Product Review: Raw Spirit Wild Fire Perfume

Raw Spirit is a natural-based, luxury perfume company hailing from Australia with a philanthropic mission to help support and sustain the ancient and marginalized communities from which their fragrances take their inspiration, providing ethical and sustainable job opportunities for farming communities all around the globe, All 9 of their scents are inspired by travel, ancient history, and a bohemian spirit.

Their bestselling scent, and my favorite that I've tried from them thus far, is Wild Fire. Wild Fire evokes the imagery and feel of summer in the Australian outback. It is a dry, earthy heated smell that oozes of both rawness and expansive beauty. On me, this fragrance goes straight to the basenotes, an absolutely beautiful melange of cedarwood and pure Australian sandalwood with notes of musky amber that cause it to really settle in with and warm up on the skin. But truly, for me, the sandalwood is the star. Rosy, earthy, and yet still somehow clean and pure-smelling, this is truly one of the most beautiful sandalwood fragrances I have ever come across. As the name does imply, I do get a sense of "fire" from the combination of all these woods melding together. That said, there is no smokiness, only gentle kisses of flame.

Rounding out this fragrance you do have very, very subtle hints of florals running very lightly throughout. According to the notes list, they are jasmine and ylang-ylang. The jasmine is not very prominent here and only adds to the muskiness that comes mostly from the amber. The ylang-ylang provides a vague hint of dusty fruitiness. But overall, this a very earthy, rugged fragrance. All of Raw Spirit's fragrances are marketed as unisex, and I definitely think that that is true of this one, and a man could and would feel very at home wearing this. Yet, still it does not read too masculine for a woman to pull it off. It is just a very pleasant yet warm and sensual fragrance.

Wild Fire for all its raw presence and personality is not a loud fragrance and wears extremely close to the skin. I do not mind this as I appreciate lighter fragrance sometimes and like the feeling of warmth glowing around me as I wear it. For this reason, I actually would also consider this an usual but compelling choice for a date night fragrance as it gives an intimate vibe and would entice nearly everyone to stay close. In hot weather, this fragrance can be rather shortlived, lasting only about 3 hours. A shorter wear time is very typical of most natural-based perfumes, but I never mind reapplying.

Because of their particular attention to both natural, sustainable ingredients, and securing ethical working conditions for their farmers, all of Raw Spirit's fragrances are somewhat challenging to produce and, therefore, are made in more limited batches compared to many others in the perfume industry. Currently, Wild Fire is sold both on Raw Spirit's websie as well as Macy's and Macy's.com. It comes in a 1 oz bottle for$85 USD and 0.25 oz rollerball for $40. Additionally, a 3.4 oz bottle is available on Raw Spirit's website for $190 USD. With every purchase, part of the proceeds will go to help support agricultural preservation and projects for Austrailian aboriginal communities.