Bengal

[Scanmike]

A sultry and unruly blend that emulates the ambient scent of the markets in ancient Bengal: skin musk with honey, peppers, clove, cinnamon bark and ginger.

Starts off a strong honey cinnamon then after 30 minutes mellows down. I like it but not enough to buy a bottle. Actually prefer Morocco much more.

[Browneyes]

This is gorgeous! At first it smells very foody, cinnamon-cakey on me... then the scent develops, with the skin musk and honey becoming stronger, warmer. The final effect is a sweet, sultry, spicy blend - but not too sweet and not too overwhelming on the spices either. It blends well into my skin.

 

I like this better than other bpal cinnamon blends that i've tried. Definately keeping the imp, may consider a bottle if I use it up!

I'm so happy I tried this, it's been sitting in my "to try" bag for months!

Edited May 5, 2008 by Browneyes

[rusty]

musky honey with smoldering layer of clove-cinnamon-ginger layer on top of it. I'm not catching that peppery sharpness. I just put on a little though. the cinnamon is def the standout spice, and its not HOT hot, just a nice simmery smoldery spiciness, without a sharp bite---still very spicy though! the honey is a bit too cloying and thick for me, so its not a favorite, but sometimes I want a bit of thickness, and bengal is really nice for that. a winter scent that can keep me warm.

[marared]

Smells like a nice warm cup of good chai.

[arsenicsauce]

Wet: cinnamon! Slightly sweet cinnamon. Reminds me of chewing those cinnamon bark sticks that have been mulling in the apple cider for days.

Dry: Unfortunately, this fades pretty quickly on me. While it lasts, the cinnamon dominates but I can smell the clove note too, and maybe the ginger. Smells like a spice rack. I can't exactly smell the pepper, but if I sniff it too closely my nose and lips sting. By the time the cinnamon mellows out, the whole scent also starts to fade, but before it goes the honey starts to play up a little and does nice things with the clove note- makes me think of a good loaf of spiced cake-bread..

 

I'm not smelling the musk at all, which is good because it goes horribly sour on me. It's not a bad scent, but I don't think I'd wear it except in the dead of winter; it's very warm and, well, it smells like christmas.

[Lamia]

It still doesn't smell like an Indian Spice Market, but it does smell slightly less of Play-Do and Cinnamon Red Hots once it's out of the bottle.

 

Drydown has honey, definately, but sugared cinnamon is the dominant note.

[Raqassah]

Wet/Initial impression: Honey, milk and chai spices.

Dry down: Soft sweet musk!Not sickly like musk often goes. Very second skin – with an undernote of ginger and flowers.

Final thoughts: Very pleasant. Mellow but sexy. Not overt. Would make a good seduction scent – to be discovered in the hollow of the neck. Morphs to powder eventually.

[Tilby]

Mmm! Warm and spicy, I get more clove than cinnamon, but the tiniest touch of honey mellows it out nicely. It would be the perfect winter scent. A lot of cinnamon blends actually burn or redden my skin, and this one didn't. I would love more of this one!

[Argentwolf]

I could definitely smell the cinnamon in this one. Oddly enough, there was also a strong chocolate smell as well. I constantly had images of a cup of dark hot chocolate spiked with cinnamon. It's not bad! Must have been the way the clove and honey were mingling together, with perhaps the ginger as well...it fooled me. All in all, I like it.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this is sweet and spicy - delicious!

 

On my skin, I get the richness of the honey, and the spicy warmth of the clove and the ginger.

 

When it dries, it's so beautiful - the honey balances the spices SO WELL. I love this!!

[Diva Urd]

This was a generous frimp from the lab. Thank you!

 

In the vial: This smells like... band-aid adhesive?! Uh-oh...

 

On me: Cinnamon and clove with honey in the background. Sadly, the scent of either of the former two notes makes me GAG, but since it was a freebie, I felt I had to be fair and try it (you never know, right?). But sadly, this one did just what I expected... and it's strong too!

 

If you like cinnamon and clove, get this. Otherwise, stay far, far away!

 

Off to wash my arm... Swap pile for you, Bengal!

[sprocket21]

First impression: WHOA! Who spilled the cinnamon in the spice cabinet?

 

This isn't a red-hots cinnamon smell (like Wrath), this is the smell of a cinnamon stick that you're about to swirl in a mug of hot chocolate. The pepper, ginger, and clove hangs around in the background - thus the impression of a spice cabinet. I can't really smell the honey, but it does seem to be lending a bit of sweetness to the spice. It smells very exotic, but cinnamon just isn't really me.

[stillalive]

This reminds me of my mother's favorite tea... I think I fell in love with it because I was so homesick when my roommate introduced me to it.

 

Wet: VERY strong, I usually get a headache so I can't put it on my neck. My younger brothers got nauseous when I accidentally spilled half of the imp on myself.

 

Dry: Spice-y in a way that does remind me of that region. It makes me think of Inara, and I wonder if the incense she uses in her room on Serenity might smell like this.

 

Drier: The very best part... it almost smells like baby powder, but a slightly cinnamony baby powder. I firmly believe that if one were to bury their nose into Inara's neck this is what they would smell.

 

I think this will smell really nice blended with coconut oil and smoothed into my hair. Perfect for when I want a more exotic profile... it makes me think of what Sarah in the more recent movie "A Little Princess" said India smelled like. I'm contemplating buying a larger bottle of this.

[Champagne]

I love cinnamon and masala chai so I won`t be impartial in my review. I like it a lot but while in the wet phase it has a spicy kicks, now it turned to cinnamon buns covered with honey! I feel so hungry that I want to go out and search for the pastry shop where I used to eat them long ago during job lunch time. It`s a yummy-nostalgic imp, and a keeper for sure. The throw is unbelievebly strong.

4/5

[couscous]

Bengal might be the only cinnamon BPAL i can wear. Everything with cinnamon or cassia turns to red hots or big red bubblegum on my skin, and so i automatically avoid any blend with those notes listed because I just hate that smell so much.

 

Bengal and Red devil are the notable exceptions to this rule- and, in bengal's case, I think that maybe the clove took over and married with the cinnamon so that i could finally, finally get the bark-y, rooty cinnamon I've always wanted instead of the cheap candy.

 

It's pepper-y, strongly spiced, and indeed very chai-like. It's almost too literal to wear, like you really have been baking all day, but I really liked it.

[tapestry]

Another imp I recently inherited. I'm a sucker for spices.

 

In the imp: Pretty! But mostly the cinnamon bark. Beneath that I can almost feel the clove and honey lurking about and waiting.

 

Wet on skin: Hallo, cinnamon! It's not overwhelming, just very there. I like it as a start, though, as the skin musk must come into play at this point -- the cinnamon is offet set by a pleasantly "salty" note which reminds me of clean sweat. It grounds the cinnamon nicely, and lets me pick up even more on the honey. Where the ginger went, I don't know.

 

Drydown: Unfortunately, I don't get to this stage and after a traumatic encounter with Kabuki had a feeling that I wouldn't. I don't have sensitive skin as a general rule, but the Lab's cinnamon causes serious burning and redness for me. Disappointed, in a state of mild panic and not at all surprised, I run-don't-walk to the shower. I'd be sad, but to be honest the Bengal scent was disappearing very quickly to begin with. My roommate tried this at work last week and said she had to reapply constantly.

 

The verdict: I'd have loved to see what the skin musk did with this perfume, but methinks I'll have to be avoiding any oils which have cinnamon from now on. If this works well on you and sticks around, count me jealous!

[caffinatedangel]

Today I got my first set of imps in the mail. So I figured I'd add my reviews for what I've tried. My first reviews, but while picking out my imps I found reading so many reviews gave a perfect feel for the scents.

What I had hoped for : I wanted spice that would turn heads. Tangy vibrant. Clove, ginger, cinnamon, I thought "Well hell yes." and added it to my list. Naturally, I ignored the "Musk" and "Honey" aspects. ^^'

 

In the imp: It was so very very soft to me. I could smell all the spices, but mostly I smelled just the sweetness of the honey. Which scared me, I wanted bam.

 

Wet on skin: Cinnamon. Undercurrents of clove seemed to carry it along. But the honey, musk, peppers, all lost in the cinnamony smells at first.

 

Dry, stage one: Glee! My spicey wants were met. The cinnamon and clove danced around, completely forgetting it was suppose to have honey anywhere in it. The ginger wasn't blatantly obvious, but when sitting back and not hyperventilating while sniffing my wrist, I could smell that unique tang of ginger, though she didn't want to dance together with cinnamon and clove. Just a back seat voyeur.

 

Dry, stage two: The cinnamon and clove wore themselves out, running amok. Now ginger has taken the stage, with honey. Playing a nice soothing melody and coaxing the musk out. While putting cinnamon and clove to sleep. They're still certainly there, just passive and soft. I smell sensuous and dark. Lovely, not what I had expected though. This is definitely a chai tea, and even has that soothing effect now. I can also really picture a market place. Again, I hoped for more vibrant spices, but this is certainly something I can imagine. A lot of people, mixed scents blending into one perfect smell (I find it hard to pick everything apart, it blends together beautifully), that sweat-inducing sun maybe starting to head back down. Causing a sort of relaxed, end of the day feel. But everyone musky and spices just saturating everyone and everything, in a soft way... I'm going to eat my wrist.

 

Dry, stage three: Wow, I ate, watched a movie, went out... so a good few hours later I realize that... I'm still smelling this scent. It's lasting QUITE a long time, and still has decent throw. I think the first blast of cinnamon numbed me to the smell. I was upstairs waiting for food when my sister leaned over, stared at me, and then told me I smelled spicy. The spices certainly mellow, but the honey has really bloomed on my skin. It's sweet, liquid, delicious. The musk is also there, holding tight. And together have made a whole new musky late-night scent, with remnants of the spices that lost their flair a while back. Still delicious. I'm quite impressed. (Now I go find where I said throw and duration was bad and scratch that)

 

Overall opinion, so far: I'm still going to search for a more vibrant blend of spices, but Bengal was warm and delicious. A sexy scent, to me. I was worried because people mentioned honey going sour, and wasn't sure what that would even smell like. If this is sour honey, I love it I smell like what I imagine a Bengal tiger in heat would smell like. How disturbing. If I wear this too long, I may just fall into a trance of lazy seductiveness. Not the active spices I had wished for, but gorgeous anyways.

 

ps: Thanks for the later poster suggesting a newer scent. I'm so overwhelmed in all of the oils right now that it's hard to find whats new and old. lol

Edited July 10, 2008 by CaffinatedAngel

[milo]

I got this imp almost a year ago and tossed it aside, wasn't too impressed, but I can't remember why. Right away when I opened it up today, I knew that it was a winner. Wonderful swirling spices of cinnamon and ginger over a sweet base, to die for. It kind of reminds me of pickled imp, only not as foody, which is a good thing. I do see this as a good winter and summer scent. The warm spices for winter, and HOT for summer. I'm not making sense, I just think this would be a great steamy summer evening scent.

[AthenaRose]

Ouch! I should have read the reviews first. This one should come with a warning, do not appy on damp skin! I had just washed my arms to make sure i didn't have any residual scent left, because i wanted to give this one a fair analysis during my first trial of it. But yikes, it burns on the elbows, it's hot and it stings! I had to wash it off my elbows, i'm lucky they didn't start to turn red yet. Wrists and behind the ears were fine, thankfully.

 

Pretty yummy though. Smells like Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice Herbal Tea (one of my favourites!) sweetened with honey! This honey note instantly reminds me of Winnie The Pooh scratch & sniff books i had when i was a kid.

 

This one is fun. And now i'd like a cup of tea. Wonderful!

 

4/5

Edited July 19, 2008 by AthenaRose

[TeaLeaf]

I love love the smell of this so warm spicy and perfect, unfortunately I can't wear anything with cinnamon but I will definitely keep this around to sniff.

[Enferdame]

A frimp from the lab, oh, Beth has my taste down, to a t.

 

In the bottle- Cinnamon and baby powder.

 

On me- O HAI musk! The musk has it's way with me as it gets dusky and dark and marvelous, all they while that cinnamon is nice and spicy. Definitely a sort of "doing it in the cellar up against the spice rack" smell. Too bad the musk doesn't stay super musky for long, but fades down into the baby powder smell that usually comes with musks on me. Not that I have a problem with that, I do wish it would stay MUSK longer though. Still, this is one is a keeper. A nice change from the fruity ones I've been testing lately. I can't resist a good warm red scent.

[darharper]

Another spicy scent in my last order. I tried this yesterday right before a brief trip to meet a visiting friend for coffee.

 

In the imp: Chai. Mmmm, chai!

 

Wet: Swirling spices dance around on my wrist. Bits of cinnamon (but not of the red hot variety), clove, ginger (I think). It smells so good! I adore spicy scents. I carefully watch my wrist for signs of welts. Cinnamon does that to my skin, but, Pickled Imp didn't, so I hang onto some hope.

 

Dry: Honey comes to the surface and mixes in with the spices. I smell divine! When I went to meet my friend, I gave her a hug and she said, "What are you wearing? You smell lovely!" It lasted all day even in the hot, humid weather we are currently having. The throw was good. I like a small throw so I was pleased. My husband said he would get soft wafts of the scent when I would walk by. Perfect!

 

It definitely smells like a good cup of Chai. I will wear it in the summer and in the winter. It isn't foody, in my opinion, which is good because I hate foody. Definitely a lovely spicy scent. Definitely a big bottle!

Edited July 27, 2008 by smallpaws

[kjirstiben]

Bengal is a very humid scent... spicy and wet. For the first hour or so, the peppery spiciness predominates, along with a strange, watery-tea impression... but after a while, the spices seem to fade and I get a somewhat sour-stale scent that I don't care for all too well. That alternates with a peppery kick to make the later stages of Bengal somewhat contradictory.

 

I do think it's like chai tea, but it's like chai tea blend without any milk added, all sharp-sweet and watery.

 

I've tried this one several times--I really want it to be something I like--but it's not working right on my skin... Oh well... chalk it up to learning which notes work for me!

[maika]

In the imp, musk and cloves. Sweet and spicy.

 

Wet, honey and cinnamon. This is lush, I love it at this point.

 

Dry, all the spices come together with the honey...and I smell like Chai. This is not a bad thing though...it's freezing cold here, and all of a sudden I feel warm again. Definitely a keeper!

[Suu4LC]

I haven't heard that much buzz around this scent, but based on the scent description, it totally sounds up my alley. I love spicy cinnamon scents, I love honey, and I especially love ginger. On paper, it sounds perfect!

 

In the imp, this is a very strong blast of cinnamon. Like a very very spicy, creamy chai! Yum!!!

 

On my skin-SPICY cinnamon. Probably the spiciest cinnamon blend (spicier than Inferno even!) The throw isn't as strong as I suspected, but I actually think that's a good thing, because it keeps this blend from being overwhelmingly potent. The skin musk really helps ground this blend.

 

As it dries, it kind of loses the spicy chai edge, and becomes a more earthy and mellow cinnamon bark scent. This is an excellent blend, and one of those times where I am so grateful that I am not sensitive to cinnamon/spicy scents. I'm not rushing out to by a bottle of this omgritenao, but it has been added to the wishlist!