Opiate Southern Gardens of Orchids

[Soniadevi]

Mine were an old people, and were old even when this land was settled three hundred years before. And they were strange, because they had come as dark furtive folk from opiate southern gardens of orchids, and spoken another tongue before they learnt the tongue of the blue-eyed fishers. And now they were scattered, and shared only the rituals of mysteries that none living could understand. I was the only one who came back that night to the old fishing town as legend bade, for only the poor and the lonely remember.


Memories of alien gardens that crawl with wide swaths of vivid, soporific blossoms: gargantuan orchids, blood-purple poppies, and monstrous black peonies.

At first sniff, something repulses me a little, like rotting flowers, but it's kind of... evocative... What was I expecting anyway from a blend that suggests "alien gardens"? However, the initial iffy scent burns off fairly quickly, and all is left is a soft, dark floral scent that stays quite close to the skin. It seems like a COLD dark scent - so that's kind of fun in a way. In fact, the more I think about it, and sniff my wrist, the more I like this - I feel it's one of those scents that could grow on me, especially if I let it settle for a while. I'm actually kind of glad to have a bottle, because it's fairly unique and a nice addition to the BPAL collection :-)

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars for now.

[yakiguri]

Since orchids are my favorite flowers scent-wise buying this blend was almost like a moral imperative. Unfortunately I'm realizing I need some sort of anchor with my orchid blends (musk, leather, etc.) or else the orchid completely dominates. From application to drydown Opiate Gardens is soapy ALL ORCHID, ALL THE TIME. I get tiny hints of poppy and peony if I get my nose right up on my skin, but otherwise it's orchid all the way. Not necessarily a bad thing, as I love the scent of orchids, it's just not very deep as a blend. The scent is evocative of having bathed in exotic soap, so this will work for when I just want to smell clean.

[Larinessa]

From application to drydown Opiate Gardens is soapy ALL ORCHID, ALL THE TIME.

 

I need to agree with this. I love orchids but in this blend they don't love me. It is very soapy and expensive smelling, but also something like an old lady would wear on me. Just not me.

 

Sadly disappointed in this blend

Edited January 3, 2014 by Larinessa

[Leopard403]

Soap.

[tinyvulture]

For orchids, Magdalene is my go-to blend, so I'll do a comparison. Opiate Southern Gardens isn't as lush; it's more dry and understated. The poppies are noticeable, too, and I always equate their scent with a candle being blown out. I'm not really picking up any peony. I can see how this blend fits the description because, for a garden full of lovely orchids, there's something dark and somber about it.

[Monday]

This doesn't smell like the floral bombardment I thought it would be yay. In fact it instantly reminded me of Havisham. Only it's a warm, southern version of Havisham.

The orchids are perfectly balanced with the peonies, the poppy lends it a nice dark edge. For a scent with only three notes it smells very complex. It has a lot of throw when it's wet but on my skin it fades pretty quickly. Very wearable.

[HerbGirl]

Dark floral...started off really soapy and sharp but has mellowed into a beautiful wafting scent. Perfumey in a good way.

[ajcj213499]

This is pretty. Slightly soapy, slightly perfumey... It actually reminds me of a sweeter version of Asphodel.

[Laurel the Woodfairy]

Wet, my first thought was "White Linen by Estee Lauder!" That is my Mom's signature scent, so it made me smile. A "classy" white floral with very clean notes, Opiate Southern Gardens of Orchids could easily pass for an expensive department store perfume instead of a BPAL, and thus would be very appropriate for the office or as a gateway scent for those new to BPAL. On drydown, it's more clearly the BPAL orchid note I've smelled before--like paperwhites, a bit powdery. Not heavy or sexy as I rather expected from the poppies, and I don't smell peonies at all.

Edited January 9, 2014 by Laurel the Woodfairy

[zankoku_zen]

Orchid soap. It's a lovely orchid and poppies, but it ends up straight up soapy on me.

 

BOO.

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Soap. Strongly soapy floral.

 

Wet of skin: Still a strongly soapy floral.

 

Dried down: Still soap, but there's a sweet jasmine tone now.

 

Throw: Little to none on me, and I'm ok with that. I'd have to wash it off if it was strong.

 

Verdict: *** Not bad, but not for me.

[thekittenkat]

In the imp: The black peonies are taking over the garden.

 

Wet: Not so dark now, a touch of green sap.

 

The dry-down: The poppies and the orchids finally wake up. All three florals combine for a nice slightly sweet slightly green sort of scent. Nice for springtime.

[milo]

Lot's of incense here, I'm suspecting the poppy is the culprit here. This ends up being very perfumey on me, a little too much incense along with a strong musk. I'm getting an odd fungus funk here, and a bit of aquatic greenness, which actually saves this blend somewhat on me. Still, it's not enough, and this will not be an upgrade.

[aquazoo]

Starts soft and subtle. Floral with a little bit of lime.

[DiZZysTARdust]

i agree with the bulk of the initial reviews of this scent: cold, dry, soap. i thought this sounded fabulous based on the notes. i’m still new to identifying individual notes but in my imagination i guess i was expecting something perhaps more tropical. this is a little muted in the bottle but on it was an almost shocking blast of what i initially thought of as champagne. very fizzy. then it settled into the soapishness. but still dry and white, like champagne scented soap, so i’m guessing these are “white florals”. i can handle a little soapy edge but this like straight up rubbing a bar of soap all over myself. it’s fresh and clean, so not bad, just kind of disappointing. the sharpness does fade away pretty quickly into a kind of memory of florally sweetness (like, within 1-2 hours) with a dramatically reduced throw. must be the peony taking charge. i agree with the reviews saying the florals need an anchor. i want to try layering this with some blends that need light flowers.

 

12/28/20 ETA i tried this again and started formulating a review, forgetting i had already reviewed this. I still agree with basically all of this except now i love it! Still screechy white florals at first but after an hour or so, a nuttiness starts to come out that is def the peony cause it does the same thing in little flora. Not really foodie but turns the whole thing golden green in a non foodie non soapy non herbal, very hard to define way that is totally beautiful. Def want to try layering this

Edited December 29, 2020 by DiZZysTARdust