Black Opal

[valentina]

A play of geological darkness and jagged brilliance. Soft and luminescent with flashes of black fire.

In the imp, Black Opal smells dark, mysterious and a little elusive. When I put it on, I had a very rapid reaction -- it smells, on me, just the way the commercial perfume Ombre Rose smells on people who wear it well. I know that Ombre Rose is considered a "floriental" perfume, and while there's probably some rose in Black Opal, I'm also getting a powdery, but alluring, dry-down. It's a little vanilla, but with some sort of resin or amber?

The scent is proper, rather refined, yet not at all shy and a little bit dark. Hmmmm... For some reason, I want to equate the scent a vintage movie actress, perhaps Myrna Loy? It evokes a woman who has a doily on her nightstand, but displays her vibrator on it. Who wears a Laura Ashley dress with black crotchless panties under it.

My, I'm getting carried away... suffice it to say, I like Black Opal. It's not my usual thing, but it's very nice and it's obviously evocative!

valentina Edited January 26, 2006 by Shollin

[Voleuse]

This is...huh. On first application, I get something with a metallic edge. I want to call it ozone, but it's the exact opposite of it, even though it's very similar. It's dark and empty and a little electric. There's also a hint of sweetness, vanilla and/or coconut.

 

Over time, the not-ozone smell intensifies, crowding out the vanilla. I think it perfectly fits the description, but it's also giving me a bit of a headache.

[Diana]

This is a hard one to describe.

 

It reminds me a lot of pefumes my mom loves. I think I'm going to have to get her a bottle of this.

 

Going on, it does smell like a mineral of some sort; a cool stone-like quality.

 

It is sweet, but dry and fairly faint. I think there's sandalwood, musk, tonka and violet in this. But not sugary or foody. Musky and soft. Very feminine & pretty.

 

I'm at a loss for words today. If you've ever smelled Bill Blass Nude before, it reminds me a great deal of that. Skin, but better.

Edited January 26, 2006 by Diana

[Bagfish]

In the imp Black Opal smelled slightly musky and there was a faint hint of earth, slightly mineral, like a freshly turned spade of soil in the garden.

 

Wet: it smelled great, I kept getting wafts of a really pleasent warm musky smell.

 

Drydown and dry: unfortunately this has turned into the Body Shop's White Musk, but stronger. A little like Antique Lace, but far far more musky. I've had it on for about 2 hours and it is beginning to make me feel nauseous. The musk componant is getting stronger and stronger and far too sweet. It appears to have lost any other componant to the smell, and unfortunately this means that it is not for me. Starts well, but finishes badly

 

Off to the swap pile with this l'il impie.....

[lookingglass]

Going on this does smell quite like a mineral, almost astringent, but natural...like a wet mineral. What IS that? Lavender, violet? Drying down, it becomes sweet and round with vanilla and white musk. It is everything that I had hoped Antique Lace would be~sweeter and softer, but more sophisticated. I think I could wear this anytime, anywhere. It is cool, but fiery. Much like my beloved Snow White but much more sophisticated.

[sissa125]

In the bottle: Sharp and mineral. I get a layer of kerosene, not entirely unpleasant, overlaying everything else.

 

Upon skin: A whiff of baby oil, like johnson's. Seems innocent, but is stony, serious and merciless. Sweetens to a smoky woodiness.

 

This is something I should wear before marching into a council of war. Or maybe while presenting research at a conference

 

I will buy it again, but I cant decide between imp or bottle.

[Rheliwen]

It smells like a vanilla candle...wax and all. It's very soft up close, but oddly wafts really well.

 

This is the vanilla scent in le fee verte. It smells a lot like it without the wormwood and other stuff. Just a simple vanilla musk.

 

Lovely.

[Stumbeline]

This smells very similar to Antique Lace to me, with that odd mineral note that everyone's been spotting. It's nice, and soft. A very straight-up vanilla scent. I'm starting to find though that certain vanillas, especially the one in Black Opal and Antique Lace, tend to turn to sour milk on me.

[sookster]

awwww.

i so wanted to love black opal and all the creamy vanilla goodness...

alas, this did not work for me.....i can sense a hint of coconut or

something milky that simply does not work with my chemistry......

boo hiss....

[Rhowan]

Black Opal is gorgeous in the vial. Creamy and very feminine.

 

When I applied this, I had a very strange reaction that I have only had a couple of times - I couldn't smell anything really. Just my skin. I reapplied on top of the application - thinking that maybe I didn't get enough on but even after a couple of more applications I can't really smell anything. I get my skin, with maybe a hint of left over lotion or soap from yesterday.

 

Complete dry down -Skin and a hint of powder.

 

I am really bummed because I have heard so many people rave about this....

[Kittyflop]

Vanilla, musk, powder. I'm not sure what 'mineral' smells like, as so many others have mentioned, but I am smelling something I don't recognize, maybe that's it.

 

This is very soft and comforting, yet oddly - professional. Most vanilla sweetstuffs I prefer to wear at home or to bed, cuddled under a blanket with hot tea or cocoa. But this one is definitely one I can wear to work. It's not too sweet, cool, but very vanilla.

 

Long duration, not a long throw but the waft is wonderful - it's hovering around just under my nose all day.

[LittleGreyKitten]

This is a fascinating scent. I would never have guessed that "mineral" would have a particular scent that I'd sniff and go, "Yeah, that's a mineral scent all right." Yet Black Opal has it. Interesting! It then has the soft, creamy vanilla white-musky goodness that Antique Lace has all over the top of the interesting wet mineral smell. Very, very unique and I like it very much. Definitely one I reach for a lot out of the GC scents, and I'll definitely get a full size bottle eventually.

 

I'd give it it a 5 for uniqueness and yumminess, absolutely.

[loves_requiem]

Ha!

 

Another one of her fabulous blends that rips a fragment of memory straight out of the recesses of my damaged mind.

 

Broken rocks? YES.

 

Vanilla & Musk? Check.

 

Soft, Dry, Hot Powdery Dirt around said Broken Rocks? Yup.

 

Doesnt sound too pretty...or sexy...BUT GOD DAMN IS IT EVER!!!

 

There was this summer when I was 12 that I went to an archaeological dig that my mom was working at. I remember putting a little of her vanilla body spray before we left cuz I had a MAJOR crush on one of the interns....

 

And I sat on hot broken rocks, filtering soft powdery dirt through my hands all day, watching (ogling) a bare chested, sweaty, 20 year old Eric Anderson form afar...hehehe.

[batsy]

It took me all day (and help from my mom, who was going crazy trying to figure it out too) to place what's in this. At first smell, I kept thinking "buttered rum!?" because I love those Lifesavers. The longer I wore it, I could smell a hint of lemon, licorice, possible anise... and there has got to be vanilla in there. My mom insists it's got gardenia in it as well.

 

I really liked it -- it's a very womanly scent and wears well all day. For some reason, I felt like a girly pirate all the time I wore it.

[seamor]

Wet: Oily almond/vanilla

 

On the wrist: Very faint – something – vanilla? The almond oil?

(I am beginning to suspect that there are some notes Beth uses that I just can’t smell at all.)

 

Later: Something kind of ozone-y. It's a mismatch, disturbing but intriguing, with the faint vanilla/amber scent underneath.

 

This does kind of smell like an opal. Maybe it’s the changing nature – sometimes I think I smell warm amber, sometimes it’s all cool ozone, and sometimes a strange combination (but never a blend) of the two.

 

Very light and elusive. Not for me, but definitely an interesting scent.

[VenusFlyTrap]

I absolutely adore this oil!

 

Something about it is very creamy and soft but also very sophisticated as well. Wonderful subtle evening fragrance.

 

I am so very happy this is a GC scent!

 

2 thumbs way up!

 

ADDED March 7:

 

Gorgeous feminine fragrance of mystery!

 

Soft, subtle and very lovely with just a wisp of powder.

 

Great everyday wear but definitely not something that is common.

 

I love this scent!

[themerrybaker]

The dreaded Play-Doh on dry down but only when performing the act of wenchly wrist sniffing. Vaguely resinous and pleasant with the nose a normal distance from the wrist (may be a problem if you are cleavage-endowed and a Pinocchiette), the scent is aptly described as dark and has good staying power. In fact, this scent takes out a 20 yr mortgage on your skin and is still around after showering. If you end up liking this one you won’t need to carry it around for reapplication.

[eleventhousand]

I have a strange chemistry, but on me this smells of Carmex.

You know, in the little pot with the yellow lid?

 

Bizarre.

[Lizzie]

This blend is so unique on me...it's difficult to describe, but it smells a little like Vanilla, but mostly like clean wet gravel...it evokes thought of an underground lake in a cave somewhere...secret and mysterious. I like it. 8.5 out of 10.

[xith]

Black Opal is very soft and pretty. Soft in two ways--it has a soft feel to it, which I hope makes sense because I don't know how else to explain--but if something like pepper is sharp, this is the opposite feel, and soft in that it's definitely no screamer. In the bottle I could barely smell anything. When I first put it on I could barely smell anything. I added some more, and it was still pretty faint, but somehow got stronger over time. After a few hours the vanilla that others have mentioned is now apparent (at least I think it's vanilla, but could be something else). It smells creamy and mild but with something mysterious in the background. No idea what, but this is a very nice scent.

[dragonryder]

This is soooo good, from first opening to hours later. Forget the wish list, going straight for the bottle!

[renaissancerouge]

Wow, this is my first new review in forever. Well, I got my 5ml of Black Opal today, scent unsniffed, and it didn't disappoint me. (Although with my terrible week it would have had to be feces water to disappoint me since anything from the Lab makes me feel better.)

 

In bottle: pure Vanilla

 

On wrist, wet: sweet, warm vanilla, earth, and ozone

 

This is great. I love it. I definitely smell some of the same musky notes in Belle Epoque, but those I can almost taste on my palate, and don't affect the overall sweetness of the vanilla. It's definitely a different scent, don't worry. I know that it will be GONE in a matter of weeks since I'll want to smell like this all the time, and since there's no reducer on the bottle, there's really nothing stopping me from fatalistically pouring the whole delicious bottle in my next bath.

 

It's gentle and secret, like a draft from a dark corner.

[Diva Urd]

Wow. Who knew that something so soft could have so much staying power?!

 

My nose isn't the best out there, but I believe I can smell some kind of amber, ozone and either some vanilla or coconut in this (on me, it seems like it's the latter, in the bottle it's more like the former).

 

As already said, I found this to be very soft, not cloying at all, but also not all happy happy joy joy. It seems like a stern scent to me, which kind of doesn't go with the vanilla/coconut note, but it still is

 

I really love it, and I'm happy I got it in a package deal from someone (wouldn't have ordered it myself). Bigger bottle later.

[faifai]

Something about this scent disturbs me, but I can't figure out why. Perhaps it's bringing up bad memories, because it does remind me of something but I can't recall what, exactly.

 

In the imp this smells like vanilla. As soon as I put it on, however, it transformed into this strange talcum-y scent. Not the way scented talcum smells, but rather the way it "feels", if anything. Almost creamy, but more like a fuzzy, pwdery feeling.

 

It reminds me of rocks. Like, the smell you get when you're standing near a stone fountain in the dead of summer. Yet the feeling I get when sniffing it is distinctively "cool". Not like, say, Antique Lace, which has a creamy but warm feel. Black Opal reminds me of sitting a house that hasn't finished, the foundation of it, and spilling a bottle of water on the cement.

 

I think this scent bothers me because it never warms up with my skin, like its cousin Antique Lace. Rather, it just sits on top of my skin, and the throw is uncomfortably strong. Although it gets an A+ for uniqueness, its wearability on me rates about a C-.

[gangstaknitta]

I could barely smell this one. For a second, I thought there was something wrong with my imp. On my skin, I catch a whiff of something warm, creamy and milky smelling, but it fades so quickly that I cannot tell.