Ajila

CLXXV - 175

In the bottle - My first thought was candied berries with an almost menthol undertone

Wet on me - There's still something berryish, but it's overpowered by the rubbery 'fresh' scent of snake oil, this may need to be aged a little to calm that down

Dry on me - It dries down into a classic snake oil vanilla

Overall - I think I'll try this again after it's had chance to age, but at the moment it dries down into pure snake oil

XCV - 95

In the bottle - Honey and some sort of soft fruit, possibly with a hint of carnation, overlaying the undeniable sex of O

Wet on me - The predomninant scent is the O, but with a sprinkling of sugared carnations

Dry on me - The thick warmth of O with added layers of honey and carnation

Overall - O, but better. A real winner.

LXXXVIII - 88

In the bottle - Something green and earthy, I'm almost tempted to say dandelion samp, but more bitter

Dry on me - Dark green vegetation, slightly smokey and with a slight citrus edge

Wet on me - Warm vanilla from the Dorian seeps through, gradually infusing the darkness with light. It finally dries into a refined, but sweet, pale musk with just a hint of citrus

Overlla - The final dry down is nice, but it takes the best part of six hours to get there and I'm not sure that it's worth the wait

In the bottle - Something green, slightly earth, I'm tempted to say vines

Wet on me - Thick green, slightly bitter, slightly earthy vegetation

Dry on me - The slightest hint of apple does sometimes come through, but it's hidden beneath a dark, thick, green musk

Overall - Irt's a vey unusual scent and whilst I like it I don't think it'll become a favourite

In the bottle - Synthetic bananas?

Wet on me - I still get a synthetic banana scent, now backed by all those dark, dry spice notes

Dry on me - Warm cocoa and dry spices, sweet, but without being remotely foody

Overall - A little dry, but very nice indeed, a definite winner

In the bottle - A little chrysanthemum, mostly incense

Wet on me - Warm chrysanthemums and the tang of the marigold

Dry on me - Faint, slightly sweetened incense

Overall - A little bit bland really

In the bottle - Vanilla cream and the sweet pea with a slightly tart edge from one of the fruits

Wet on me - The fresh, greeness of the fruit overlain by the sweetness of the vanilla cream

Dry on me - Ashes. Unusually instead of going entirely to ashes the fruit stays true, but sadly it doesn't really help matters

Overall - *Pouts* Another highly anticipated blend destroyed by my skin chemistry

In the bottle - Surprisingly it'sthe ginger and the thyme which stand out most, although there is a hint of the bitterness off the dark chocolate

Wet on me - Quite faint. The green herbs and something a little buttery

Dry on me - The chocolate and the brown sugar do come through slightly, but it's still all about the herbs

Overall - I guess I was hoping for more of the chocolate and the brown sugar, as it is, it's nice, but not really me.

In the bottle - Sweet tobacco and washing powder

Wet on me - Again the tobacco is the dominant note.I'd say this was a more feminine version of Perversion, but there is still a slightly washing powder tinge to it

Dry on me - I'll stick to my initial verdict, this is like a softer, more feminine version of Perversion. All sweetness and musk, with pepper from the tobacco

Overall - I was concerned about the washing powder, but this really is fantastic

In the imp - An oddly green patchouli

Wet on me - A dry, dusty patchouli is still the main nore, but the sweet freshness of the apricot begins to come through

Dry on me - The apricot comes through and takes over a lot more. Unfortunately, somehow the patchouli in the background makes me think that there is something going mouldy

Overall - Mouldy apricots? Not for me I'm afraid

In the bottle – Caramel, light caramel, not the thick oozing stuff I was expecting and just a touch of pepper

Wet on me – Coffee, caramel and something slightly aquatic

Dry on me – Quite a dry, salty, almost dusty caramel, which does warm up into something buttery and sweet, but at the same time very dark

Overall – I like it, but I was expecting to be blown away by it and I wasn’t

In the bottle – Oddly neither dark chocolate nor cherry. There is a pinkish berriness, but that’s more like cough syrup than cherries and these is a creamy butter sort of backdrop

Wet on me – The blend persists as a sort of buttery cough syrup, which is odd and not entirely pleasant

Dry on me – I’m still not getting cherries, the bitter richness of the dark chocolate, yes, but underneath is a slightly chemical acidic scent

Overall – I don’t really know what to make of this, I wanted (and expected) to love it, but I have to say I didn’t really enjoy wearing it.

In the bottle – Sandalwood and a touch of sweetness from the rose

Wet on me – Clean dry sandalwood with just a hint of the rose

Dry on me – A big, lush, slightly spiced rose

Overall – Nice, but not something that I would wear

In the bottle – Cedarwood and vetiver

Wet on me – Black, smoky vetiver and the pencil shavings of the cedar

Dry on me – Mostly there is the dryness of the cedar, but there is a soft fruitiness around it that makes it intriguing. There is a similarity with Event Horizon there I think

Overall – It’s a subtly sexy blend in the dry down, but the initial stages would put me off wearing it

In the bottle – Fresh and bright, definitely the liquorice/anise/fennel scent of the wormwood and a light coolness from the mints

Wet on me – The lemon comes through; it’s like freshly cut lemon grass

Dry on me – Fresh, bright green with a sparkle and depth that keep making me want to sniff

Overall – The only negative to this was that it didn’t last as well as I wanted to

In the bottle – I suppose that it’s the fig and berries, surprisingly green and fresh

Wet on me – Still bright fruits dominate, with a slight feeling of air freshener

Dry on me – Something, presumably the cream, turns the blend straight to ashes

Overall – Another blend ruined by my skin chemistry

In the bottle – Bad pot pourri trying to be incense

Wet on me – Pencil shavings from the sandalwood and a hit of the tea

Dry on me – A dry white wood scent

Overall – On me it became a bit bland

In the bottle – Yum minty humbugs

Wet on me – The scent is now mainly peppermint with just a hint of sweetness behind it

Dry on me – The mint fades off surprisingly quickly, leaving a custard vanilla

Overall – A warm and comforting duvet day blend

In the bottle – Lemon and a touch of peach

Wet on me – Odd – I would have said candied grapefruit – and something slightly soapy

Dry on me – Soft and clean and yet slightly powdery with slight hints of peach

Overall – This is very soft on me, like floating in a cloud of tiny peaches. Possibly not something I would wear on a regular basis but pleasant enough

In the bottle – I know it’s not in the note list, but I would have said black pepper is the primary note

Wet on me – Initially a dry, dirty scent, but very quickly it picks up a spicier, almost currylike hue

Dry on me – A dry, green, earthy scent that reminds me more of autumn and the falling leaves than Christmas

Overall – An unusual scent, but not really one for me

In the bottle – Oddly, I wood have said coconut

Wet on me – A slightly rubbery vanilla, although there is a clearness from the liquorice

Dry on me – It maintains that dry, rubbery vanilla note

Overall – Oddly (again), I quite like the rubber note that I get from this vanilla, but I think it does need something else to pep it up. I guess that would be the liquorice, but on me it doesn’t make much of a showing

In the bottle – A sweet, candyish berry and menthol

Wet on me – Menthol and Eucalyptus – I smell like Vics Vapour Rub

Dry on me – It settles into a warm, dry, herby sort of scent with almost a tobacco type note

Overall – After a slightly alarming start it becomes quite lovely and very ‘homely’ in a good way

In the bottle – The first hit is sweet, rich, honey and then a blast of that oh so familiar mulled wine scent

Wet on me – The honey is still the dominant note for me, tinged by a slight herbal note

Dry on me – Thick, honey sweetened, incense (I know there’s no incense in there but that’s how it smells to me

Overall – Drier than I thought it would be, but I like it

In the bottle – Sweet, thick, creamy coffee. I really hope that this doesn’t turn to dust on me

Wet on me – Again the super sweet coffee, with just a hint of wafers

Dry on me – Aggggh! Sweet, creamy coffee to dry dusty ashes in 10 seconds flat. When the ashes do fade (after about 8 hours) it returns to a warm condensed milk and coffee scent

Overall – I love the scent in the bottle and in the very end of the dry down, but the central passage just kills it for me

In the bottle – Oooh fig and cough syrup, which oddly is a good thing

Wet on me – A little cough syrup remains, but the underlying scent is dirty and sweaty

Dry on me – The woods come through; a little powdery and dry

Overall – This blend starts off dirty and ends bland, so not really for me