Shadow Witch Orchid

[edenssixthday]

Orchid tubers have been used extensively by witches in their love philtres, both to promote amorous attention and the attainment of true love, and, conversely, to wither misplaced passions and sever romantic bonds. This perfume is a dusky orchid, subdued and ethereal.

Shadow Witch Orchid is a strong, sweet floral, and as time goes on, it gets subtler, softer and so much prettier. I can’t stop smelling my arm! It’s simply gorgeous and it reminds me of Hawaii. This is what I had hoped Pele would smell like. After about 5.5 hours, I can’t smell the orchid anymore, but my skin still has a faintly sweet scent to it, although completely indiscernible as to what the scent is. This is a lovely scent that I plan to wear as much as I can.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

how have i not reviewed this? this is one of the GC fragrances i reach for when i'm home and comfy... there are the scents i wear to go to work, and the scents i wear when i get home and shed the work-skin, the scents i wear to go out and the scents i wear to sleep.... this is a home scent.

 

sniffed from the bottle: almost medicine-y and yet herbal

 

skinsniff, wet: almost violets with a decaying eucalyptus sort of scent

 

skinsniff, dry: yup. them there's orchids. palest purple/white, vaguely fruity... exotic and sortof disturbing.

[fairy]

I know it's not listed in the ingredients but I smell rose. It's a delightful and fresh scent, both on and off. Once applied it gets a little soapy at first but then it settles into a beautiful and fresh fragrance. Made it to my pile of favorites

[stardreamer]

Oddly, the first impression I get from this is aquatic! There's some floral too, and a hint of something sharpish underneath it all. It's fairly light, without much throw, and doesn't really change on drydown. Staying power is fair -- still detectable, though weak, after 6 hours. Sadly, it just doesn't appeal to me, either on a pure-scent or an associational basis. Someone else will like it better.

[strangemusic]

Mmmm, dim, blooming orchids, palest pink with blushing heart, nodding under a willow grove at twilight. There's a bench under the trees, perfectly situated so that, when one takes repose from one's garden stroll, the wind gently steers the scent around and about you.

 

Wet, the scent opens up slightly and takes on a faint tinge of fresh green leaf, a hint of muskiness; a yawing pit opens underneath the tendrils. Mayhap the pit described as "falling in love", but more likely the pit of one's romantic doom. As the description states, this is a subdued scent, and as such, there isn't much throw. On drydown, a more traditionally perfume-y edge emerges... and while it's sweet, this is a little too much. This was another double-tested imp, and I noticed that first time, worn on a hot day, the sweet orchidaceous note stuck around longer, growing more and more faint as time elapsed; the second time, tested at home in cooler temperatures, the "perfume-y" drydown came to the fore, heavy on the shadowed, damp foliage.

 

I'm not quite sure what I think of this. I'll keep the imp, and see what happens between us in future.

 

CP from my LJ, dated 17 July 2006. I found that this particular orchid blend was just a touch too cloying... WOES, as I really do enjoy this scent. I might try it again in a few months, because I don't want to give up on this blend.

[likie]

In bottle: Really strong floral scent, very much like a traditional perfume. Sadly, traditional perfumes are not my thing.

 

Wet: Still that purple-smelling (can colors have scent? I say yes) flower, and I'm beginning to miss those lovely blends BPAL is so wonderful with. This is solitary and almost dull.

 

Dry: Less perfumey and sweeter, but nothing to write home about. Smells like something my mother (or grandmother...) would wear.

[batsy]

In the vial: unable to place the notes, except orchid of course. Very strong, almost expensive perfume-ish.

 

On the skin: Still cannot place this. Oddly, it reminds me of my late beloved grandfather. The combo of his aftershave, hair products, and throat spray. Like hardcore memories brought up by this blend. It's a very strong scent. Will probably only keep it for the memories it invokes.

[buzz23666]

did someone say this was a bit disturbing? Yes it is.

 

Wet - orchid and plastic. What's up with that?

 

Dry - How appropriate that I live in Thailand - because this smells like Thailand. Orchids everywhere! But I am not convinced that I like this one. It's the wet plastic smell that turns into something odd and sharp along with the flowers - almost like a mandarin gone rotten.

 

The most curious part is that it is compelling. I keep sniffing at it. And it has a sort of spooky way about it.

 

Odd indeed

[supremegoddessofall]

Pure orchid and very pretty. Not overwhelming and very feminine.

[blackfelicula]

In the bottle: I can smell the orchid, only sweeter and more melancholy.

 

Wet: This is a straightforward floral with a kinship to the Burren Perfumery's scent Ilaun. It is darker on than in the imp.

 

Drying down: This pretty and wearable. It is almost fruity, yet floral.

 

Dry: It is stronger now to my nose, but still sweet. It resembles concord grapes or pear.

 

Later: This is one long-lasting scent. It is persistant and pretty. I would easily layer it with Ilaun (which was a gift from my mom from when she went to Ireland).

[slave1]

SHADOW WITCH ORCHID

 

In Bottle: Orchids

 

On Skin: A beautiful perfumey orchid… so pure. While I’m not a huge fan of florals, orchids seem to work on me. Maybe because they’re one of my favorite flowers and I associate their scent with so many happy memories. This orchid is very strong, very perfumey and quite heady. It reminds me of my honeymoon in Tahiti, very tropical and the flower markets were huge with orchids being an almost common flower. The scent is slightly sour but with a very sweet base that helps even the overall tone of the scent. If I were wanting to wear a floral scent, this would be one of the first ones I’d reach for… well after Black Lily. I also like it a bit more than Black Orchid. Strong throw but it fades quicker than other scents, so I’d say a short to average wearlength.

[Elemcee]

Shadow Witch Orchid is a vibrant, lush floral, flourishing in a humid, wet climate. It is unarguably feminine, but not at all delicate.

The woman who would wear this has a wardrobe full of bright silks in many colours. She certainly isn't someone who is afraid to stand out among sombre blacks and greys.

[outofrhyme]

In the bottle:

Very sweet. It smells purple. I'm smelling something very familiar... it's not grape candy or grape juice and it might not even be tangentially related to "grape" but for some reason that's what I keep thinking. Something is also vaguely medicinal.

 

Wet:

Very complex floral. I'm still getting that whiff of something purple, but I can tell there's a very lovely floral at the heart. It's very perfumey... it reminds me a lot of some perfume that I've smelled, but I can't remember which... it might be White Diamonds, which my grandma always had in her house, and which apparently has tuberose, lily and neroli - not orchid.

 

Dry down:

Sweet, powdery, grape floral. I think I can make out the orchid as being orchid now, but I'm not positive, since I don't know much about how orchid smells.

Final thoughts:

It's nice, but maybe a little too grape for everyday wear I'm pretty happy with the RG scents so far, though, and I think I'll try to keep exploring a few more.

[phedre]

In the bottle, this was over the top orchid. I was leery, but applied anyway.

 

On my skin, whoa. Headache-inducing overindulged orchid!

 

I hoped for something else to emerge on drydown, but it stayed as a massive perfume cloud around me. I could smell it so strongly, even after hours had passed, and all I got was sweet, heavy floral orchids. Far too strong for my chemistry I'm afraid!

[Luhtarian]

A very pale orchid, a delicate and perfumey floral. Is there rose in this? It's going a little soapy.

[fiddledragon]

Mmmm...a very pretty sweet floral. I guess this must be what orchids smell like; I don't think of them as having a distinctive fragrance, but I guess I'm not very familiar with them in general anyway. To me, it's actually a sort of halfway point between jasmine and rose. It's a very growing-flower type of floral, rather than the generic-floral perfumy smell. I think I most like single-note forals, where I can get to know one floral without them all mushing together into genericness. It's slightly soapy and slightly spicy-sharp; I got this as a gift with a Yule card swap on LJ and would never have ordered it on my own!

[Mianjo]

Got this as a testable sniffie in an order from a fellow forumite.

 

In the imp: Flowery and sweet.

 

Wet: There's a bit of depth to this beyond the floral. I do smell the orchid, which makes me think of the color purple--but a deep purple, almost black. There's also fruit under there...I get ripe red apples and maybe a tiny bit of grape. It's also a bit spicy. Maybe a dash of white pepper? Yummy!

 

Dry: Pretty much the same as wet. I can't stop sniffing my wrist.

 

Once this scent dried and the original notes went away (hours later), I could still smell something sweet on my wrist...no more flowers or fruit, but something like wet white sugar. I like this fragrance. It reminds me of something I used to wear in high school, but ever so much more sophisticated. I don't know that I want a bottle of this, but I will probably request an imp of it in a future order. It feels like special occasion wear.

[brownbear]

yum. Sexy floral. Deep green and deep purple with flecks of light. It is confidence.

ETA: As it dries it gets wetter, humid.

ETA: It kept getting stronger and stronger and it became overwhelming. I had to wash it off.

Edited January 14, 2007 by brownbear

[alliekat13]

Shadow Witch Orchid is absolutely one of my favorite BPAL scents. In the bottle it is a strong, sweet floral, it smells like a hothouse in a botanical garden. You can really smell the orchids, like real, tropical orchids. On the skin, it's pretty strong for the first five minutes, and then it settles down into a gorgeous purple orchid, with notes of maybe honeysuckle or some similar flower. Hours later it's still going strong, I keep catching whiffs of a beautiful scent. Definetely recommended also for people who don't like conventional florals. This is like a trip to the jungle, and finding some rare orchids covered with dew. Awesome! (Oh yeah, it's also pretty sexy, guys always compliment me when I wear this scent!)

Edited January 16, 2007 by alliekat13

[filigree_shadow]

I really like orchids -- I have some in my house. This doesn't smell like orchids to me for some reason. I guess maybe my skin is messing this up, but it smells more like a powdery gardenia to me. Still kind of tropical, but... I don't know, it doesn't smell right. It lasts for a long time, and the whole time I keep feeling uneasy because I keep thinking it ought to smell like orchids but it doesn't.

 

I don't think this works on me.

[Righthandimp]

In the vial and going on - bordello parlor.

 

Drying down/dry - being new to this, I didn't understand what people meant when they said it became "powdery". Now I think I know. I could almost taste the powder.

 

When it was dry, it was ok - I didn't mind it. But I didnt love it.

 

I put it on at a friend's house (from her imp) to go out. I put it not only on my wrists, but on my neck and in the crooks of my elbows. Throughout the night, it mellowed just fine - I didn't scrub it off, but I won't buy it.

 

Then I got home, 5 or so hours later, I happened to catch a sniff of the crook of my elbows - and there it was, bordello parlor in full force. Wow. The rest of the areas I'd put it on were dry and mellow, but - wow.

 

I scrubbed before bed, because I knew my boyfriend wouldn't like it - plus, I didn't want to wake up smelling it.

[storme]

In the imp: sweet, strong vibrant orchid.

 

On me, wet: a very wet, rich orchid smell with a hint of soap. And then the whole thing fades very swiftly.

 

On me, dry: soapy floral blandness, almost bamboo-like.

 

Verdict: not one for me, alas.

[stellans]

.

This is a really nice floral -- is this what orchid smells like? If so, I like orchids! On the "If You Like__BPAL, You'll Like ___" thread, someone mentioned that this was like White Shoulders. It is somewhat familiar to my nose, but I don't think it's like White Shoulders, however.

 

In the imp: decidedly floral, and for some reason my nose is telling me 'lilac!'

 

Wet on skin: again lilac, but since the description says it's orchid, I guess that's what it is. But no other notes are mentioned, so maybe my nose is right too? Anyway, it is a very pretty scent that appeals to me.

 

Dry: Oh, it's going away! It doesn't last very long on my wrist at all, but stays a while in the crook of my elbow, and really stays in my cleavage.

 

Verdict: I like this enough to put the imp in rotation, but it requires renewal too much to buy a bottle. Maybe if I can get one in a deal on eBay or a swap, but not at full price. Pity. This is a very pretty scent, but it would be expensive to wear often.

Edited March 20, 2009 by stellans

[euterpe414]

This one does smell like orchids on me (thankfully my skin is behaving! ) At first it goes on as a very light orchid, but gains a bit of depth as time goes on- it gets richer and a bit sweeter.

 

SWO is a very tropical scent to me; it's in the same category of florals for me as Pele or Black Lily, but not in terms of the exact scent, just feel. Anyhow, it's exotic, feminine, and vibrant.. I feel this scent definitely embodies the flower in question.

 

I'm happy I bought a bottle of this, for it's a sexy and unique floral blend.

[Electra]

A generous swapper frimped me with this little gem. I somehow managed to overlook it, and it has been sitting neglected in my imp box. I am a moron. Shadow Witch Orchid is GORGEOUS. I can't believe I've been missing out on this.

 

This is a dark, rich, elegant, old-fashioned, slightly powdery noir-ish floral in the vein of Black Dahlia and Fallen, though sweeter and lighter than those two. Black Dahlia and Fallen are two of my favorite BPALs, so it's a no-brainer that I'd like this one.

 

Just lovely.

Edited March 18, 2007 by Electra