Ophelia

[gypsyjolie]

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

sweet bubble-gummy floral - mostly lotus and soft girly white rose. Way too floral for me, almost little girl pink & ruffles.

[crebbsgirl]

This started out as an aquatic floral on me, and then quickly when to a ROSE/lily combo that lasted all of 1 1/2 hours. And then promptly disappeared. Huh.

[Gwydion]

In bottle: I’m not skin testing this due to the rose content. The rose is heavy and nearly overwhelms the other more delicate flowers, which I can barely make out. There is nothing special here, though I suppose if someone really likes rose, this could be nice enough for them.

[Janegodzilla]

ROSE. ROSE. ROOOOOOOOSE. ROOO--okay, now something else is showing up. Whew!

 

In her first thirty minutes, Ophelia is almost unbearable to me. A lot of the really pronounced florals go straight to my sinuses in a really unpleasant way, and Ophelia was like an icepick right to the brain. I'm not sure if it was the rose or not -- it's a pretty likely candidate considering it dragged all of the other notes off the playground and kicked them in the ribs before grudgingly allowing them back to play. After those first exquisitely painful thirty minutes, though, Ophelia mellows out and becomes quite soft and pretty. Even once the rose settled down, it was still strong enough to keep me from identifying the other floral notes involved, but that actually worked for me. Whatever florals I was getting formed a quiet, melancholy base for the rose, and there was just enough warmth there to temper it. I don't know that I'll wear it very much, but I'm glad I have it on hand for the days when I'm feeling a bit floral.

[moosue]

In imp: fresh, true rose

On, wet: WOAH, rose!

Dry: ROOOOOOOSE! In the very background, there's a sweetness (or maybe that's part of the rose) and something fresh. Really though, all you smell is rose.

 

The good news is that it lasts forever. A couple of dabs in the crease of my arm and it's 12 hours later and the scent is still very much there. Even after tossing and turning in bed.

Very strong at first, and you definitely don't want to go overboard on this one. I keep it away from my face (ie: Not on my neck or wrists that may be near my face) or I feel like I'd get a headache from this one.

 

ETA: This is one of those scents that really grows on you with time. It's very pretty, but sadly, I'm just not a rose person. It's scent takes over my imp container, and I always wonder which one smells so good, and it's Ophelia. She's been passed on to another home though. Hopefully she'll get more wear.

Edited March 2, 2010 by moosue

[Venneh]

In the imp, I'm getting the sweetness of the lotus, with the lily and the rose, and I think a watery aspect with the water blossom ivy On my skin, it's still very much that sweet lotus mixed with rose and lily. Hrm. We'll see how this turns out. It all combines to form a really sharp aquatic floral that really doesn't appeal to me, going to pass on this.

Edited March 6, 2010 by Venneh

[raisin]

Oh, I so very much wanted to like this. I'm a fan of stargazer lily, which is what drew me to this description, and so I gambled on a large bottle, which did not pay off.

 

I liked it well enough at first, but like others, I just get walloped with the ROSE. It's underscored by something vaguely watery, probably the water blossom ivy, but not enough for me, sadly.

And boy did this ever linger... I applied some in the morning, and it stayed with me all day (to the point where I was getting a little self-conscious about it), through the evening, and I even caught a few ghostly whiffs after a shower.

To its credit, it is a terribly nostalgic scent. It reminds me of being a little girl and of friends I haven't seen in ages. For someone a bit more girly than I am, or a fan of rose, I'm sure this would be relatively heavenly, since while it's very much ROSE, it did stay pretty light and watery. I don't love rose, but this was actually kind of easy to tolerate; it never got into headache territory.

 

For my part, however, I don't want to have to tolerate my fragrances. I'm giving this one away and will be much more cautious with florals in the future.

[antihero]

This is one of my favorites- an aquatic rose scent that lasts forever on me! The lotus sweetens it up to something dreamy.

[countessmouse]

Just rose, dammit. No aquatic notes (which I had hoped for), no lily, no lotus. Just rose. Lots and lots of rose.

 

Sigh...into the swap pile.

[Saya]

Starts off as an aquatic floral blend, pretty and sweet. After about an hour the lily comes out and then it's gone. *poof* Pretty, but doesn't last for more than two hours.

[donnatron]

Imp: Eh. Boring. Slightly aquatic. Slightly green. Mostly lily. Reminds me of a scent I smelled a long, long time ago at a Liquidation World. I've never actually been this "meh" about a scent. I don't hate it, I don't love it, it's just kind of there and I'm actually wondering if I care enough to review this one (of course I do. I have a weird desire to review every GC scent).

 

Wet: Still not loving this. The lily is the strongest note and the ivy is a curious one. I wonder if there's a difference between the ivy in GC and LE scents because other ivy scents I've encountered have always had a kind of... icky element. But I aged it out of Blood Garden so maybe this second hand (and kind of unloved since falling into my hands) imp is just super, super aged.

 

Dry: It elicits a reaction, at least, and the reaction is that this is not bad. It's pretty simple, a bit of bubblegummy lotus, some powdery, possibly white rose (definitely rose but almost a little too strong to be white rose--it may be bolstered by the lily), a wee bit of lily and there is that slight diaper-y scent of the ivy. It's very faint and I only detect it with my nose up against the back of my hand. Reminds me a lot of other white rose blends like Clarimonde and Magdelene.

 

Throw: Mild.

 

Overall: It's pretty. It's not working wonders on my skin but it's a passable white rose blend and kind of lovely and powdery. I'd actually consider a bottle for work purposes because it is a perfect professional blend. But this is not a fun times blend for me and probably not something I'll be ruminating a lot on next time I do an order. Like the imp, will pass on a bottle for now.

[tailoredshirt]

Wet, I'm getting pear and roses. I don't see pear listed, so I'm guessing this is the sweet lotus blossom pulling something out of the rose or lilies. (Sweet scents + florals tend to turn into some kind of dessert or syrup on me). It's a pretty scent, and I like the rose, but overall it's a bit too sweet and fruity for me.

[plainjean]

Sigh. I wish this worked for me. All I'm getting is sweet, watery roses. It's very pretty, but much too floral for me, and it's actually veering into headache territory. Ah, well. Such is life.

[Celune]

In Imp: green soft florals

On Wet: soft faint powder, roses, and I assume water lilies(some type of watery flower, very delicate)

On Dry: roses

 

On the drydown I can't really decide whether the rose is more fresh or more tea rose. On my skin this scent turns into all roses, strong and earthy. I do like roses, but I wish my skin could hold the delicate other florals also. It was very pretty scent on me between wet and dry.

[milo]

Very fresh and heady, if the two can be combined. This is pretty much lily and rose on me, but I do get a touch of fruit as well. I enjoy the freshness of this blend, and I think it would be a great 'cruise' blend in the tropics, but the headiness is too much for me. There's a bit of waxiness too, I don't know where that's coming from, but all in all, this blend is not for me.

[captainecchi]

I received this imp as a frimp from the Lab - it isn't something I would have ordered myself.

 

In the vial, I notice the oil is golden and almost overflowing the edges of the imp. A strong, heady floral is immediately evident - rose! However, it is a very green, very fresh rose; one of the better roses I've tried. Perhaps that's the water blossom ivy doing its job (what the heck is "water blossom ivy," anyway?)

 

It stays pretty constant on my skin for about an hour, with a lot of throw. As usual, my skin amps rose liek whoa. I do start to notice a little of the sweetness of the lotus at this time, but it's very subtle.

 

Verdict: I'm not sure whether to give this a 2 or a 3. (Two is generally my cutoff for swappage). I am not generally a rose fan - I like the smell in general, but it tends to be overpowering on me. However, I am trying to escape from my gourmand/heavy wintry blend rut, and this seems to be a change of pace from that. I would like to compare this to the other rose scents I've hung onto, like Rakshasa, and I'd also like to see how it wears in a different season.

[butterbeer]

This came as a frimp in a pack of imps I ordered for my sister. It's an oil I've been curious about, so I had to try it.

 

In the bottle: I can't decide. It smells like talcum powder, light florals and incense all at once.

 

On my skin: At first, it smelled a lot like vinegar. A soapish vinegar that reminds me of the classroom of Cathecism school. I decided to stick with it. After a while, it turned into talcum powder. Just as I was about to complain that my skin chemistry hates anything that isn't woodsy, it turned into a very pleasant, clean floral that reminds me of a clean bath or a walk through the park in the morning. It also grew a slightly sad note, exactly what I'd expect from an Ophelia perfume -- an explosion of flowers, with aquatics and some sadness. Love it!

[theseagrows]

i got this as a frimp from the lab...it's a sour aquatic on me, i think it's the white rose, but i'm not sure...some white florals turn weird on me, and this one is doing it too. too bad, it sounds like such a pretty scent, but it just doesn't work with my skin chemistry at all.

[angelicreprieve]

In in vial: Smells like a medium-strong floral

 

Wet: At first I thought I was going to love this. First applied, Ophelia is very pretty. Its not a light floral exactly, it certainly had enough throw that I didn't need to keep sniffing at my wrist but it stays pure - by that I mean it doesn't really smell like traditional perfume, which one might expect from all but the most delicate floral blends ...

 

After a while: It started to give me a headache Maybe I was too enamored of the scent and sniffed at my wrist a little too enthusiastically, this one lingers in the air so maybe I should have gone easy on it ...

 

Verdict: I'm definitely willing to give this one another try, maybe a lighter wear, or a different batch... I guess I'm adding white florals to my list of "likes" I didn't really notice the acquatic note other reviewers are talking about, I'm not a fan of the acquatic scents I've tried (The Deep Ones, Rlyeh), I'll be looking for that note next time I wear this. I probably won't go for a bottle of Ophelia, but I think I'll keep an imp of this on hand for days when I want a fresh, girly perfume ...

 

Solid 3 stars.

Edited February 19, 2011 by angelicreprieve

[tkannon]

In the bottle: Floral for sure... strong but most of them are in the bottle to me.

 

Wet: SLAP! floral to the face, floral to the nose... I am getting my butt kicked all over the room.

 

Dry-down: Throwing like crazy still kicking and screaming at me from my wrist.

 

And then after 30 minutes: settles into a harmless floral scent that isn't overwhelming and lasted about 4 hours. I might try it again and see how the first part goes if I am more stingy with the amount I put on.

[jkfagtongpun]

This one is very sweet and floral - too girly 'la la la' for me. It's a beautiful scent and I'd be happy to smell it on someone else... but not too close.

[sabrebabe]

in the bottle: ROSE! Old world, English garden-style roses on a hot sultry day kind of rose. My kind of rose, actually. Heady, not delicate or girly-sweet. This is a mature rose.

On the skin: I have no idea what it did, but it just got a clove-y smell, slightly woody and is fading fast. All the florals have disappeared.

Dry: okay, the rose has returned, but it’s the only scent detectable. And it’s a slightly tainted rose, a little bitter. Not good on my skin, sadly. I really like the initial Old World Rose scent it had in the imp.

Much later: okay, the bitterness has finally fades and all that’s left is the original Old World rose smell that was in the imp. Very faint, though. It's just not lasting very long.

This might be pretty good in a massage oil, if the scent stayed true. Possibly a lotion.

Trade pile.

[Lyssa]

As seems to be a common experience from what I've read, Ophelia is ROSE ROSE ROSE FREAKING ROSE on me. In the vial, it's sweet and watery, and the rose isn't as pronounced.

 

When I first put it on my skin, it was very floral but also VERY aquatic. It smelled like roses that were being drowned, just like I would imagine Shakespeare's text to evoke. For ten minutes, it was a delicate rose with a distinct aquatic covering, and it was light enough that it didn't bother me.

 

After that, however, it went into OH NO THIS IS ROOOOOOSE in a strong, headache-inducing kind of way. Rose must really like my skin to come out SO strongly, but that was all I could smell. After a bit longer, I could get a hint of the watery aspect again, but it was still so much rose that I had to wash it off. It was very strong, even though I only put it on one wrist. After washing, I could still smell a hint of the rose on my wrist.

 

I'm definitely NOT getting a big bottle of this. It reminded me of one of my grandmothers.

[Maleficium]

IMP: sweet pea, soft white petals, fresh and green and watery.

 

WET ON SKIN: rosy, sweet, and light. roses and lilies. It's a little strong and much too rosy on my skin.

 

DRY DOWN: licorice! and lots of headache inducing roses. >

 

AFTER A WHILE: a little too sweet and floral for me.

[Amalthea]

Imp: Mm... Rose and lily, something sour

Wet on skin: The ocean and roses... Hmm... something sad

Drydown: Rose... just rose

Dry: Rose... again

Verdict: Smells like rose. I can't do rose by itself.