic. I'm definitely giving it a couple weeks and then trying it again. I'm so happy to see star anise getting some love, and I'd be thrilled to be able to wear this. It would be a scent to wear when you want to be sure nobody else smells like you!

 

Edit: sadly I just can't wear this. Something is making me slightly queasy, and I like fennel and anise, so I know it's not those. Not sure what but something here is icky on me. : /

Edited August 11, 2008 by Forspecial Plate

[filigree_shadow]

Well, it seems like I smell mostly fennel and/or anise (those two smell very similar to me), and it's also sweet. To me, this translates to licorice. It's not the exact scent of licorice because it's also dry and a little herby, but it's close enough that I don't think I'd want to wear this as perfume. I'm just not a big fan of fennel or herb scents.

 

But! I think this is a very unusual scent, even for BPAL, and I hope people who are looking for something unusual will give it a try. It is totally not offensive in any way, and I know it would be very at home on the right person.

[slave1]

LICWIGLUNGA

 

In Bottle: Pomegranate incense

 

On Skin: Pomegranate loves me. It’s a note that has decided it needs to be on me, a lot. I keep buying pomegranate scents! It pretty much turns to candy on me, yummy Sweet-tarts to be exact. The pomegranate is dominant here, with a nice smoky frankincense base. The fennel and lavender are herby and sharp, the anise is light and just a nice background spice… but starts to become stronger as the scent develops. The verbena adds the perfect citrus sweetness with that slight sour edge. The hemp is fragile… so very delicate and clean. I love it’s contrast. The scent does have a very dry and powdery feel. The throw is light to moderate and it has an average wearlength.

[Lycanthrope]

I don't even know. Weirdest BPAL ever.

 

Even with all my years wearing niche BPAL blends, this blend just wonks the heck out of everything.

 

My tongue and nose are betwuddled with confusionation.

 

This is like sweet rubbery metal fruit but not, and kinda gummy sweet like those weird chewy Gum Mastic pies you can get in Greece, but then roasted over a smokey spit lit by resinous tears. And yes, on top of it all there is a phantom pomegranate that is gloating over its pending victory by making this into... a fruit smoke gum resin thing.

 

I think I need to lie down.

[Little Bird]

I had hoped that I would love most of The Wunderkammer so that I could purchase a set and get the Screaming Mandragora, but none of my decants have worked out very well on me so far. Licwiglunga unfortunately doesn't break my losing streak either.

 

First on, I get pomegranate, which almost always smells awful to me. It's like bitter sweet tarts with an extra dose of sour. I also get a bit of sour lemon from the verbena, which isn't helping to mellow things out for me at all. In the drydown, an herbal quality starts to come through and makes me think of spice racks. It pitches between smelling green & herbal to smelling just strange, dry, and unpleasantly herbal.

 

I was hopeful for the frankincense, lavender, and anise to smooth out and darken this blend, but I can't pick out any of those notes, and Licwiglunga is just too tart & sour for me. Herbal blends often fail to catch my interest, and the addition of the tart pomegranate here doesn't help me any.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle juicy pomegranate and lavender!! omG!!

 

once applied this gets a bit astringent but amazingly incredible!! i am a hayooge

fan of the lab's anise/fennel so this combined with the dryness and fruity lavender

is nothing short of phenomenal...

 

this is my fav of the wunderkammer bunch....

[nekogrrl]

In imp: Whoa sharp fennel/anise. Ugh. Not a promising start.

 

Wet on skin: Whoa sharp fennel/anise. The hemp is starting to come in, too, which does not make this blend any better.

 

Dry on skin: Whoa sharp fennel/anise/hemp. I'm waiting for the pomegranate to come in, but no. Never makes an appearance.

 

Le sigh. I'm apparently not meant to like any of the Wunderkammer.

[windbourne]

In the imp, I was almost too scared to put it on my skin. Huge hempy papery herby BLEG. After reading the reviews, I dared. And I'm really glad that I did. It's very complex and, yes, herbal, but with a spicy kick and dark frankincense waft. I'm a little bit hooked. The hemp and paper vaporize under the weight of the incense and anise.

 

It's not at all what I'd expected, but I'm really glad to have it. It'll be perfect for autumn.

Must buy. /zombie

[Scylla]

At first sniff, it smelled both papery, green and tropical which led me to think that Licwiglunga was a South American artifact. Then I did a little research and realized my error!

 

During the next stage it gets fruity, a bit herbal and then the fennel takes center stage. It is a really unusual and interesting scent, to be sure. On drydown, it smells very pleasant, fresh and clean. I have an imp, but I'm going to need a bottle!

[Mishinka]

What an interesting, complex scent! There's a sharp, clean scent right out of the bottle that smells minty, but it might be the lavender. It's very herbal--after a moment I can smell the fennel and anise (and dittany of Crete is a type of marjoram, so that's probably in here too)--but the pomegranate juice is fruity enough to keep it from being too dry or cleaning fluid-ish. It reminds me oddly of dryer sheets, but in a good way. It doesn't smell like them, but it has that kind of cozy warm, clean scent. I like this so far.

 

On, it's about the same, but stronger. Very herbal and clean with a bit of fruity sweetness to it. As it dries, I pick up a little frankincense, but the pomegranate and lavender stay very strong. It also gets very dry compared to what it was fresh. I must admit that I don't know what hemp smells like, but I do get a very subtle papery note after a while. This seems to be one where a little goes a long way, but I quite like it.

[xoe]

My loving spouse got this as a surprise for me. I told her to get me anything from the Carnaval Diabolique section, and when she told me she'd gotten this one I was sort of "meh". But man oh man was I wrong.

 

It is very strange in the bottle. When first on my skin, the hemp paper is strongest, then it smells like crayons for a little while (maybe the combination of the paper and the other notes, I dunno.), then it gets very fennelly/anisey.. then it becomes a lovely slightly sweet, slightly incensey, slightly dirty herbal scent. I usually stay away from herbal scents because i think of them as being too clean and outdoorsy. this isn't that at all. This is a unique dirty herbal.

 

I love it and it is light enough to wear to work!

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Very herbal and sharp with an undercurrent of bright fruitiness and anise.

 

Immediately on skin: This smells like a mixture of sharp and almost pine-like herbs, pomegranate, and anise. I can sense the lavender, but there’s an herbal scent that’s even sharper and drier. It’s odd, and more sharp than sweet. For some reason, the combination of notes in this strikes me as the smell of body odor.

 

After a little while: The pomegranate comes out a bit more now, followed by something very dry and herbal. The anise is still pretty evident and I continue to get that weird BO feel from this.

 

Overall Impressions: This is an interesting combination of dry paper, herbs, pomegranate, and anise, but something here blending together reminds me strongly of the scent of sweat or body odor. It seemed so neat from the notes, but my chemistry does not go well with this blend.

[lilacea]

Sadly on me, this was all sour and sweaty. Musty and herbal, dry and hempy. It smells like someone's been growing something they shouldn't, and the sweat and sour body odour of the stinky gardener. The fennel was pretty sharp, sharper than I enjoy my fennel usually. The pomegranate did its usual trick of going sour on my skin, which just added to the piquantness of the whole thing.

Edited July 28, 2008 by lilacea