Serpent's Kiss

[lensflaaare]

Seething with passion, yet utterly cold-blooded. Dragon’s blood, vetivert and spice.

This scent was a nightmarish overkill of cinnamon and something really stinky.

[loubric]

This smells like grape jello or koolaid on me, with hints of herby greeness. Purple voliet sweetness adds to the mystery. I really like this.... no I this!! Edited January 27, 2010 by Lilly

[Phantasmagoria]

In the imp: WHoa, something sharp and bitter. Must be the vetiver..

 

Wet on skin: Same as in the imp. Not pleasant.

 

Dry: Cinnamon + vetiver. No thank you..

[Greenwoodtree]

It looks like I'm the only one on here who thinks this oil smells just like one of the Anna Riva blends,,,is it Vanvan or Fire of Love thats closer? I dont know...but I DO know I dont need to smell like a dressed, ritual candle!

 

Basically, I love love love vetiver...i get none from this..dont know how everyone gets so much vetiver! All Im getting is the dragons blood, cassia, and some sickeningly sweet tropical flower.

 

Its not giving me a headache, but I just dont think I can handle this one...WAYYYY too sweet -Even after 3 hours!

[SophieCedar]

mmmmm.. this is exactly as described. It goes on sweet, dragon's blood strong here. Then the vetivert pops out but thankfully doesn't kill it for me. The spice is a nice touch.

[Redillon]

In the imp: Wow. I'm getting FLORAL!!!! Bright, bright floral.

 

On the skin: As it mellows on the skin, it begins to lose it's floral vibe. It's still there but not as IN YOUR FACE. I can smell the cinnamon and vetiver. More cinnamon than vetiver. I do get the dragon's blood which I feel is what's giving the floral slap.

 

The cinnamon is still in the forefront. Hummmmm.......not sure if I like this. I'm glad it's on the spicy side. I wish the vetiver were stronger.

 

Swapping.

 

 

[fetish911]

I love me some Dragons blood. So I couldn't wait to give this a whirl...

 

wet- Dragons blood and some spice... cinnamon perhaps a nutmeg kind of sweet spice. Very strong & a bit of sharpness to it while its wet

 

drydown- Does mellow off a bit with the dragons blood fading into the background. But that cinnamon is just firmly planted & not going anywhere.

 

Later- this one was crazy.... All the scent and spice left except for Pepper! all my arm smelled like was pepper. Is there even pepper in this?? Damn my bizarro chemistry.

[Saya]

I don't know why I do this to myself, I hate dragon's blood, vetiver and I'm not a spice fan, but I decided to try this imp out anyway. As would be expected, I don't like it. What a shocker.

 

This imp will need to find a new home.

[raisin]

Have to kind of ditto the "nightmarish overkill of cinnamon and something really stinky" review. It goes on syrupy, nauseatingly sweet (I'm assuming this is the dragon's blood. Based on this, that note does not agree with me at all. I will be steering clear.) and it winds up sweet CINNAMON which was slightly better but still on the wrong side of tolerable. I will be unloading this imp as fast as I am able.

[kunoichi]

In the vial this has the scent of oddly sweet yet savory vetivert with a spicy chili kick to it. The sweetness, however, immediately vanishes on my skin and becomes a dark yet almost watery scent, smelling strongly of pungent, bitter vetivert. After a few hours it softens as it fades and turns into a slightly sweeter version of the vetivert as the dragon's blood comes through.

 

However, I don't think it's my style as the vetivert is too strong and pungent.

[Ella LaRose]

this is so weird, I don't smell any of the things that are supposed to be in this scent!

I smell flowers, deep flowers!!

thick flowers??? wtf??

I think I need to double check that serpent's kiss is avtually in this imp!

 

edited to add:

well, the flower is gone, and that's too bad cause what I am left with is a very rank armpit! bleh!

Edited May 14, 2011 by Ella LaRose

[Helas]

Serpent's Kiss is a highly conceptual scent done well. I wasn't thrilled when I saw it among my freebies, because the Lab makes a lot of snake-themed blends and this was not the most original or appealing to me, and the concept of a "serpent's kiss" struck me as too abstract to render into an effective perfume. I was wrong; Serpent's Kiss is one of the most original and fascinating blends I have tried so far. The raw, green vetiver evokes the coolness of the snake and the grass through which it slithers, while the dragon's blood and spice infuse the blend with an almost primal warmth. Serpent's Kiss is simultaneously hot and cold, detached and passionate, haughty and sexually charged. It is also very strange, and not for everyone, but I enjoy wearing it and knowing that no one else in the room has anything remotely like it.

 

Four out of five stars.

[calivianya]

I got this as a frimp from the Lab. All it took was sniffing it to detect the dragon's blood and decide that skin testing would be a very bad idea. I will pass this along to someone whose skin is kinder to dragon's blood than mine.

[StevenBoatman]

On me, Serpent's Kiss is sweet, dark, and green-for about a minute and a half. And then it becomes pure black pepper. Blech. Off to the "give away" pile!

[Diva Urd]

In the vial: I had no idea that vetiver would be so well-controlled by dragon's blood! This does actually smell a lot like a snake (we had a herpetologist at my uni once who brought an assortment of his specimens, and I got to hold his python [wow, that sounds like a terrible euphemism ]).

 

On: Initially very strong dragon's blood, darkened by a drop of vetiver. The more it dries, the more it seems like single-note DB. So strange... usually, I amp vetiver, and since so many say there's cinnamon in here, I should be amping that, too... but it's all dragon's blood.

 

Later: Dragon's blood. Dragon's blood. And did I mention dragon's blood? Now, I do like dragon's blood, but as a single-note, it doesn't appeal to me. No idea whether this is skin failure (generally, DB doesn't over-amp everything else in a blend) or what, but this does not seem to work on me.

[DeCuvieri]

I firmly believe Serpent's Kiss is basically Bloodlust* Lite. It's made up of the same core components that either you fall in love with or hate (Dragon's blood and vetiver) with not much perceivable variation between the two. On my skin the morphing process for the two was practically identical: Wet they both are aggressive spice blends while dry down is straight dragon's flood. Because I love this combination Serpent's Kiss is a good scent on me, but I already have a bottle of Bloodlust so investing in this would be redundant.

 

Serpent's Kiss isn't for fans of florals, but if you like a fiery spice then this is definitely worth a shot.

[perzephone]

I like dragon's blood. I like vetiver. There isn't much more to say about Serpent's Kiss. The vetiver does sort of 'ground and center' the spicy heat of the dragon's blood, but it doesn't bring it down too much. It's a very simple, clean perfume.

 

My only whine is that it doesn't have much lasting power - it only lingered about 4 hours and then it was poof, gone!

[Maleficium]

I thought I hated dragon's blood until I tried this.

 

Wet -- it's strong. a spicy herbal.

 

 

I think this is an incredibly sexy scent. Thank goodness it doesn't stay on as strong as it was when it was wet on my skin. It fades to a dirty, dark spicy scent that I like quite a bit.

[Kayah]

Well - instead of a warm/cold impression, my nose-to-brain interpreted this scent as "bright and fresh AND very dark"...

 

Once I looked at the notes I could pinpoint that the initial sweet vetiver/dragon's blood thing was doing both.. then the spices came out and rounded out the blend. I honestly don't think the spice is cinnamon in this, or if it is, it is not the same cinnamon that is used in Satyr or Sin as those are variations on cinnamon red hots on my skin.

 

On my skin it really is a perfect balance of vetiver, dragon's blood and warm spices - it's not the usual perfume I wear, but I enjoy it for what it is

[Suu4LC]

This blend really surprised me. Vetiver is generally my doom note, and I am no huge fan of dragon's blood, but the spice notes really went well with the vetiver. 99.9999% of the time I need to scrub off vetiver fast, but it actually works quite well in this blend. When first applied to my skin, this was like a cinnamon-y/black pepper spice darkened by rich dirty vetiver. I barely noticed any dragon's blood. As it dried, the dragon's blood sweetened and softened the blend. This is not work friendly, delicate, won't offend any noses at work blend. This is a vammpy, grungy, prowling out late blend. While not something I would wear, this is one of those great, goth-y bpal blends that Beth really nails.

[Aromantism]

I'm rather fond of Dragon's Blood, so I decided to purchase this. The result is something sweeter, greener and warmer, cherry rose pseudomonas. It lasts alright, though I need to top up during the day.

 

It's a nice enough scent, I just think I shall stick to Dragon's Blood.

[ziggystardust13]

Helloooo vetiver!

 

That is all

[Atrous]

I'm on a mission to try every scent with Dragon's blood since discovering it's my number one note.

With dragon's blood, vetiver, and spices, I know this scent will work for me.

 

In the bottle: Dragon's blood and bitter herbs.

 

Wet: HELLO Cinnamon! My wrists are heating up big time.

 

Dry: Cinnamon is still a top note but its quieted down somewhat. DB comes out next followed by a base of earthiness. This is beautiful. I am so pleased I received a frimp.

[Poenari]

This was an extra included in my Sweet Barking Cheese prize from the ever-awesome sunshinedaisybliss. I love all of these notes, so it was a surprise that I'd never tried Serpent's Kiss before. This is a great scent! It's like a cross between Bloodlust and Tanin'iver, two of my favorite Dragon's Blood scents. Very spicy cinnamon at first, but it mellows out quickly and then the vetivert kicks in. The dragon's blood just stays steady all the way from start to finish. Long lasting on my skin, as are most scents with dragon's blood. This is a hit and going on my GC bottle list for sure!

[brilliantcat]

This is fabulous! The vetiver blends with the dragon's blood resin and spice to smell just like a serpent should: dry, unnerving, reptilian. I don't mean that the blend itself smells bad in any way, I just find it's very evocative of its inspiration. The oil itself is red, red, red and stains my wrist where I've applied. I really do get the image of scales in my head. I think the vetiver in particular is really working to create that impression of "snake". The cinnamon is tempered by the resin and vetiver so that it doesn't go Red Hots as it sometimes can on my skin. And then it all goes wrong. Screaming, screeching, nose-searing vetiver. Bleurghhh.