Ophelia

[slave1]

OPHELIA:

Wistful and vulnerable: lotus, water blossom ivy, stargazer lily and white rose.

 

In Bottle: Floral beauty!

 

On Skin: A bright wet white scent. Again, another scent I could see at a wedding. It is very strong and so feminine. I actually love this scent, which is a big step for me since I shy away from florals. It is so sweet and innocent, the sweetness makes it not become too formal. I see a huge bouquet of fresh cut flowers with beautiful green ivy. A perfect scent for a spring day…

[byrdie]

TMI ~ This is the second day of my period. Aunt Flo has been taking her vitamins, let me tell you.

 

vial ~ A muted citrus under a heavy floral. Oh, rapture.

 

wet ~ Oh, crap. There's a rose in here. Tea rose? There might also be lotus, or some other aquatic flower.

 

drying ~ The rose is receding a bit, and giving more time to the other florals. It's going rater musty, which is usually a late stage of aquatics for me. This is like a late-stage Water of Notre over a strong floral. Yeech.

 

drydown ~ Um. The murk has won, and is turning into a musty powder. I can barely smell the florals now. Wow.

 

dry ~ Ugh. No. They came back, and it's now a less murky, strong, mixed floral. blech.

 

fade ~ The fade on this one is consistent: a light powder with a strong floral content.

 

summary ~ What the frack happened to the aquatic note? Did Aunt Flo chase it away, or what? waah!

 

5ml ~ Gods, no. This one was already going to be swapped pending review. There's nothing stopping it now!

[Blood onmy hands]

First on, this is slightly aquatic and slightly green floral. Kind of cool and reminds me of spring.

 

In the drydown... this is sharp white floral and a slight twinge of soap to me. It's not as bad or strong as florals usually are on me, but it's not something that I would ever choose to wear.

 

My mother really likes this one though. She says that it is very ladylike. ...I don't know what that indicates about me, lol.

Edited September 14, 2005 by Blood onmy hands

[LyndaM]

Wet, Ophelia had a slightly sour note that many roses have on me. That evaporated after about 5 min, then I loved it. It was gorgeous during drydown, and when fully dry it was lovely. A watery soft floral. It smelled pink and white to me, rather than blue as some have mentioned.

 

I think this is the kind of scent you could wear almost anywhere and not offend (if you yourself like it, that is!). Lovely scent. It works very well on my 14 year old daughter, especially. It goes on a bit strong at first, but has good waft and staying power.

 

ETA: How can the flowers possibly smell so fresh? It's as if the folks at the lab picked fresh flowers and forced their very essence into the imp. This doesn't smell like any floral perfume I've ever tried before; it's just pure flowers. I'm beyond impressed with Ophelia.

Edited September 22, 2005 by LyndaM

[carolinachiquita]

Mmm I think I like this one, Its fresh without being green. I'm suprised as I thought that I didn't like rose scents but the more and more I try the more I like. Other rose perfume's I have tried go "old lady" on me but anything by Beth is magic!

[AlaskaSnows]

In the Bottle: I smell ripe light juicy pear, and citrus. Hmmm. Is it supposed to smell this way?

 

Drydown/Dry: I will have to come back to this one I think I have contamination. So I reapplied Ophelia... still smells the same as above. I am getting a sweeter, more subtle version of Thalia with this one. I get a sort of pear or apple fruitiness, a bit of champagne, and a light floral from the lotus and then the rose, and as the perfume gets drier the fruit disappears into an unusually juicy and fruity tea rose. Hmmm. It still could be interpreted as fruity but I am going with a juicy tea rose here. I personally don't find it to be an aquatic perfume, but it's got a lot of sap, these flowers are fresh. The lily in the background is very cool and gives this a firm bottom note.

 

I really like this.

Edited September 25, 2005 by AlaskaSnows

[Penance]

Origin:

 

Lagniappe from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

Ophelia is the name (and subject) of one of my favorite poems and Hamlet is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, but I just don’t see myself liking this. I don’t do florals normally and lotus and rose are two of the biggest offenders, but I’ll try it.

 

First sniff:

 

A light, sweet, innocent smelling floral blend. It reminds me somewhat of Juliet. I don’t get any of the dreaded bubblegum lotus note, which is good, just an ethereal, innocent floral blend. It’s pretty, but not my thing.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Rose really jumps out on my skin. It’s not a powdery, fake rose scent (I always associate powdery rose with artificial), more like the smell of the petals right off the flower. That’s practically all I smell in Ophelia on me, which isn’t terribly surprising given my skin’s love for rose notes.

 

Dry down:

 

Now comes the dreaded rose/sour milk combo I get from a lot of rose blends. It’s not as pungent as the amber/sour milk note I get, but it’s not pleasant, either. Unfortunately, my skin loves to latch onto rose, which is bad enough to begin with, and then to turn it into the scent of spoiled dairy products.

 

The bottom line:

 

Ophelia and I don’t get along, but I didn’t expect any different.

[Orodemniades]

Wet: I smell roses and apple blossom, which, oddly enough, often smells quite yeasty when first applied on my skin. There's something else in here, tough...

 

Drydown: Mm, it's light and sweet, quite lovely and innocent...much like Ophelia herself. Apart from the fact that she killed herself...a perfectly named scent.

 

Eta: just read the ingredients and am surprised to see lotus in here, rather than apple blossom. Still, it's nice!

 

Oro

Edited October 18, 2005 by Orodemniades

[Ancientgirl]

The lab threw this in as a freebie with my last imp order---yippee! Did they know about my Pre-Raphaelite fixation? I have multiple Ophelias in my books and on my walls.

Wet: This scent has an aquatic quality that I don't really like at first---it's a bit heavy.

Just on: The scent mellows down, so it becomes a blend of aquatic florals. I'm not good at picking out picking out individual notes, but I think that the lily is coming out more than the rose.

One hour later: I'm liking this! It's a good scent to wear to church or to tea, I think; it's very ladylike, as someone already said. Who knew there were florals that didn't make me sneeze?

I'm going to use up the imp, and then decide whether to get a big bottle. This scent is very demure, and I actually seem excessively demure already.

Oh, and the scent lasted about four or more hours on me.

Ancientgirl

[Dark Seraphim]

All I could think of was "fair Ophelia" as it truly is a very fair scent and I mean that in a very good way. This scent is gorgeous. Smelt mostly like roses on me, but a very light rose with quite a strong throw on me. One of those "all nighter scents", which meant that it lasted from the evening until the next morning.

 

Love it! 9/10

[terrierhead]

Wow, my virgin voyage on the review boards (beyond reading them, of course). Be gentle with me - it's my first time.

 

I bought an imp of Ophelia from kagami; it's one of only three bpal fragrances I've tried as I'm an utter newbie. In the imp, it smells like roses and clean laundry. The latter note is probably my uneducated nose's way of interpreting the aquatic notes and ivy. On, I get a burst of mixed florals, with rose just, well blooming at me. It's like hanging out laundry on a beautiful late Spring day next to a bush of great, big white roses. I love it to pieces, although it's a little incongruous with the very November weather we're having. The scent stays true, isn't terribly strong on me but lasts several hours. I can still catch the occasional waves of scent from my wrists after applying it this morning before going to work; it's been about 12 hours. It seems to waft a few feet behind me for the first few hours of wear, and has the magical power of making men more polite than usual.

[coulrophobe]

I can do a lot of florals, but roses are my nemisis. I've had some luck with blends that contain a small amount of rose lately, so I had high hopes. But sadly, rose is the only thing I can smell in Ophelia. It's an odd, powdery rose - not offensive, but still a little too rosey for my tastes.

[herongale]

preconceived notion: Does anyone remember that book that came out several years back, Reviving Ophelia? It was all about how young girls fuck themselves over, and how concerned citizens can help. At least, that's what the blurb on the back of the book promised; I never really read it. In any case, Ophelia has always struck me as the most trendy of the Shakespearian females: she is the perennial emo, in any case. My expectations are for a delicately beautiful floral.

 

in the imp: this is rasberry candy and sugar and cream, and reminds me somewhat of Pink Moon. It's a girly, simple fragrance.

 

wet: This makes me smell like STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE. I don't know whether to be fascinated or appalled.

 

drydown: Rose, of the Bonnie Bell variety.

 

verdict: cute, but not me.

 

post-conceived notion: IF YOU'RE EMO AND YOU KNOW IT, SLIT YOUR WRISTS. *swish, swish* (*)

 

(*)the "emo and you know it" song does not originate with me, but with some brilliant LJer unknown to me

[porcelain_doll]

Y'know, I didn't think I'd be fond of this one. Turns out, I was wrong! Got this as an impy freebie from the lab with my last order. Hamlet is not my favorite of Mr. Shakespeare's works, as I really do prefer MacBeth, and may be adding Lady MacBeth to my next order. But here's what I think of Ophelia, girliest of girls:

 

In Imp: Roses, roses, and more roses.

 

On wrist: Roses and lilies. Not a bad smell a'tall. Reminds me of roses in sunlight. The water lilies with the stargazer lily is a nice touch.

 

Overall impression: This would be perfect for so many occasions--a first date with a man who you know likes feminie scents, a meeting in which you may be the lone female, tea, lunch with the girls, meeting your SO's parents, graduation, first day of school. . . so many options! More of a spring/summer than a winter scent, though, although today it's been quite lovely on me. Mayhaps a 5ml is in my future? Bravo, Beth!

[merebrillante]

In the vial: Lots of florals, but mainly lily.

 

On the wrist: Now I smell the rose, and I do catch the watery notes. How appropriate for Ophelia. This is a lovely scent, very delicate and innocent. Perfect for when I want to feel girly.

 

Later: After two hours, it's lightened up considerably, which is par for the course with white florals, but I like it too much to pass it on. I sicced this on some friends at a little get-together last night. No one mentioned what a lovely scent I was wearing, but someone did make a remark about someone (else) wearing stinky cologne. Hmm.

 

I don't care, I like it anyway!

[Chrysantza]

This arrived as a frimp from the Lab.

 

In the bottle: Sweet and delicate watery white floral with an almost crystalline note.

 

On me: Lilies and roses - fortunately no wonky note from the latter. It's delicate, pure, and as the description said, wistful - a pastel chiffon kind of fragrance.

 

I like this. It's not something I normally would have chosen - I like my florals with a musk or resin base - but Ophelia is just pretty. There is no other word to describe this - it's like a fairy princess fragrance. I think I'll keep the imp and maybe get a bottle later.

[pixievix]

Rose scents bloom well on my skin and Ophelia was no exception. Grand, lovely, dewy rose with sweet pink lily and the pale, mystical, "wet" lotus scent beneath. All-floral fragrances usually leave me feeling ho-hum, but Ophelia did not at all. It's not sexy; it almost seems above that, or outside it, like a convent's garden during midmorning prayers. Has a huge throw, yet is a quiet, contemplative, slightly sad scent--definitely a keeper, & maybe a bottle.

[Voleuse]

A sweet, aquatic floral on first application, this strikes me as a pale, bluish-green scent. It feels delicate, but there's a decent amount of throw. The lotus is the dominant note, but the rose is a close second, and it's what makes the blend as sweet as it is.

 

This doesn't really morph on me, though the rose fades the tiniest bit. It's lovely, and though it's not really me, it's exactly the scent for Ophelia.

[LittleGreyKitten]

Ophelia is one I like quite a lot. It is very light on me- and unfortunately doesn't last as well as most BPALS. However, it still lasts much better than plenty of other, non-BPAL scents. I would say it doesn't change much throughout it's life on my skin, just a soft even fading of the scent.

 

I can't pin down the floral elements in Ophelia, except that they're light and not cloying, and pretty evenly balanced. I happen to love rose scents, and though I didn't get rose out of Ophelia too much, it might be part of why I really like it. It's somewhat more conventionally pretty than many BPAL oils. I don't mind that; I work customer service and I do appreciate lighter florals I can wear without fear of annoying customers. I do think it fits the character of Ophelia well- soft, feminine, floral, with a hint of a watery feel- you can picture her floating with flowers all around.

 

I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5, again mostly because I have other BPAL scents that leave me in rapture and Ophelia doesn't quite get me that excited in comparison.

Edited January 18, 2006 by Shollin

[roguechick]

I liked this one, as does my mom. I put it on and it was a really strong rose, which made me go uh-oh. Not a fan of rose. But that faded into a very light rose, which didn't bother me. Sadly, it the perfume faded completely within 3 hours. I was going to use up the sample, but my mom loves it so much I'll give it to her.

[urraca]

This begins very green, I suspect from the ivy, and a little sharp, probably from the lily, and stays that way too long. I keep waiting and waiting for it to sweeten, and it does after a coupe of hours when the white rose comes out. The lotus doesn't seem to add its customary sweetness, but it does give this scent a faintly watery quality.

Edited January 17, 2006 by urraca

[Thursdae]

Ophelia--vividly white--an intoxicating floral that actually brought my husband to his knees.

 

It's going on my bottle list but it will take some time to use up the imps as it has great intensity.

[Alchemy21599]

I received this as a frimp from the lab.

 

In the vial: Uber floral with rose and lilly dominating.

 

Wet: Strong rose and lilly, lots of throw.

 

Dry: Strong rose and lilly. Long lasting lots of throw.

 

Perfect for someone looking for a long lasting rose based floral blend.

[GemmaCat]

In the bottle: sweet, girly florals.

 

On my skin: Lily and rose; very deep without being overpowering. This is light, airy, and very very pretty.

 

I'm not entirely sure whether to keep this or not. As a scent it makes me think of women older than myself (30s or 40s), or even a funeral or wedding blend, something sweet and gentle that you wear whilst remembering or celebrating someone's life.

 

For now it stays just because it's so darn evocative, but it might be swapped away at a later date.

[ladynoah74]

I wanted to love this one. I'm a huge fan of the Lab rose scents, so Ophelia was on my "to try" list. I got it as a freebie from the Lab (go Labbies), but it's definitely not for me.

 

In the Bottle: Flowers! Not a problem, because I love florals, but there's something very musty about these blooms.

 

Wet: Gah. All white rose, strong and dusty. It's got incredible throw as someone mentioned, unfortunately, that's not a good thing in this case for me.

 

Dry: I just can't take the white rose. It's too dusky for me - the scent became dry and nostalgic on my skin. Who knew I would find a BPAL where the rose actually turned against me?! Off to sell.