Ajila

In the bottle – Salty lavender

Wet on me – The main scent is still the lavender with an overcoat of ozone

Dry on me – Faint and slightly salty

Overall – The blend disappears so quickly it was neither here nor there, but I suspect that it wasn’t going to be me any way

In the bottle – Citrusy and slightly bitter (oddly not at all like lily)

Wet on me – Slightly sweetened grapefruit - odd

Dry on me – Slightly more floral with a slightly creamy note, but still predominantly citrus

Overall – I’m a bit bemused by this. I’m not really a lily fan so I prefer this to what I expected, but it doesn’t really grab me

In the bottle – Peaches? And a slight olive bitterness

Wet on me – Again with the peaches (is spikenard something to do with peaches?) This smells incredibly resonant of something from my childhood, but I can’t quite place it

Dry on me – It becomes very faint, but keeps the peach sweetness although now it’s tinged with the bitterness of the olives and the herbs

Overall – I like it more than I anticipated, but it is very faint

In the bottle – Nothing at all, I had to check I hadn’t got an empty bottle

Wet on me – A slightly sweet, slightly soapy, herbal mixture

Dry on me – Sweet, soft and creamy musks

Overall – Not at all what I was expecting. In many ways it’s like Antique Lace but without the extra sparkle

In the bottle – Sweet honey, sharp ylang-ylang and smooth musks

Wet on me – Surprisingly faint, just the faintest sliver of honey

Dry on me – A very, very faint hint of honey

Overall – It was pleasant enough and I was glad to escape the ylang-ylang, but it was so faint as to hardly exist

In the bottle – A scent that’s clearly there, but at the same time seems to smell of nothing

Wet on me – A soft almost milky sweet floral with an edge of ozone

Dry on me – A sweet, almost candylike floral with just a hint of musk

Overall – I like this a lot, it’s a much creamier, sweeter scent than I expected

In the bottle – I suppose it’s the lily I can smell, but it’s much earthier than I expected

Wet on me – Whoa! That’s a lot of lily!

Dry on me – The pear and the honeysuckle do eventually come through to sweeten the lily

Overall – I don’t particularly like the scent of lilies and the amp on me so this blend just doesn’t work on me

In the bottle – Barely anything at all, but there is a hint of the cypress

Wet on me – Thick smoky incense

Dry on me – A surprisingly light and airy incense with a sweet, almost coconut-y texture to it

Overall – Deliciously moorish

In the bottle – Cherry cola

Wet on me – A kind of warm lemon

Dry on me – A warm yet clean scent

Overall – I like this scent quite a bit. I actually think that it would be a good little girl’s scent; it’s sweet without being cloying and completely asexual without being bland or completely floral

In the bottle – The sharpness of the sarsaparilla and the berry on a bed of red musk

Wet on me – Mainly the spiciness of the pink pepper

Dry on me – A weird, almost watery sensation with an overlay of the pink pepper

Overall – I think that this needs more experimentation before I get my head around it, but I think I like it

In the bottle – A sweet, almost citrus-y ginger

Wet on me – That’s a very good ginger; sweet and warm without being foody

Dry on me – A surprisingly light airy musk, warmed by the spices

Overall – Not at all what I expected, but very nice indeed

In the bottle – I though I was going mad, because all I got form this was a hit of muddy cherry/almond, then I saw the black cherry in the description

Wet on me – Sweet cherries and the loam of the moist soil

Dry on me – The dark musk becomes animalistic and combined with the mustiness of the dirt scent it’s quite unpleasant for a time. The final dry down is a warm, almost inviting musk, which I can only assume is the Chinese musk

Overall – I guess on me the notes that didn’t work outweighed the ones that did

In the bottle – A delicate powdery floral, that’s a little difficult to pin down, it smells slightly different each time I smell it

Wet on me – Still floral, but slightly greener and still a mystery to me

Dry on me – Faint florals, which disappear on me quite quickly

Overall – I’m not really a floral girl, but this is more interesting than I expected. However, it barely lasts at all on my skin

In the bottle – Mmm sweet. A cross between parma violets and Lush’s Rock Star soap with just a hint of the black currants sharpness

Wet on me – the dryness of the back currant comes through more against the candy sweetness

Dry on me – Soft sweet candied fruits

Overall – Nice, very nice indeed. Possible a tiny bit faint, but on the whole a winner, I think

In the bottle – Mmm sweet. A cross between parma violets and Lush’s Rock Star soap with just a hint of the black currants sharpness

Wet on me – the dryness of the back currant comes through more against the candy sweetness

Dry on me – Soft sweet candied fruits

Overall – Nice, very nice indeed. Possible a tiny bit faint, but on the whole a winner, I think

In the bottle – Banana flavouring and dry moss

Wet on me – Banana flavouring, with a dirty undertone that smells a little like mould

Dry on me – Among the wafts of grave moss the sweetness of the banana stands out

Overall – I like this and it appeals to my sense of humour, but the occasional tendency towards the smell of mould disturbs me slightly

In the bottle – A floral that I can’t quite place; similar to jasmine, but greener

Wet on me – Floral with a slight edge of spice

Dry on me – Slightly spicy citrus

Overall – Neither here nor there really

In the bottle – A dark, smoky green note

Wet on me – A tad ‘pencil shavings’, but still green and a little soapy

Dry on me – A faint green herbal

Overall – Pleasant enough, but not for me

In the bottle – That’s a real gardeny smell. Green and fresh, but slightly peppery and slightly medicinal

Wet on me – That fresh green salady sort of scent on top of something slightly fetid

Dry on me – It settles into a surprisingly sweet green herbal

Overall – It was nicer than I anticipated at the out set, but not really me

In the bottle – Instantly a thick, dark green note. It feels like vetiver, but doesn’t smell like it, if that makes sense

Wet on me – A dark, almost musty green note

Dry on me – The dark green note remains, but gets gentler and gets more herby

Overall – I’m sure people who like this sort of thing will love this blend, but it’s not for me

In the bottle – Actually it smells quite boozy. I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that this was the Butter Rum Cookie instead

Wet on me – Again sweet and sugary, but boozy – not unlike eggnog (the drink not the BPAL)

Dry on me – Sadly this is yet another one of those blend that turn to ashes on my skin

Overall –Once again my skin chemistry has triumphed over what should be a lovely scent

In the bottle – Currant and a touch of citrus from either the lemon rind or the lime

Wet on me – Sweet currants, with a slightly soapy edge

Dry on me – A candylike green scent with a bitter edge

Overall –I can’t say anything bad about it, it just doesn’t grab me

In the bottle – A cross between sea water and detergent, with a touch of slightly sour milk

Wet on me – As with Sea Foams Blood the ocean wave goes lemony although the milk is still present

Dry on me – It disappears leaving a little milky residue

Overall – It hardly makes an appearance on my skin at all

In the bottle – Smoke and wood

Wet on me – Smoky wood and a touch of vetiver

Dry on me – Vetiver

Overall – It rattles straight from smoke to vetiver and I think it could do with picking up some of the other notes

In the bottle – Smoke and wood

Wet on me – Smoky wood and a touch of vetiver

Dry on me – Vetiver

Overall – It rattles straight from smoke to vetiver and I think it could do with picking up some of the other notes