Ligeia

[Shollin]

Ligeia, from Bewitching Brews:

 

And the will therein lieth, which dieth not. Who knoweth the mysteries of the will, with its vigor? For God is but a great will pervading all things by nature of its intentness. Man doth not yield himself to the angels, nor unto death utterly, save only through the weakness of his feeble will.

 

Jasmine, juniper berry and rose geranium.

 

First sniff: Bright, sweet floral with a dark undertone -- a scattering of white flowers across black velvet. The jasmine is very obvious, but the other notes keep it from being screamingly sweet.

 

Wearing: Seems to be pure jasmine on my skin -- the aura is pretty nice, but it's too sweet if I sniff my wrist directly. After an hour or so I do smell something underneath, greenish and a bit more grounded.

Mod note: This scent was briefly resurrected from February to May of 2006 as part of the Limited Edition "Into the Maelstrom" series, with the same notes as the discontinued GC blend.

[Belladonnastrap]

Liegia for me smelt a lot like Shroud and Veil with more of a Shroud feeling. It's a very sweet floral..the Jasmine is very noticable but not overpoweringly so. It doesn't feel as if you are saturated in Jasmine. It most definitely evokes the feeling of the story "The Tomb of Ligeia" (which if you haven't read you must it's very good...hunt down the movie copy with Vincent Price too!)...that sort of strong willed person.

 

If you adore Jasmine you should get this as it's the most "purely" Jasmine scent I've found...however I have tons of Jasmine so up for swap it goes

[Pandorra]

LIGEIA

Initial: eew. What is that sour smell underneath? Like mothballs.

 

During: The sourness is receding leaving a stiff regal floral. Distant, and hard to get close to. The bite underneath it all keeps you from wanting or able to get too close. A beautiful woman having tea in a garden in the shadow of a stone manor. Alone. There are beautiful flowers around her as well as bitter herbs growing.

 

Final: The sophisticated floral has softened leaving a scent of very sweet jasmine mingled with other florals and barely a hint of the sour tang lapping at the jasmine now and then. I may use my Imp, but I don’t think I would buy it again.

[jj_j]

I'm not a huge jasmine fan, but this is still a beautiful scent. Other reviewers have mentioned scents as being similar, but those have a definite violet note that I don't find anywhere in Ligeial.

 

Jasmine that's so true and sweet it's almost cloying, with the distinct tone of geranium leaves underneath, although faintly. The tart, astringent scent of juniper berries was nowhere to be found while I wore this, although that may be the case with someone else.

[Koumori]

This is a floral much too strong for my tastes; it appears on me to be almost straight-up jasmine with very little to cut it. I thought it smelled like daffodils; my hairdresser thought she smelled patchouli. I find this one overpowering, but if you're a big fan of florals and want a commanding one that will last all day, give this one a try.

[Ina Garten Davita]

Pandorra nailed this one perfectly.

 

First Impression: In the bottle and wet, sweet, strong jasmine with a very sour undertone. Perhaps the juniper berry, I always hated that smell.

 

Second Impression: Sourness gone and the sweetness of the jasmine has turned rich and rounded.

 

Final Analysis: I felt very womanly wearing this, it completely enveloped me. Not as much staying power as I would have liked, but definitely something I could wear all spring.

[shriekingviolet]

Initial Impression:

A crisp floral. I can smell something like lavender here. And that light gin type scent that you get from juniper.

 

After Wearing It:

When I first put this on, the juniper was very predominant in its crisp gin-soaked kind of way that manages to smell so much like the liquor but without smelling boozy. It's a clean, cool scent, very green with a slight bubbly quality to it (LOL perhaps an association with the almighty tonic).

 

After the oil dried on my skin, the juniper became less of a stand-alone note and more of a filter through which the rest of the scent would be viewed (smelled) and interpreted. The jasmine and rose geranium coalesced into a single pale, floral scent that was pale and crisp. Jasmine, to me anyway, is a very feminine scent, but it didn't smell that way here. When combined with the geranium and steeped in juniper, it took on an almost herby quality, becoming crisp, pale and structured. You could still tell it was jasmine, but it didn't have the same feel. The outcome was pressed and almost unisex.

 

Overall this feels like a sexless, early springtime scent. The frosts of winter are on their very last leg and the beginnings of spring flowers are braving the chill. This smells like what the first flower buds look like: green, "handled" and concealed, barely a whisper of what kind of sensuality, aroma and color they'll have once the weather gets warmer and their potential becomes unchained so they can bloom.

 

Final Thoughts:

I love Jasmine scents, but I didn't care for this at all. It was too clean, crisp and sexless. Too green. I think this would be pleasing to someone who enjoys clean or "green" florals, but it's almost the antithesis of my scent preferences, so up for swap it'll go!

[twistygirl]

Wet, I could smell mostly jasmine with a hint of juniperberry. Now that it has dried it is, on me, a very soft, feminine, almost purely jasmine scent. I like jasmine at times, it's not something I like to wear every day but I have been looking for a good oil to wear when I use Alkmaar and this will be it.

[Astarte]

This smells a lot like pure jasmine to me, I thought that after loving Lushes's Fairy Jasmine bath bomb scent that I would love Jasmine... unfortunately I'm wrong.

 

I can't smell the juniperberry yet but I'll definitely give it another try.

[evil_laugher]

I have no idea what jasmine smells like. I thought Ligeia reminded me of an old jasmine bodywash of mine, but once I found that, not only does it not smell like this, but it doesn't have jasmine in it despite it being in the title. What's up with that?!

 

Anyway, this is a very lovely scent, and I mean that. Even though it smells like a non-existant bodywash, I feel quite ladylike in this. Fetch me my parasol, dear sir!

[Miggins]

Ligeia was one of my “most wanted” blends and I am truly upset that my skin chemistry hates it. In the vial, it makes me to do the happy dance, I love it so much. It reminds me of something but I just can’t remember what - maybe a spray I used to wear at college. On my skin, I love it - for about 5 minutes. My skin takes Ligeia and turns it into a strong soapy mess. Very sad that I can’t wear this one.

[Northernminx]

Lots and lots and lots of Jasmine. I didn't get much else though the geranium crept in toward the end of dry down. This was almost an overwhelmingly strong floral for me, pretty but nothing totally special and mostly it just made me a little headachey. Sad, but not too sad since this was a discontinued anyway.

[Witch's Dagger]

Ligeia

 

Preconceived notions: it sounds lovely - a dark, regal, bitter floral.

 

In the vial: Right away, I catch the ylang ylang - a very bitter, yet sweet scent.

 

On me: Wow - very bitter, but I like it. Sharp and bitter floral indeed. This is haughty and malevolent. I didn’t expect that this would work as a poison scent, but it does. There’s something sweet, yet acrid about it - a woman who smiles sweetly as she slowly stirs strichnine into your coffee. Not only that, but she knows that no matter what happens, she will be revered as a moral, upright citizen. She’s firm in her power, confident of her success, and bitterly wishing the demise of the next person on her list. I like this. I would have said it was too floral, except for this bitterness, so I’m not sure how well anyone else would like it.

 

Wafting: Jasmine. Around me, all I smell is jasmine. To get the bitterness I so enjoy, I need to smell my wrists. This is disappointing, as the scent is way more complex than just jasmine. Granted, this is a powerful, knock-you-off-your feet jasmine, but still. I want to smell the bitterness that comes from the other ingredients - especially more of the juniper.

 

Over time: The rose geranium is coming out more now, but I still wish for more juniper.

 

Overall: I really like the initial burst of angry florals, sharpened by juniper. The wafting and later scents aren’t as interesting. I’m going to have to try this one again before deciding.

[shelldoo]

this is almost pure jasmine when wet, a bit of deep green juniper berry becomes evident as it begins to dry. usually jasmine gets very overpowering and sharp on me, this one however doesn't get sharp, i am still not a huge jasmine fan but this is not too bad

[k00kaburra]

In bottle: Jasmine and juniper. Rather sweet and pretty. It makes me think of jasmine blossoms pouring over the edge of a tomb's entrance. Much brighter scent than I was anticipating.

 

On me: This is nearly pure jasmine. Jasmine with hints of something green - again, probably the juniper - hiding in the back. All in all, this seems a bit generic to me.

[coulrophobe]

Out of the bottle: A fresh, sharp, sweet scent. I get a tingle way up in my nose from this one.

 

On: With my chemistry, this turns into a very light, breezy jasmine scent. I'm surprised I can't smell the juniper at all - but I think I prefer it that way.

 

On the whole, I like this one, but am not rabid for it. It's a very pretty blend, but I'm not devestated that it's unavailable, as my soft/clean floral category has already been filled by Pele. But I'm quite happy I got to try it, and would probably consider getting more if the opportunity arose.

[wickedgoddess]

Wet - Hey, this is much prettier than I expected. Rose geranium seems to be the primary note, but it smells much nicer than the geraniums in my mother's garden. I smell a trace of juniper too.

 

Dry - still mostly geranium with a bit of juniper. There is a mustiness I dislike, but it fades away after awhile and a bit of jasmine finally comes out to add sweetness. Honestly, I wasn't expecting to like this; I just wanted to try it because of the name...Tomb of Ligeia is my favorite of the Corman Poe flicks. But this is much nicer than I expected ad quite long lasting. I thankfully won't be searching for a big bottle, after all, it does contain geranium, but it's different enough that I might want to hang on to the imp.

 

On the wickedgoddess scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being best, this rates a 2

[OriginalWacky]

Bottle (Imp): Very breezy.

 

Just On: Breezy, and fairly dryer sheet-like.

 

An hour or two later: Smells like dryer sheets with my skin. That's too bad.

 

Around 6 hours: No more dryer sheets, possibly some fruits.

 

12 hours: Back to dryer sheets, but really faint.

 

Overall: I guess this one is one my skin just doesn't work with.

 

After reading other reviews: I see the flowers are my nemesis yet again. Ah well, so many others to enjoy.

[olympia301]

 

Jasmine for the most part in the mix, along with the juniper berry, and the rose geranium, and I get an impression of lavender in it all.It smells very "home made" to me. That can be charming, but I prefer the scents that say "I was made by a pro" rather than something that reminds me of my own best attempts on the kitchen table. Somehow I always always got lavender when I tried to mix scents myself. Sad to say, that has become the Scent of Chagrin to me. Means I didn't do it right, and I am sorry to say that association is rubbing off on Ligeia.

Please excuse the icon name misspelling. I got an imp to try from a kind forumite and they misspelled the name of this blend on the label. I didn't catch it until I had made up the icon and was searching the forum for the reviews of this scent. I would go back to fix it but I doubt that it will get much comment, so I am letting myself off the hook. There is a butterfly with the name of Ligea, hence the icon.

[Scarlettfish]

I really love this scent. It's very strong and pleasant and lasts all day. I put it on at 7 this morning and at 2 it smells just as strong as it did at 7.

 

This is a really lovely, juicy floral & fruity blend. At first, the rose geranium is the dominant note, but as it dries the juniper berry and jasmine get stronger and give it a certain juiciness. Very pretty and floral and feminine. Love it.

[LittleGreyKitten]

First of all, I like jasmine usually. However, Ligeia went horribly, horribly awry on me. It was one of the few BPAL scents that turned my stomach a bit. (Many commercial perfumes do, and probably only 2 or 3 out of god-knows-how-many BPALs have). So Ligeia had that dubious distinction. It smelled innocuous in the bottle, and for a minute it seemed to be a nice cool floral but then WHAP! This revolting undertone developed and overwhelmed everything. No clue what it is. I actually thought it was the one with civet before I rechecked the descriptions; there was nothing in Ligeia that seems likely to be the culprit. I'm not even sure how to describe the scent that was so very bad- unsweet, acrid, and nauseating come to mind. I suspect it was a quirk of my chemistry. Anyway, sadly, a 1 out of 5.

[sookster]

dizzying jasmine.....

and since jasmine and i don't normally play nicely together this

is not a good scent for me....i think that maybe the geranium in this

is what amps up the jasmine to the fullest......not good

[jewelbug]

Imp: Very strong, sweet and heady jasmine. Jasmine and I do not get along, but I try everything once…..

 

Wet: strong jasmine, but of the sweet sort, not yet of the cat-pee sort that jasmine so frequently goes on me. It’s a hint creamy.

 

Dry: This is a pure jasmine on me. I don’t get the other notes, since my skin amps jasmine above all. This one doesn’t go cat-urine-y on my skin as many others do, but it still has an unpleasant tinge to my nose. The saving grace is that this jasmine is a touch creamy and spicy. I don’t like jasmines, but this is one of the better ones I’ve tried.

 

Overall: My skin amps jasmine and does bad things with it, but this one is bearable, if a bit stifling. I don’t get the other notes, but I have jasmine-amping skin chem. As with all of Beth’s blends, I’m glad that I tried this. Its just not for me. Good staying power--lasts about 7 hrs.

Edited March 10, 2006 by jewelbug

[Little Bird]

I was very hesitant to try this one out. Sniffing it in the bottle, it was pure jasmine. Just way too much floral for me.

 

On me... ugh. Jasmine. In all of its smoky, yellow, headache-inducing glory. I was hoping that the juniper berry might be able to cut the jasmine here, but no. My skin is amping this up into jasmine single note, as usual.

 

15 minutes later. I find myself wishing that this did not have so much throw. This might be the strongest jasmine ever. Rose geranium? Nope. Juniper berry? You wish.

 

“And the will therein lieth, which dieth not.” The jasmine dieth not... even well after a half hour, a headache, and repeated hand washings.

[Meg]

In the bottle: Jasmine and... something sharp, I'm guessing it's the juniper berry.

 

Wet: Jasmine that gets quickly overwhelmed by geranium. It's a very surprising combination that actually works.

 

Drydown: And jasmine has taken over again. Jasmine jasmine jasmine. I can't really smell much else. Suddenly some acidic juniper berry pops up. There's a herby - weedy even - scent in the background.

 

Overall: The jasmine turns to plastic powder and fades rather fast. Nothing to get excited about, really, I can hardly smell anything else than the jasmine. Certainly not one I'd like to try again.