Ajila

In the bottle – A barely there fuzziness from the musk

 

Wet on me – Soft, powdery poppy and dark, murky patchouli

 

Dry on me – At first the patchouli leaves a dirty streak across the blend, but it dries out to crisp clean musks

 

Overall – I like the cleaness of the dry down, but this is probably not something I would wear

In the bottle – Caramel (prays that this is one of the few caramel blends that actually works on me)

Wet on me – Sweet caramel, smoky patchouli, something bitter and a bit peppery (the cinnamon leaf?)

Dry on me – Rich dark caramel oozes throughout the blend, there are occasional hints of the other notes, but they are mere sideshows to the main attraction

Overall – Wet I wasn’t convinced, but dry I love it and even as it fades to barely perceptible the remnant is warm and sensual

In the bottle – Peaches

 

Wet on me – Warm green floral

 

Dry on me – Soft peach lying on a bed of herbs

 

Overall – Both the lily and the rose are not good notes on me, but this is quite lovely. It’s probably not something I’ll wear often, but I’ll keep the imp around

In the bottle – Really odd, kind of waxy, a little sweet with a slightly peppery kick at the end

 

Wet on me – The waft is extra sweet Snake Oil, close to it’s kind of smoky and woody

 

Dry on me – This is a drier, smokier Snake Oil

 

Overall – I can’t think I would reach for this over Snake Oil

In the bottle – Whoah! Ginger!

 

Wet on me – Ginger and cinnamon, this actually smells hot (and is slightly burning my skin!)

 

Dry on me – It becomes softer and sweeter and lasts like nobody’s business (17 hours and counting)

 

Overall – Once you’re over the hot, hot stage this is a warm inviting scent, which brought me two unsolicited compliments (something that’s practically unheard of)

In the bottle – It’s almost not there, just a slight tickling of the opium smoke at the very edge of my nose

 

Wet on me – Indistinct spiciness with a touch of metal and a hint of bacon

 

Dry on me – Warm and spicy, slightly creamy and very sexy

 

Overall – This is a wonderful scent and whilst I will wear it I think it would be a great one to test on a man

In the bottle – The bottle itself smells of rum, the blend of lime

 

Wet on me – I find the rum and tobacco overpowering. The lime and sugar cookies make a valiant effort to get through, but they’re just swamped

 

Dry on me – This is the same rich, fruity tobacco found in Hearth 04 and Herr Drosselmeyer and I love it. It’s cut through with the lime making it lighter and more wearable than the others.

 

Overall – I like this a lot. Hearth 04 and Herr Drosselmeyer are among my favourite LE’s and this is better. It’s a scent I could wear every day without it being too cloying or heavy. Although perhaps not if we get the heat wave that they are predicting this summer.

In the bottle – Sweet roses

 

Wet on me – Sweet, soapy roses

 

Dry on me – Sweet, soapy roses

 

Overall – I’m not into roses and this really doesn’t work on me

In the bottle – Sweet almost coconut/almond/cocoa/milk

 

Wet on me – Soft, sweet, slightly musky, it’s almost a skin scent

 

Dry on me – Warm sweet and milky and yet also musky, I like this a lot

 

Overall – I’ve never much looked at the RG category, because the ‘normal’ floral notes don’t work for me, but this is lovely. I may have to rethink

In the bottle – Sharp harsh lilies

 

Wet on me – Mostly what I get is astringent lilies with just a touch of powder from the apple blossom

 

Dry on me – Soft powdery nothingness

 

Overall – This disappeared almost immediately, but the lily meant it was unlikely ever to be a winner on me

In the bottle – Rose with the slight sweetness of the pear in the background

 

Wet on me – Again there is an undercurrent of pear, but the dominant force is softly spiced rose

 

Dry on me – Soft florals with just a hint of the juiciness of the pears

 

Overall – It’s very pretty, but not me

In the bottle – Nothing, literally zero. If I sniff really hard I get just a sniff of Snake Oil

 

Wet on me – Still surprisingly faint. With dirty smelling resins forming the main body and something softer and sweeter behind them

 

Dry on me – Soft, spicy Snake Oil with a slightly woody base

 

Overall – It was pleasant enough and even earned me an unsolicited compliment, but I can’t imagine wearing it when I could be wearing Snake Oil

In the bottle – Gingerbread? With a citrus tang

 

Wet on me – Eucalyptus and honey (I smell like Lockets) with a hint of toilet cleaner (which I guess is the pine)

 

Dry on me – The pine/air freshener/toilet cleaner takes over on me and it’s not what I want to smell like

 

Overall – I’m sure with the right skin chemistry this smells great (after all in the bottle it smells like Shub-Niggurath to me), but mine is definitely not the right skin chemistry

In the bottle – An initial twang of sharp fruit followed by earthy greeness

 

Wet on me – Predominantly sweet, candy like berries with something earth, almost bitter behind them

 

Dry on me – Juicy berries give way to green earthy grasses

 

Overall – I’m surprised at how much I like this, but it is very faint and fades quickly

In the bottle – Deep Heat, weird

 

Wet on me – Yep, definitely Deep Heat, is this wintergreen?

 

Dry on me – Soft green herbal blend, with a hint of saltiness – I would describe this blend as a sea breeze over sand dunes

 

Overall – The dry down is quite pretty, but the initial stages frighten me

In the bottle – Predominantly the lily, with a touch of greeness

 

Wet on me – Soft, mossy – almost muddy - florals

 

Dry on me –Faint florals, which disappear quickly on me

 

Overall – Not my sort of thing, and this blend didn’t do anything to change my opinion

In the bottle – Rose, rose and more rose

 

Wet on me – Rose and gardenia

 

Dry on me – Soft powdery florals

 

Overall – I’m not a floral person, but this was pleasant enough, it’s the sort of perfume my Gran would prefer me to wear

In the bottle – The slightly tart cheesecake scent that I associate with Beaver Moon coupled with something quite bitter (the musk perhaps?)

 

Wet on me – Ferocious musk (I’m not good enough to know which sort). Just a hint of the chocolate, but this is all about the musk

 

Dry on me – Mostly quite an aggressive dark musk. After about 6 hours it settles into a bitter dark chocolate

 

Overall – I guess I didn’t expect the musk to be so prominent on me, but this just isn’t what I hoped for

In the bottle – Coconut, a slight resiny tinge, which I presume is the opoponax, and just a hint of vetiver

 

Wet on me – A kind of earthy vanilla

 

Dry on me – The green bitterness of the vetiver does come through, but it’s always sitting in a background of vanilla, which stops it becoming too harsh

 

Overall – I was worried about the vetiver, but on the whole I’m glad that I decided to take the gamble. This is an everyday wearable scent that contains just that hint of sensuality, which takes it to another level

 

ETA Now that it's aged for the best part of two years, this scent completely rocks. Running from almost straight Snake Oil to a thick deep vetiver that's just like clean leather. It is sex cubed.

In the bottle – Rose, possibly lilies and something green and bright in the background

 

Wet on me – At first there is a waft of white wine and then it’s pure roses. Wet, lush rose

 

Dry on me – Softly sweet roses with the occasional hint of something sparkly

 

Overall – Considering that I don’t really like roses I enjoyed wearing this blend

In the bottle – Creamy chocolate milk, with just a hint of the wood

 

Wet on me – Dark bitter cocoa, with an almost rubbery woodiness from the teak

 

Dry on me – Sweet, sexy skin musk, sometimes O-like, other times tinged with cocoa

 

Overall - This is good stuff, sexy and sensual, without being in your face, sweet without being sickly, a real winner

In the bottle – Bright berries and something slightly soapy

 

Wet on me – Berries, but with a cut green grass tinge

 

Dry on me – Soft powdery, but occasionally tart berries, with just a hint of creamy vanilla behind them

 

Overall - I like this blend, but it has very little ‘kick’

In the bottle – Almond with just a hint of mandarin in the background

 

Wet on me – Still predominantly almond, with a hint of mandarin and spices

 

Dry on me – Warm spicy Snake Oil, but made softer by the almond and deeper by the myrrh

 

Overall - A sexy, warm, drool-worthy blend

In the bottle - Fresh, lush rose petals, with a hint of sugar.

 

Wet on me - This is a slightly green, slightly spicy rose, made sickly by sugar.

 

Dry on me - Ashes which is odd, because that's what happens to cream and butter notes on me. It does after several hours dry down to a lovely candied rose scent.

 

Overall - I'm not really a rose lover, but after the glories of Faith I had high hopes for Hope. Sadly it was killed by my skin chemistry.

In the bottle - Parma violets, sweet and fruity.

 

Wet on me - The violets become more vibrant, but they are still encrusted in sugar.

 

Dry on me - Sweet and clean, like Antique Lace sprinkled with violets

 

Overall - Absolutely gorgeous, I may attempt to eke this out with AL as it is a tad faint, but otherwise this is outstanding