Ajila

In the bottle – Patchouli pure and simple

Wet on me – Mainly patchouli, with a hint of sweetness underneath

Dry on me – Warm sweet vanilla and cinnamon with the occasional edge of sandalwood

Overall – I love the dry down, but I can’t cope with the patchouli overload that takes place whilst it is wet

In the bottle – The lime and the lemongrass and something very sweet

Wet on me – An oddly creamy citrus, with a hint of menthol

Dry on me – A thick creamy layer backed by musks and heightened by tiny hints of the florals

Overall – I’m surprised by how warm and inviting this is. I guess it may just be weird skin chemistry on my part. It’s a bit faint for my liking, but other than that it’s a very pleasant blend

In the bottle – The candylike sweetness of the orange blossom, with just a hint of the patchouli underneath

Wet on me – Fresh and bright, warm and inviting. The orange and the carnation bubble along, with the ambergris in a supporting role and the patchouli barely these at all

Dry on me – This really is disarmingly enticing, there isn’t much waft to speak of, but the on skin scent is warm and sensual without being overtly ‘sexy’

Overall – I’m very surprised by this blend, I found it very confidence inspiring. As quite a shy individual I tend to hide behind comforting blends, but this made me feel more confident in myself, not that this will make much sense to anybody else

In the bottle – Sweet, slightly green, neroli

Wet on me – Slightly soapy, but still green, neroli

Dry on me – A kind of dry white musk

Overall – Given that I don’t like ylang-ylang and that I’m not keen on sandalwood as a main component of a blend, I was pleasantly surprised that neither made much of a showing. But on me the overall affect was a tiny bit bland

In the bottle – Unsurprisingly mint, but less strident than I expected. It has a creamy sweetness that reminds me of the toffee centre of a mint humbug

Wet on me – Actually I think mint humbug is a good way to describe this blend

Dry on me – A soft creamy mint with plenty of brown sugar

Overall – The only fault that I could pick with this blend is that it didn’t last as long as some do on me. As far as I’m concerned this is the best ‘Lick It’ so far

In the bottle – Sharp cedar

Wet on me – Cedar, something slightly rubbery and a slight musk

Dry on me – It gradually fades down to a pleasantly sweet herby musk

Overall – I was surprised by how much I liked the dry down, but I doubt it is something that I would wear often

In the bottle – I don’t know what this smells like, but I like it. Its got a sweetness like molten sugar and a smokiness like cherry tobacco some and then the slight pale hints of parma violets

Wet on me – I don’t know if it’s the cypress or what, but I get a real whiff of toilet cleaner, the sweetness of the candies and in particular the parma violets are behind it but the toilet cleaner is the most pungent

Dry on me – This goes through and odd stale tea and old ladies phase, but when it settles it regains the parma violets with a deep treacly background

Overall – Odd in places, but I do like the final dry down

2007 Version

In the bottle –Does exactly what it says on the tin, rich gingerbread with just a hint of nutmeg

Wet on me – A slightly harsh clove/cinnamon takes over but you can just about smell the creamy bakery goodness in the background

Dry on me – There is a short period of the ashiness that my skin tends to do with creamy blends, but it eventually dries down to a soft creamy biscuity gingerbread

Overall – I like the dry down and the slight ashy period is brief enough to be bearable

In the bottle – Surprisingly sweet pomegranate

Wet on me – Fresh juicy pomegranate, but always with a pithy dryness behind it

Dry on me – This goes through a very odd stage, where my right arm smells green and bitter, my cleavage smells sweet and candylike and my left arm smells of curry! Once in sorts itself out it develops into a sweet creamy musk with just a hint of the bitterness of the pomegranate

Overall – I like the dry down a lot, but I’m less convinced of the mode of getting there

In the bottle – Weird, I can smell that something is there, but not actually smell ‘it’. It’s almost as if my nose slips away from it

Wet on me – I would say jasmine and sandalwood

Dry on me – A woody sort of musk scent, with a bitter chocolate after scent

Overall – A little odd and not really me

In the bottle – Coffee, but a deeper, more bitter coffee than Miskatonic University

Wet on me – Dark, dark chocolate with just a hint of digestive biscuit

Dry on me – Dark chocolate, pure and simple

Overall – I was surprised to discover that I found this a little one dimensional, I would have preferred it if the cinnamon or brown sugar had more of a presence, but I guess that’s skin chemistry

2007 version

In the bottle – Whoa that’s sweet! You can almost taste the cream, sugar and nutmeg with that boozy undercurrent

Wet on me – I can’t tell you just how good this stuff is. The warmth from my skin just disperses that lovely frothy sweet scent into the air around me

Dry on me – Ooh, I like it, I like it a lot, for a few moments I thought it was going to turn ashy on me the way a lot of ‘cream’ type blends seem to, but no, it stays a sweet creamy blend that gets richer and seems to edge towards fudginess as it goes and some 16 hours after application it’s still going strong

Overall – What more can I say, this looks destined to become one of my top ten

In the bottle – A short burst of sweetness and spice and then nothing, very odd

Wet on me – Very faint, orange peel and condensed milk

Dry on me – Nothing, seriously, it just disappeared in a flash

Overall – I don’t really get a good enough chance at it to form an opinion

In the bottle – Thick rich sugar, with just a hint of the pomegranate

Wet on me – The fruit is more prominent, but it is backed by a thick gloopy scent that’s sweet and yet slightly smokey

Dry on me – It sweetens to the extent that I had people at work tell me I smelt of caramel, butterscotch and popcorn respectively. However, for me the sweetness was tempered by a bitterness that I can only assume was the olive oil

Overall – I like this blend, but I’m not certain when I would wear it. This may be one to keep for a couple of months and see how it goes before making a decision

In the bottle – Sweet heady florals, oddly enough I wouldn’t have said rose, which shows what I know really doesn’t it?

Wet on me – A very clean, sweet rose, with a slightly soapy undertone

Dry on me – It retained a sweet headiness that I found pleasing, although some of those I worked with complained of it being too strong

Overall – This isn’t really something I would wear, but it was pleasant enough

In the bottle – The bubble gum of the lotus with a harshness that I presume is the myrrh

Wet on me – Bubble gum with a hint of sherbet. It’s very ‘my first perfume’ to the extent that it seems a little fake, if that makes sense.

Dry on me – For the most part the lotus reigns supreme although you get dirty hints of myrrh. The final dry down is a sweetened dry musk

Overall – I like it more than I thought I would, but I think Glitter and Aunt Caroline’s Joy Mojo give me the out and out joyful sweetness which this seems to be leaning towards

In the bottle –Slightly soapy oranges

Wet on me – Warm, slightly bitter citrus

Dry on me – A kind of warm beeswax sort of scent with a touch of bitterness and a slight hint of soap

Overall – I’m not certain if I like this, but it’s certainly atmospheric

In the bottle –Mint and eucalyptus

Wet on me – Cold green and medicinal

Dry on me – Soft violets tempered by the mint and keeping that medicinal edge

Overall – I never really got my head around this blend

In the bottle –Lime and soap

Wet on me – Washing powder and lime

Dry on me – Just plan washing powder

Overall – This just never worked on my skin

In the bottle – Cinnamon and almonds (bitter)

Wet on me – Soap, stale tea and a touch of cinnamon

Dry on me – It warms and deepens becoming very resinous before softening to a creamy skin musk scent

Overall – At first it’s a bit of a wash out, but the dry down is very inviting, one for further consideration I think

In the bottle – The rosewood, something green and coffee?

Wet on me – The greenness from the rose leaf dominates, with a hint of the wood and a tiny hint of nuttiness

Dry on me – Soft slightly sweetened wood

Overall – This blend is pleasant enough, but pretty bland on me

In the bottle – Yellow? I know that sounds odd, but I can’t spot any specific notes, just a sense of yellowness

Wet on me – I’m going to have to cheque out the notes for this, because I get white wine, lotus and a touch of patchouli

Dry on me – Warm, clean and sunny but with a slight hint of tobacco

Overall – I will definitely be keeping this blend, but I’m having difficulty pinning it down

In the bottle – A sharp floral – I would have said gardenia, but from the notes I would assume it’s the wisteria

Wet on me – Washing powder with just a hint of greenness and a touch of violets

Dry on me – After a few hours it dries to a warm spicy chrysanthemum, but keeps a slightly green sharpness

Overall – Chrysanthemums are one of the few florals that I can and will wear, but the blend as a whole does not work for me.

In the bottle – Herbals = the spicy cough tablets that you get from old fashioned corner shops

Wet on me – Again with the Herbals, but it takes on a slight dirty, almost stale, aspect

Dry on me – It goes through a creamy gingery stage, which reminds me a little of Gingerbread Poppet, before settling to a dry spiciness that is a little reminiscent of aftershave

Overall – I like the middle phase, but not enough that it would make me want more

In the bottle – A hint of red musk and a kind of woody greenness

Wet on me – A green woodiness that I can’t quite place

Dry on me – A slightly soapy leather with a warm creamy skin scent beneath

Overall – This never really took off on me. Some 15 hours after I apply there is a warm sensuality to it, which I like, but I can’t really wear a blend for that long whilst I wait for it to get its act together