Ajila

In the bottle - Dark, slightly bitter fruit

 

Wet on me - Sweet and spiced, but still very dark fruit, I'm thinkin that it's the quince

 

Dry on me - It disappeared very quickly leaving a dry, musky feel

 

Overall - As a blend it didn't really make an impression

In the bottle - A bright medicinal honey, similar to Nokturne Alchemy's Bedouin Honey Tea.

 

Wet on me - A really lovely, dry honey

 

Dry on me - A lovely warm, slight dry, slightly medicinal honey

 

Overall - A blend with no pretenses or foils, it is what it is and I like it

In the bottle - Dark, dirty vetiver with just a touch of the lavender and rosemary to lift it

 

Wet on me - Still mainly dark, dirty vetiver, although with a slight green feel

 

Dry on me - The vetiver fades and the blend become softer, greener and more herby

 

Overall - Once the betiver dies down its a relatively pleasent soft herbal scent, but I can't get over the vetiver

In the bottle - The lime is the most prominant note, with a hint of the jasmine behind it

 

Wet on me - A slightly sweet tuberose scent with the lime in the background leaving it with an almost murky feel

 

Dry on me - The lime and the tuberose make a sweet, but slightly screechy floral

 

Overall - It does what it says on the tin, but doesn't excite me

In the bottle - Whoa! Sweet and fruity; like undiluted ribena

 

Wet on me - Still fruity, but with a dryness from the myrrh

 

Dry on me - Sweet candied fruit with a touch of pale musk

 

Overall - A bright fresh scent; nice, but similar enough to blends in hte GC for me not to be precious about wearing it

In the bottle - Coffee flavoured yoghurt?

 

Wet on me - Slightly bitter chocolate, with a sweet, soft, underside

 

Dry on me - Bitter molten chocolate

 

Overall - It isn't very inviting, it just seemed to sit on me rather than get involved

In the bottle - Sweet, slightly smoky vanilla

 

Wet on me - An odd, dry sweetness with a slight hint of the currants and the earthiness of the moss and patchouli

 

Dry on me -A soft, sweet, but also dry vanilla with a fruitiness that makes it like skittles

 

Overall - Right up my street; vanilla with depth

 

In the bottle - I would have said coffee and ginger, although that doesn't quite tie up with the listed notes

 

Wet on me - There's a lot of cocoa in this; I'm covered in big brown smears. Scentwise it's more herbal

 

Dry on me - Warm, dry herbs and spices that entice and draw you in

 

Overall - Amazingly this blend manages to be refreshing and comforting at the same time. A real winner

In the bottle - Weird; I get geraniums on a bed of almonds

 

Wet on me - Again, initially geraniums, but with a base of sweet almonds

 

Dry on me - The geranium stays the main note, although it softens anf takes on a slightly musky aspect

 

Overall - Geraniums are one of those flowers that I like the smell of, but don't necessarily want to smell like

In the bottle - Pear and a kind of masculine aftershavy sort of scent

 

Wet on me - Musky, slightly metallic, pear

 

Dry on me - The pear gets higher and sharper before settling into a dry slightly vanillic musk

 

Overall - It's very interesting, but very short lived on my skin

In the bottle - A dry, clean musk

 

Wet on me - It's hard to put my finger on it; there's a dirtiness from the frankincense and the musk becomes more animallistic, but on top of that there is something soapy

 

Dry on me - The sage comes out and makes it greener, but the blend retains that dirty animallistic nature

 

Overall - I'm not averse to masculine scents, but this is just a bit too rawr for me

In the bottle - Very rich deep honey

 

Wet on me - Honey and a light, dry musk

 

Dry on me - It turns to soap powder and then disappears

 

Overall - I'm sad, because the initial honey was lovely, but my skin just ate it

In the bottle - A suprisingly sharp orange blossom with a touch of lemon verbena

Wet on me - A sweeter, more honeyed floral gradually begins to become fruity

Dry on me - A sweet, slightly candied, slightly honeyed floral, with a touch of something more perfumy gradually drying down to a slightly rubbery musk

Overall - Actually I like it quite a bit, its more sophisticated than the blends I usually wear, but I doubt that's a bad thing

In the bottle - Bitter dirt, that's actually quite repellant

 

Wet on me - Dry, bitter, slightly smokey and slightly earthy

 

Dry on me - A dark brown, must scent

 

Overall - Possibly the first BPAL I've ever tried that is just out and out unpleasent from start to finish

In the bottle - Vetiver and a touch of soapiness

 

Wet on me - The vetiver and a perculiarly minty scent

 

Dry on me - The vetiver softens, sweetens and becomes musky

 

Overall - The dry down is wonderfully sensuous, but there's just too much vetiver in the opening stages for me.

In the bottle - The fruit anf the slightly acidic tone of the wine

 

Wet on me - Again that dark, almost dirty fruitiness

 

Dry on me - Dark dry grapes, with a touch of musk

 

Overall - A deep dark purple scent. Not something that I would wear on a regular basis, but I can see it's appeal

In the bottle - Vanilla and something very earthy, I suspect the oude

 

Wet on me - An initial burst of vanilla followed by a smoky, earthy, slightly green scent

 

Dry on me - Dry, bitter smoke

 

Overall - It just becomes too smoky for me

In the bottle - Dark gree; herbal, but slightly fruity

 

Wet on me - A green, thick, dark, slightly fruity, but mostly herbal scent

 

Dry on me - The herbs dry sweeter and softer

 

Overall - Not really me, but not unpleasent

In the bottle - Oooh, sweet, but also sharp. I do get the plum blossom, but that's the only distinct note that I can identify

 

Wet on me - A surprisingly sweet, custardy scent, with just a slight hint of sharpness form the plum blossom

 

Dry on me - Still sweet and custardy, but with a dry woody undertone

 

Overall - Sweet, but sensual and quite grown up, a keeper I think

In the bottle - Honey and something sweet anf lightly fruity, almost like pears

 

Wet on me - The sweet soft fruitiness comes out from beneath the honey's richness

 

Dry on me - A deep, rich, incense-like honey, similar to that in Athens

 

Overall - I'm not certain if their is actually honey in this blend, but that's how my nose interprets it and I like it.

In the bottle - A very pale vanilla with a touch of coconut

 

Wet on me - Slightly plasticky vanilla

 

Dry on me - Warm, creamy vanilla with a slight rubber note

 

Overall - A warm cosy vanilla scent

In the bottle - Fresh cut grass and heather

 

Wet on me - Fresh bright green, with that bitter sappiness associated with fresh cut stems

 

Dry on me - For a long while it's just this bright, brash trumpet of greeness, but it eventually settles down into earthy florals

 

Overall - The greeness for the first several hours is just too aggressive for me, although I do like the dry down

In the bottle - Suprisingly light anf floral, with a touch of pepper

Wet on me - Quite green and fresh, but still floral.

Dry on me - Stale ashtrays. Which I don't really understanf, because normally it's something creamy or milky that turns that way on my skin. It does settle down to quite a nice vanilla musk

Overall - I liked the dry down, but the ashtray period was too much for me.

In the bottle - Unsurprisingly a floral honey

 

Wet on me - A sweet concotion of flowers that I don't recognise

 

Dry on me - A subtle scent, but with a definite kick to it. A conglomerate floral sweetened by the honey

 

Overall - It would need more honey to be a real hit with me, but it's not unpleasant

In the bottle - Straight up DBR

 

Wet on me - This is a DBR strong on its floral aspect, namely jasmine

 

Dry on me - The DBR settles and becomes softer and sweeter

 

Overall - I like DBR, but not enough to want it straight up like this