I spilled, while opening the tiny casket bound vial of OPARDU, and now my fingers are covered in it. Precious liquid, tap, tap, tapping its way across my keyboard, since I refuse to wash my hands. I know that I should wear a new perfume fully, top to bottom, over the course of days, before I even begin to think about how to talk about it, but I couldn’t resist throwing myself into the moment. I don’t know what OPARDU means, but if I created the myth around the word, I’d say it meant joyful, ebullient, innocent, sophisticated.
***
As a pre-teen, I declared to my mother that I needed to attend the private boarding school Foxcroft. Don’t bother asking how I found out about such a place: I did, and I tried to convince her that my approaching highschool years would be best spent in an environment where my horse could come with me to school… never mind the fact that the school cost three-times my mother’s annual salary (My mother still, no doubt, can remember my convincing arguments). It wasn’t that I suffered delusions of grandeur. It’s just that I’ve always, since I was tiny, been in love with whatever I deemed “best” (including people, ideas, and so on). Around the same time I was longing for Foxcroft, I was gifted a set of finely fragranced toiletries, which contained a small quantity of opalescent purple bath beads. Those bath beads were the most beautiful smelling thing I’d experienced to that point, and when I bathed with them, I felt like Marie Antoinette–a young, vivacious queen, utterly content with herself and her surroundings. For years afterwards I tried to find out what those purple beads were, where they came from, and what was that smell?
OPARDU takes me there.
I love the way that a fragrance can instantly deliver us to another time, another place. Bypassing reality, even if just for a moment. OPARDU is beautiful; it truly is a master perfume, and, significantly, it transports me to a treasured childhood memory.
My sample of OPARDU was provided by Puredistance.
beauty on the outside 
I know those purple bath beads!!! And Opardu smells EXACTLY like them!
Ha! International, transcontinental bath beads… who would have thought!
I love that you know the bath beads! Although, it doesn’t surprise me too much– we were both such dramatic children, they would appeal to us 😉
Hhaha, I’m glad that you agree on the smell, too! Confirmation!
I smile when I think of you convincing your parents you wanted to go to boarding school. I was SENT to boarding school, no choice in the matter (and I was a good kid, an A student). Although I did end up loving my time there, it may be best that your mom wasn’t able to send you. Nothing like being reared in a home with family, childhood is so short!
As for your Opardu bath bead moment, I had the same moment with Diptyque Volutes. Smells just like an atomizer/china pomade I had as a child. It had small holes that emitted scent. I’d give anything to know what fragrance it was!
Andrea, you are probably right 🙂
Isn’t it so much fun when perfume takes you back to a happy childhood memory? While those aren’t the ones I tend to reach for as daily wear, they become treasures in my collection.
I love this post! What a great kid you must have been to try to convince your parents to send you to boarding school 🙂
I had a similar bath bead-like experience with a new acquisition of mine: Atelier Cologne’s Sous le toit de Paris. Smelled it, loved it, got home and realized why it smelled so comforting.
My Little Ponies. It smells like a My Little Pony — not a bad thing, to me at least! 🙂
I always liked school, at least, until I didn’t. LOL
My Little Ponies! What a hoot! I agree, not a bad thing at all. 🙂
OMG MY LITTLE PONIES?!?!?!
I had 82 My Little Ponies. Actually, still have. My mom brings them out for my daughter when we go visit. I’ve actually successfully gotten my daughter (age 4) interested in the current incarnation My Little Ponies.
I really need to try Sous le Toit…..
Seriously! It’s like My Little Ponies + Charmkins. Remember Charmkins? I almost forgot that they were in the same toybox!
you are not helping! LOL. Especially since I was planning on getting muh man Vetiver Fatale for V-Day, and they will send you a free 30mL with a full-size purchase if you order from their website….
Haha! A little sleuthing turned this My Little Pony/Charmkins collaboration! And I think I kept them all in a Caboodle!
http://www.chanth.com/charmkins/
But yes, SLTdP smells wonderfully of Ponies + Charmkins 🙂
I think I had those purple bath beads too! Did they go all squidgy before disintegrating?
I HAVE to try this.
Hahaha, yes, they did get all squidgy! They exterior was almost like rubber before hitting the water, and they broke down so slowly…
I love that they were so international–I feel sophisticated 😉
Do try it! It’s so pretty!
What a warm and beautiful post, Dee! It’s great that perfumes, scent have that strong power over our memories.
I smile imagining small Queen of the World bathing with purple beads.
Hahaha, thank you Undina!Perfume really truly does enhance my life. Where else can I feel like the queen of the world? 😉
xo
I love the image of you as a young girl trying to convince your mom you needed to go to Foxcroft; Dragongirl is also horse-crazy, and on several occasions tried to persuade us that we could keep a horse in the backyard.
I also love how perfume can transport us to another time and place. The strongest it’s ever happened with me is the first time I smelled Philosykos; I stood there in Holt Renfrew with my jaw dropped, “I know this smell. Holy cow, I KNOW this!” Which is strange, because I’ve never been anywhere where fig trees grow. But it instantly transported me to going camping as a kid in Northern Alberta. Still haven’t figured that one out.