Bengal

[elenore]

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.

I don't think I've reviewed this yet. Funny, it was in my very first imp order...and I've been coming back to it a lot lately and thinking it may be one of my very favorite scents. There is something so spicy and sexy about it. It's cinnamon, but not just cinnamon-there's a lot of other things going on here too, and spices...kinda like chai, yeah, a little bit creamy...the honey does something very nice on my skin. I don't think it's a very "foody" scent, despite the chai reference...there's something a bit more incense-y about it, it doesn't make me want to gobble my arm but it makes me feel very mysterious and worldly. I guess that's appropriate since it's in Wanderlust. This scent makes me feel like places I've never even been to.

ETA the scent description. Edited November 8, 2007 by Shollin
Added BPAL code

[mhickle]

I looooove honey, so I was really excited to try this. And I have not been disappointed!! In the imp, it smells like spiced deliciousness, all honey-sweet with cinnamon. On my skin, it's very spicey at first, with the honey sneaking into the background. As we hit the drydown phase, the honey comes back to the forefront, and I'm left with a slightly spicey sweetness that is just lovely. I was at a rehearsal last night and must have looked like a crazy person, because I could not stop smelling my wrists.

 

I've noticed with most of the oils I've tried, though, that they just don't last very long on me.... Hmmm....

[miyamo]

Oh, I wanted to love Bengal, I wanted to love it so badly. In the bottle and fresh on my skin there's honey and clove and cinnamon, the spices dominate and it is gorgeous. But on dry down all I can smell is musk, and if I concentrate maybe the occasional whiff of spices. If you are a musk fan this will be fine for you, but I'm not so my search for a lovely spice-y scent continues.

[Christine Daae]

If Plunder was unsweetened chai tea, this is chai tea with the sugar and milk.

 

SO good. The honey behaves, the skin musk doesn't get out of control - and it's just yummy, sweet, spicy goodness. <3

[akiko]

Another imp fresh from the lab.

 

Imp: This smells so good. If Morocco is Silk Road minus the desert, this is Silk Road plus honey.

 

Wet: Nice and spicy, but definitely a honey to it. (I'd forgotten it was there until I stuck my arm under my SO's nose and he said "Is this the one you had yesterday with the honey?" [Athens])

 

Dry: Very soft, light scent. Still spicy, lost the honey. I rather like this one as well.

[lilirose]

Yummy!

 

In the imp: Mostly cinnamon, a bit sharp and biting.

 

On skin: Instantly blossoms into a gorgeous, spicy-sweet, smooth, incensey perfume. Another "love at first sniff". The "cinnamon" note is very much like grond cinnamon- almost dry and dusty- but mixed with warm honey. The clove and ginger rise up as the scent develops. I keep thinking I catch a hint of vanilla in the background, as well, but somehow the musk is so barely-there than I can't smell it at all.

 

Verdict: Definitely like this one, and will seriously consider a 5ml.

[Jocelyn]

At first this smells exactly like a cinnamon muffin, the ones with the crumb topping. After a while the cinnamon smell goes down and I get a nice chai type smell. The skin musk comes through and it's a very " skin like" scent on me. Pretty I'll keep this one.

[Jenesis]

Note: My bottle of Bengal is very aged; it has a non-laminated label.

 

Cinnamon is an amper on my skin, so we all know what this smelt like for the first ten minutes!

 

After that I definitely get the clove and ginger, with a sweetness behind it, presumably the honey and/or musk. The notes are so well-blended that it's hard to pick any single one out.

 

I found that as my bottle is so old, it's very, very potent. I managed to overapply by dabbing tiny amounts on, so I have to learn to be careful! My mother's opinion wasn't so good, she said it smelt like "Something dead"(!), but to her all BPAL smells like "fag ash", "air freshener" or "rotting flowers", so don't take her word for it

[heartlilly]

I get mostly a creamy spice from this. The clove stands out just a bit I think, but it is a sweet and gorgeous musky clove with a hint of cinnamon. Beautiful.

 

It does sort of remind me of chai and it has the same comforting, relaxing effect that I get from chai too. It is somewhat strong, but gentle and not overwhelming.

 

Also, those with sensitive skin may want to be cautious, I can't use this on damp/fresh out of the shower skin because it does burn, to the point of red welts (it is the only oil so far to give me a reaction). This only happens to me on damp skin though, I have no reaction to it at all on dry skin.

[Rosaleen Dhu]

This was wonderful....for a few seconds. On first application,it's all cinnamon...screaming cinnamon. Then the cinnamon settles down,and the skin musk and honey sweeten things up, and it's gone. I really loved it, but it fades very fast on me,and has no throw at all.

 

From the description, this should have been perfect for me. I'll have to try it again at a later date.

[jaeyne]

I don't get the cinnamon everyone (almost ) has talked about or honey either. I do get the Chai smell. But what comes to the forefront when I put this on is the pepper. I smell hot and spicy. Bengal feels like India, feels like a tiger, feels orange and black. It was the first thing my SO could smell after having the flu and his sinuses shut down. This is one of my favorites!

[sheridankm]

I got this imp through the forum, and I think it's had a while to age. Bengal is a light scent on me, barely noticeable even with my nose next to my skin. It smells like me, too -- that's probably the skin musk. I smell cinnamon and a little bit of sweetness that must be the honey, but it's not overpowering like every other honey blend I've tried; otherwise, maybe a little bit of creaminess. But I don't smell chai masala at all, instead this is more like unsweetened spice cookies: not too foody and not too sweet, but a little bit of a bakery smell. Subtle and comforting, not sexy in the least.

[TereFaerie]

Put me in the Chai Tea group! I am very happy with this one, but it took me a while to get there. I used waaaaay too much the first time, and straight out of the shower, causing redness. All I needed today was a swipe across the backs of my wrists and a bit in the hair at the nape of my neck. It goes very nicely with my Lush Potion lotion.

 

After wearing it all day it now smells like musk/vetiver, but in a good way, even though I tend not to like straight up vetiver in musks.

The spice is wonderfully warm and lovely for fall and winter, and sort of reminiscent of this year's Samhain, sans fruitiness, of course, and a bit less dark/patchouli.

 

A must have for the spice/cinnamon lover!

[MaeKitty]

In the Bottle: A little foody, but predominantly spicey. I worry this could go the way of Jack for me.

On Me: Oh, I love this. The spices are lovely, without being too sweet or foody. The honey is deep and more like an amber than a cloying weight. The skin musk and the peppers just keep everything really sexy and a little sharp. Love it. This is what I was looking for in Jack and Gingerbread Poppet

[dirtytrip]

Hm, I thought the cinnamon would drown out everything, but it really, really mellowed once it was on me. A little too mellow - it doesn't have any throw whatsoever. A pretty skin musk scent flavored with honey and a touch of pepper, might get a bottle sometime.

[Aldercy]

Wow. I was excited about this one, but I think it's surpassed my expectations. It's quite beautiful. It's definitely got a foody thing going on and immediately reminds me of my aunt's house and her obsessive Christmas baking (though I wouldn't say this is a holiday sort of scent in general)... nutmeg, spice cookies, a hint of the smoky, drafty fireplace... I think the edible smell is a good thing in this case, really like walking through an open market and being struck by all the fantastic, strange delicacies you could discover.

 

I don't get the honey immediately-- the cinnamon is the first thing that hits me-- but now that it's drying down, I'm certainly sensing it. In fact, I opened a jar of wildflower honey I have just to compare and it's really true to that. This is a very warm, sexy smell to me. Mellow, humid, and orangey-red. It might be a little bold for me is my only concern.

 

4.5 out of 5. I might be getting a big bottle, depending on exactly how sad I am when the imp runs out. : )

[DarthArwen]

Bengal. In short... mmmmmmgood

 

This one had an immediate and rather emotional reaction in me. A deep stomach-feeling of comfort. Like warm arms hugging me on a cold day. I expected Morocco or Scherezade to be my Eastern/spice blend but this is far better. It's warm spiced honey to me, somehow like being in a warm kitchen without actually feeling foody. It's not perfumey and it fits me very well. So far this is my number 1.

 

Even my boyfriend - who insists I smell better without wearing anything - went mmm :-)

 

I've just bought a bottle of aged Bengal here on the forum - and I've just noticed that it's Jenesis's bottle, which she reviews a bit further up. I hope that added potency works on me too, because the lab-fresh imp fades kind of fast, and my imp not going to last me long at this pace.

Edited March 6, 2008 by DarthArwen

[agnusdei]

Bengal is one of those scents where you know from the second you see the notes that it’s going to be absolutely perfect for you, and it is. Every one of the notes here are favorites of mine, I don’t even think the idea of it not working for me ever crossed my mind.

 

Skin musk and honey are a delicious duo that can do no wrong on my skin, and their presence in Bengal is no exception. It starts out with a beautiful layer of thick golden honey, deep and sweet. The balance the honey has with the skin musk is apparent right away, with the musk tempering the honey and giving it a weightless second-skin quality that keeps it from being too sweet. It’s just on the edge of richly decadent but at the same time there’s a glowing translucency that makes this scent seem so personal as well. The spices are noticeable from the beginning but it takes a few minutes for them to warm up to my skin. The cinnamon bark is the strongest, followed by the pepper and ginger and then just a hint of clove. Their dryness helps to cut the sticky sweet honey just a bit as well as shaking up the blend with their lovely spiciness. The spices stay prominent for the rest of wear, with an aura of honey backing them up. This is a chai scent for sure, but a deep, creamy chai with more than just a drizzle of honey. Wearing Bengal today actually prompted the boy & I to go to Starbucks and get a chai latte with a couple pumps of honey syrup, which tasted a whole lot like this smells.

 

Bengal is a gorgeous and uplifting scent, a perfect marriage of sweet and spice. I am all about hot & fiery scents and Bengal is spicy enough to appease the part of me that wants to get my senses obliterated in an onslaught of spiciness but with a perfect base of sweet musky honey because dammit I’m still a delicate sweet-loving little girl too. I love love love this.

[Juushika]

Having discovered a love of pepper, I've been in search of a good spicy blend—one I can wear on its own, or layer under other scents.

 

In vial: It's hard for me to pin down, and not entirely pleasant. Ginger, I think, with a nondescript cloying perfumey smell in the background. Why do I always dislike the smell in the vial?

 

On me: At first, the only note that I can pick out is the pepper, which is very similar to the pepper in White Rabbit. But it's not particularly spicy—the background notes make it warm and sweet, almost soft and skin-close. To my nose, it doesn't change much during drydown and wear. The boyfriend says he can smell ginger, pepper, and honey; I only get pepper with that background skin-level warmth and sweetness—and maybe just the slightest touch of golden ginger. Within an hour or two, the perfume has faded almost to nothing, but it retains, just barely, at the skin level and in brief whiffs of an aura of scent: it's skin musk sweetened by the lightest honey, and warmed by spices but never sharp or hot: honey-golden and carmine red. It's pleasant, but almost secretive: the boy reported that he couldn't smell it anymore, and ten minutes rolled towards me and said that I smelled wonderful. It's only there right on the skin, but you catch whiffs when you wouldn't suspect it.

 

Verdict: This is far from the dominant spices that I was hoping for. I never get the cinnamon or clove, the pepper is warm and almost sweet, the ginger is smooth and golden. The base is the heart of this blend, a skin musk that ties the scent to skin level and the smoothest skin-warmed honey, not sticky or cloying in the least. The perfume is faint, low throw and low wear length. But for all of that, the blend is still nice—it's not exceptional, and it's not what I wanted or expected, but I like it and so does the boy. It may make a good scent for cuddling in before bed, when wear length doesn't matter and the skin-level scent would be most appreciated. I'm still on the hunt for a good spicy blend, but I'll probably keep this one around.

[donnatron]

Imp: Impassive. Reminded me of Silk Road which was not my friend.

 

Wet: Wait... wait for it.... never mind the Silk Road. This smells fantabulous on me.

 

Dry: Gorgeous AND long lasting! The honey clings to my skin and underlies this sexy, sultry mix of spices on my skin. I smell phenomenal.

 

Throw: Enough to make the people I live with sniff around and ask "What is that? Is that PaperRose? Wear that one again."

 

Overall: I want a barrel full of this.

[suki]

in the imp: cinnamon! and something a bit...medicinal lurking. hmmm

 

wet on skin: more cinnamon and i'm getting some cassia now, which is making for a nice, spicy mix

 

dry down: the two continue to intermix, mellowing out with a dab of honey, but not really morphing.

 

in all: although i had other expectations of this (only a small trace of honey, absolutely NO ginger) it's still a sultry, spicy mix and those who like such things will be in love with this.

 

 

ETA: after having Bengal on me for an extended time, it has sweetened and mellowed further, the honey has bloomed and i am finding this to be a very sultry, close-to-the-skin sort of fragrance- and i *love* it!

 

 

 

Edited March 24, 2008 by VioletChaos

[Pincushions]

I'd like to start off by saying, Bengal makes me want to drink my own wrist: It's Chai tea through and through... It's definitely yummy! One of my favourites, for sure! I never really do get the peppers, but the clove, ginger, and musk is strong, the honey and cinnamon only coming out later on.

 

I don't know what else to say other than I love it, it's warm, spicy, delicious, and lasts a long time. Definitely bottle worthy!

[goth_huntress]

This is just rich and sexy. Love it so very much. Will have to get a full bottle someday.

[scarletgenesis]

At first, Bengal is alot of cinnamon, but also something almost cream/milk-y. Like Cinnamon ice cream! After a while, the ginger and honey come out to play. They all blend together in a creamy chai with a tiny tiny bit of the musk, and an even fainter hint of pepper. This is beautiful and calming.

 

The cinnamon starts out uber strong (ok by me b/c I love cinnamon) but does fade and blend with the other notes later. So for those worried about overpowering OMG cinnamon...give it a few hours to meld with the rest of the notes.

[greenranger]

In the imp, cinnamon.

 

Wet on me, cinnamon...with something else behind. Other spices seem to be appearing? I think I smell the musk.

 

Drying, I smell the cinnamon, and possibly ginger. I think I am getting the musk mostly as a unifying and smoothing note. Both those spices can be sharp on their own, but this is...getting slinky. A brightly colored tiger stalking through the forest. Rawr!

 

 

 

This one smells soft to me...but, really strong to my husband. This is a problem, as my husband still prefers me to smell like "me" and I like to catch whiffs of the perfume. Ideally, almost any perfume would smell stronger to me than to him. This is usually not the case, though, and certainly was not with this.

 

The second problem I have with this scent is that when it did change, it couldn't decide whether it was a candle or not. The cinnamon and ginger and musk eventually settled down and blended with the other spices that had been in the background to become a "warm spicyness." Most unfortunately, the whiffs I got during the day alternated between candle and yum. Even later, most of the cinnamon and spices seemed to vanish leaving sweet warm barely spiced milk scent, that also, unfortunately, alternated with vanilla candle wax.

 

I think this may be a swap, but, I'll give it another try in a week or so.

Edited April 17, 2008 by Aerinha