Carolina by Olympic Orchids

The overriding initial impression was of a bottle of pine extract spilled in a new age shop. Fortunately theres a bit more to Carolina than that wait a quarter of an hour or so and lovely sweetish hay and grassy notes start to enliven the rather severe pine. Now we are headed for the outdoors and freedom. However the resinous sharpness of the pine is a challenge over the course of the wear it seems to wipe out anything else thats going on here. So Carolina is not on my itinerary.

This reminds me of a red cinnamon/clove candle, the kind scented heavily with essential oils that they sell at craft fairs. It's also got a sweet fruity smell that makes me imagine cherry kool-aid, as well as a subtle leafy green quality underneath all that sweet red smell. I'm not one for overly fruity sweet perfumes, but this isn't bad. That being said, because this is an essential oil perfume, the candle association is so literal to me (there's even a waxy note that comes in after an hour or so that REALLY seals the deal) that it causes me a sort of cognitive dissonance. My nose keeps saying that this should be a candle or a soap or an incense stick. Wearing it as a perfume just feels "off" to me, though people looking to avoid synthetics or who are chemical-phobic who want a nice fruity floral may find Carolina to be perfect.