Ofrésia (1999)
by Diptyque

Diptyque OFRESIA reminds me quite a bit of Leonard LEONARA, probably because of the significant benzoin note, which is a focal point rather than serving more as an anchor or a base. This floriental composition has feminine appeal without being overly flowery, but I think that I prefer the LEONARA. The florals in this composition are not that distinct, but I might be smelling some freesia. OFRESIA also has a light touch of wood and possibly incense as garnishes. I'm quite curious to see how this appears in a side-by-side comparison with LEONARA, so let's go ahead and try that right now, since I happen to have a bottle ready at hand...

Okay, I'm back and prepared to affirm that, in fact, I prefer LEONARA to OFRESIA. It's smoother, richer, and more scrumptious. Above all, LEONARA showcases benzoin much more so than OFRESIA, which seems by contrast rather dry. OFRESIA is nice, but LEONARA is better, for what it is. Of course, those who prefer flowers to resins will likely prefer OFRESIA... And that's just fine with me!

23rd July, 2011.

Super fresh and clean, nicely freesia, nicely green. Pepper as the aromatic in the opening—making sure this pleasant fragrance projects a bit of elegance, too. I, too, don’t really think of this as a floral fragrance—its freshness and airiness take such a prominent position, and the freesia seems purposely watery as it is presented in the heart notes. The fragrance is named after the freesia, of course, but there’s as much a celebration of green, and, later, wood as there is a clean, pure presentation of white florals. Ofrésia has beautiful sillage and incredible longevity. An excellent fragrance.

7th December, 2010.

is it just me or did they reformulate Ofresia? i had a previous sample of this in a vial and all along i had come to like it more and more but had purchased other diptyque scents first.. and now that i finally decided to get a full bottle of ofresia, i was quite disappointed in a sense that it wasnt what i expected from it.. the older ofresia tester i had was a peppery clean crisp floral, with the peppery smell whispering all throughout.. but unfortunately the 'new' ofresia doesnt seem to be peppery at all, the inital blast was more alcoholic than peppery.. and in the dry down, that alcoholic tinge disappeared altogether leaving a light watery floral which reminds me of the far far dry down scent of lutens a la nuit, which is totally not what i was looking for in ofresia..

and also, the liquid of my older tester seems a bit slight orange-y.. similar to the picture here.. the 'new' ofresia however has a purely transparent color.. so not sure if this confirms my disappointment or whether my tester just changed color (as did the picture here)

6th March, 2010.

My first impression of the sample was this is way too earthy and that I won't like it in a few hours. But the scent then started to warm up on my skin. Then I realized earthy isn't bad at all, it's a great quality for a scent like this to have. Now the scent is "cooling off" and I smell what I perceive are true dewy freesias. Very nice.

23rd January, 2010.

Ofrésia starts life with an intensely sweet citrus and floral accord that at first had me thinking “Oh great, Diptyque stoops to frooty floral.” Thank the perfume gods that the scent veers quickly toward the green, establishing within minutes a bright, buoyant green floral accord that chugs along almost unaltered for several hours (in true Diptyque linear fashion). I’m not convinced that it smells of freesia, but Ofrésia is a lovely, luminous composition that has me smiling as I wear it.

If I were to compare Ofrésia with some classics in the green floral fragrance family, I’d look to Chanel’s No. 19 and Guerlain’s Chamade, both of which share the Diptyque’s air of sunlit spring mornings. Ofrésia’s green notes are less sharp and biting than No. 19’s, though, and its sweet-tart fruity dimension makes it more crisp and energetic than Chamade. As a thoroughly contemporary fragrance, Ofrésia also has a far simpler and more concise structure than its classic cousins: blocks of citrus, bright florals, and bittersweet herbaceous green notes laid side by side on a clean woody foundation, and not all that much else. A device does not have to be all that complex to work, however, and work Ofrésia does – at least for my nose. I’d have to call this out as an underappreciated gem in the Diptyque line and I recommend a sampling to both men* and women.

(*I think the citrus and green notes in Ofrésia might make it an easy wear for any man who’s comfortable with, say, the Guerlain Eau de Cologne variants.)

14th December, 2009.

I wasn't excited by this on my first try -- it was just a faint, clean little floral, the kind you might smell anywhere. But my boyfriend (who could care less about perfumes) loved it. He said it smelled "like nature." So I gave it another shot. I'd seen it described elsewhere as smelling like feminine hygiene products, and this description stuck with me. There is a vinegary note (maybe it's the pepper's sharpness that I'm perceiving as vinegar) that keeps recalling the images I remember on those boxes -- soft-focus pictures of women in white dresses standing in fields of flowers. Everything about the image is supposed to invoke something fresh, clean, and natural, while the very nature of the product suggests the exact reverse.

My revised opinion, after resampling several times for my boyfriend's benefit: a faint, clean little floral with something just a little skanky and suspicious about it. I like it, though I'll probably forget all about it when the sample is gone.

30th September, 2009. (Last Edited: 8th October, 2009.)