Black Opal

[PersephonesChild]

A play of geological darkness and jagged brilliance. Soft and luminescent with flashes of black fire.

This... smells...
bad...

To me, this smells like rubber. Like industrial-grade rubber, with some other petroleum product smeared over it. And a little bit of sunscreen. So maybe it smells like a wetsuit at the beach, I don't know...

My boyfriend's nose also wrinkled. He said it smells like cheap, bad perfume.]

So this will be a swap...

[xleighx]

This goes Play-Doh immediately, and it's impossible to pick out anything else.

[grifyn_whiffs]

This scent makes me sort of emotional -- because I think it's so very beautiful, but I'm always frustrated when I try to explain why. I even bought a 5ml of this, and I don't get a 5ml bottle of just anything (as much as I might want to).

 

First of all, I love black opals. And that's what this scent smells like to me. I thought, when first sniffing it, "Oh, Black Opal..." and then I had the "of course!" moment. Black opals would smell exactly like this... or the idea of this. Now that's perfume artistry!

 

I don't get the vanilla or coconut whiffs that some have had, which puzzles me... I get musky and sexy, creamy and spicy -- maybe some resins in there somewhere. I can't just say, "oh, this is this note", because nothing really stands up and shouts at me except maybe some white musk. It's a gorgeous blend, and I think it might actually be my favorite. I just keep coming back to it.

[Rovylern]

I don't get any floral or greenery from this at all, just creamy tonka, soft musk, and something I can't identify but, oddly, brings to mind the sound of a mountain stream bubbling over rocks.

 

This is a scent of seduction. Not much throw on my skin; it clings very close and getting a whiff makes you want to get closer. A tiny bit lasts for quite a while, too; six hours and still going as strong as when I first applied it.

[JenM]

In the imp: green, but not green like Squirting Cucumber. It’s darker than that, and completely different. Night-blooming green, with some purple, perhaps.

 

On the wrist: vanishes immediately. Seriously. Nothing left. Doesn’t last even 10 minutes. Oh well. Swaps it is.

[sithwitch13]

Against all odds, this has become a favorite of mine. It's cool, creamy--wonderful scent in the summer or winter. I can't actually pick out any notes, though some days I think I can get a hint of vanilla or something that might be coconut. Anyway, it's beautiful and soft and I love it.

[CrazyPretzel]

In the imp: vanilla, dark and silky.

 

Wet on me: vanilla with a little edge of toasted coconut, and possibly musk. And yes, smooth, wet rocks.

 

After a few minutes: A creamy scent with a slightly sharp edge. There may be moss or something herbal in this that keeps it from being a foody-vanilla. It's mineral.

 

Drydown: A very unexpected vanilla -- sweet but cold and a little dangerous-smelling. You would not, I repeat not, want to eat this, no more than you would want to eat a real black opal!

 

This is the scent of a girl who is very beautiful but reserved and rather chilly. Or the scent of a cold, tumbling mountain stream. Lovely.

[sheridankm]

As a geologist, I'm disappointed that I don't like this better. But it's just so sweet. Overwhelmingly sweet and creamy, very "high," and bright bright bright. This brings to mind pale yellows and whites, not the deep, dark lustre of black opal.

 

More practically speaking: this smells like a coconut-vanilla-sugar skin cream. It's not as foody as that, but I can't identify the other notes -- there's something almost floral in there, similar to something in Eos, but that's not quite it. It's actually really nice, and not cloyingly sweet at all. But it's too young and bright for me. I wish I could smell those mossy notes others have been talking about, I think this would be just beautiful with some sort of earthy shadow beneath it.... I might hang on to my imp and see if I can't layer it with something deeper.

 

Edit: After another testing, I realize that while wet, this smells very similar to the air freshener/bowl cleaner often used in nicer public or office toilets. At least in that stage, it's a pretty generic chemical smell.

Edited September 5, 2007 by Helen

[filigree_shadow]

Black Opal smells sweet and powdery on me. It's very soft. A bit feminine. It does smell like a very appropriate scent for its name. Unfortunately it has no throw whatsoever on me; it's so faint I can barely smell it even when my nose is right next to my wrist. So although it's not a keeper for me personally, I can certainly see why people like it.

[pzb]

In the vial - very light and a little sweet

 

Wet - Light and crisp - I have to put my wrist right to my nose to smell it

 

Dry - Light, kind of powdery with something else…tonka maybe, but doesn't seem heavy enough

 

Later - Light and lingering. Not bad at all…just kinda meh.

[Lunaratu]

This is very much an aged vanilla when this goes on which is completely not what I was expecting at all. However it is pleasant and warmly delicious. It smells a lot like the smoked vanilla lotion by the body shop and becomes more and more like the lotion as it dries down. It’s a smoked vanilla but it gets a tinge of vanilla extract—that almost alcoholic vanilla—smell to it. This is a vanilla scent through and through.

Rating: 3/5

[Dinerdulcinea]

...And yet another blend where the flowers that hate my chemistry jump up and pulverise all the nice notes into oblivion.

 

[FallDaze]

In this imp, this smells a little like vanilla chap-stick to me. It made my nose all tingly, like, not in a bad way, just tingly.

 

I pretty much knew this was not gonna work for me on the first sniff, but I wanted to give it a fair shot anyways. So after I put it on, I get a vanilla-coconut scented vaseline like scent.

 

After a few minutes, the vaseline-tinged scent is gone, and I'm left with creamy vanilla coconuty smells. Not a bad or horrible scent at all, in fact, it really smells how I believe that black opals would smells! Kind of iridescent and creamy. Lovely, but I'm just not a fan of strong vanilla scents. Mixed with something, vanilla is fine, but not when I get it as a main sniffle.

[fireflower]

In the bottle: Smells like smoke with flowers underneath.

 

Wet: Very smokey and dark, but with a little bit of bright color peeping through. Just like a black opal.

 

Drydown: Just like how it smells when wet. Very smokey. It almost wants to have a burnt plastic smell, but it's not quite there yet. I really hope it doesn't go there, because what's underneath is so pretty.

 

Verdict: I so like what's underneath this, but part of it smells like something burning. It's nice, but I fear it might turn bad on me. Perhaps I need to wait for a few hours to see what happens.

[KaliVerra]

I wanted to looooove this one... I really, really did. Sounded so good. Instant headache fuel. Powdered plastic Play-Doh. Not my friend.

[Lyrical]

This is absolutely gorgeous!

 

Wet on skin: very light and effervescent, slightly acidic.

 

Dry on skin: this is amazing! It really does smell like a cold, smooth, luminescent opal! I think there's citrus here and flowers but it doesn't smell of either. But it's not black - it's definitely white in colour! Not a lot of throw. There's some vanilla coming out now, and perhaps a little white musk and coconut. It is faint, delicate, slightly creamy, and really, really beautiful! It just gets better and better and it lasts all day!

 

My favourite BPAL so far!

[mspixieears]

Soft and luminescent is about right! What a gentle, delightful blend. It reminds me of something I’ve tried and loved before so definitely keeping. It’s a very comforting scent and feels like it should be worn before bedtime or on an intimate picnic. Something fresh and ferny is beginning to emerge from this now a moment after it dries on skin. There is a slight sugariness that emerges a while later.

[Lethran]

This is very much a woman's scent: I am guessing vanilla, flowers, musk, cream, maybe. It is a lovely little thing, light, delicate, vaguely foody, but not something I'd wear, alas.

[Christine Daae]

I really, really want to like this one - all the reviews make it sound so lovely! Black opals are my favourite gemstone, too.

 

Wet and in the imp, though, this smells...metallic, almost, with a hint of a very not-foody vanilla.

 

This is a very strange scent. It's vanilla, but it's not terribly foody or sweet - it's almost chemical on my skin. I definitely amp this one, though (whyyyy do I always amp things I don't want to amp?), I keep getting wafts of chemical vanilla. It does call to mind rocks, and water, and ozone and such, but I'm not sure if I like it or not. Right now I am going with "not." I have Death Cap for my non-foody vanilla needs.

[grashopper8]

On my skin, I interpret Black Opal as: Vanilla and Musk, and faint Green Coconut, with a hint of something herbal.

 

This scent is also slightly powdery on me.

 

It reminds me a bit of Dorian, because it's vanilla with a hint of greenery.

 

It's okaaayyy....I had to try it because of the name, but I don't see myself clinging to this one. It's reminding me of commercial perfumes, like Ralph Lauren Hot or something.

 

2.7 out of 5 (On me, it's better than "meh," but not by much.)

[jwhxtna]

IN THE IMP: A powdery, soft floral with a hint of vanilla. There's also something sharp in here, maybe the mineral note other people have mentioned.

 

WET: More of that sharp mineral note, which I'm really starting to like, and also this really soft, warm vanilla. Sometimes they shift back and forth, and I can only smell one at a time, and sometimes they intertwine, and ohhh, this is really lovely.

 

DRY: A powdery but creamy vanilla. The mineral note has died down a lot, but it's still there. This is a really soft scent on me. Very nice! I'll definitely be keeping this one.

 

Kind of reminds me of the Lavender Vanilla aromatherapy scent I have from B&BW, for some reason, except much better.

[The_Merf]

This is a soft scent...really soft. It vanishes after a few minutes, but leaves a very light creamy afterglow. If this were stronger on my skin, I could see it being a big-time winner.

[erraticprophet]

Initial Impression: barely discernible scent, maybe a hint of cream?

 

On Wet: cream

 

On Dry: creamy with bright flashes of green florals which then turn to warm, smoky vanilla

 

Final Impression: beautiful and ever changing like a real opal

 

Rating (on a scale from 1-5): 3.5

[heartlilly]

This smells cold to me. It has a sort of mineral quality to me; like standing in a damp cave full of tiny vanilla flowers.

It's very unique and lovely. It lasts forever too.

[YoakeNoKami]

Mmm... yumm.

Imp: Vanilla-coconut

 

On/wet: VANILLA!!! Possibly tonka bean instead, but something along those lines. Oh, and sugar.

 

Drydown: Toasted coconut and this odd note that makes me think of smooth stone.