Ajila

In the bottle – Sharp florals and sandalwood

 

Wet on me – All the florals are making me sneeze, but I think I get a touch of vanilla

 

Dry on me – Again the florals dominate with the sandalwood in the background

 

Overall – Not really my cup of tea

 

In the bottle – Unsurprisingly, rose. Oddly it smells like the rose in rose flavoured Turkish delight – whether this means it’s Turkish rose I don’t know

 

Wet on me – Again with the roses; soft, luscious, slightly powdery and slightly sweet

 

Dry on me – As they dry the roses become darker and harder, but still keep an edge of sweetness

 

Overall – I’m amazed to say I like this, what with this and Katrina von Tassel, I could be becoming a convert to rose scents

 

In the bottle – Something sweet and sickly. Does prickly pear smell like pears? Because, if so, that’s what I think it is

 

Wet on me – Again that almost fruity sweetness, but tempered by something floral and something bitter

 

Dry on me – It settles to a sweet, but not foody, dry musk

 

Overall – Actually, I like this a lot more than I anticipated. I don’t think I’ll need a bottle, but I’ll certainly hold on to my imp

 

In the bottle – Lush, sweet, slightly peppery roses. I feel I should add that I fall into the camp that ordered this despite the rose rather than because of it and yet I quite like this full on rose in the bottle

 

Wet on me – Lush, heavy roses

 

Dry on me – The roses continue to dominate shot through with rich, deep honey

 

Overall – It’s weird, I’m not really keen on roses (as a scent on me) but I could see myself wearing this, it’s got an old fashioned sophistication, but without being too grown up for me, which is quite a juggling act to pull off

 

In the bottle –Unsurprisingly sweet; strawberries, molten sugar and something of the Lush ‘Rock Star’ scent

 

Wet on me – A sharp fruitiness comes out from underneath all the sweetness. There is something oddly clean about it all

 

Dry on me – It’s all molten sweetie goodness, but for some reason it never quite melds; it just sits off the surface of my skin

 

Overall – I’m going to have to experiment wit this, because on paper I should love it and I can’t work out why it isn’t working for me

 

In the bottle – Pumpkin and sweet candylike strawberries

 

Wet on me – The sweet strawberries remain prominent with a slight bitterness as well as the buttery pumpkin

 

Dry on me – I disappeared quite quickly leaving only a whiff of pumpkin

 

Overall – I expected to like this, and I didn’t dislike it, but it was gone so quickly I didn’t really get time to adjust

 

In the bottle – The pine is a sharp distinct scent, backed by the butter pumpkin and the smoke in the background

 

Wet on me – Now the pumpkin dominates, but is cut through by the pine and the smoke

 

Dry on me – Sweet, almost cloyingly heavy honey and vanilla on top of the already rich pumpkin

 

Overall – This is just too much for me, and I like sweet blends

 

In the bottle – Buttery rich pumpkin punched through by the mint and the lemon verbena and the grapefruit

 

Wet on me – The sharpness of the citrusy notes cuts through the richness of the pumpkin. I get mainly grapefruit

 

Dry on me – sweet, but fresh and still soft, the citrus forms the main part of the blend with the pumpkin forming an unusual backdrop

 

Overall – I think I like this, although I’m not certain if I would wear it. The almost candylike combination of the sweet citrus and the creamy pumpkin is certainly pleasing

 

In the bottle – Pumpkin and pineapple?!?

 

Wet on me – Buttery pumpkin

 

Dry on me – Pumpkin and ashes

 

Overall – This just didn’t work on me

 

In the bottle – At first (oddly I suppose) a waft of cinnamon and then the buttery pumpkin and a digestive biscuit sort of scent

Wet on me – Predominantly a biscuity, buttery scent with a touch of the mango and the coconut

Dry on me – The buttery (sometimes overly so) scent of the pumpkin remains the predominant note throughout

Overall – I guess that I would like to have seen more of a showing from some of the other notes

In the bottle – All I get is sweet, buttery pumpkin

 

Wet on me – Sun bathed hay and a sparkle of something sweet

 

Dry on me – The sweet butterish scent of the pumpkin returns and dominates

 

Overall – Quite a nice sort of scent, but not one that blows me away, which I’m quite glad about as it could be difficult to find a replacement

 

In the bottle – I’d have said honey, and possibly the copal and a hint of the roses

 

Wet on me – At first that honey (the agave nectar?) and an incense scent, but that burns of quickly to a powdery, sickly baby sort of scent

 

Dry on me – The warm dry spices and the tobacco come through

 

Overall – I like the dry down, although I felt it was a little unsettling. A work colleague, whom I am attempting to enable, greatly admired it so I may pass it on to her

 

In the bottle – Sweet cranberries and that distinctive tomato leaf smell

 

Wet on me – The sweet cranberries with an almost liquorice after scent

 

Dry on me – The sweet berries remain the dominant scent finally being followed by the wood of the cedar

 

Overall – I like this more than I expected, but I doubt that it’ll be a favourite

 

In the bottle – Orange, that slightly sharp cheese cake I get a from a lot of the ‘dessert’ blends, and custard

 

Wet on me – The orange comes through as the main scent with the anise and then the custard in the background

 

Dry on me – Sweet, creamy cake with a slightly tart citrus edge

 

Overall – On paper I should love this, but somehow I don’t and I don’t know why

 

In the bottle – I don’t really smell anything just a hint of vanilla

 

Wet on me – The first hit is warm spices then it becomes a soapy, herby sort of scent with the vanilla behind it

 

Dry on me – It dries to a pretty straight up vanilla

 

Overall – I do like the vanilla, but I think it could do with something else

 

In the bottle – Fir and cedar – I hope they burn off on my skin as they are the notes I least wanted from this blend

 

Wet on me – Still mainly fir, but with a bit of sweetness coming through

 

Dry on me – A faint, clean musk, with an edge of the fruit

 

Overall – Much softer and cleaner than I expected, I’m not certain it’s something I’d wear

 

In the bottle – Cut hay, with possibly a hint of the molasses in the back ground

 

Wet on me – Dark musk, the oats and something a bit grimy

 

Dry on me – Ack! Stale cigarette smoke

 

Overall – I don’t know what did it to this blend, but I can’t wear it on my skin at all

 

In the bottle – A tiny bit of spice and then pure apple

 

Wet on me – Again the apple; this time laying on a bed of sassafras

 

Dry on me – A sweet, soft musk with just a hint of soft, rounded apples

 

Overall – Much, more delicate and feminine than I expected, but on the whole very pleasing

 

In the bottle – Something vaguely like tropical fruit. With a lot of soapiness in the background

 

Wet on me – Rose and other flowers with a hint of the beeswax

 

Dry on me – Almost a honey sweetness with a dry intense incense. Oddly this is a scent that takes me right back to reading Lord of the Flies when I was 11

 

Overall – Literary distractions aside, the dry down is fantastic and something I will quite happily wear time and time again

 

In the bottle – I presume that it’s the barley, but I would say it smells like malt extract

 

Wet on me – A dark, thick scent, I can best describe as savoury treacle

 

Dry on me – A warm, hoppy scent

 

Overall – It’s very unusual; I’ve never come across anything like it in BPAL or elsewhere. It’s not an immediate love, but I feel it may grow on me

 

In the bottle – All I get is jasmine

Wet on me – Jasmine is the main note, with possibly a hint of the orris

Dry on me – A soft, powdery, dry floral

Overall – The dry down is inoffensive, although not my thing, but I really don’t get on with jasmine

In the bottle – The only note that I can really pick out is the lavender, but there is something sitting on top, which I can only assume is the purple musk

 

Wet on me – The lavender remains dominant, but that purple musk is still in force

 

Dry on me – The lavender is the only note that ever takes shape. There’s a little juice from the fruit, but nothing ever really defined

 

Overall – On me it’s a bit of a nothing scent – not even a top lavender blend

 

In the bottle – Predominantly grapefruit

 

Wet on me – The lemon peel and, I think, the kush with a hint of the teakwood. A bright clear scent with warm undertones

 

Dry on me – A warm, slightly spicy vanilla scent that fades out to nothing

 

Overall – It was pleasant enough, but very faint and what there was faded quickly

 

In the bottle – Fresh, bright and lemony

 

Wet on me – To me it still smells pretty lemony, but now I can smell the tea, and also freshly cut grass

 

Dry on me – Faint lemon

 

Overall – It’s a nice enough blend, but it doesn’t really excite me

 

In the bottle – Many layers in one sniff. First the fruits, sweet with the slightest edge. Then the warm, spicy ginger. Then the softness of the vanilla and the benzoin. And then, almost as an afterthought, the refreshing green tea

 

Wet on me – Sweet blueberries with just a hint of the green tea and the vanilla coming through strong in the background

 

Dry on me – It must be the coriander, but it smells like patchouli to me. I does go through a brief dust period, but settles into a warm, spicy vanilla

 

Overall – I’m in two minds; the patchouli/dust period isn’t great, but both the before and after are. I think it would make a great room scent in an oil burner