Batty Snake Oil

[zankoku_zen]

Deep, rich, earthy notes swirled with vegetal musks, sugared vanilla bean, brown leather, and dark spices.

[frizzlechicken]

When I first received this, the leather note was pretty strong up top, but within 24 hours it had calmed down. Upon application, there is a distinct note of leather, I described it as a sun-warmed leather jacket that you’ve worn in some early autumn air. After the initial burst of leather starts to fade, there is a really stunning sugared vanilla that blends gorgeously with the familiar snake oil. For the rest of the time wearing this, the sugared vanilla was the note I smelled most, and it was glorious.
 

interestingly, when I woke up the next morning the only trace left behind by the scent was leather! I was super surprised since other than application that faded for most of the wear. 

Edited October 31, 2023 by frizzlechicken

[elissamay]

This is Snake Oil and rugged brown boot leather, for me. It seems extra vanilla-fied, and at first I called it "black" boot leather, but on further reflection it really is more English saddle than Doc Marten. Super wearable, super classic BPAL.

[Numanoid]

This is so good. Smells like a close relative to Snake Skin. On, it still reminds me of that but I detect the spices coming through as well! If you are any kind of fan of S.O and leather, this is a scent for you!

[MamaMoth]

i'm always a bit wary of leather notes, but i'm very fond of snooty bat, and my love for snake oil is practically boundless, so this was a must-try. and i wasn't wrong.  this miiiight be one of my favorite sneks.  

 

is leather really the only additional component listed here?  i'm shocked.  it's snake oil, but so much more, too.  it's more leathery upon initial application, with a touch of the plastic quality that sometimes puts me off leather blends.  but the leather slips under the surface and joins the chorus soon enough, morphing into a soft brown almost doe-skin of a thing.  the spices and vanilla seem a bit amped here from og snake oil, too.  it's sweet and musky, cuddly and sexy like a lazy evening under a blanket with someone special.

 

backup bottle, please. 

[Weirdgirlpilled]

SO MUCH LEATHER. I don't know that I like it. Snake oil is twisting around under it somewhere. I just kind of smell.... airport. 

[GypsyRoseRed]

Once on the skin and long into the dry down, this is Snake Oil with a deeper complexity, less herbal, softer with a hint of caramel and spice. It's so, so pretty. Definitely buying a backup!

[roseus]

In the bottle all I get is fresh, snappy leather. The kind that tends to go headache-y on me. I applied with not very high hopes. At first I get mostly SO with the vanilla amped up, and while I can't pick out the leather it's giving me that twinge of headache. As I let it sit the leather comes out and smooths out a bit but unfortunately the headache wins out. I might sit on it for a bit longer but I think this might be skin chem fail. 

[asterope]

The leather is stronggggg. I swiped just my arm and ended up scrubbing and having to wash my sweatshirt. It's a black leaning leather with a chemical undertone (my skin doesn't play well with leather so ymmv). The snake oil I do smell in there is beautiful, but, alas, the leather wins out. Not reminiscent of snakes kiss for me which I was hoping for.

[AbbyNormal]

When I first received this I adored it straight out of the mailbox and then decided to let it rest a few days to recover from the shock. When I opened the bottle again it just smelled musty, and plasticky, and generally unpleasant with just a hint of Snake Oil underneath and I was super disappointed. Tonight I decided to give it another shot based off of how much I loved it in the beginning and I wasn’t disappointed! The smell in the bottle still isn’t the best but on my skin it blooms into a very vanilla-y Snake Oil with just a touch of soft suedey leather. Along with something almost nutty, but more like the leftover skins from nuts in the bottom of the bag after you’ve eaten them all if that makes any sense. 

[Rspades]

Ugh headache city. Leather why do you hate me so? No snake oil to be found.

[DigitalCoyote]

Wet: BIG BLAST OF LEATHER quickly subsumed by vanilla, both crowded out by the vegetal aspects of Snake Oil. 

 

Semidry: Plastic.

 

Updates: if you can endure the shift to plastic, the reward is the worn leather + spicy snake oil center of Western Diamondback (e.g. sans sage and sandalwood) with vanilla.  It's love.

 

Update 2:  It might be a batch thing.  Got a bottle of this and it sat for about a week.  No plastic gnarliness to be found after application yesterday (15DEC). It does have some serious staying power: mom says she can still smell me in her car after a 15 minute ride and the leather-vanilla-spice complex is still huffable on my left wrist. 

Edited December 16, 2023 by DigitalCoyote

[LavenderCoffee]

I received my batty snek on 6th November, and I remember she was maaaad as hell about being confined in a box and transported across state lines. The leather came across more synthetic black than brown and made me nervous.

 

However! Since then she's recovered from the shock quite nicely. I definitely get brown leather, and there's a slight animalic edge as it dries that really sets it apart from the sleeker Snake Skin - maybe a bit of a different musk in the mix. Takes a bit, maybe 20 mins, for the sweet vanilla to pop out, but the combined effect is intoxicating.

 

This wears well for me now, but as with many SO blends, I think it will continue to improve.

[Supertrooper Omni]

Almond extract + extra vanilla + classic og snake oil. I might could retest this, but I wasn't having the leather musty experience that seems to dominate the previous reviews.

 

Definitely more of a please scream in your snake oil type experience for me. Floofy and pleasant.

[theseagrows]

at first sniff i am thinking of western diamondback mixed with snake oil-there is a lot of brown leather (it's been a long time since i've tried either though.) i i also get something nutty at the beginning. the vegetal musks amp up a minute later and add a hint of freshness. some sweetness comes in later on from vanilla and it gets muskier. dries down to musky leather vanilla. a very nice snake oil variant, one of the better for me in terms of skin chemistry.

[dancingchair]

Seconding that this is like Western Diamondback without the sage or sandalwood. The leather is brown and polished. I think the other batty variations have conditioned me to expect caramel, and the Snake Oil vanilla plus leather gives the impression of caramel sweetness.

 

I really like this one. Definitely a Snake Oil for leather fans.

[Little Bird]

Batty Snake Oil's sugared vanilla bean and soft cowboy leather remind me of a warmer toned Quincey Morris (a perfume that I've been missing for years now), all smooth and sweet, but Snake Oil's more sensual vanilla, subtle spiciness, and hint of earthy, warm patchouli and dark musk come out to round out the leather and sugared vanilla after about an hour.  It's a perfect perfume to me.  The leather is a soft, well-worn cowboy leather and I just adore it.  I love all of the notes and don't feel like any aspect overpowers anything else; it stays complex and blends together so seamlessly.  It's vanilla'd cowboy leather with all of the dark, sensual undertones of Snake Oil.  So amazing. 

I buy from so many different perfume houses and the Lab has always made my favorite leather blends, by far, and Batty Snake Oil is one of those best of the best leathers.  As a bonus, it also has really strong throw and great staying power.  Batty Snake Oil and Snootier Bat are hoard-worthy for me.  Love love love.

[Minh Scent]

I am in an "oh my dear goodness I adore BPAL" mode.  I was hesitant to put this on, because Snooty Bat was TOO MUCH LEATHER for me.  This is a different leather. It is soft, warm worn...and, wow!  The vanilla!  It is very prominent and in fact, when first applied, I almost felt I had a mislabeled bottle because I got a very sweet with caramel tinged vanilla, hinging on bakery vanilla. In the dry down it is a souped up vanilla snake oil snuggled into a worn brown leather saddlebag. The spice is light and I cannot distinguish what kind of spice. One of my favorite sneks ever!!  

[doomsday_disco]

I tested this with this on my left hand, and Snake Skin (2018) on the other.

 

I'm not digging the leather in this. It has a farm-y quality to it that I'm not enjoying, but Snake Skin has a hint of that, just much smoother, so maybe it will be less farm-y and smooth over with age? Once the leather calms down, it becomes a lighter Snake Oil... but like, the Snake Oil I haven't found in most variants lately. This one is NOT a musk bomb, has the patch and spices, and even lets the vanilla come out to play after a few hours on the skin, which is something I've really missed from a lot of snek variants over the past few years. The leather in this does not last as long as it does in Snake Skin, but that's fine with me, because what's good about this variant is the fact that the vanilla shows up. I could do without the leather.

 

I'm going to let this one age some more and retest it before it goes away. I really like vanilla in this and think it could age into something wonderful, but maybe I should just buy a new bottle of straight-up Snake Oil to age instead of holding out hope that I'll like the leather eventually...

[melandie]

Sniffing the bottle: LEATHER. I get a definite black leather jacket scent from this just sniffing the bottle. 

 

When I put it on the Snake Oil comes out to play and I definitely get a "Snake Skin-adjacent" vibe from this, which is what I was hoping for. 

 

But wow this is STRONG! I guess I must have slathered because my husband kept commenting he could smell me all over the apartment. "It's good, but maybe it's TOO MUCH good??"

 

I see people commenting that they're getting more of a "well worn brown leather" vibe from this one, and I've had it less than a week, so I think it will settle down gloriously. 

[Cali]

Snake oil combo with STRONG LEATHER and champaca, and perhaps something a little more dirty or gritty. Genuinely batty!

[RoseThornAndOak]

Upon application nearly identical to Snake Skin: patchy SO, almost woody, with stronk patent leather. Later this softens, and becomes more musky vanilla SO with a bit of leather. Oddly Snake Skin now smells a bit like sunscreen in comparison. It is quite different from the beginning stage, but I like it.

Edited April 30 by RoseThornAndOak

[coilymoe]

Opens with a thick glossy patent leather, but quickly morphs into a warm, brown musky vanilla that smells nothing like Snake Oil, save perhaps a distant relative. The leather makes a few more appearances before the drydown, which smells a bit gourmand in comparison. It's slightly greasy like the deep fry oil note of a sufganiyot but sweet like caramel. I enjoyed the scent journey but won't need more than a sample.