Ouija

[lyricalwaters]

Lush parlor rooms draped in thick velvets and gilded in gold, unearthly whispering in the distance, fleeting flashes of wraithlike figures rushing just outside your vision, the chill of a phantom presence brushing by your cheek, the inscrutable knowledge that disembodied eyes are peering at you from darkened corners… this is the essence of Victorian-era spiritualism: rosewood, oak and teak notes with wispy blue lilac, tea rose, dried white rose and ethereal osmanthus.

Bottle: Wood... old things? A hint of something smoky, almost like incense. It smells like an antique shop to me.

Wet: Old lady perfume. Went from antique shop to my grandmother's attic (not really a good thing). I can't really pick out the individual notes, but the woodsy scent got a lot stronger.

Dry: Now THAT'S much better. There's definitely something very floral under there. Definitely getting the rose. I think what it evokes the most is dried roses, lying on an antique table. I actually like that a lot.

Later: Wait long enough and this turns into pure rose. :-\ It's a better rose on me than some others, though, a little deeper, dustier.

[Rchll]

Bottle: roses, lots of them, maybe a hint of wood in the background. It is strong enough to perfume my finger after just barely opening the bottle.

 

Self wet: Woods come right to front the moment I applied it, and they smell polished. With some very, very floral polish. And it gets a bit perfumery as it dries. Then it goes rose and wood, with this faded Victorian feel to it.

 

Hour later: Woodsy rose, and in a nice old-fashioned kind of way. The description for this blend fits very well. Good throw but not overpowering. Little bit of spice in background of rose.

 

Late later: still very rose and wood smelling, but also a bit too perfumed. It is not a bad smell, but also an old Victorian typical ladies perfume kind of smell. Not really my thing.

 

Overall: if you like rose give this a try. My imp is going to swap.

[glass_cat]

I remember being jealous when I read the "scents that are stalking you" thread on here and heard someone post about being totally stalked by Ouija. I was thinking: "Come see me, Ouija. I want to try you!" It must have listened, because it showed up as a frimp with my bottle of Blue Moon yesterday. I'm officially taking it for a test spin today as a reward for cleaning my bathroom this morning, since it was a scent I've been wanting to try for so long.

 

I agree with the people that are insisting that Ouija is a bona fide Victorian scent. It is that indeed, and it actually does make me think of one of those old seance rooms that you see in the movies sometimes. I definitely smell lots of rose, but almost equally I smell dark, dark wood. I'm also pretty sure there is a hint of tobacco in this, because when I first swiped it on, I faintly smelled something in this that was akin to dill pickles (what tobacco does on my skin until it has a chance to dry down) and now that the blend has had a chance to dry down, I smell... well.... normal tobacco along with the roses and woods. There are also some other light florals in there and something that smells a little like smoky incense.

 

Overall I'm given the impression of having just shown up for a Victorian seance. I can smell the wood panels on the walls. I can smell the floral perfume the ladies are wearing, and I can smell the pipes the men smoked earlier in the day. It's a very cool impression, especially since I've been doing the "Dark Victorian" thing even before there was such a stereotype as "goth", don't you know. I'm not sure I need a full bottle, since I have tons of rose BPAL already, but I will definitely be using up my imp and happily keeping any others I might be frimped in the future. Ouija, you can stalk me anytime!

Edited May 30, 2007 by glass_cat

[purplemoonshoes]

Very woody, almost bitter in the imp. Kinda nutmeg-y and spicy on the skin- maybe that's the osthmanus. I barely get floral from this, just a light sweet undertone. Not my fave, doubt I'll wear it.

[willowtreeling]

for a second, I thought I got Ophelia and Ouija mixed up...I don't smell any roses here, which is odd for my rose amping skin. I actually smell...mustiness and then a sort of a clean alcohol smell--sorta like the cucumber gimlet I had at this russian styled bar i went to on my friend's b-day....then, a teensy bit of rose and a wee bit of body odor (which is what wood notes sometimes smell liek on me, I am coming to learn!)

 

 

Then it sort of drifts into the territory of just a perfume-y smell....

 

 

swaps, it is, then!

[Styx]

Ouija

pale yellow oil

 

frImp (Thank you!): woody, sweet, and lightly aquatic.

 

Skin: While wet it turned very slightly bitter, and the rose stood out most among the florals. The lilac and osmanthus are just enough to temper the rose.

This is a warm scent, and its fragrant in a perfumy way. I didn't catch any spice notes, but definitely woody.

As it dried, the bitterness went away, and I have a clear, sweet incensy-floral smell left close to my skin.

What I think is the lilac came up more, making the florals lighter than the beginning.

 

"Antique" will be the word to describe this. The polished type that gets hawked off in auctions for big prices.

I like this, unexpectedly. I don't think I would have thought of ordering it myself, so I'm grateful for the frimp.

[abejita]

What was going so off for me in this one? I love rosewood, oak, and teak. And nothing in this blend should smell so blatantly awful on my skin, not that I know of. I don't have any issue with rose, but this rose smells rotten to me. And there is something really bitter, too. I thought I'd like this one (I love Teresina and Pulcinella), but this is one of my rare outright dislikes.

[The_Merf]

In the imp: Very woody--teak, rosewood, etc.

 

Wet: Blast of wood notes at first, but then the lilac hangs around the edges and blends a bit.

 

Drydown and wear: An interesting and smoky blend of wood and floral notes. I will probably come back and update this review later, because this scent screams "age me!" Indeed, I had an aged imp of Ouija that spilled, and it did smell related, but different. I definitely will hold this for awhile and revisit the review.

[aquazoo]

Starts out strong. Not smelling anything I like yet. Kind of a sour perfumey smell. The sour fades. Just not “it” for me.

[LittleMissAspie]

Unlike its name suggests, there is nothing sinister about this perfume, it is just a pretty floral. I don't know which flowers as I'm not good with flower scents. I couldn't detect rose on its own but it does smell as though rose is part of it. At first I thought it was a bit old lady-ish but as it dried down it got a bit creamier and I started thinking that it smells like the sort of scent that Woods of Windsor would sell. Sophisticated, mature, womanly. I couldn't smell any of the wood that people are talking about.

[KaliVerra]

Ouija is one of my ALL-TIME favorite florals!! I wear this scent when I feel a little quiet/reserved... great for reading, awesome at bedtime... It is such a comfort floral scent (ranking with Alice) for me. The rose is SPICY, which floats my boat greatly - and it is beautiful from bottle to late drydown with fabulous staying power and throw. Oh my stars and garters... Ouija, I'm yours!

[brit_brat100]

Spicy, woodsy, fresh, and pretty much unchanging.

[Czarina]

In the imp: wet wood.

Wet: wet wood and flowers. Musty flowers.

Dry: this smells like a stale, musty room to me, like a parlor in which a seance would be conducted. Woody, dusty flowers, with dust caught in heavy draperies.

Applied @ 7:30 a.m., scent completely gone by 12:30 pm.

 

Meh. Actually a good execution of the concept but not appealing to me.

Edited January 19, 2008 by Czarina

[Ravenclaw79]

Imp: Sharp and smoky

 

Wet: Tea roses, definitely tea roses.

 

Drying: Ooh. Roses, and then lilacs, and then the smell of stone roses at a ren faire (probably the flowers together), with a little warm something that's probably the woods trying to come out.

 

And now it's powdery. And rosey. And warm. Ooh, shifty little devil, isn't it? I wonder if this one would be better with some age on it? It seems to be mostly roses, but I'd love to pick up more of those woods.

[starwild]

Frimp from the oh-so-generous lab!

 

Wet on my skin, I get a rush of cigarette smoke that turns into dark woods with a hint of floral. Not really crazy about this one.

[lainevierge]

Mmm, lovely. This is a floral that actually works on me! It makes me think of a vase of flowers in a sunlit but shadowy room. I love the dry undertone that is somewhere beneath the pale bouquet of flowers.

[meaganola]

Wacky. I don't get much floral at all. On me, this is straight-up incense. Maybe it's floral incense, but it's not heavily floral. Not a bad scent (I happen to *love* incense), but not quite what I was expecting. And I think it's giving me a headache, although that might be due to the fact that I just realized it's 5:30pm, and I haven't had anything to eat since about 10am.

[hkhm]

imp: fresh lilac with sweet woods. this is remarkably light and pretty.

 

wet: this is a very soft lilac scent on my once applied, the woods are light and pretty as well. very springy!

 

dry: the lilac gets sweeter as it dries. this would be a very pretty first date perfume. it has a flirty feel to it.

[Pincushions]

I chose this for the lilac note... And, the imagery in the description sounds so spooky!

 

In the imp it's very floral, with the wood notes popping through. It has a sharp note to it which I think might be the osmanthus, since I don't know what that smells like. Immediately on my wrists, it turns mainly woody, with the florals popping through. After a bit it turns sweet and I'm getting some of the lilac. The roses of course dominate the lilac, and even the woody notes. The more it dries it leaves me with an rose-incense smell. Potpourri? That "sharp" smell stays there but my lilac is definitely dominated. It's kind of like a dirty, dusty rose. Very little throw. Nice, but not what I was hoping for. (LILAC! WHERE ARE YOU? This is my second disappointment... Damn that rose! I'll have to avoid all rose in my next order, I seem to just amp it like crazy... and I don't even like rose all that much! Boo.)

[djsiberia]

wet: nice and balanced some woods popping out

dry: headache...the florals are kicking in

 

as much as i love roses, i just can't do tea roses, they tend to be sickly sweet on my skin. mixed with the lilac and ouch.

[galleywest]

Oh, Ouija. I really wanted things to work out between us. Considering that my living room is currently decorated in late Victorian, early steampunk, I was sure we were made for each other. Alas, it was not to be.

 

Wet, in the imp: rose. Rose, rose, rose. And something...musty. Not too bad.

 

Wet, on skin: Still rose, with an earthy note that I assume are the woods. Kinda smells like the furniture in your great-aunt Eugenia's locked front parlor room.

 

Dry, on skin: Rose, and...kinda powdery. Not much depth, and not much to interest.

 

Oh, Ouija. It's not you, it's me.

 

 

I'll call you, okay? And no matter what happens, let's stay friends.

[donnatron]

Imp: Floral wood. It kind of smells like unfinished wood that someone spilled a bottle of perfume on.

 

Wet: Sweet wood. It's actually a lot lighter than I expected.

 

Dry: Sadly, too light for me. It dries down to a general sweet scent. I catch a hint of wood every once in a while but that's about it. I applied this at about noon today and when the boy kissed my neck at 2:00 he didn't comment, and lately he's been astute enough to at least be rote about it. Unless he thinks I naturally smell like wood.

 

Throw: Minimal. I could barely smell in on my wrists an hour later and they had been slicked with unscented lotion a few minutes before application.

 

Overall: Considering my heavy anti-real-Ouija stance, it's kind of fitting that this didn't care for me.

[alsatia]

Expectations: A garden with flowers planted at the foot of the trees.

 

In vial: Light floral, very commercial. I only get a hint of wood.

 

On skin, wet: Major sneeze potential, which I think is from the lilac. More woody on me than in the vial.

 

On skin, dry: Back to being mostly floral. Very faint, but still sneezeworthy.

 

After time: I'm not going to bother with following the progress of this one. Florals are just not for me.

 

Conclusion: Dear self, don't buy florals. You don't like them.

[Ishtar]

In the imp and wet on my skin, Ouija was pale roses- and lots of them. I do not tend to particularly amp rose notes, but for a while they were all I could smell.

 

The slightest hint of woodiness starting coming through upon drydown, accompanied by a faint fruity undertone that may well have been the osmanthus. Yet for the most part, it remained a straightforward tea rose scent throughout, with light throw and staying power.

 

I love rose blends but I tend to like them a little brighter than this. London and Moon Rose are still my golden standards in this category so I shall send Ouija to a new home, even though it is indeed a beautiful, delicate scent.

[lmaunu]

Source: Frimp from the Lab

 

This really does match the description so well! It smells like pale roses in a wood-paneled room, with a light layer of dust covering everything. It's very atmospheric and haunting, but also very light.

 

I really like it, but don't think that I would buy a full bottle since it's so soft on me and doesn't last for more than a few hours. I'll certainly get a lot of use out of my frimp, though!

Edited April 14, 2008 by BookGirl