WHAT I SMELL: Oeillet Bengale opens with a sparkling bergamot, followed very quickly by pepper and rose. It’s spicy, herbaceous and incredibly medicinal. The turmeric is pronounced along with the clove. Oeillet Bengale is all about the spice as it seems to be geared more towards being a herb mixture meant to put on grilled vegetables than something you would wear. At the same time, it smells like Band Aids that have been treated with some kind of built in medicine. The fragrance does pulse off the skin as if the heat of your body helps to make it radiate. You would think with this herbal spice combination that the fragrance would seem heavy, but it doesn’t. After around 20 minutes, the fragrance deepens a bit and it seems to slip down further into the spice. But there’s some light at the end of the tunnel as the drydown begins to feel more floral as it evens out and becomes slightly powdered and dry and tinged with incense. In the end, Oeillet Bengale turns into this exquisite spiced floral that has me completely entranced. You wouldn’t have guessed that from what I wrote just a few sentences before right?
From the Aedes de Venustas website:
A Flower on Fire. A rose that wants to be a carnation, set ablaze by an exotic spice explosion. Red petals turned black by frankincense.
Top Notes: bergamot, white pepper
Middle Notes: rose, black pepper, cinnamon, cardamom, saffron, turmeric, clove
Base Notes: Tolu balsam, labdanum, ylang-ylang, benzoin, vanilla
WHAT IT SMELLS LIKE TO ME: Lucrezia Borgia. The spices and herbs brought from the east were used by her perfumer to create this exotic, beautiful, yet dangerous mix of mystery.
THREE ADJECTIVES THAT DESCRIBE OEILLET BENGALE: fascinating, spicy, incomparable
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT OEILLET BENGALE: Grain de Musc, CaFleureBon, Now Smell This
BOTTOM LINE: The first time I wore this all I got was a Band Aid smell and I really didn’t care for it. In subsequent wearings, I start off not caring for it, but then it weaved this spell on me and I find myself bewitched by it. Oeillet Bengale is complex, of great quality and a seducer. I just reviewed another fragrance by Rodrigo Flores-Roux, Arquiste L’Etrog Acqua…this it the exact opposite of that on every level and what an incredible addition to his line of creations.
- Bone Rating: 3.5 out of possible 5 bones
- Scent: Citrus Aromatic
- Nose: Rodrigo Flores-Roux
- Classification: Unisex
- Expense: $240 for 100ml EdP
The Scented Hound 
July 7, 2014 at 6:05 am
I’m still very eaget to try Oeillet Bengale. I hope this will arive in Poland soon.
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July 7, 2014 at 6:37 am
I was wondering about that…since they are a brand based on a NYC store, I was wondering if they have worldwide distribution. It sounds like they do? Are the others in the line available in Poland?
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July 7, 2014 at 7:38 am
There’s only one shop in the entire Poland that has Aedes de Venustas in their offer. Of course new things arrive here with a delay (Oeillet is not here yet) but that shop does have the Signature and Iris Nazarena, as well as the travel atomizers of these two.
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July 20, 2014 at 12:49 am
Oh! I really, really, really liked this one! It smelled of spicy rose/carnations and incense. Granted, I only got to dribble on my skin the last remaining drop in a lab bottle, but it was enough to make me want it. I go back now that their testers are in!
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July 20, 2014 at 7:04 am
I think it’s really interesting and it grows on me each time that I test it. However, I could see that this would be a fragrance that would wear me out after hours of wearing it because of that carnation note.
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