Opium Poppy

[yeahbutnobut]

Opium Poppy

Opium teaches only one thing, which is that aside from physical suffering, there is nothing real. A bitter, soft, fragile flower.

 

In the imp: opium! That smoky, perfumey, narcotic, sharp, dry, dusty floral scent, I recognise it from Languor and Darkness.

Wet on skin: opium smoke, dry and nose-tickling, with that dark 'perfume' scent.

Dry on skin: it's less smoky now, but it's very perfumey. It's a swirl of dark, narcotic scent, dusty and dry, almost fragile, yet with a lot of depth to it, a sophisticated yet mysterious scent. It's a little bit too much like posh perfume for me but it's a lot nicer on me than I expected, and less 'choking'.

After a while: this is very much like Darkness on my skin-opium perfume all the way. It's a very 'oriental' scent, exotic and mystical, swirling heady clouds of perfumed scent. I could imagine this scent coming from a very expensive perfume. It becomes more of a heady floral than a smoky scent over time.

Verdict: for the scent of a single flower, this poppy is very complex. This is a powerful scent-it's smoky, deep, rich, narcotic, incredibly heady and dark, with a definite 'expensive perfume' feel to it. At first, it's smokiness is dry, dusty, it tickles the nose. But then it becomes a deep, oriental floral scent-the sort of thing that, as my mum says, smells like something from a Parisian perfumery. Very sophisticated and mature, but it's not my sort of scent. Opium is not what I'd wear as a 'single note' scent, and it's one of those notes that can be stunning as a scent component (Red Lantern, Sleepy Moon, Debauchery before it turned to Evil Civet), or it can be overwhelming (Languor, Darkness-this scent is the opium from Darkness). I'm glad I've got to familiarise myself with this opium note, but it's something that I can't pull off on it's own.

Emoticon rating:

[edenssixthday]

Opium Poppy - When first applied, Opium Poppy smells just like my favorite opium oil blend of all-time and it reminds me of a spiritualist/metaphysical shop through which I used to peruse on occasion. The scent is initially very strong, but as it dries down, it becomes more subtle and tolerable. It's a deep, resinous, floral-incense scent. I really like it and anticipate I'll wear this on those days when I want to smell like a hippie without smelling like a "dirty hippie."

[The_Merf]

In the imp: The opium note from Languor comes in loud and clear, but there's also a hint of greenery--the idea that this is a flower--that isn't present in other opium scents I've tried (and I've tried a lot of 'em).

 

Wet: Wow, I'm going to have to try my other opium scents again, because I'm having a hard time distinguishing them in my head right now. This scent is what it says it is: opium.

 

Drydown and wear: This stays true to the opium note with an edge of green. I wish this would smoke out on me a little bit more, but I like its strength (I've had problems with throw on scents like Darkness and Languor). I'll have to wear all those scents and compare them with each other to figure out where to go next.

[moonarcana]

 

Beautifully hypnotizing - a pure floral resin fragrance which perfectly captures the the essence of opium's enigmatic spell. This is one of the few BPAL oils I've tried which doesn't change at all from bottle to skin until it starts to fade away at the very end, wafting unobtrusively into the night on a warm summer breeze.

 

This is among my Top Ten favorites - most definitely rated a 5/5

 

"They now came upon more and more of the big scarlet poppies, and fewer and fewer of the other flowers; and soon they found themselves in the midst of a great meadow of poppies. Now it is well known that when there are many of these flowers together their odor is so powerful that anyone who breathes it falls asleep, and if the sleeper is not carried away from the scent of the flowers, he sleeps on and on forever. But Dorothy did not know this, nor could she get away from the bright red flowers that were everywhere about; so presently her eyes grew heavy and she felt she must sit down to rest and to sleep."

 

From The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

 

[Eros]

This comes through as a light, spicy jasmine both in the imp and on my skin. Not the "normal" BPAL jasmine which SCREAMS it's presence(on me), obviously. This is soft and gentle. It's a touch sweet with a hint of something sharp(if that makes any sense), almost like running your fingers over the petals of a rose and suddenly piercing yourself with a wayward thorn. The *feeling*, not the scent so much, is bittersweet. The jasmine scent eventually disappears leaving behind a gorgeous, lush & spicy floral note.

It fades to almost nothing and then suddenly, there it is again. It's soft, gentle and somewhat creamy...This one slithers up quietly, hypnotically, dangerously...and does it beautifully.

[QueenFae]

A strong opium note haunted by a wisp of resiny smoke and a bewitching floral. This is a dark, dangerous, seductive scent; ultra sexy on either men or women. It doesn't have as much throw as opium scents usually do, it stays close to my skin like a beacon in the night . It makes me think of dark, spooky places and evil dark faery queens. Nice.

[Bagfish]

On application and for a number of hours (four or five) Opium is a bittersweet, achingly dry, smokey, floral perfume. After a looong time (think 3pm after application at 8am) the dry perfume turns into a warm, sweet amber-resin almost vanillic smell which is lovely.

 

Wet and for the first few hours it is not pretty on my skin, but the long term drydown is gorgeous. If it smelled like the drydown after 30 minutes or so I would order it by the barrelload, however, the very long wet/initial drydown stage is almost eye-wateringly dry and perfumed and unfortunately just doesn't suit me.

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: the aldehyde smell

 

Wet: reminsicent of Chanel #5

 

Dry. To my nose this is very similar to Chanel #5. Very pretty, but not something I would chose to wear,

[tinyvulture]

wow. a pure opium scent. smoky and dark and sweetly intoxicating so you keep coming back for more. less dry than Darkness, less floral than Languor, this is the opium scent for me. a very grown-up, look at me, sexy woman scent. truly addictive.

[abejita]

I don't understand why it has taken me so long to discover my adoration of Beth's opium note, in all its forms. This is smoky, rich, and floral, with that almost buttery feel (without being foody or dairy, but still buttery somehow!) that I get from all opium scents. I will be adding this to my swiftly growing opium subset of my BPAL collection.

[zenvodunista]

SMOKY is right. This smells pretty much only like smoke on me, with a background of opium resin. I love the smell of opium smoke and opium itself, but this was more smoke and less opium on my skin.

 

I'll probably use the rest of the imp in the oil burner though. Sexy!

 

Interestingly enough, Kathmandu does the same thing on my skin. It's all burnt herbs and smoke.

 

n.

[PilotKitten]

On me this starts out with a very soft bitterness. After the initial drydown it turns into a full-blown bandaid adhesive. O_o... ick. I got this same band-aid note in a CT3... so perhaps I've fingered the culprit.

[maribouquet]

Intriguing in the imp, but sadly turns to pure Bandaid on me.

 

Swapity-swap!

[supremegoddessofall]

Opium. Go figure, right? Lightly floral, but more musky/dark from the opium than anything else.

[maijasu]

I didn't expect to like this at all, but I got it as a frimp and decided to try it. What a pleasant surprise! It's smoky and creamily floral and very complex. This would be a perfect going-out-at-night fragrance. I'll definitely be keeping this imp around--thanks Lab!!!

[cuervosueno]

In the imp: bitterness of a real poppy....you know how they have an pungent not-entirely-pleasant smell? I really can see the paperthin red petals of a poppy, though I'm imagining California poppies, since I dont really know what an opium poppy looks like.

 

On the bitterness is gone and it is overwhelming opium, but not the rich spicy kind I enjoy. this is probably the most "commercial perfume" of any BPAL scent I've tried. It almost smells like it has alchohol in it even though I know it doesn't.

 

Not for me. I think I might need to wash it off.

[sofiaviolet]

Opium Poppy smells like baby oil. Exactly like I remember it, that is. Erk!

[Voleuse]

Smoke and florals! I've never smelled a poppy up close, alas, but this is a sweet and light floral note. There's an edge of dirt as well, tempered by the smokiness. Overall, this is an odd combination of acrid and sweet on me, compelling and repelling at the same time. Interesting.

[Jilara]

Got this as a bonus imp from someone, so I thought what the hey...

 

In the bottle: eau de head shop. It's suddenly 1973 again...

 

Wet: patchouli oil and riotous incense. I'm sneezing. Suddenly, I am hearing sitar music and seeing india-print bedspreads and Peter Max posters.

 

Drydown: pretty much the same as wet.

 

Dry: pure patchouli. Oh my god, patchouli has never worked on me. Never has, except as a faint background with lots of other things. It still doesn't. I'm sneezing again, too. Time to scrub it off with LOTS of spice soap.

 

Note for non-botanists: I've smelled living opium poppy blossoms, and they smell like old muscat wine, a very sleepy scent. This is nothing like that. I have no idea what poppy resin/foliage smells like, but I doubt this is it. But I know some folks used patchouli for masking the scent of burning herbal compounds...

[Phaedra]

Wet this is a sweet floral with a bit of an edge to it. When first on it's plasticy- almost like bandaids???- with a hint of floral in the background. Very odd. Does opium smell like plastic? Luckily the plastic note fades quickly and now it's a powdery, spicy floral. This doesn't change much. This is a familiar smell. I think it's similar to a perfume my aunt wears. This turns out pretty nice after all and I will use up the imp.

[The_Witching_Hour]

WOW! A true opium scent! This is a healthy 'aldehyde' that reminds me of Chanel #5 just as another reviewer up-thread mentioned. It stays true even on the drydown!

 

Just a smoky-patchouli, aldehyde scent that is about as robust as they come!!!

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp this *is* poppies....

 

once applied this turns into a kind of resinous floral...reminds me of some soap

my gramma used when i was a child...and with that it changes, nevermore....

 

off to the swap pile she goes...

[Browneyes]

Imp: sharp bitterness

Wet: soapy, or rather, reminiscent of a soap that I've used that had this fragrance... or something. Maybe it's Chanel no. 5, that also definately pops to mind!

Dry: still smells like something I may have smelt before in soap-form, but that's not to say it smells vile. It smells... soft and dry and smoky and heavy-lidded. I've never tried anything with opium before, so I'm glad to have tried this.

Will keep and use imp on occasion. Looking forward to trying more scents with opium.

 

ETA: sometime later, the wafts that I get from this are almost bonfire-smoky! Very nice!

ETA2: addictive. 2nd day in a row wearing this (which is unusual for me). I may have to get a bottle. Yay for the intoxicating floral - soapiness and all

ETA3: I have discovered that layering this with Snake Oil is gorgeous. Opium is a very mature kind of note, but the SO makes it go oh-so-sweet-and-heady.

Edited March 20, 2007 by Browneyes

[Mianjo]

This was a frimp from the lab.

 

Quick review: I didn't like it.

 

 

It started off smelling like petroleum jelly. As a kid, my mother used Vaseline on my person for various ailments and maladies...and yeah. Opium Poppy smelled like freshly applied Vaseline when it was wet.

 

It then morphed into some powder or lotion or face cream or something my mother in law uses. That's the way to bring the sex--smell like your mother in law! Yowsa!

 

Anywho...not for me. I'm glad I got the chance to smell this note on it's own. It's nice in blends, but on its own it's not for me.

[dreadeddragon]

In the bottle: A lighter, slightly less acrid version of Darkness

 

First on: Light smoky floral version of Darkness. I think I prefer this to it so far.

 

Drydown: The floral is definitely stronger than the smoke now, but it's a light hazy floral.

 

Overall: I like it, but will probably stick to layering my Darkness with Inferno for my opium fix.