Opium Poppy

[Shollin]

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

Another raffle prototype review to tempt everyone...

First sniff: Behold the power of suggestion! I swear I got a buzz sniffing the bottle. Apart from the psychosomatic high, it’s wet, sweet and oh so heady.

Wearing: This is undoubtedly the effect of the name again, but it smells… a little dangerous. Like sniffing too much of this could lead you into trouble. It’s richly sweet with an edge.

Moved from Unreleased to Rappaccini's Garden, added description. --Shollin

[shelldoo]

this in the bottle is overwhelmingly floral, in your face poppy.

 

wet i get a bit more of the opium scent, possibly patchouli?

 

as it dries it becomes a poppy/opium equality fest. this is very balanced between the two notes, and is a fabulous scent for floral lovers and headshop type scents.

Edited March 12, 2006 by shelldoo

[VenusFlyTrap]

Poppies, my dear!

 

Wow!

 

Upon initially wearing this makes you feel like you're high! Well, high on a gorgeous and heady fragrance. I couldn't stop sniffing my wrist. It's a rich, deep floral but also sweet like the juice that is scraped off of its namesake to produce the opiate. I detect a hint of spice/incense like what the opium dens of yore would smell like.

 

Utterly compelling, deadly and dangerous.

 

But then the drydown! Soft, gentle and subtle; a lovely echo of the above.

 

Simply stunning and gorgeous.

 

Another on the list for a big bottle.

Edited March 26, 2006 by VenusFlyTrap

[coulrophobe]

In the imp: Poppies and smoke!

 

On: It's a dark, smokey floral - heavily sweet and lazy smelling. It's completely and utterly soporific to my nose; just taking a whiff makes my eyelids heavy. I think I'll try using it as a sleep blend!

[sarada]

This is the only one of the imps that I got today that I don't plan to test on my skin because the second I opened it I recognized the smell that makes me ill in Darkness and Languor. It smells like some sort of chemical to me -- something that would be used in doing something to hair or nails, though I don't know what. Just a very strong, bitter, chemical scent that disagrees with me to the very core.

 

I am glad to finally know the exact source of this smell and now I know to avoid opium and/or poppy, though it does work in a few blends here and there where I can't smell this chemical haze. I don't know if it would work on my skin because I just can't get close enough to it, to try it. I know that in the case of Darkness and Languor it didn't do anything good on my skin either.

 

Chalk this one up to a learning experience!

[olympia301]

 

A very eye popping opening, almost metallic is how Opium Poppy starts out. It is hard to tell where this one is going judging from the beginning alone. As time mellows it out, Opium Poppy starts to fall deeper and deeper into an almost carnation-like floral scent, with spices bringing up an otherwise simply floral atmosphere. It is not carnation, but very much like carnation and does have a character all of its own. This is a very nice blend and one which deserves a lot of attention and love.

Edited April 7, 2006 by olympia301

[LiberAmoris]

Opium Poppy is one I wasn't sure would agree with me, as opium and poppy are both notes that I've had uneven luck with. But then I remembered that Vechernyaya had poppy, and I heart Vechernyaya.

 

On my skin this softens up considerably and becomes a nearly languorous haze. It's hard to describe, as it falls somewhere between a cloud of smoke and a flower, but it's very compelling. I'll definitely use up my imp---this would be perfect for a night out at the hookah bar.

[bodegaselkie]

Opium poppy begins floral and sweet on me, very heavy and sleepy as others here have suggested. It may have been sleep deprivation or the perfume, but driving to work this morning after putting it on was quite somnolent, as though in slow-motion. Over the hours, this faded, growing more and more powdery until it was mostly old-lady perfume; sweet and pleasant, but still old-ladyish.

 

Also, it made me sneeze.

[themerrybaker]

BPALGeneric Floral at first: Mellows nicely to smoky, spicy bitter perfume. Opium poppy has good staying power and is interestingly complex. My favorite so far of the new garden update.

[janelle_hell]

This doesn't smell so much of opium poppies as it does of opium itsself. i totally agree with everyone who's posted that it makes them feel sleepy...maybe it's just the power of suggestion? Opium Poppy reminds me of what the Caterpillar in Alice In Wonderland would smell like (actually,what his hookah-smoke would smell like). i think i need a 5ml of this for when i can't fall asleep even though it's around 4 in the morning. Very,very nice.

 

*edited to add: i have a new favorite. i Opium Poppy as much as i heart Stardust. Seriously. i'd bathe in it if that were possible.*

Edited April 15, 2006 by janelle_hell

[LittleGreyKitten]

This is a beautiful floral. I am glad I bought a 5mL unsniffed (I admit to a poppy obsession- I even have a poppy tattoo- so I had to have it!) Just as I suspected, it is the note I like in Sleepy Moon. It's less... muddled than Sleepy Moon, and is definitely a note I've liked in other blends. It's not too sweet, not really bitter, kind of refreshing smelling for a flower. Definitely not a heavy, overblown floral. I like it more than Sleepy Moon- the lavender and other things in there don't blow me away- and I'll be grabbing this instead.

 

I don't really find it sleep-inducing or whatever. But then, I'm always up for a catnap, so would I even notice the difference? Doubtful. (I'm definitely not an insomniac! More of a narcoleptic.) I should test it on that spastic, insomniac husband I've got. He would be able to tell if it helped him sleep.

 

As I've noticed before, Beth's "poppy" and "opium" scents are more like... archetypes or something, than an actual replication of the smell of either. This is a GOOD THING. Poppies, and all the derivatives (from opium to morphine and all the rest), smell and taste bitter, bitter, bitter (um, *cough* so a little elf told me, I'm sure I wouldn't know from personal experience! ). The plant itself smells very bitter and pungently green (you'd be surprised how many random papaver somniferum gardens one runs across). The lovely smokey floral impression that Beth creates, thank god, is nothing like that. It's more like it encompasses what poppies and opium ought to smell like, rather than like bitter ass.

 

I also think it's cool to see a new label for GCs! I got Sundew in a bottle too, and it has the same cute Rappaccini's Garden label. (Macha's doing? If so thank you!)

 

For me, a 4.5 out of 5.

Edited May 10, 2006 by LittleGreyKitten

[Aredhel]

Rating (on skin): 3/5

Summarised in a word or two: Poppy! And opium!

 

In the imp: Four words: It made me sneeze.

 

On skin, wet: Poppies! I don't come across poppy often, but when I do I always think "Ooh, I forgot I like poppy!" Also, the unmistakable smokey scent of opium!

 

On skin, dry: I have to agree with the person that said this falls somewhere between smoke and flower. It's almost intoxicating. It reminds me of an Aunt of mine: she loved smokey perfumes like this. She might actually love this, and I must remember to get her to give it a sniff.

 

Conclusion: This is terribly interesting, mellow and intoxicating, but really, honestly not my thing -- a little *too* dark and smokey.

[Little Bird]

Uh-oh.

 

In the imp, this immediately gave me a painful trip back to the memory of how badly Stardust gave me a migraine and made me want to scrape off my wrists.

 

Could it be that poppy is the migraine inducing floral that always smells like really cheap hairspray on me? Metallic, noxious, suffocating fumes.

 

15 minutes after first applying and cautiously sniffing at my wrists... this has calmed down a lot and taken on a sweeter, powdery edge. But it's still overpowering and making my head pound, and it still has this twisted chemical edge to it that makes me a little nauseous.

 

Just like with Stardust, I have to wash this one off before I become ill.

[lookingglass]

Heady, sweet, and a little dark, this floral is quite like narcissus to my nose. 'Not as complex as I demand my florals to be. I like her, but I don't love her.

[Eunice]

In the bottle: Wow! Not what I was expecting. This is a very languid scent. Slightly floral with a bit of patchouli earthiness and just a hint of a spice.

 

Wet: If this is what a poppy smells like, I am loving it. Deeply floral with an earthy smell and some smokiness. Thick and rich.

 

Dry: This is going just a bit powdery on me but not in a bad way. This hasn't changed very much from the bottle.

 

Overall: This is a lazy Sunday scent. Very very lovely!!

[iriedanym]

On first sniff, I was convinced this smelled musty and a little smokey. The poppy is there, but it is soft compared to the medicine smell of the opium. I'm still undecided on this scent. I think it might be too dark for my taste.

[malanna]

Opium Poppy starts out smoky and a dark sort of musky, sort of like Haunted, with a bit of animalic musk to it. It's pretty consistent, with it getting a bit muskier after application and mostly smells like panting horse. I guess I can see how an opium house might smell like a panting horse....

[Red_Hot_Mama]

Opium Poppy is a beautiful scent. It does indeed start off very strong & reminicent of narcissus (as has been written) but it lightens up to a deep, spicy scent. It seems to have some similarities to Oneroi, my favorite sleeping blend. I too get the carnation analogy.

 

I'll spend more time with Opium Poppy to see how best to use it.

[desu]

In the imp: Liquid soap. Huh? Where's all that opiatic goodness? :|

 

On my skin: On application, this turns into a real fierce floral. It's sweet and sassy and slapping my tender olfactory nerves around. Nothing dreamy and hazy about this one. It eventually starts turning into liquid soap on me. Naughty chemistry!

 

Later on: Spicy floral soap.

[cybra111]

Opium Poppy

 

In the bottle: strong, sharp scent.

 

On me: at first it reminds me of glue. Then the floral emerges. Not the kind of floral perfume I have smelled before, but a husky floral. Totally unique. Bright and heady.

Now it's spreading, becoming sensual and hypnotic. I imagine Dorothy in the field of poppies when I smell this.

[AliBabble]

i'm unsure on this one. i'm not sure opium works on me - red lantern didn't work, and opium poppy is having the same problem---the headiness, the smokiness which on some level i like...it smells old-ladyish on me. it always gives me the image of an older rich lady in a fur coat, with too much perfume on. it's kind of a neat smell...reminds me of old-fashioned movie stars..but i'm not sure how pleasant it is on me. there's also something in opium poppy that reminds me of zinc oxide ointment. however, the opium in sleepy moon works wonderfully on me, so maybe i'm still getting used to this one... sometimes scents grow on me. i do like the incense-y quality of this. we shall see...

[judas_kiss]

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet! I adore it and I would not call myself a "floral" person. I'm mostly gourmond and "slightly sullied hippie".

 

Anyway, on with the review...

 

In the bottle: This is pure poppy in the bottle (at least to my nose). It is sharp, yet ever so sleepy. It is very similar to the poppy in Sleepy Moon that I adore so much.

 

Wet: This is overwhelmingly fresh poppy to my nose. If it were a color, it would be screamingly vibrant red. There is something even more sinister underneath, however...

 

Drydown: Oh, this is the stuff. The vibrancy of this scent chills out quite a bit and mellows into a very smokey, spicey poppy. This goes very "lazy" and "sleepy" on me. However, it is not a "bedtime scent". No, this is a bedroom-eyed flower; but the plans for the bedroom have very little to do with sleep. This scent belongs to a sexy woman who is never rushed, but whose sarcastic wit can cut through flesh and right to the bone.

 

OVerall: I have this in 5mL and I adore it. It is, by far, my favorite BPAL floral (aside from Sleepy Moon). I get comments from both men and women no matter where I wear this. While this is a sexy scent, it is fresh enough for everyday wear. I highly recommend it.

Edited May 25, 2006 by judas_kiss

[grrrlennyl]

at first: a sweet, heady floral.

on: there's something a tad spicy to this, but in a floral way. there's a hint of sweetness, but not much. it's languorous sort of floral. very nice.

1 hour later: softer, but still a nice, lazy scent.

2.5 hours later: dark, somewhat sweet, and powdery. lovely stuff.

3.5 hours later: powdery and lovely.

overall: this is very dark. it would be perfect for a lazy night of drinking wine. wonderful.

[karengypsy]

In the vial: Incense & poppies.

 

On me: This smells exactly like that one time I ever smelled opium burning. It's sweet, sweet incense with poppy woven through it. This scent is heavenly.

 

Verdict: This scent is fantastic. It's incensey without being overpowering at all. I need a bottle!

 

Rating: 5/5

[Diana]

Wet: bandaids + sharp perfume smell

 

Drydown: I'm not a big fan of opium-type scents, and this one is pretty much straight opium. It's not my taste at all; it ends up smelling soapy, perfumey, and sharp. This reminds me a bit of Debauchery, without the civet.

 

After a little while, some of the sharpness fades, and it smells more like poppy flowers, but it's still not really my taste.