Arizona

Oh yeah. Take me outside, baby ... in scent. A fascinating, quirky, honest breath of fresh air and sheer magic in its conjuring-up of distant lands far from my concrete jungle. A magic carpet, whisking you away - it fills the brief with Olympic Orchids' usual amazing brio. I have never in my life been to the US grasslands - the high chaparral is a purely imaginary landscape for me - but this precious juice takes me there effortlessly. Definitely a scent of place more than a perfume, yet a seriously impressive work of perfume art at the same time. Incredibly vivid sense impression of dry, almost crispy leaves and grass underfoot, all sorts of volatile oils shimmering off sunbaked wood, a sense of golden dust. Yes, I get serious tangs of turpentine and conifer at first (and love that) ... it's certainly raw, rugged not a 'salon perfume' in any way. Some might find it too weird, too rugged and ungroomed - round the edges it's almost ragged; if you get downwind of it at the wrong moment it verges on a liniment or a perfume oil - but in a strange way that's exactly what I love about it. Serious herbal vibes of artemisia and juniper make it almost medicinal, bracing like one of those borderline-horrible European liqueurs, but in a way that opened both my nose and my heart to it. Won't be a crowd pleaser; it's not interested in doing that, just wants to be true to itself. More sophisticated than it looks, then. Is there a wisp of smoke in the distance or the whiff of saddle leather in there as well? Not in the pyramid here, but definitely present in my mind. Very much of the same nature-heavy school as D S & Durga's Mississippi Medicine or Freetrapper but closest to the high, dry, herbal-aromatic feel of El Cosmico. I have an old bottle of this in its incarnation as Tucson and sprayed today for the first time in conscious memory. Was crazy to leave it untouched for so long. It doesn't wear as tough as it smells - the full thrill of the opening canter slows down a fair bit, projection is discreet, and it's down to a (still bewitching) skin scent only in 3-4h. Somehow I don't care and all my usual gripes about wanting value for money have been thrown out of the window, 'cause I'm galloping away for my own private Western adventure here. This stuff is worth every penny. When every respray brings a ride like this, who could resist? File under: EXHILARATING.

Arizona reminds me of the dry California chaparral. At first the perfume is more green and plant-like, but as time goes on it becomes linear like the smell of cut logs. Personally, I like it, it's a very tree-hugger, natural scent, not nearly as piney as Rainforest. I live in Northern Cailfornia, and I love to hike. Arizona reminds me of the many times I encounter fallen logs that had been cut by park rangers. The logs bake under the hot sun, and the heat releases the volatile oils. I think this would be a tough perfume for a lot of people to wear because it might seem more like a room spray or the scent of a log cabin rather than perfume. I guess you'd have to really LOVE that smell. I do! This perfume reminds me of a totally stripped-down version of L'Air du Desert Marocain. Take away pretty much everything--the spices, the amber, the florals and the citrus, and voila! You have Arizona. It doesn't last very long (2 hours) and stays ever-so-close to the skin, but I like it anyway.

Wow! Tucson (formerly Arizona) is amazingly evocative of western/southwest landscapes. The opening salvo is like rubbing your hands on sage bushes as you take a walk in the dry desert climate. There is then something hazily/vaguely floral-green-herbal-airy that conjures up the atmosphere/air surrounded by chaparral. I think of lavender, other herbs, and a slight grassy sweetness that brings to mind coumarin but not the candied tonka. This herbal top and heart segues into a sticky resinous pine-like amber accord that evokes sap without being treacly and overly sweet. Most impressively, there is a dry, luminous, airy quality to the whole thing, which is quite a feat to capture in scent, especially when working with such potentially heavy and bold materials. Quite a successful scent in both the image it conjures and wearability. I have a buy at least a small bottle of this (and how blessed that reasonable and affordable sizes are available).

Because of a bunch of sinus trouble, I was unable to wear any but natural perfumes for four months. I only had five natural perfumes in my collection to choose from and this was easily the most pleasant. In fact after a number of wearings I've grown to like it very much and I'm glad that circumstances forced me to spend more time with a fragrance I would normally have passed over without a second sniff. I grew up in Arizona and this fragrance does remind me of it. The scents of acacia and sagebrush are particularly apt. The dry down is gorgeous and creamy and for some reason has me thinking of sandalwood. Normally I don't care for piney scents on me preferring to leave them to the males of the species but because of the sweet, creamy dry down I think this one can go either way. The sillage is impressive in the beginning and the longevity is good for a natural at up to six hours.

This has similarities with Olympic rainforest but a dryer climate version. Its almost identical durring final drydown after 10hours. I have a sample of the new Tucson version. I get much more than the above pyramid. There is a spicyness with cinnamon and clove overlad with pine and artemesia. Also shares a camphor element with Olympic Rainforest. Starts to settle into amber and leather, brown sugar and spiced wood. Last drydown is like a warm cedarwood sauna. I dont get any floral. I prefer Rainforest, but if you dont like dank earthy smells this may be a better warm earthy option for you. ⛤⛤⛤⛤

just like other reviewers have stated - desert in a bottle. it's so incredibly arid, bone-dry, but hosting a cool breeze if you're lucky enough to catch it. it really evokes the sense of being part of the land. this is super niche but if you by any chance happen to use the Dryland Wilds deodorant, its a DEAD ringer for it.

Well, I'm no bloke and I love it. Its fresh and zingy yet there is a sweetness underlying it. I love evergreen aromas. The sillage is moderate and it even reaches moderate on longevity if applied over vaseline. Dont be frightened to try it ladies.

This smells like an expensive way to be outdoors. Very outdoorsy, but also quite luxurious. Not like glamping tho. It smells like a very luxurious forrest. Natural smelling. Very relaxing and beautiful scent.

Arizona has a very sharp and coniferous opening. It smells like aromatic turpentine. Not an especially pleasant "hello", but the heart and the drydown is thankfully a lot easier on the nose. The coniferous smell lingers towards the drydown, it smells very realistic and refreshing. Very dry in a warm way and piney. This is the scent of hiking in the wild. But it is the drydown that really gets my attention. The pine needles and juniper berries are completely gone. The scent has developed into this incredibly smouldering, slightly salty and buttery, amber-labdanum smelling creature. It reminds me a lot of Ambre Nue by Atelier Cologne, a scent I love. It's so gorgeous, and unexpected! I may not be a huge fan of aromatic, piney, green scents to begin with, but if I ever should feel like adding a perfume from that olfactive group to my collection this would probably be it. Sillage is medium, and longevity is 10-12 hours on my skin.

I've been vaguely aware of Olympic Orchid perfumes for some time, but never checked out their frags because I was under the mistaken impression that they only produced orchid soliflores...Doh! As a result, I've been missing out on their scents of place, which are vividly evocative of various bucolic environments. Arizona aims for southwestern high country thick with mountain evergreens, shrubs and flowers, all dappled by the sun. I can't put it on without recalling trail rides on horseback with pine needles under foot and waves of heat rising in the dry air. I'm finding this line of frags to be a great source of scent memories with a healthy dose of aromatic stress relief, and am looking forward to exploring more of it, especially Carolina and Rainforest. Thanks to Fragrantica for another cool sample.

Wow, this actually smells like the desert! A hint of juicy green, some subtle woods, and then a solid, realistic dusty sage. Several minutes in, Arizona goes anisic; there’s a hint of cooling, slightly sweet licorice blended in with the light, dry desert woods and dusty herbs. The drydown is quite faint, a light woody-earthy-herbal buzz with a very natural feel. Overall Arizona does what it says on the tin; it’s a Desert Scent with all that entails (light, sand-and-sage tonality, dry woods and dusty herbs). It’s in the same basic category as Halston, Dame Perfumery Chilehead, and a few others. Compared to that reference class, Arizona is rather light and fleeting, and unusual for its anise (or maybe wormwood) note. I’d pick either Chilehead or Halston over Arizona, but they’re all good.

Grrr! Rugged manly wood! I dont get any pepper or lavender, it's has just a hint of wildflowers, but is mainly cedar, juniper and pine. The acacia fills out the middle with a very light nectar like scent. Don't be fooled, this is a drier, woodier more aromatic cousin of Olympic rainforest. But I like it. It's fresh and true to itself. The artemesia adds just a titch of bitter green herbalness to simulate all the surrounding dryland vegetation. And they do a marvelous job at it. I only get a very slight anisey in the start and it quickly fades. A good subtle scent! well crafted and true to Arizona!

I have never been to Arizona but that is how I imagine the desert smells. Cacti, rocks, sagebrush... I wonder how I know the cactus scent, if I never grew them. But I am absolutely sure I smell it here. This fragrance is so dry that I barely recognize evergreens here. I think it captures the scent of desert perfectly.

I don't know why but find it to be quite spicy, definitely not just woods and flowers here; I detect some cumin, pepper, and caraway-like spices. I like this quite a lot; to me it's better than her popular Blackbird and Woodcut

After a long road trip upstate, this first whiff of the great outdoors falls upon your dulled senses like a punctuated cry. the initial scent of.... licorice??? quickly settles into something herbal and slightly camphorous, beneath which lies a prickly-leafed tree whose bark is cool to the touch. the chilly air gently tickles the hair on one's legs — if you have leg hair that is, which I don't, but one may imagine... However, this isn't the smell of the Arizona I know, in cool weather with red rocks and palo verde trees and evening dusk. maybe to someone else, but not to me.

Opens up smelling almost like diesel. Kind of medicinal. Very aromatic and camphorous. The pine note makes it coniferous and earthy. It smells like cool dry air.

wow juniper and licorice! cold shot to the back of the head. dry, medicinal, brisk.

After wearing this about 5x over the past year I must that I agree with Roge. The way it starts out you would think it would have Slumberhouse like performance but after 3 hours tops it's gone. Very green and dark but no substance. The usage of wildflowers should have been amped up a bit more to give it better longevity as well as the sweetness from black locust. This could have been a huge hit but it fails IMO.

I come to the conclusion that all the Olympic Orchid scents has that love or hate vibe to them. You really have to know what you're getting into in order to properly critique the scent of Arizona. I received this as a sample so therefore i didn't know what I was in for. Im not too sure how to disect this one. All that i can say is that it starts out very strong and ends with a clay-like drydown. Does it smell good? Well...eh..it's alright. It takes a trained niche nose to say otherwise. The longevity and sillage are both below average. You have to wear this scent with a purpose in mind and that's mainly because it will wear off in about 2 hours and 30 minutes.

Starts off heady and coniferous with a surprising pepper note that gains volume for the first few minutes. But this doesn't last long as the scent abdicates itself to the realm of scented candle. The peppery opening, it seems, was its one interesting trick. Overall, this is less of a pine forest story and more about the scent of blue/green desert sagebrush with a touch of lavender added for soapy nuance. Even though it seems to be capturing its namesake's natural surroundings accordingly, as a coniferous fragrance, it pales in comparison to a number of others already available. By no means is it bad, but it just doesn't assert itself within its bloated genre.

My new favorite. Smells profoundly masculine on me. Sillage is excellent. Smells like the woods, and cut wood in the sun, maybe some cedar, juniper, and pineyness. For me, it has minute hints of eucalyptus and incense, and also a faint pepper that goes away. A sort of lavender thing pops up and then disappears, and then a powder and a little bit of flower, and then after about 30 minutes the whole thing gives way to a very woody, resiny, slightly tingly vetivery feeling, that is so well blended that it shifts around between those but feels completely whole.

I love this scent! It's a truly unique blend that always prompts the question: "What IS that aroma?" I guess now that it's discontinued it will be even more unique. Is there anyone out there who has a bottle of this and wants to sell it? I don;t know what I'll do when the small amount I have left is gone. Failing that, does anyone know of anything that's similar - earthy, piney, mellow? If you have this, enjoy it!

I wish I had the words to do this perfume justice. On application, I thought of warming cherry mentholated sweets - with the comforting and refreshing honeyed qualities they provide. There is a flowery scent there too, one I can't pin down, and subtle spiciness. If this scrumptious scent is representative of Carolina, then I understand why James Taylor sang that he was going to Carolina in his mind!

It opens with a sharp crushed pine needles and juniper berries smell. I actually love this part because it takes me back to hiking through the pine woods with my uncle as a kid. However, as it dries the real and natural outdoorsy quality fades away and it becomes something that just smells like a man's cologne. It never gets bad smelling, but the uplifting, happy aspect is gone then.

davef33: Arizona has not been discontinued. Ellen Covey re-released it under the name 'Tucson,' so don't despair! She's also offering a special 20% off your purchase for a limited time by way of celebrating her new website and the seven-year anniversary of Olympic Orchids fragrances. Happy shopping!

dry, medicinal, and beautiful. i don't see it listed in the notes, but unfortunately there's a cumin-like smell that appears close to the dry-down which isn't exactly appealing on me... it definitely still works but would be soooo much more pleasant without it.

Arizona (or in my case, Tucson) isn't the usual easy to wear, attractive scent with a forest theme - this is taking a deep breath of warm, balmy, dry air in a coniferous forest. Absolutely beautiful. Longevity and sillage are excellent.

Valerieeburns: Thank you so much! I was really puzzled - and disappointed - that this unique scent was no longer being made. I'm really happy that Ellen has resurrected it. I'm going to order some right away. Again, thanks!

this is an incredibly bang-on photorealistic high desert scent. the mojave really does smell like this. another really lovely, super well observed atmospheric from this house.

ahhh this smells like the desert. Love the notes. Not wanting to smell like this, but I love the smell.