SCENT EXPOSÉ:The Tantalizing Trickery of Tree Farm

* exasperated sigh

* throws hands in utter defeat

Well, it got me... the social media overhype. Honestly, when will I ever learn - stop listening to the "public opinion" of social media cuz anything that gets overhyped will inevitably dissapoint. It has happened to me far too many times that I care to admit. And sad thing is that I know better but every so often I find myself falling prey to curiosity and intrigue only to find myself let down. And it has happened to me again with Tree Farm.

Now as you know, Tree Farm was originally in the ill-fated Woodland Evergreen collection, with very different notes -  "Citrus. Winter Air, Frosted Pine" as opposed to the more customer friendly "Crisp Pine Needle, Warm Cedar, Spiced Apple"... not that the changing of notes in the description means anything...cuz it doesn't. Anyway, I'm guessing that the higher-ups felt that Tree Farm had the most appeal compared to the others in the collection and thus it was added as a late addition to the Nordic Home collection.

I LOVE pine scents..I didn't use to but I've came around to them in last few years. I was crestfallen and heartbroken that the Woodland Evergreen collection didn't go wide however I had some consolation that Tree Farm was salvaged the failed test wreckage. I admit I wasn't initially interested in Tree Farm however beggars can't be choosers. With BBW catering to the whims of their basic clientele, pine scents other than Evergreen and Fresh Ballsack are far and few in between. That said, I couldn't wait to get my sniff on.

Here's the problem... soooooo many people on social media were diggin' it and hyping up it to be the best thing ever! Naturally, I was both skeptical and leery. But what threw me off was that all of this hype was for pine scent. The only other pine scents that folks went nuts over was Alpine Cheer and Vanilla Balsam, both 2 very mass appeal pine scents; other pine scents would either be written off as too outdoorsy or... cologney. Tree Farm didn't seem basic or mass appeal...or that's what I was making myself believe. Well, the day arrived that I finally got to sniff and I knew in an instant why it was so popular.

So if you are expecting an intense crisp alpine resinous pine scent like your Evergreens or Fresh Ballsacks or Silver Pine & Cedars etc, you'll be quite disappointed. And despite what the name suggests, there's nothing about this scent that conjures the image of walking thru a "tree farm" - there's no outdoorsiness, no earthiness, no resinous sap, no coolness, no "winter air" ozone. What get is a noseful of sweetness...which is why this scent is so popular.

Right off the bat, what you get first is an intense hit of apple, but it's so sweet and artificial comes across more like apple juice or apple jelly. I don't get any spice at all. There's an unexplained drippiness that I'm guessing is supposed to mimic tree sap but comes across more like syrup; with that apple note, it kinda reminds me of the syrup in a fruit cup. The pine is there but very pushed down and uncharacteristically subtle; it may even be spruce rather than pine as it comes off a little sweet. Finally lurking in the background is a dry wood note from the cedar. The original notes mention citrus... I'm not convinced. Maybe a sweet citrus like mandarin and clementine but I doubt it. With the combined sweet pine and even sweeter fruit aspects, Tree Farm reminds me soooooo much of Alpine Cheer. NOT a repackage as I initially thought; I did have some candlebuddies who had an AC in their arsenal to compare and were unanimous that TF WASN'T a repackage but very similar and in the same fruit/pine family. So if you'd liked AC, TF is it's twin.

I want to go on record for saying that TF isn't a bad scent at all. I can see why people like it and I appreciate that people like it however it's just a little too mass appealy for me. And with a name like "Tree Farm", I expect to smell a tree farm -I want to smell the dirt at the roots, the sap on the branches, the needles in the frosty December air; I don't particularly want to smell apple juice. If they had called this something like "Apple Wreath" or something generic and White Barn-esque like "Red Apple & Pine" or "Macintoshes & Spruce"...cool but don't market it as a trip to tree farm for Christmas scent. And real talk, do we need another fruit and pine combo? We already got Apple Garland, Merry Mistletoe, Dashing thru the Snow, Tis the Season, Winter...I think BBW has cornered the fruit/pine market.

Anyway, TF is worth a sniff for the sake of satisfying your curiosity. As always, go in with an open mind (and nose) unclouded by the social media hype. Who knows, TF might end up being your thing. Although if your tastes are anything like mine, you'll leave it on the shelf after one sniff.