Ajila

In the bottle – The salty sea air and the metallic blackness of the gunpowder

Wet on me – A combination of some sort of ‘sea breeze’ air freshener, patchouli (I don’t know where that’s coming from) and a hint of lime

Dry on me – Clean dry seawater with a touch of leather

Overall – I would have needed a bit more warmth to make this blend a winner for me

In the bottle – Jasmine and a hint of lemon

Wet on me – Again jasmine is the main note (given that I’m one of those people for whom jasmine smells like cat pee this isn’t good). There’s also a sharp menthol smell in the background

Dry on me – The jasmine remains the dominant scent but warms and melds until it takes on an almost incensy quality

Overall – I’m surprised by how much I like the dry down, but I just can’t wear jasmine

In the bottle – Red musk and patchouli

Wet on me – Sweet thick red musk, backed by swarthy patchouli

Dry on me – Deep red musk with hints of cocoa

Overall – On me this is a dead ringer for the Great Sword of War, which is one of my favourite blends. So whilst it’s good I don’t feel a desperate need to track down more

In the bottle – Strong rose and stale tea

Wet on me – Sweet, powdery and slightly green roses

Dry on me – The main note remains the rose, but it gradually becomes softer and sweeter and picks up a little of the carnation’s spice

Overall – A sweetly pleasant floral. I wouldn’t mind wearing it again, but I also wouldn’t mind if I never wore it again

Firstly, am I the only one who keeps going to call this Kill Bill?

In the bottle – The wood and a touch of sweetness that sours like vinegar

Wet on me – Deep treacly molasses, but again with that acidic twinge and an overweening scent of bananas

Dry on me – Rich, deep molten sugar, caramelised to the point of burning, but not quite over the edge

Overall – I like the dry down a lot, not surprising as my favourite ever blend is Sugar Skull 04, but I’m not certain of the earlier stages. I may see how my imp ages before making a decision

In the bottle – Strawberry flavoured bubblegum

Wet on me – Thick, creamy strawberry milkshake

Dry on me – Actually this reminds me a lot of the original Pink Moon (was that 2005?). Soft sweet strawberries covered in crystalline sugar, but just a hint of greenness to stop it becoming to sweet

Overall – A definite winner and with the people around me. For the first time I had a complete stranger say I smelt good and ask me what I was wearing

In the bottle – Tart lime and lavender (which as a combination is distinctly odd)

Wet on me – Lavender with sweet citrus lifting it a little

Dry on me – Lavender is the main note, initially the blend goes very powdery, but after a few hours it seems to regain a juicy freshness. Occasionally there are hints of the various citrus notes, but on the whole it’s lavender’s show.

Overall – I don’t really know what to make of this blend, but I only tend to wear lavender in sleep blends and I don’t think this one falls into that category so I don’t know when I would wear it

In the bottle – A sharp acidic scent followed by sea water and a lot of ginger

Wet on me – Dark grapefruit

Dry on me – Ok, so apparently brooding eternal evil is a warm, spicy, comforting blend with a slight woodiness to it

Overall – I quite like this blend, but it’s not going to be a favourite

In the bottle – Very sweet heady roses

Wet on me – Soft powdered rose with a sharp frankincense backdrop

Dry on me – Deep dark resins with a slight softness from the rose on top

Overall – I liked this more than I anticipated (not being a rose lover) but it still isn’t something that I would ever wear

In the bottle – Dandelions with freshly broken stems that are full of sap

Wet on me – Dandelions and a hint of freshly mown grass

Dry on me – The tobacco from Perversion mixed with the creamy sweetness of condensed milk

Overall – I like this, but I have other blends that fulfil this niche so I doubt I will need more than my imp, maybe when I get low on my bottles of Perversion and Tombstone I’ll pick some of this up as a change.

In the bottle – Ylang-ylang and jasmine, possibly rose

Wet on me – The high floral scent of the jasmine mixing with sandalwood and a little musk

Dry on me – The jasmine remains the dominate fixture although the musk peeks through from time to time

Overall – I don’t really have the opportunity to try out the practical side of this blend, but as a scent this is really not me

In the bottle – Pumpkin and a little of the ginger, making it a little like a cheese cake

Wet on me – Ginger and a pithy bitterness from the citrus

Dry on me – The ginger runs the show, with slightly earthy undertones

Overall – Nice enough, but not wow

In the bottle – Pure pumpkin

Wet on me – Pumpkin with a sweet, green, herbal undercurrent

Dry on me – The pumpkin remains the main scent, with just a touch of the herbs.

Overall – On me this was a pretty unremarkable blend.

In the bottle – Very sweet pumpkin, with a touch of coconut

Wet on me – Sour pumpkin with a slightly chocolatey hint and dust

Dry on me – The chocolate and caramel appear in a molten glowing form, but the pomegranate sours and gives the whole thing an almost bitter feeling

Overall – Initially my skin chemistry turns the cream to dust and then it makes the pomegranate sour. Frankly my skin should be shot

In the bottle – Pure pumpkin

Wet on me – Very reach, creamy pumpkin with a hint of the spicy-herby scent of either the tobacco or the nag-champa (or both)

Dry on me – Dark, almost smoky herbs softened by the sweetness of the pumpkin

Overall – I don’t really know, I can’t get a clear impression in my head

In the bottle – Pumpkin, just pumpkin

Wet on me – The pumpkin remains dominant but a bit of the pear comes out, along with what I would have said was patchouli

Dry on me – Mainly buttery pumpkin, with a candyish edge

Overall – I’m glad that the ‘jasmine laced tea’ didn’t make much of an appearance and I like the final dry down, but the pumpkin is over powering in the initial stages

In the bottle – Vanilla and bleach

Wet on me – Full ripe pears, oozing with juice as you bite into them

Dry on me – This kept shifting on me, at times it was a dead ringer for Poison by Dior, at others pure juicy pears, at others a sensual vanilla musk and all points in between

Overall – Despite, or possibly because of, the constant shifts I loved this blend. A definite favourite

In the bottle – A sweet green herbal scent with just an edge of muskiness

Wet on me – Sweet berryish fruits with a herby background and a hint of white musk

Dry on me – Bright, vivacious fruits with dark green overtones

Overall – I did not expect to like this, but I do and I’m glad I had the opportunity to experience it

In the bottle – Salt water and coconuts

Wet on me – Sea water

Dry on me – Clean leather and a hint of salt water

Overall – A bit bland on me

In the bottle – Cologne? I guess it’s the combination of the incense and the musk laden remains

Wet on me – Really sharp slightly stale smelling musk (black if I had to guess)

Dry on me – Slightly musky, slightly sweet and very faint

Overall – I love libraries so I desperately wanted to love this, but my skin just ate it

In the bottle – Roses backed by what I smell as almonds, but I presume is the black cherry

Wet on me – The rose was the one note I was worried about and it appears to be the dominant note. The rest is mainly the marzipan sweetness of the cherry and a slight hint of the cherry itself

Dry on me – Rose incense with, oddly, a hint of geranium. It does finally pick up a slight fruity edge in the end

Overall – I was hoping to get the fruits from the blend and what I mainly got was rose. I’ll probably hold onto it as it is my star sign and it’s not actively unpleasant but I can’t see me going for it very often

In the bottle – Jasmine and lily, typical the two notes I most hoped to avoid in this blend

Wet on me – There’s a sort of minty sweetness, which if the jasmine wasn’t so prominent in the bottle would make me think that I had a mislabelled bottle of Incubus. Beneath that the rose and the lily are the strongest notes

Dry on me – Ashes and dust, before finally the tobacco and ginger combine to give a warm inviting skin scent

Overall – I expected this not to work on my skin, surprisingly the flowers didn’t ruin it, but something else did

In the bottle – Caramel with a hint of sage

Wet on me – Mainly the caramel with the crisp clear mint behind it, odd

Dry on me – After going through a mint humbug stage it finally settles into the warm caramel skin scent I hoped for, touched by just a hint of greenness that I presume is the nicotina

Overall – I dunno, the dry down is just what I hoped for and on paper I should love it, but in reality it just left me a bit cold and I just don’t understand why

In the bottle – The candyish sweetness of the violets

Wet on me – It’s all a bit muddled but the frankincense dominates over some soapy florals

Dry on me – Soap. Occasionally the violets peek through, but mainly it’s just soap.

Overall – I was expecting not to like this because ylang-ylang doesn’t really work on me, but in the end the soap killed it instead

In the bottle – A slight hint of green tobacco, but on the whole it’s barely there

Wet on me – Warm, slightly soapy tobacco

Dry on me – Soap powder, pure and simple soap powder

Overall – I don’t know what it was, but something in this blend turns to soap powder and then completely dominates it