Ajila

In the bottle - Thick vetiver with a wave of hot ginger

Wet on me - Gritty grey vetiver

Dry on me - It disappeared quite quickly on me

Overall - I wanted this to be anything but the vetiver which is a bit of a death note for me, but obviously it wasn't to be

In the bottle - Apple juice and apple peel

Wet on me - A pulp of mushed up apples

Dry on me - A soft slightly sweet musk

Overall - I was hoping for more apple and more staying power

In the bottle - Thick and rich toffee apples and shoe polish

Wet on me - A sticky honey scent with an almost bready undertone and hints of fruit

Dry on me - It disappeared completely on me

Overall - Wet it was really interesting but my skin just seemed to absorb it

In the bottle - Vinegar or something pickled with a slightly metallic twang

Wet on me - Dark musky and musty scent with hints of smoke

Dry on me - An almost sweaty musky leather scent

Overall - Didn't work well on me at all

In the bottle - A damp green mossy scent

Wet on me - A green mossy scent with a brighter almost citrusy note in the background

Dry on me - A clean slightly masculine skin musk

Overall - Not really my cup of tea

In the bottle - A sharp metallic scent with just the hint of something floral in the background

Wet on me - Still the sharp metallic scent with a green earthy undertone

Dry on me - A soft almost musky floral

Overall - I like the dry down but it's not for me

In the bottle - A sweet fuzzy geranium underlain by murky vetiver

Wet on me - The bright citrus of the lime comes through puddled with murky vetiver

Dry on me - The soft herbalness of the geranium comes through

Overall - Once the vetiver had been burned off this was quite pleasant, but not really my cup of tea

In the bottle - A deep, dark, almost fruity opoponax

Wet on me - Still that rich fruity opoponax but the high pitched floral of the lily of the valley comes out beneath it

Dry on me - Mostly deep rich fruit opoponax

Overall - I liked this more than I expected too, but it's still not really me

In the bottle - A slightly sweet slightly soapy oriental floral

Wet on me - A bright green, clean floral

Dry on me - A bright pretty summers day of a scent

Overall - I'm not really a floral girl, but this is an almost perfect rendition of a hot summers day in a garden

In the bottle - Salted sea water with a touch of hay

Wet on me - The dry hay really comes out with just a hint of sea water and an even smaller hint of Snake Oil

Dry on me - It sort of settles into salty water

Overall - The wet stages were intriguing but the dry down not so much

In the bottle - A kind of lemony detergent backed by the cat pee note I associate with jasmine

Wet on me - Still detergent and cat pee

Dry on me - Eventually (and it is a long eventually) the jasmine lets go and I get a soft sugary floral

Overall - I like the final dry down, but I brought this blend hoping the jasmine would be minimal and on me it seemed to be the predominant note

In the bottle - Lavender and mint

Wet on me - The mint/pennyroyal becomes more pronounced

Dry on me - A cool sexy skin musk with a slightly darker undertone

Overall - I'm not really a fan of black musk or cologne so this was an unexpected winner for me. Cool and sophisticated; masculine, but subtly so

In the bottle - A thick sweetened cram and just a hint of rose

Wet on me - The rose comes through more strongly leaving a cotton candy scent in the background

Dry on me - A sweet hazy vanilla with wafts of roses

Overall - I was worried that in the present heat wave it would be too rich and cloying, but actually it was quite light and airy and really pretty like a girlish Antique Lace

In the bottle - Mint and a touch of salt

Wet on me - Zingy mint and soapy water

Dry on me - It disappeared very quickly on my skin

Overall - Just got eaten by my skin

In the bottle - A clean and bright lavender with a zingy lemon backdrop

Wet on me - The lemon becomes stronger with the lavender now sitting in the background. The lemon is more like freshly squeezed lemon juice now

Dry on me - A super sharp fresh lemon scent

Overall - 8 years of wearing BPAL and now it turns out that I amp lemon to high heaven - and it lasts as well (16 hours and still going strong). For me it's just too sharp

In the bottle - Sharp refreshing spearmint

Wet on me - Mint and I think geranium

Dry on me - My headache actually seemed to get worse after I applied this but unfortunately it (the blend) disappeared quite quickly

Overall - Didn't really work for me

In the bottle - Mostly a smooth, slightly cool fougere, with just a hint of the tea

Wet on me - A sweet soft fougere with just a hint of sugar from the liquorice coming through

Dry on me - A faint vaguely fougere scent

Overall - The hints of tea and liquorice were promising, but never came to much

In the bottle - Cherry flavoured bubblegum

Wet on me - Soft almonds (I guess it's the cherry but it really does smell like almonds) with a tart undertone and still just a hint of bubblegum

Dry on me - It disappears quite rapidly leaving a faint fruity sweetness

Overall - Disappears quickly

In the bottle - A warm woody incense

Wet on me - A rich deep rose with a sort of woody undertone

Dry on me - Polished wood and incense

Overall - Nice, but not my cup of tea

In the bottle - A soft herbal honey

Wet on me - A kind of cherry flavoured tune type scent but without the medical edge

Dry on me - A soft dry incensy honey

Overall - Gorgeous, my only complaint is that it's a teensy weensy bit faint in the dry down. It's a long time since I've been this blown away by a blend. I must have a bottle

In the bottle - Green woods

Wet on me - Green woods with a slightly smoky tinge

Dry on me - A lightly salted skin musk

Overall - Unusual but not my cup of tea

In the bottle - A wash of cherry-like red musk with the odd staccato scent of the wasabi behind it

Wet on me - Whirling melange is right. I get something musty, something lemony and something earthy but actually pinning anything down is impossible

Dry on me - I still get wafts of something minty and citrusy bright but the skin note is a deep rich musk, sweet and not animalistic

Overall - I genuinely do not know if I like this or not, I think the disparate elements work, but I'm not certain about them together

In the bottle - Damp soil and a touch of pine

Wet on me - Green mossy loam

Dry on me - It faded really quickly on me

Overall - Not really my cup of tea

In the bottle - Violet and mint and something almost applelike

Wet on me - The violet gets more dominant and sweeter

Dry on me - Soft sweet violet with a bitter green underneath

Overall - I like violet, but I guess not the brusque

In the bottle - Quite perfumy with an air of something like black musk in the background

Wet on me - Dark bitter green with a soft powdered floral just breaking out from underneath

Dry on me - Weirdly for a floral this strikes me as a traditional masculine blend, in fact part of my brain says this smells like my dad after a shower

Overall - I quite like it for the association, but it's not something I would wear