Little Bird

I was hoping for a foodie marzipan scent touched with hints of Snake Oil, but the notes in Asp Viper seem to go all awry on my skin. The scent opens up with a strong blast of almond, which smells like maraschino cherries on my skin. Super-sweet and with something of a chemical edge. In the drydown, the almond calms and fades, but a sharp citrus note and a really smoky resin takes its place. It quickly morphs into something of a dry, powdery version of Snake Oil with a sharp citrus squeezed over it. it's smoky and dry rather than foodie on my skin. Love the label art, not so fond of the fragrance. ETA, June 2008: I've let this age a bit and the almond is even stronger and more terrifying on my skin . The almond is hyper-sweet maraschino cherries, and it's so strong and sickly sweet that it makes me ill. It's rare that a scent is too sweet for me, but this is just too much. With age (or maybe my skin chemistry changing), this has turned into crazy, bad, long-lasting almond that starts going to baby powder after about an hour. I think this is my least favorite of the Snake Pit. ETA, May 2016: I'm retrying this to compare it to the Asp Viper 2016 blend and it's actually REALLY good now, lol. It's finally the creamy, vanilla and nutty almond marzipan with the dark musk of Snake Oil that I always wanted it to be. It smells like an earthy red musk and hints of marzipan. It just took 9 years to get here, and I can't believe it's been that long

Coral Snake smells like a little bottle full of cider. Normally I have trouble wearing the lab's cider-esque blends because they're too sharp or something in them goes a little earthy and funky on my skin. This, however, is a perfect apple cider with sweet apples and warm, soft spices. It's smooth and sweet on my skin. I was a bit afraid of the floral notes listed here, but I can't even pick them out exactly. If anything, the flowers just add the slightest touch of a creamy, breezy feel to the blend (and add a sort of complexity that keeps this from smelling too articifial and candle-like on me). It's the sweet apple and the hints of spice from the Snake Oil that dominate. My skin amps up the spice over the apples after a while and I like this a bit less, but it's still lovely. I don't love this like I love Boomslang & Banded Sea Snake, but this will be a great once-in-a-while wear when I want a spiced apple.

I received a wee decant of this one from Thursdae (thanks!). In the imp and first on my skin, Temple: Haitian smells like cinnamon toast and the spicy lemon cookie-ish scent that I get from Cerberus. Lemongrass and cookies. After a while the citrus scent gets stronger, and this smells like cutting into a fresh lemon. But I'm still getting something like sugar cookies and gingerbread in the background. After an hour or so, this has dried down to a smokier, slightly powdery incense that reminds me a bit of the Chakra blend Sahasrara (candied incense), only this is more subtle and bakery-ish on me. Very lovely.

Hope & Faith just aren't really standout blends for me. I was hoping for a strong candied violet and a strong sugared rose. They're both incredibly light fragrances though, clinging close to my skin and only sticking around for about an hour tops. I think that I like Faith more than Hope. Hope has a soured edge on my skin where Faith just goes powdery. Violet powder with an added sweetness that reminds me a bit of vanilla cream. Creamy vanilla-violet powder. Not so bad, but probably not something I'd find myself wearing a lot. I might keep my decant of this girl though. I haven't had great luck with the lab's violet scents thus far, they usually go either powdery or soapy on my skin. The only violet blend that I've really loved was Marie... which started out actually smelling like candied violets and dried down to sweet, candied roses & violets on me. I like Marie more than Hope or Faith.

Hope & Faith just aren't really standout blends for me. I was hoping for a strong candied violet and a strong sugared rose. They're both incredibly light fragrances though, clinging close to my skin and only sticking around for about an hour tops. Hope is a light rose on me, but with something of a sour edge. I actually don't get a ton of sweetness or much of a sugary vibe from this one. Faith was a sweeter blend to me. I have pretty good luck with the lab's roses (Marie, Peacock Queen & Parlement of Foules being my favorites). Marie is more of a strong, sweet, sugared rose (in its drydown) on my skin than Hope's light, sour rose.

Temple Viper is such an interesting scent. It's one of those blends that I keep going back to, and it's so hard to describe or get a full impression of. It smells like some sort of green, tropical sugar - wonderfully exotic and sweet. I can't pick out any one note from this, but it all melds together into something delicious and unusual. I think the sugar cane really shines and pulls everything together. In the drydown, I get an almost fruity grape smell, but it's not overwhelming or grossly artificial. So... yeah. The best way I could describe how this smells on me is tropical, green sugar with a hint of grape in the drydown . I like it, a lot.

Something about Eshe really bothers me. I think that it might be that the picture and the story make me think about battered women and abuse. The bones poking out, withdrawn posture and the violent story make me a bit nauseous & sad inside. That creepy, unhappy feeling lingers when I wear this scent. I have this same issue with a lot of the Funereal Oils. Trying to put aside my personal bias: The fragrance itself is an okay herbal-floral, but not something that I would ever choose to wear. Jasmine here has something of a green, herby feel rather than a yellowy sweetness. It’s not the overpowering jasmine that I am used to. The whole fragrance has something of a dry, light, papery feel to it. The herbal jasmine stays at the forefront, with a background of very light, slightly powdery sandalwood and a moreso perfumey floral note (which is odd, because black orchid usually smells sort of juicy and sweet to me). Light, powdery, herby floral. Paper-thin and delicate. Not for me...

In the bottle, this smells delicious. It smells like someone took a branch with healthy green leaves and red berries on it, and crammed them into this bottle. On my skin, this is refreshingly fruity, without being all fruit or obnoxious in any way. It's still giving me an impression of tart red berries and thick green leaves. In the drydown, a bit of the smoked vanilla comes out and this is deliciously foodie and unique. I don't get any spice, and (thankfully) there's no amber in here mucking things up for me. After about fifteen minutes, I begin to recognize hints of the smoky, musky Snake Oil underneath the vanilla & berries, and the impression of green leaves has faded away entirely. The drydown is smoky vanilla, hints of smoky Snake Oil, and wafts of the delicious berry scent every once in a while. I like this. I might need a full bottle before the carnaval leaves town.

Banded Sea Snake is my most favorite aquatic ever (my only favorite aquatic?). When I sniffed it in the bottle, it instantly made me *so* happy. It's a bright, creamy, sweet aquatic. Actually, I'm not even sure if it's right to call this an aquatic scent. It has that bright, crystal clear, glass & sunlight sort of thing going on that Sea of Glass does. The Snake Oil aspect comes out more in the drydown (and I find myself wishing there were no SO at all in this) and adds just a hint of something earthy. Even now, the 'earthy' isn't a soil note so much as a hint of soil smothered in dark green. A tiny hint of Snake Oil's vanilla is also coming out now and adding to the creamy sweetness. The Snake Oil isn't so bad as it is moreso adding oomph to the blend than taking it over. It's like the bright crystal aquatic of Sea of Glass, only better... with some mossy greenery amped up by hints of Snake Oil vanilla and earthiness. It has a salty edge that I am loving, and it's so much creamier and smoother than you could ever expect without really trying it. Good stuff.

In the bottle, Boomslang is a delightfully creepy visual (and smell-wise it's just damn good). It's so dark and thick that it looks like there are actual solid particles clinging to the edges of the cap and floating around in here, and there is a layer of light colored oil laying on top of the thicker, dark oil. I took a sample from just the light oil off the top, then shook the whole thing up and tested it normally. The lighter/clear bit just smells like 'lite' Snake Oil to me... the smoky vanilla of Snake Oil, separated from the rest of the blend. (ETA: Over time, that clear layer has disappeared and this oil has gotten insanely thick and even richer smelling.) *shakes up bottle* If you like the smell of chocolate or cocoa in any way at all, you need Boomslang. Even if you're not so fond of chocolate, I'd still suggest trying this, because it's crazy-good, and I've never smelled anything like it before. I personally do not like Snake Oil. It's actually dirty and stomach turning on my skin, whether it's fresh or has been aged for forever and a day. So, I'm really shocked at how much I love several of the snakes. The added components actually make Snake Oil wonderful and wearable for me. Boomslang is like Snake Oil with less of the 'dirtymuskyincense' (or, in my case, unwashed hair and BO) and more of the smoky vanilla aspect, dusted in a generous layer of dark chocolate. There's still a muskiness here that reminds me of hot red musk, but it's just a smoldering, sexy hint at the edges of the fragrance. Boomslang is like the highest quality, creamiest dark chocolate truffle in the world, put into perfume form, and then sexed up with a bit of musk and dark vanilla. Love it.

I wasn't very hopeful that Habu would work on me, honestly. I don't do well with the Asian-themed blends. I was hoping that the Snake Oil part of this would make it more interesting and wearable for me... but I can't smell any Snake Oil here, even after wearing it for 4 hours, and the sharp, clean, musky notes are really not appealing to me. On me this is soapy, sharp, astringent... dominated by a cheap men's cologne sharpness from the black musk.

Like most blends with verbena in them, this is all lemon all the time on my skin. It’s a bit herbal and astringent, but screaming LEMON. After a while there’s a hint of a bitter and perfumey floral underneath the lemon. I really don’t care for this blend.

I expected this blend to be really sharp on my skin, but the drydown isn't so bad. At first it is sharp and bitter from the rosemary and rose otto, and I don’t like the cheap men’s cologne vibe that I get from the black musk. After a few minutes though, those unpleasant notes seem to burn up in a sudden blaze of fiery spices and this scent gets much better for me. It turns into something of a slightly smoky, sweeter incense and bold smack of a spice. It does remind me a bit of cassia and a bit of rootbeer from the saffron at first – but it’s not as sweet as either of those things on my skin. I probably wouldn’t wear this, but it’s rather interesting anyhow. It’s not quite a sweet enough scent, more of a bitter spice to me that gets more herbal and a pinch soapy over time. Not what I was expecting from the scent description. Out of all of the Faces of the Heroine scents, I think this is the one that I like the most, but I still don’t see myself keeping my decant.

I was surprised to see the artwork for Thalassa, it reminded me of the lionfish mermaid (“Lions of the Sea” series) art by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law (very purdy if anyone wants to check it out ). I love the lionfish mermaid concept. We used to have a pair of lionfish and they were so beautiful. I digress. Unfortunately for me, I have some trouble wearing aquatics and this one doesn’t work well on me either. I can’t pick out any of the actual notes, but the whole thing blends together into a soapy, dryer sheet sort of scent. A bit breezy and sharp at first. In the drydown, the scent becomes sweeter and not as soapy, but I can’t really explain what it reminds me of other than dryer sheets. I want to get the trading card for this blend, but I don’t think I’ll keep my sample…

Other reviewers have already described this one better than I will be able to. Dolce Stil Nuovo is a very prim floral blend on me. The flowers are a touch sweet and light, the lavender is sort of cool and smooth, and the musk wraps it all up into a very traditional perfumey floral. It gets more powdery on me the longer that I wear it, but my skin generally does that with amber scents.

Vipralabda is a bitter, herbal scent on me. It isn't very perfume-like or wearable. On me it has a bitter, astringent greenery mixed with a dry and almost smoky sort of herbal something. I have a hard time picking out any of the listed notes. This does sweeten up after an hour or so, but only slightly underneath the bitterness. It's not so bad that I need to scrub it off, but I can't think of any point in my life where I would actually want to wear this either.

The currant and red musk in this excited me, but I wasn’t very hopeful about this scent overall… opium poppy and black musk have become two of my least favorite lab notes. Of course, my skin amps up the opium poppy in Arachnina like mad and throws in a screaming dose of generic FLORALMUSK to make things just a bit worse for me. This is sharp and heavy and a perfect recipe for giving me a migraine. If you like opium poppy then you should definitely try this blend, because it’s even stronger than usual on my skin. Opium poppy/floral/classic perfume loving people should enjoy this one. If you have trouble wearing florals or dark musk, I’d pass on the Spider Girl.

I wisely just decided to wait and get a sample of this one from a friend. It contains my arch nemesis, opium. Painfully sharp, white, biting. Smelling opium is like snuffing razor blades up the nose for me. Opium paired with a dry, dusty note and the unpleasant, sticky sweetness that I get from tobacco… this is a nightmare scent for me My skin amps up the sharp opium and hints of dirty tobacco as a suffocating dryness lingers in the background. I had to scrub this one off. Awful. If you can handle opium and like resins & tobacco scents, you'd probably have good luck with The Parliament of Monsters.

I'm going back and making edits to my reviews of the snakes, now that I have my own full bottles and have been able to spend some more time with them . Death Adder is a favorite for me. I was afraid that the vetiver would make this blend too dark & earthy, but I honestly don't think that I would actually pick vetiver out of this at all. It's amazing that plain ole Snake Oil smells awful on me (no matter how fresh or aged it is), but several of the snakes have been so wonderful, and so different from each other. Death Adder definitely smells like Snake Oil, but it doesn't turn rancid on my skin. It's like a sexy, sugared, dark muskiness with the addition of a sweet, dark, dry, woody coconut and an extra helping of a sexy, dark vanilla. My boy has a coconut scented hair gel that made me realize I love the smell of coconut on him, and Death Adder is a perfect coconut scent for him. It's a complex, dark, sexy coconut. I'd wear this myself and love it, but I love it even more on my hubby-to-be. I'll have to snag a few backup bottles of this one before it disappears for good.

I was so hoping to love the kitty (and I do love the label, just the oil within doesn’t like me much). Unfortunately, the cinnamon in this one really burns, and my skin normally isn’t sensitive (though it does seem to be more sensitive and temperamental lately, boooo). The amber musk goes to perfumey baby powder, layered with an itchy cinnamon and a sweet, slightly soapy cherry. I can’t ever pick out any of the citrus. The powdery musk stays strong in the drydown, but the spice and sweet, fruity cherry (not even cherry blossom, it smells like maraschino cherries on me) keep shoving each other around and fighting for some dominance. I don’t much care for powdery scents, and the cinnamon here is unpleasantly itchy. The spice smells good, but doesn’t feel so good. I wish that I were getting the tea and sweet orange out of this citrus tea would have been lovely. I’m getting spiced cherries & baby powder. Stupid skin chemistry…

I’ve been having a bad time with the lunacy blends this past year. Hunger Moon isn’t really awful by any means, but it’s very much a ‘not me’ sort of fragrance. It’s light, clean, dappled with hints of sharp citrus, and powdery around the edges. A bit of an astringent, herbal greenery is here as well. After 15 minutes or so, it goes to baby powder with a hint of lemony citrus squeezed over it and a chilly sort of something. I’m (sadly) not getting the foresty, earthy, Dublin comparison that some other reviewers have picked out. This reminds me more of the clean citrus of Embalming Fluid, but beaten down with baby powder and slush. Luckily for me, this is light and clings close to my skin. The scent disappears completely after a half hour.

(Thanks for lettin’ me try this, C ) I thought that I would love Anaconda, but given its limited availability, I’m really glad that I don’t. This is a really heavy scent on me and the foodie part reminds me of something like Gluttony. Butterscotch, caramel, buttercream, chocolate something – but it’s so heavy and cloying that it makes me think of foodie candles rather than foodie perfume. I do get the comparison to Sugar Skull in the drydown, but that was also too rot-your-teeth-out sweet for me. In the end it smells like buttery brown sugar and hints of Snake Oil-esque spice & incense. I could tolerate this in an oil burner, but not so much on my skin.

This is definitely a good scent for The Other Woman in my case, because it is definitely not a 'Tania' sort of scent, lol. Opium does bad, bad things on my skin. It's a sharp and smoky scent, almost a sharp white smoke of a scent. That vicious sharpness dominates this blend on me. Underneath the opium, there is something floral that is trying to sweeten out the blend, but the opium crushes it. I can catch little hints of something earthy or a sweet floral every once in a while. The Other Woman is sharp and smoky on me, with hints of earth & sweet floral that never quite makes it out. Strong opium. As anyone who has read any of my reviews will know, this isn't a keeper for me...

Chintamani-Dhupa makes me really nauseous. In the bottle it is harmless enough... a bland woods & baby powder fragrance. On my skin, this triggers my gag reflex. It smells like a repulsive man's body order (reminding me of someone maybe). Cold, bland, powdery sandalwood and body odor. I have a really bad reaction to this blend. It's not sweet or incensey to me at all. It's still, quiet, cold, and unchanging in a way that creeps me out. There's definitely a sandalwood here, and it's going powdery on my skin. And there's something funky that makes me want to cry or throwup or something. Er. I don't like this one at all.

I think that the Heroines hate me a little. Abhisarika was the one that I had the most hope for, but even this one doesn't hold up well on my skin. In the bottle and on my skin, this is incredibly sharp and off-putting. It's an intensely sharp, bright musk. On my skin, a bit of the rose comes out and quickly goes soapy. Sharp musk and men's creamy shave soap. Soap. Loads of soap. Creamy shave soap that you imagine to be white and fluffy, but still soap. Every once in a while, a bit of rose or a sweeter note pops out to play, then quickly disappears back under the soap. This is headache central for me. Sometimes entire series of scents seem to go off on my skin... and the Heroines are all turning out to be pretty bad on me. Boo.