Opuhi

[Heavenlyrabbit]

Ginger blossom and vanilla orchid.

This is my favorite of all the Tiki florals. The one to die for.

The Vanilla in Vanilla Orchid does come across as Vanilla and that means a touch of "gourmand".

The Ginger Blossom is so subtle, it makes you REALLY want to sniff this to find it.

The combination of the sweet Vanilla Orchid and soft spice of Ginger Blossom, makes this ever so slightly somewheres between old fashioned and sexy.

If I were to pick out a Tiki blend that evokes the earlier era (40-50's) when Tiki, Tropical and Hawaiian fashion was in, this would be it. Edited April 24, 2008 by quantum spice

[littlegoat]

Ok, so I've only been wearing this for a few minutes, but it is so gorgeous I had to post a review. I'll edit if anything changes dramatically.

 

In the bottle, sugar sugar! Smells very sweet and rich.

 

On the skin this is gorgeous, the sweetness mellows into the vanilla and I can't stop sniffing my wrist!

 

Overall, this is a soft, sweet golden feeling vanilla scent that is just so beautiful!

 

Out of the four tikis I ordered (Tiki Queen, Upa Upa, Marae, and Opuhi) this is by far my favorite!

[pinkstardust420]

Mmmmmm! Gorgeous! Sweet, sweet vanilla...the more dominant note in this one (yay! I love me some vanilla!) and then blossom comes in a little bit. What a pretty scent!

[Alchemy21599]

In the bottle: sweet spicy vanilla. This reminds me of the type of vanilla used in the signature dessert at my favorite restaurant in Key West.

 

Wet: O_o. This is much sweeter than I expected. A bit cloying.

 

Dry: The scent becomes much more mellow on the dry down and the ginger prevents the blend from becoming too sweet. Really Lovely.

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Vanilla and ginger

 

Wet: Slightly floral vanilla and non-foody ginger. Very understated and classy.

 

Drydown: Reminds me a bit of Mouse's long and sad tale, because of the floral vanilla, but like this better.

3.0

[angharad]

Between this and Love's Philosophy, I want to eat my wrists off. Opuhi smells rich and foody in the bottle to my nose, like a vanilla-caramel sauce almost, with just the barest hint of petals floating around it. While wet on my skin, it turns super sweet but with more floral coming out. When dry, it's a soft, sweet, feminine scent that reminds me a bit of Regan (which admittedly I haven't sniffed in over a year, so I could be wrong). Average throw, sadly doesn't seem to last very long, but I do believe I'm in love with Opuhi.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Tropical, spiced, and slightly powdery vanilla.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a very floral, tropical vanilla scent. It’s warm and thick, with a slight plastic feel to it.

 

After a little while: The longer I wear this, the more plastic and powder I smell. It’s a floral vanilla with a hint of ginger underneath those overtones though, and I can see why people like it.

 

Overall Impressions: This isn’t normal vanilla… it’s slightly more floral than that in other blends, but that matches very well with the ginger. It’s warm and tropical. Unfortunately on me, this goes the way of the vanilla in Dragon’s Milk, Perilous Parlor and a few others and turns into plastic and powder on me. I can see people who love vanilla going nuts over this one though. I’ll stay with Love’s Philosophy for my warm, gently spiced vanilla blend.

[Pepperminx]

This smells like Love's Philosophy's cousin to me, and I love it! It also reminds me of Leo '07, but I can't pinpoint why exactly. This is subtler, though, and softer. Lovely blend, so glad I got a bottle!

[Sarri]

On initial application this is dominated by a strong sweet ginger note which I don't find entirely pleasant (it reminds me most of the smell of the medicine I had to take when I had mumps when I was 5, bleugh).

 

However, once that's past it settles into a warm, slightly exotic sweet vanilla scent, and lasts a good few hours, and is really lovely. I can see the similarity to Love's Philosophy but I prefer this, it's not as cloying. I'm considering buying a second bottle..

[akiko]

Oh, yum. Move over, Love's Philosophy.

 

imp: sweet, spicy vanilla.

 

wet: ginger & vanilla

 

dry: soft, gingery vanilla. I love you, Opuhi.

[CiCi]

Opuhi is spicy vanilla ginger heaven!

 

Need I say more?

 

Multiple bottles needed!

[Kelism]

Like Sarri I smelled a heavy ginger at first (NO vanilla) that I didn't think was that pleasant either. The scent hits you pretty hard. But, it wasn't what I was expecting - it was a different kind of ginger. I guess what my head thought the ginger would smell like didn't agree with what my nose decided this smelled like.

 

It kept changing for a good two hours. Eventually the ginger died down and I could start to smell some vanilla. At that point (2-3 hours after I put it on) I can see the Love's Philosphy's "cousin" comments. It did have a little similarity to Love's Philosophy, but I prefered LP.

 

I'm going to try this again before I decide to sell it but I'm not feeling it too much at this point.

[grashopper8]

It's okay, a fresh, floral vanilla. However, I am getting hints of the powdery, plastic vanilla that others have mentioned. I should say that Love's Philosophy didn't work on me, either.

 

Shame, because Opuhi smells yummy in the decant!

 

2.8 out of 5

[Moryssa]

I sent a text message to a friend after my first try of this one, and all it said was "Opuhi = Love's Philosophy Lite".

 

Love's Philosophy is one of the few vanilla blends that I can handle, and Opuhi is very similar to it, except not quite as vanilla-y.

 

--M

[Jessica]

This one is so gorgeous. I was hesitant because of the ginger, but it is so light and just beautiful that I'm very happy with this blend. In the bottle it is a sweet vanilla with a taste of something sweet behind it.

 

On the skin and after dry down I can smell the ginger coming through and it is light, sweet and pretty without being overbearing. I can catch a whiff every now and then, but it isn't a very strong blend and I imagine the throw is fairly weak. But that's okay, I don't mind sitting in my own little sweet smelling cloud.

[tuesdaynexxt]

When I first applied this, I got a big hit of sharp, spicy ginger with the vanilla. After just a few minutes, though, the overall throw is of baby powder! The ginger has faded completely, and its just a mellow vanilla that reminds me of nothing as much as baby powder. It's not unpleasant, but it's not my favorite tiki.

[edenssixthday]

Opuhi - imagine a beautiful floral Snake Oil without the spices. That's what this is like on me. The vanilla orchid comes through predominantly as a very sweet, sugary vanilla, and the ginger flower is so soft and pretty - it doesn't overwhelm or subdue the vanilla at all. I'm completely stumped by people who got an actual ginger root smell from this since it's entirely a sweet vanilla-floral on me. It's one of the prettiest blends I've ever encountered. I just ordered a full bottle and am wondering if I should have ordered two or three. This will get much use. The throw is really strong, especially upon initial application. The scent stays on me skin a little longer than the average BPAL scent. I have a feeling this is going to age gorgeously.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle bright, tangy-but-still-sweet floral

wet on skin cheerful, sharp and still quite floral, almost a false green apple smell to my nose

dry on skin this softens nicely and is summery, fresh, and just a liiiiiittle bit languid and vanilla-y. it remains sweet and pale yellow-ish conceptually. no spiciness whatsoever.

 

this is somehow not what i was expecting at all, even though it's very pretty. i'm wearing love's philosophy today and tested this on the back of my hand because i couldn't wait. i think my nose is fairly dead to vanilla right now, though, because of LP, so i'm going to retest this another time.

 

edit this just plain doesn't work on me. i tried it last night and it still smelled sort of... sour. not unpleasant, but sort of candyish and green apple-y. i asked one daughter what it smelled like and she took a big whiff, grinned and said "SOAP!" a few minutes later, i asked the other daughter (who hadn't been in the room when i asked the first one) and she sniffed, sniffed, sniffed and said "SOAP!" she asked me what it was supposed to smell like and i told her vanilla flowers and ginger flowers. she nodded and said "yep, vanilla and ginger flower... soap!" *sigh*

Edited April 25, 2008 by ravenfeathers

[schackjj]

In the bottle: Fabulous!

 

Wet: Yummy, all vanilla, well almost all, plus a little of what must be the ginger blossom.

 

Drydown: It's beautiful for a bit, almost all vanilla, which I LOVE, but then it acquires this weird dusty note. Bleah. And finally it goes generic on me with...ye gods, is that floral??! Aw, I had really high hopes for this one, too.

 

Disclaimer: I may still have anaesthesia in my system, making my chemistry even wonkier than usual, so YMMV

[Leopard403]

Ooh, lovely. Opuhi, I adore you!

 

I was very worried about the ginger note in this blend, and was so pleased to hear that it is a floral awapuhi-type ginger rather than a spicy or rooty ginger. This is a lovely mix of soft vanilla and warm florals. The sweet vanilla reminds me of Teenage Cannibal when huffing from the bottle, but this goes on my skin very smoothly because the florals smell decadent rather than dimestore.

 

This is the sneaky kind of scent that makes people say "You smell nice" rather than "I like your perfume." The difference is a subtle one, but totally worth it!

[pamplemousse]

So far, this is my favorite Tiki blend.

 

The vanilla orchid is LOVELY. It reminds me of the vanilla/marshmallow-y smell in TKO (but not quite as sweet) and I wonder if there just might be vanilla orchid in TKO. I love the vanilla orchid so much that I almost resent the sharpness of the ginger in the blend. However, with wear the ginger seems to lose its bite and I'm hoping that it's the vanilla orchid that will be dominant in the sillage.

 

I'm hoping it doesn't go plastic on me, though... <crosses fingers>

[BlueStarGirl]

Oh, man, Opuhi, I really, really wanted to love you. But alas, you are far more vanilla-y than gingery, and weird custardy tapioca Black Opal vanilla at that.

 

I think I'll keep the imp I have, but I was planning on buying a bottle. Maybe not so much after all.

[alicia_stardust]

Opuhi is a gentle tropical floral scent. The ginger blossom is sweet and warm but it does not smell like ginger or ginger root. It has a soothing, gentle, tropical vibe to it. The vanilla adds yet more warmth and it remains soft and subtle, neither overpowering nor disappearing behind the ginger blossom.

 

This one took me completely by surprise. Something about it is so grounded and warm despite its floral tone. It doesn't come across as perfumey at all; rather, it is low and sultry and smooth. I love this so very much.

[savage_rose]

Have you ever smelled something and wondered if your nose broke suddenly? Because in the bottle, I smell vanilla with a hint of unidentified floral sweetness. And on, it smells like barely-there baby powder. No, I can smell other blends, it's just this one. What a disappointment .

[ForeverLastcXs]

Oh god, I love this! I wore this today and couldn't stop sniffing my wrists. Strangely enough, this one smells a lot like Marshmallow Poof on me - think the Poof with creamy floral undertones, perhaps more "grown-up" Poof and less "sweet, sticky little girl" Poof if you've ever tried it. As I love MM Poof, this one is also a big hit for me. I will cherish my bottle forever and forever!