Hi there Posse. The name Benghal is so evocative that I recently got a decant of this oldie from Lancome. To be honest I’d never even heard of this release and I wonder if it ever made it down to Australia. Anyway, it’s always fun to try new things so after having breakfast with Jin on the verandah. He made traditional Korean New Year Soup (beef broth, dumplings, rice cakes, shallots and seasonings), a couple of days late but no matter, and now we both have a day of leisure. He is on the couch watching Korean TV and I am blogging my heart out. There are many worse ways to spend a day huh? This is about as close to bliss as I get.

Benghal by Lancome 2007

Fragrantica

Parfumo gives these featured accords:
Top: Ginger, Mandarin
Heart: Jasmine, Osmanthus
Base: Musk, Sandalwood

A wet and dewy opening like a watered down fresh orange juice quickly moves through to a ginger and jasmine combo. The ginger and jasmine is pretty, bright and sparkling. Without being a big aldehyde fragrance it still manages to create fizz.

Here’s an analogy that sounds awful but is actually nice. You know when you first meet a friend after they’ve washed their hair. It’s clean and shiny, mostly dry and moves like an advertisement? That smell is what Benghal smells like to me. Pretty functional fragrance with a whiff of clean humanity underneath.

I’m surprised that peony and waterlily aren’t mentioned as notes. A surprisingly modern fragrance, it could have been released by any of the Tocca, Coach, Teo Cabinel or many other brands offerings this year. A fruity floral with a watercolour feeling and a hint of hairspray in the dry down.

eBay stil has a few floating around
Surrender To Chance has samples from $3/ml

Did you ever try Benghal when it was released?
Portia xx

Portia also writes for Australian Perfume Junkies.