Ajila

In the bottle – Wow, that really properly smells like a rose, not something that smells like a rose, but rose

 

Wet on me – Rose, but softer and less full on than in the bottle

 

Dry on me – Mostly it fades quite quickly, but I do get wafts of the rose

 

Overall – To me this smells more like a ‘traditional’ perfume than many of BPAL’s blends. The full on rose isn’t really something I would wear

 

In the bottle – The sharpness of the floral sits on top of a sour fruit note from the plums

 

Wet on me – A soft creamy floral

 

Dry on me – After about 8 hours it settles into a soft, candied plum

 

Overall – I love the dry down, but not the route to it

 

In the bottle – Sweet liquorice with dark, dirty leather behind it

 

Wet on me – The thick black leather comes through with just a hint of the gaufrette

 

Dry on me – A dry, dark leather, with just a hint of sweetness

 

Overall – I’m hoping that aging will kick the leather back a little, but all in all this is a gorgeous blend

 

In the bottle – The straw, and I think the amber, although it’s a little ‘airy’

Wet on me – A sharp metallic note, followed by a soft powdery rose

Dry on me – Soft, slightly candied rose

Overall – I was surprised by major a role the rose played , but it was still a very pleasant very wearable scent

In the bottle – Oddly, stale bread

 

Wet on me – I get a bit of the current, but mostly it’s a dirty myrrh scent

 

Dry on me – Dark earthy, but slightly sweet and with a touch of something slightly metallic

 

Overall – It dried better than it started out, but isn’t something I would wear

 

In the bottle – A surprisingly light sweet scent, I think it’s the vanilla bean and the cumin I can smell

 

Wet on me – Sweetened washing detergent

 

Dry on me – A soft faint vanilla

 

Overall – Much lighter than I anticipated and slightly bland

 

In the bottle – Lush, wet rose

 

Wet on me – A sweet heady rose and, oddly, mint

 

Dry on me – Straight up old fashioned rose

 

Overall – I like the scent of roses, but I don’t want to smell like one so this isn’t really for me

 

In the bottle – The medicinal scent of sage (I know there’s none listed, but that’s what I smell)

 

Wet on me – An odd fruitiness, with what I assume is the amber and something earthy

 

Dry on me – A pleasant green and brown scent with a slightly musky edge that draws you in

 

Overall – Nice, but not something I would wear on a regular basis

 

In the bottle – Candied berries and something tannic in the back ground

 

Wet on me – The candyishness remains but the bitterness of (I guess) the wine is more intrusive

 

Dry on me – It keeps that sweet, almost parma violet scent, without ever becoming truly gourmand

 

Overall – I like it, but it’s not at all what I was expecting from the notes and the context

 

In the bottle – Milky chocolate

 

Wet on me – Again milky chocolate, with a slight biscuitiness to it

 

Dry on me – Ashes (stale cigarette ashes to be precise)

 

Overall – Blah! I wanted to love this, but my skin chemistry just killed

 

In the bottle – Sweet, bright peach with the headiness of the gardenia and the honey

 

Wet on me – Again the sweetness of the peach and honey just about ward off the potential sharpness of the gardenia

 

Dry on me – Sweet peach with the high note of the honey with occasional wafts of the gardenia

 

Overall – On the whole the blend was very pleasant, but I’m not certain that it will be a favourite

 

In the bottle – It does actually smell golden, although cedar is the only note that I can identify

 

Wet on me – Cedar and something citrusy

 

Dry on me – The cedar remains the prominent note as the rest becomes dry and bitter

 

Overall – As cedar is my least favourite of the listed notes, this is not the result I wanted to see

 

In the bottle – Sea water

 

Wet on me – Soapy leather and salty water

 

Dry on me – Clean, salty leather

 

Overall – I need my leathers to have something else with them to make them really work on me

 

In the bottle – Molten sugar and a touch of almond

 

Wet on me – Sugar & almonds and just a hint of rum

 

Dry on me – Warm and buttery and whilst never actually becoming biscuity it is at least bakery. Oddly with the occasional hit of rubber

 

Overall – I’m so pleased that this doesn’t turn to ashes on my skin, because I think it is destined to be a favourite

 

In the bottle – A hint of the lilac backed by a thick leather note

 

Wet on me – A waft of an almost bubblegum like sweetness, with the soft, powdery lilac, sitting on the dark, dirty leather note closer to the skin

 

Dry on me – The plum juice settles into something too dry to be fruit and too sweet to be leather

 

Overall – A surprisingly pretty and delicate blend, nice, but it doesn’t grab me

 

In the bottle – Sparkling white peach with just a hint of vanilla

 

Wet on me – The peach sits on top of smoky green osmanthus and the slightly pencil shavings scent of the sandalwood

 

Dry on me – The peach remains the dominant note, with a dry airiness behind it

 

Overall – A nice, if slightly anaemic in the dry down, peach blend

 

In the bottle – Darker than I expected, I suppose that it’s the Arabian musk, but I just get a dank animalistic scent

 

Wet on me – Greener, with a hint of spice, but still very animalistic

 

Dry on me – The soft creamy spiciness of the carnation finally comes through leaving a lingering embrace of scent

 

Overall – The carnation dry down is fantastic, a bit stronger than the other carnation blends I’ve tried, but I can’t hack the animal stages in the first instance

 

In the bottle – Weird, a smell I associate with pulling up nettles tinged with a hint of something creamy

 

Wet on me – Burnt grass and coffee

 

Dry on me – Sweet soft and creamy; the dregs of a milky coffee and those pancakes

 

Overall – Whilst I liked the dry down it was a little bland after what had come before

 

In the bottle – I suppose it’s probably the buttermilk, but something sweet and cramy and with an edge of coconut. I have a feeling this will turn to ashes on my skin

 

Wet on me – Again that sweet creaminess, oddly clean smelling

 

Dry on me – Water ashes and strongly so

 

Overall – This just didn’t work on my skin. Normally when creamy notes turn to ashes, it is at least weak; this positively radiated them

 

In the bottle – Sweet and thick; the honey and the patchouli

 

Wet on me – a first hit of the honey then it gets swamped by the florals

 

Dry on me – The patchouli comes out, in a way, which to me is very reminiscent of the patchouli in Angel. As the patchouli disappears it settles back into the rich, sweet honey

 

Overall – I like this blend, but it doesn’t wow me

 

In the bottle – A very faint, grey floral

 

Wet on me – It’s hard to pin anything down. Dark and dank and yet oddly citrusy

 

Dry on me – Nothing at all really

 

Overall – This disappeared quickly and I didn’t really miss it

 

In the bottle – A very soft, dry lavender, with a touch of vanilla and a hint of coconut

 

Wet on me – Lavender with something almost berryish in the background

 

Dry on me – See, this makes me want to try Dorian again, because all I got from him was stale tea. From this I have all that rich deep vanilla of the Snake Oil, but instead of the grab you by the throat full on spices, there are soft little citrusy overtones that trip along the periphery but still invite you further in to meet the ever present vanilla. Making this, to me, a more comfortable blend

 

Overall – I like this a lot, but whilst wearing it I’ve come out in a rash across my neck. I’m feeling a bit ropey as it is, so it may be unrelated, but I’m going to be cautious

 

In the bottle – The sweet soft citrus of the manderin

 

Wet on me – Lavender and the soft, sweet vanilla cream

 

Dry on me – Soft, powdery, milky vanillla

 

Overall – A very delicate scent, I like it, but I think it could do with a bit of a kick. Having said that, as with The Gladdener of All Hearts, I think it would be a great sleep blend

 

In the bottle – Something slightly berryish, but with a bitter, earthy undercurrent

 

Wet on me – An initial burst of flowers and then washing detergent

 

Dry on me – Mostly washing detergent, although it does dry towards a sweeter, almost creamy scent

 

Overall – I guess that this doesn’t work on my skin

 

In the bottle – A sweet green herbal (actually I think it’s the angelica I can smell) with a hint of lavender

 

Wet on me – Slightly milky lavender

 

Dry on me – Soft, powdery lavender with just a hint of cream

 

Overall – A good ‘sleep’ blend I think, but not something that I would wear during the day