Bengal

[Caerphilly]

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.

In the imp: Musky connamon and clove. No honey, unfortuneately.

After 5 minutes: Smells like Orbit connamon gum tastes. I love cinnamon gum. It's all I chew, but I'm not sure if I want to smell like it all over.

After 30 minutes: Still smells like gum, and no honey. It is how I would picture Bengal to smell. Spicy and musky. Very strong scent. And the musk doesn't give me a headache as it usually does.

Overall: I wanted honey, and instead I got cinnamon gum. Not complaining because I looove cinnamon gum. I just don't want to smell like it all the time.

[inurbanus]

Bengal smells primarily like cinnamon to me, but if I concentrate I can smell some sweet honey in the background. I have to say, most spice blends smell almost indistinguishable to me, but Bengal definitely seems like the ultimate blend for cinnamon lovers. It's a little too medicinal for my taste, but I can see why others would enjoy it. This is the second time that I've tested it, since something drew me back in to try it again. If this continues, I might just use my imp up!

 

Right now, a 3.5/5, but subject to change.

[kelpsoda]

I smell lots of spices, cinnamon in particular. This does smell awfully like cinnamon gum, but the skin musk backs it up, and it's sweetened by the honey. If you're looking for a cinnamon or chai scent, this would be it.

[femmefatale]

Well, I seem to have found a scent that can out amp cinnamon....honey. Now, I like honey so that's but I really wish it didn't drown out the cinnamon & clove (which I really love).

 

I think I will have to try this in my locket, but I have a feeling this one might be making it's way to my sister.

 

ADDED Oct. 19:

 

Spicy honey. I love it it. My skin amps cinnamon and honey, so this blend is wonderful, they keep each other in check.

Definitely bottle worthy.

[crebbsgirl]

Wet, this is spicy honey. Very thick, not over sweet. Attention-grabbing, but not too in-your-face. I really like this. But I like it even better dry. It softens and the musk comes out a little more. As it settles, the spice remains and the sweetness of the honey dries a bit. I really, really like this one! I'm not normally one for foody scents, but I think this one is a keeper.

[Alarine]

From the bottle: honey, spices but blended enough that I can't tell which...

 

just dabbed on my skin: honey... peppers... oranges? something slightly citrusy? spices! slightly flowery? I finally gave up and looked at the notes after 10 minutes, because I would've sworn there's some oranges or tangerine in this. huh.

 

after 20-30 minutes: honey and citrusy tea with spices... still not noticing any musk. definitely picturing walking through an open-to-the-air spice market. I think the citrusy impression is from a note that makes me think of biting into bell pepper sticks or something of the sort.

 

after 3 hours: It's blends like this that make me desperately hope I'll continue to never have reactions to spices or other common irritants. the light musk gets noticeable as time goes by, but it stays close to my skin and just wonderful citrusy/peppery tea with a little honey - very golden and warm and comforting and I feel more confident and relaxed, wearing this. I think it's lasted at least 7 hours every time I've worn it, too, which just adds to my love for it.

[gnl]

In the bottle: Yum! Crumb cake! Or crumb cake with something a little extra spicy to it. Very nice.

 

Wet: Honey and spice. Cinnamon is the strongest, I think, but it's got some nice clove and ginger in there too. Really lovely scent.

 

Dry: The cinnamon's blended nicely into the other spices and is no longer the strongest. Now it's yummy, little bit spicy, chai tea.

 

Verdict: Fades a little bit more than I'd like, but still lovely. Chai tea is what I was told this would smell like and I was so hoping for. And yay! It is!

 

5/5

[Schmoozy]

Oh, this is beautiful. So nummy, and warm, and spicy and delicious. This is the scent of a coffee cake without the coffee. Rich, gooey cake sweetened with honey, spiced mostly with cinnamon and clove. The ginger and peppers are in the background, but not not very prevalent, though lend to the spicy feel. Skin musk makes this slightly sexy, maybe animalistic in a way.

I too, was looking to try this blend to see if would translate into Chai tea, and it is bang on. I am in heaven.

[topaz]

I've been going through my imps and weeding out the ones that can go to more loving homes and tested this one tonight.

 

In the bottle and wet Hmm, I know this smell. sniff It brings back memories of living in Florida but I can't place it. sniff Wait! That's pepper tree. It smells exactly like pepper trees from when we went on long rides to Alligator Alley!

 

Drydown How do you morph from pepper trees to wassil? Warm, spicy, ginger and clove wassil!

 

It seems my skin doesn't like this (although my nose does). My wrists are getting red and itchy.

[toomuch]

Delicious spicy sweet scent. After an hour or so the honey gets way too strong on me. If you like honey, you'll probably love this one.

[jehrichardson]

First impression was burnt plastic. Auspicious beginning, eh?

 

Instantly changes to cinnamon on the skin. I'm not a huge fan of cinnamon, so I'm a bit 'meh' about it.

 

Certainly not unpleasant, but not for moi.

[Nimthiriel]

Initial impression:

It really smells like warm, sweet skin, warmed by the sun.

 

First on:

Something dry... clove and ginger, but very faint.

 

Dry:

This really disappears onme. I wonder why? There's the faintest touch of spice here, butnothing else.

 

Finally:

No throw at all. Oh well.

[rayvn1]

Oh my! Bengal was sex and honey and spice. Really long lasting and scrumptious. Paired well with Goblin for some reason. Did I mention reeeeally long lasting? Keeper.

[pacifick]

This is gorgeous and I love it. Honey and spice and really deliciously good--for 10 minutes. It dries and it's just gone.

[Magpie]

In the imp, this is pure cinnamon bark.

 

On, it doesn't really change except to be a deliciously edible bright spicy scent. All the notes are in evidence, but the cinnamon bark is at the forefront, with the ginger and cloves weaving round it and the pepper piquing it to a lovely tickly heat. This is a dry hot scent, so hot it almost makes me sneeze, and wonderfully dusty/sandy. Exotic and evocative, and very, very yummy! The honey makes it very slightly sweet and a little more foody in the imp than on, and thinking about MsBraz' comparison, I do think Baklava about hits the target in the imp and on the fade. It's rather too fiery for that on the drydown, though. I love this soooooo much - just the thing to make me feel exotic and cheerful and invigorated. I originally wore this as a way of bracing myself for going out when I didn't really feel up to it emotionally, and as soon as I put it on, I squared my shoulders and felt more able to face the world. Gingerbread Poppet wraps round me comfortably like a warm, fuzzy blanket: Bengal zings me into action and makes me want to go out there and face the world head on.

 

I think this might be a 5-ml at some point. I can't really report on throw as I was wearing a polo neck, but it lasted for around six hours to some extent, though the initial zinginess went pretty quickly.

[AlarmAgent]

In Bottle - Cinnamon, assorted spice, and very warm. Not nasal-passage burning spice, just a gentle, warm scent.

 

Wet on Skin, First Applied - Mm, definitely a cinnamon and honey situation. I love it! A nice sweet and spicy chai, that is the first thing that hits me. The cinnamon is the strongest spice, with the others adding a little intrigue. Yeah, this is a lot like some of that chai pre-prepared syrup; a scent that I very much enjoy.

 

Dry, on Skin - I asked my dad what he thought of this one, hoping he'd finally be able to identify something correctly--but alas, he said it smelled like bubblegum. After he said that though, I started to think it could be mistaken for that, too! Thanks for planting such thoughts in my head, pft. It is just lovely chai though, once I just mindwipe and sniff. Gorgeous, very soft and warm, and didn't burn my moderately sensitive skin. Most spice scents don't, but sometimes a cinnamon will catch me off guard, not Bengal though! The throw was average, the lasting power probably about 5 hours or so. I can see wearing this on days where I just want to smell good strictly for myself, no notions going out to anyone else. After all, what can you draw out about a person who smells of chai? Other than that they might enjoy a fine chai beverage now and then?

[odalisque]

In the vial: tangy spice. My synaesthesia says "Orange".

 

On skin: Fruity, spicy wood. Definitely an "oriental". This reminds me of something I've smelled before in a non-perfume context and it's driving me bugshit not being able to figure out what. I think, though, it has to do with cleaners.

 

Dry: You know, the combination of honey + peppers + spices just isn't doing it for me. The weird thing is I expected a spicy scent, but I'm getting .. strange and slightly stale, like a cinnamon-scented carpet spray.

 

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

What was so great about Pickled Imp? For a minute this blend just made me forget. When it dried it was still amazing, but lost some of the heat from the spices, and I was hoping for just a leeetle bit more "POW!" But it's still great, and spicy, and delicious. If you like spicy blends get yourself some Bengal immediately. It's one of my favorite GC blends of all time! I can't wait to wear it out and around and see if it grows on me and how my impression of it develops!

 

ETA: I don't know what was wrong with my nose yesterday. This is deliciously spicy, and yes, it has sufficient "POW!" factor. I love this, and need a big bottle ASAP!

 

:love!:

Edited February 1, 2009 by TheOneTheyCallLuna

[Indigo78]

A spice caravan, with cinnamon at the top (which I'm amping like hell, in accordance with the laws of my skin chemistry). The cinnamon (or cassia, idk which) is voluptuous and BIG, swollen and sweet. After a few minutes, some middle notes of resin push through the dominating cinnamon. Some of the Ars Moriendi blends have certain... dust note (?), and this is apparent to my nose in Bengal during the drydown.

 

The finish of this is rich, warm and laden with honey. It ends up very regal and sexy at the same time, but you have to give it a bit to calm down and sink in. Warm spices aren't necessarily my bag, but this is gorgeous just the same.

 

EDIT: the description says "peppers". I think this is why I thought of Thai food initially. It's faint and only grounds this... like the pepper in Ogun. Mmmm.

Edited February 14, 2009 by Indig0

[Bluestocking]

In the imp: Spicy, musky honey! It's very sweet but golden and sensual, and it definitely evokes the feeling of being in a hot spice market. I'm getting mostly cinnamon bark (dry, woody bark) and clove, with a little bit of ginger. Reminds me of Plunder, but without the tobacco and warmer and… juicier, somehow. Not at all dry.

On, wet: Warm skin musk and honey, sprinkled with sweet spices—quite foody. There's more ginger and less clove now, but something about the way these are combined makes me think of a spicy, buttery, honey-drenched pastry, oozing out honey goodness on your fingers and tongue. So, like, the best baklava you've ever had, washed down with a cup of chai. The peppers aren't a big presence on me, but there's a little punch.

On, dry: The honey and musk are basically one creamy unified note now, which is nice—the musk keeps the honey from getting too sweet and sticky, and it gives it this a very languid, hot, sweaty, sexy vibe. Ahem. And still with the spices dancing around, so I guess it's sex with a cup of chai for afters.

Later: Creamy, sexy musk with a drizzle of spiced honey. Mmmm.

Overall: Cinnamon scents don't usually do much for me, so I wasn't expecting to really like Bengal… but wow, was I wrong. The skin musk made all the difference in the world for me—it keeps the honey well behaved, it ties all the spices together in a nicely foody way and it adds this creamy, silky, sensual quality. I was planning to give this one a perfunctory test before passing it on to a friend, but something tells me I'll be sending her something else instead.

 

 

[Molls]

I so wanted spicy honey from this, but all I got was cinnamon...

[catatonic1242]

In the bottle: Honey and cinnamon, first and foremost. A wee bit of clove and pepper in the background for balance, but overwhelmingly honey.

 

On, wet: Absolutely delicious! A sweet, genuine honey without a hint of fake plastic. The cinnamon is warm and sweet, but understated -- it almost reminds me of cider. I hope the drydown stays true, because this is a scent I could *really* get into.

 

On, dry: So very nice. Warm and musky, with a hint of cinnamon bark. The honey has faded into the background a bit, but it's got a nice balance. There isn't too much of any one note here, just a nice marriage of warmth and musk. I really, really love this one.

 

I'm going to have to get myself a big bottle of this one.

Edited February 20, 2009 by catatonic1242

[heavywhitewove]

Oh dear - I like spicy scents but this is cinnamon Dentyne. In bottle and on skin - you are gummy, sugar-cinnamon fresh. No thank you. The S.O. said "hey - where did you get the gum?"

 

This is Rite-Aid exotic.

 

[thewondersmith]

The first couple of times I tried Bengal, it came off smelling very medicinal, so I wasn't all that impressed. However, since I adore cinnamon, and don't own any really cinnamony scents, I decided to keep a hold of my imp to see if maybe a little aging'd help.

 

After about a month of aging, I'm testing it again:

 

In the imp: ... hmm. Still has that dry, medicinal vibe going on. Fingers crossed aging will do the trick.

 

Wet: Syrupy honey, spicy cinnamon and cloves (and I mean SPICY- this is like the real stuff) and the slightest tingle of pepper. Sweeter than I was expecting, but not artificially so.

 

Dry: I can sort of see where people get the cinnamon gum scent from, though for me, it's more like that odd, almost numbing aftertaste you get after chewing on a bit of cinnamon bark. It's quite lovely though, and in the throw, I can smell cloves and pepper wafting about. The honey is less apparent, but keeps this from being too overwhelming. I'm really glad I decided to hold onto this, I think this'd be great for autumn.

[MisterShrapnel]

HONEYED CHAI. PLUS A WHOLE LOTTA SKIN MUSK. Win.

Neither the honey nor the cinnamon are aggressive, so this is just sweet enough and smells nothing like chewing gum or red hots to me. Lawd.

I'm going to roll around in this now.

The Wanderlust category is fantastic!