Afire
Neil Morris Fragrances (2007)

Straight off, this reminds me of two things: Christmas, & Karma by Lush, with its thick orange liqueur & suggestion of patchouli. For me it is not the scent of passion, but rather the scent of plum pudding soaked in Grand Marnier. This plum pudding has not yet been lit, however. The only association with fire here is the orange colour it conjures up. Neither is it chock full of spices as one might expect; it's dense, sweet, powerful & possibly cloying to some. If you hate the smell of a Lush shop, I'd say steer clear of this one. I happen to love that smell, but this might be too much even for me. After three hours, it becomes more caramelised & less about the sticky fruit, & five hours in I detect something resinous, like labdanum or opoponax. At this point it's a more wearable & cosy winter comfort scent, still humming softly after fifteen hours.
I might enjoy wearing this again when Christmas comes around, but I'll certainly go light on the trigger!

I consider Affire to be mainly a citrusy scent with gourmand, oriental, and incense notes supporting it. The opening begins with a not so fresh sparkly citrusy note which in a way reminds me of a orange soft drink. After an hour the citrusy notes mellow out and notes of caramel, cinnamon, and vanilla begin to come through changing the scent into a fruity, spicy, and gourmand scent. After three hours the incense note becomes noticeable. I did not detect a woodsy note in this scent. Aside from the first hour the scent remains quite linear throughout its duration. Longevity is fairly good lasting a good 10 hours while the silage remains decent for the first 2-3 hours before becoming a skin scent for the remaining time. The best time to wear this would be in fall and winter.
Affire does seem rather appropriate for the holiday settings IMO particularly around Thanksgiving (here in the US) and Christmas. I'm reminded of huge family Xmas gatherings that involve the passing of countless dishes at a large dinner in the dining room. This is immediately followed by gift exchanges in the living room with a roaring fire in the fireplace and a Xmas tree that projects aromas as well as the burning of spicy oriental candles.
Finally, I was disappointed with the scent overall. I was expecting a lot more from this fragrance after spending time reading up on Afire prior to wearing it. Initially I was pleased based on how the scent reacted to my skin during the opening. The opening was bright and refreshing and got my attention but that soon came to pass. As I said earlier, the scent becomes quite linear and little development was noticed after the first hour. I had trouble smelling it after the first several hours if I didn't put my nose close to my wrist. Although I won't say this is a terrible scent, this is clearly something that isn't for me.

This is one of more odious scrubbers I've come across recently. Buttery caramel-vanilla notes dominate, in fact that's all I get from beginning to end. A very sweet, persistent, cloying candy smell. Bleccch! Where's the wood and frankincense? I don't like it on me, I wouldn't like it on anyone else.

Does not agree with me at all! The burning sensation gets to me and the very very fizzy citrus note is too much. Then it turns into a fizzy milky berry and praline like accord. The feeling of sour apples cannot leave my skin for this. From NM's website, this is the scent of passion... I'd be turned off my someone wearing this.

Afire is one of the most intriguing, irresistible perfumes I have smelled in a long time. It has top notes of orange and cinnamon which are reminiscent of the smell of really good homemade Christmas potpourri containing masses of dried orange peel. Then, the luscious buttery, salty caramel notes appear and I am reminded, of all things, of Diorama which is a fruity chypre. My guinea pig boyfriend took the obligatory sniff and said "incense" which I don't get at all, but frankincense is one of the listed notes so maybe the boyfriend is on to something. Last of all, the sillage is outstanding. I sprayed Afire on a scent strip and found it in my purse 3 days later with a very recognizable smell. I am enjoying Afire so much that I want to eat my wrist (and coming from an avowed non-gourmand, this should tell you something)! Here are Afire's notes, per Neil Morris' website: Citrus, berries, caramel, frankincense, wood.

Afire is an exquisite fragrance. Incense and Wood, lightly sweetened with Vanilla and Caramel. It is somewhat reminiscent of Guerlain’s Bois D’Armenie or Heeley’s Cardinal, but it has a stronger, deeper presence. The fire, to me, refers to the depth and complexity of the incense – it is not spicy, like for instance, H.O.T. Always by Bond No. 9. Not a silage monster, neither is it a skin scent; it will be appreciated by you and those at a close interpersonal distance. As it is a parfum, the fragrance last and lasts. Neil Morris fragrances are a real find, expertly made and easily comparable with the best there is out there.

Maybe it's the slight burning in the nose at the first sniff; it does kind of burn my eyes when I get close enough to sniff it right after spraying; or maybe the incense from the base kind of explodes as soon as soon as it hits my skin: But I really have trouble accounting for the name… I simply don't get anything related to fire in this fragrance. The incense of the opening doesn't come across as pure incense; it presents itself as a mixed incense / semi-sweet fruity accord – an accord that strongly reminds me of a more transparent version of some of the better (and now discontinued) works of Donna Karan. But I don't think of it as fire. Perhaps I have a different standard of the fires of passion, but I don't find Afire very fiery or very passionate: Maybe a case of selective anosmia: I often can't smell red pepper in fragrances that are supposed to have it. Or maybe its just plain exhausted, depleted libido. I'm not saying that I don't like this scent; in fact, I enjoy it – it is totally admirable and wonderfully sniffable. I get the excellent citrus / berry opening – light, sweet, and delightful. And I get the caramel, and that accord is very yummy, but I'm not getting any sultriness or vibrancy or fires of passion or seduction. I'm probably way too old ...