Bensiabel

[Delirium1009]

As the years passed Prunella grew up into a very beautiful girl. Now her beauty and goodness, instead of softening the witch's heart, aroused her hatred and jealousy.

One day she called Prunella to her, and said: 'Take this basket, go to the well, and bring it back to me filled with water. If you don't I will kill you.'

The girl took the basket, went and let it down into the well again and again. But her work was lost labour. Each time, as she drew up the basket, the water streamed out of it. At last, in despair, she gave it up, and leaning against the well she began to cry bitterly, when suddenly she heard a voice at her side saying 'Prunella, why are you crying?'

Turning round she beheld a handsome youth, who looked kindly at her, as if he were sorry for her trouble.

'Who are you,' she asked, 'and how do you know my name?'

'I am the son of the witch,' he replied, 'and my name is Bensiabel. I know that she is determined that you shall die, but I promise you that she shall not carry out her wicked plan. Will you give me a kiss, if I fill your basket?'

'No,' said Prunella, 'I will not give you a kiss, because you are the son of a witch.'

'Very well,' replied the youth sadly. 'Give me your basket and I will fill it for you.' And he dipped it into the well, and the water stayed in it. Then the girl returned to the house, carrying the basket filled with water. When the witch saw it, she became white with rage, and exclaimed 'Bensiabel must have helped you.' And Prunella looked down, and said nothing.

Plum juice, lilac, leather, and a smattering of herbs.

In bottle/imp: A powdery mix of lilac and leather with a hint of fruitiness.

Immediately on skin: This is a cooler scent. I get a nicely balanced mix of lilac, leather, dry herbs, and fruit. It’s a drier blend, and very understated. The leather gives it a very smooth feel, but I get a slight soapiness from it.

After a little while: The plum comes out in this more, but it’s still nicely restrained by the other notes. This is very much a smooth scent with an equal amount of leather and lilac, and then the fruit adding a slightly sweeter, juicy feel. It’s a very well-blended scent.

Overall Impressions: This scent is very intriguing. It’s very well balanced and slightly complex, but smooth and unisex. It starts out a bit soapy, but after it dries it becomes this understated leather, lilac and plum scent that sticks very close to the skin. I think this is a little too unisex for me, but I can see both men and women enjoying it.

[Jadys]

I was nervous about this scent because of the leather, which always smells too manly on me. In this scent, though, the leather is barely there, lending Bensiabel a depth that Prunella doesn’t have. It’s plum with a twist and, while not a big bottle purchase for me, the imp is definitely a keeper.

[Ravenclaw79]

Bensiabel's a shifty little bugger.

 

First, it was harsh and overpoweringly leathery.

 

Then, it was plummy, but that quickly shifted to acrid and fruit, almost like rotting plums. But while it smelled like that on the skin, I kept getting wafts of lilac. I still have yet to find the perfect lilac scent for me, but that wafting stage gave me false hope for a while.

 

Alas, this love affair was not to be. It seems to have finally settled down now, and what I'm left with is a fruity floral, a plummy undertone, I'd say, but the lilac isn't distinct, and I think the leather's pretty much gone (which is alright with me).

 

Do I like this one? Yeah, once it settles down, finally. Will I wear it much? Probably not. No bottle, that's for sure. But I might hang onto the imp.

[innocent]

I have no idea why, but these notes combine into a smell that reminds me of dirty babies - soft, powdery, with undertones of "off". Darn, I had high hopes for this one.

[windbourne]

Verrrry strange. The leather is what hits me the hardest, which is unfortunate, because while I like the scent of leather, I don't like it on me. The lilac and herbs are gentle undertones, though as it dries the lilac comes out quite a bit more -- but it's not a springtime, fresh lilac, it's a perfumey lilac, which I do not like so well. The plum juice lends it all a peculiar fruitiness that I'm not sure I like in combination with the rest.

 

I don't think I like it, which makes me a little sad. I might try it on the boy, however, since boys + leather often go together well.

[crebbsgirl]

On first application, this is mostly a masculine purple scent. The leather takes the foreground as the lilac and herbs blossom on the skin. There is a faint undercurrent of the plum juice, which sweetens this a titch. During the drydown, the herbs fade and soften, but they don't completely disappear. The lilac and leather balance each other out nicely and what's left is a cooler leather scent. Very refined.

[kelpsoda]

I get sweet, new leather from this, with maybe some herbs in the background. Or is the sweetness the lilac? I can't tell. I wish I got plum, but I don't. Interesting, but a hair too masculine for me.

[jencallisto]

In the imp: A rather dark, complex lilac.

Fresh on the skin: I didn't realize lilac could be this dark! I don't know how often I'd want to smell like this, but it's gorgeous. Is it the leather that's giving this that heady dark edge? Oh, oh, I think it is, it's growing stronger as I type. And the hints of sweetness surrounding it must be the plum.

5 minutes later: Oh, leather, could you back off a little, please? You and the herbs are making this experience a little sharper than I'd prefer. Though the lilac in the waft is really nice.

10 minutes later: Oh, weird. This is doing a version of the dentist office thing that Severin did. It's not quite as exact as Severin, but it's similar. D'oh. I guess maybe leather smells like dentist's or doctor's office to me? Or at least leather + herbs/tea? How unfortunate.

20 minutes later: The waft is rather nice, though, almost all lilac, not very sweet. Fairly long throw.

30 minutes later: Oh, thank goodness. The impression of dentist's office is mostly gone, excellent. It's still basically a cologne-y lilac. It would smell great on a guy, which is not something I'm apt to say. In fact, I think it's the first time I've said it. But it's true. And I'm thinking it might be quite nice layered with Prunella.

1.5 hours later: This really is a gorgeous lilac, dark and slightly herbal.

3 hours later: I'm not sure if I really need to smell like this, but I do really like it.

5 hours later: That was sudden. It's gone, poof, just like that. I think there's a tiny bit of sweetness on my skin that's probably the plum, but everything else is completely gone.

 

Verdict: Huh. I quite liked this. I'm not sure it's me at all, but I enjoyed it and I'm definitely keeping this imp.

 

One phrase: dark lilac.

[zankoku_zen]

This one is a plummy lilac. I don't really get the leather at all, perhaps as a 'base' note, but it's the plum and lilac that take center stage.

 

I'm neither a fan of plum nor lilac, but it's pretty nonetheless. If you love either note, I seriously recommend trying this out.

[Blood onmy hands]

In the imp, this smells like smoky jacket leather and clean plum. It also smells oddly of spearmint to me.

 

On my skin, it still smells like spearmint (slightly powdery, sickly mint). Spearmint with a hint of black, smoky leather. I was excited about the plum and lilac in this, but sadly, it seems like this is mostly leather and herbs on my skin. In the drydown, the lilac comes out and dances around, but it doesn't smell quite right with the smoky, suffocating leather and weird herbal spearmint. I amp the leather up a lot in this one, and I don't like it. The plum is nonexistent on me

 

I like bpal's plum notes and lilac, but this blend isn't a winner for me.

[Lycanthrope]

Reminds me of Malkuth initially with all the plummy spiciness and a distinct 'maroon purple' vibe I get. There's a smattering of De Sade-like leather that tickles in the background but this is a masculine-appearing spicy splort of lilac plums. On me, after the spices have burned off it trends towards being lilac and amps up on that, which by no means is bad, but it's going less manly and more 'hidden tendencies towards wearing lilac perfume in the closet' is coming up. Spices have decreased.

 

However! If you liked Malkuth, you will probably like Bensiabel. You'd also like him if you like lilacs, this is pretty good.

[zomathesadist]

wet in bottle, I mostly smell the plum.

 

on my skin: leather amps, but the smell mixed with the plum is not one that works for me. It turns almost acrid and rubbery on me. yet I can't stop sniffing it.

 

drydown: the rubbery note lessens, but is still there. Mostly plum, with some leather. I'll retest this a few times, but I don't think it's a winner for me. boo.

[GalaxyLei]

When I tried this at Bats Day, it was a wonderful sweet leather blend...now what I get from my own bottle is sweet tarts. Maybe after it ages a bit it will be better?

[FallDaze]

In the imp I can definitely pick out the lilac and leather. Upon closer sniff, I get a bit of an herbal scent, but not a whole heck of a lot of plum juice.

 

Wet the leather keeps this from becoming TOO sweet. It smells like a clean man. Like a guy who just took a shower or bath and used his girlfriend's soap. Still smells like a man but with a little girly scenting on top.

 

After a while the leather completely takes over, leaving nothing but the faint whiffs of lilac in its wake. And not a hint of plum juice or any more herbs apart from the first initial sniffs. Very interesting indeed.

[RaeiNarcissus]

I saw plums and was like HUZZAH! And I was sniffing this and Prunella at the lab, Prunella did not smell good, so I tried this one. I was hoping and hoping for happy plum yummy........ and it didn't happen. This kinda turned weird and then disappeared on me.

 

Sad Panda.

[leezer]

At first it is all leather and bright green herbs, but the herbs fade away to leave a lovely, light, fruity leather. Most of the time leather blends (which I love) are warm and smokey and manly, but this is a very feminine leather. Light and very pretty, it stays close to the skin. I think a bottle is in my future.

[Iceblink]

Now this one, I like! The fresh stage is intensely herbal but it dries quickly down into a gorgeous plummy lilac, with the leather just there to butch it up a bit. The lilac's not turning to powder and the leather's not stomping all over everything else--this is wonderfully blended. Beautiful and unique.

[Pika]

Very herbal, and almost medicinal. Very dry too. It's kind of got an "old" scent profile to my nose... like something I would have smelled in my grandparent's house. I don't really get the plum at all, and the lilac is somehow tainted by the herbs.

I'm not a fan of this one, unfortunately.

[tasty]

I love lilac scents, but sometimes they seem a bit one-note and boring. This one isn't that. At all!

 

It's a sophisticated lilac scent that's got a lot of depth and weight to it. I like the "butched up" description. It really is like a pretty floral made less girly with the addition of leather.

[beckythecook]

I love plums and leather like crazy so I thought this might work, but apparently not. It turns into an old-lady perfumey lilac with a little bit of leather on me. Really not my thing, but I can appreciate that it is a unique and interesting blend.

[marared]

Newly applied, it's fruity lilac and a bit of leather. It was very nose-wrinklingly acrid right out of the imp, like it's probably lab fresh and needs some time to sit and age. Once it's been on my skin for a while, it becomes a lot more leathery, a lot more masculine, with just a bit of plum and lilac. It's pretty interesting, but leather and I move in entirely different circles - we don't disagree, but we aren't meant for each other.

[Lethran]

In bottle: This is the strongest plum I’ve encountered yet. Wet: The lilac comes out more on the skin, but it’s still plum dominant. Dry: spicy plum with a hint of leather. Fast fading.

[savage_rose]

The plumminess is kind of nice, deep and fruity...but the lilac is powdery and a bit cloying, and then the plum goes a bit sour on me. It's like Wanda's mundane, straightlaced sister who is fairly young yet but dresses in old lady sweaters and has every room covered in obnoxious flowered wallpaper. It just gets stuffier and old lady-er the longer it's on me.

[Eemia]

I'm always looking for something similar to His Station and Four Aces (lilac and leather) and this just made me giddy when I got it. Has that same dry floral mixed with clean leather smell that I love in His Station. Lilac smells almost astringent to me as far as florals go. The plum is the best part of this with that juicy but not quite sweet scent.

 

Even when it dries down I can still smell the plum. It's more of a musky version. The effect is still leathery and clean though, just a bit faded.

[filigree_shadow]

I prefer Bensiabel to Prunella. I like the lilac in this one, and the leather with it is very, very soft. I don't mean soft like it's faint, I mean it smells like very soft leather. I can't really smell herbs in this, and the plum juice doesn't seem prominent at all. Soft lilac and leather for sure. I'm going to hang on to this one and do some re-tests and see how it goes.