Ajila

In the bottle – Vary, very faint rose

Wet on me – A sharp green powder

Dry on me – Disappears very quickly into the faintest memory of musk

Overall – Never really made an impression and then disappeared

In the bottle – Sweet, gorgeous incense

Wet on me – A sharp citrus followed by a dry hear that I can’t identify

Dry on me – Warm, slightly bitter and slightly sharp incense

Overall – To me this speaks of the desert, hard and distant and yet somehow entrancing. This is definitely something I would wear

In the bottle – Vetiver and a light edge of musk

Wet on me – Wood and vetiver, but tempered by an almost Snake Oil like sweetness and a light citrus touch

Dry on me – Sweet and rich and deep, presumably the opoponax, but I would have said vanilla

Overall – I like this a lot, I will have to give it a few more trials to ensure that it’s not flukey hormones, but this could be a bottle purchase

In the bottle – Pink rose petals floating in champagne

Wet on me – Sweet lush roses

Dry on me – Sugared roses

Overall – This is a little how I hoped Hope would be on me. I’ll hang on to the imp, but I doubt that I would wear it enough to buy a bottle

In the bottle – Predominantly the pomegranate, with just a hint of floral sharpness

Wet on me – A dark, sweet pomegranate buried under a rolling sea of green florals (I have no idea, which is which)

Dry on me – Very faint, slightly sweet florals

Overall – Disappears quickly and I didn’t really mind when it did

In the bottle – Initially the almond, then the cinnamon and finally the vetiver

Wet on me – Very, very faint almond

Dry on me – Warm dry incense, probably the earth and the balsam of peru

Overall – It’s not really me, but a colleague liked it so I’m going to offer her my imp, even if she was convinced it was patchouli

In the bottle – The sharp, not-quite-thereness of the ozone

Wet on me – Primarily the steel and the ozone, making this a distant, unsettling blend

Dry on me – Faint leather

Overall – This disappeared very quickly on me, but what I smelt probably wasn’t something that I would wear anyway

In the bottle – The sweet, dark resins coupled with a high sharpness from the lilac musk

Wet on me – The lilac musk remains the dominant note backed by the green of the myrtle and blackberry leaf and tempered by the sweetness of the tonka

Dry on me – Clean, green scent with what I would have said was leather in the back ground

Overall – This is a very masculine blend, but safe masculine, metrosexual rather that red blooded heterosexual if you see what I mean

In the bottle – Straight up lavender

Wet on me – Sweet soap and something that tickles my nose

Dry on me – Sweet creamy lavender, with just a hint of tobacco

Overall – I really expected to like this, but on me it was just bland

In the bottle – Lush, wet roses and something green

Wet on me – Soft sweet roses

Dry on me – Old fashioned roses, with and almost treacle-like sweetness

Overall – Nice enough, but not something that I’d wear

In the bottle – Lavender? And soap? Odd

Wet on me – Warm spices and some sort of citrus

Dry on me – Clean, sharp florals

Overall – It was a bit of a nothing scent on me

In the bottle – Sharp florals backed by sea salt

Wet on me – Washing powder and something herbal

Dry on me – Clean clothes and washing powder

Overall – This has gone the way of many of the Asian blends on my skin chemistry

In the bottle – Passion flower and the raw heat of the pink pepper

Wet on me – A kind of sweet and sour fizziness that bounces off the skin. As a whole it’s hard to get a grasp of the scent, but I the passion flower remains the dominant scent

Dry on me – Soft warm honeysuckle, with just a smattering of the pepper

Overall – A warm sensual scent that lingers on the edges of your perception

In the bottle – Possibly some of the lilac, but to my nose it’s barely perceptible

Wet on me – Sharp heady florals with a lingering burning scent behind them

Dry on me – Clean like freshly ironed laundry, with just a hint of sweetness

Overall – Nice enough, but not something that I’d ever wear

In the bottle – Sharp green fruits backed by incense

Wet on me – The sharpness of the wine with the dry tickle-the-back-of-your-throat-smokiness of the incense

Dry on me – Deep honey drenched incense, the same honey that’s in Athens

Overall – I like the deep richness of this, but it doesn’t wow me. I’ll keep it and see if it grows on me

In the bottle – Predominantly the juniper with a flurry of florals

Wet on me – A bundle of soft powdered blooms

Dry on me – Warm sensual spices, my guess is that it’s the combination of the amber and the carnation, but whatever it is this is a gorgeous skin scent, which just draws you in

Overall – One of those blends which doesn’t have much waft, but when you get close it grabs you by the nose and you just can’t stop sniffing

In the bottle – Almond and something soapy

Wet on me – Coconut and soft spices

Dry on me – Hot dry spices that conjure images of the desert

Overall – Warm and evocative, I’ll definitely keep my imp, with an eye to picking up a bottle later

In the bottle – Camomile, lush juicy pears and just a hint of pepper

Wet on me – A sweet smooth, candy-like scent, with a hint of spicy. It really reminds me of a Lush ballistic, but I can’t work out which one

Dry on me – Sweet, fresh, clean pears

Overall – It disappeared quite quickly, but I liked what was there

In the bottle – Faint sweet florals

Wet on me – White clean and powdery

Dry on me – Soft faint florals warmed by the amber

Overall – This was a bit neither here nor there on me

In the bottle – All I can smell is the freesias and they are very faint

Wet on me – Cold soapy freesias

Dry on me – A sort of absent cleaness

Overall – It’s peculiar, which I suppose is fitting, but it’s not something that I could wear

In the bottle – Juniper

Wet on me – Deep lushious juniper berries

Dry on me – The juniper stays true, the dark earth fruits slightly sweetened by the lotus

Overall – I like juniper as a note and it works on me, but this was a little one dimensional

In the bottle – Bright, heady florals, with a dirty copal beneath them

Wet on me – Soft sweet iris with a soapy background

Dry on me – Very faint, light spring florals

Overall – This was pleasantly crisp, but disappeared very quickly on me

In the bottle – Creamy coffee, with something bitter in the background

Wet on me – Warm creamy coffee, which just a hint of the cinnamon (and maybe the wood) behind it

Dry on me – Warm and clean and spicy. Mocha covered with whipped cream and sprinkled with cinnamon

Overall – I could bathe in this, it’s stunning

In the bottle – Grass and lemon grass (more probably the verbena). Fresh and bright

Wet on me – Light and bright and green with a slight citrus tang

Dry on me – Green and fresh, like a summer field of wild grasses, with an additional element of burning rubber

Overall – Without the rubber this would be quite lovely. I’m developing a collection of bright spring scents almost by accident. I may have to pay that area of the BPAL catalogue more attention

In the bottle – Dr Pepper with a hint of hops

Wet on me – Dry slightly bitter tobacco with something slightly syrupy in the background

Dry on me – Warm dry tobacco drizzled with lashings of spiced syrup

Overall – This is gorgeous. Warm and comforting, but with a dark sensual edge to it