Cobra Lily

[tempestteapot]

Sharp, heady and viciously carnivorous.

This lily doesn't come out to sweet or strong. I like that it's not overpowering like the lily in Dragon's Eye. It avoids the 'grandmother' floral.

[The_Merf]

Thanks to Tempest Teapot for the imp!

 

In the imp: I really don't know what to make of this. I have no real stance on lillies--they work in some blends for me and not in others. This smells floral, but it's hard to describe.

 

Wet: This is a strong blast of floral, and it smells odd...I am not well-disposed toward it.

 

Drydown and wear: This one goes through a lot of changes! After the initial blast, it becomes powdery and almost, but not quite, soapy. It then does another morph into this great spicy floral (I hate using that phrase in reviews because it can mean so many things, but...). This is quite nice.

[anowyn]

Cobra Lily is, I'm assuming, the scent of the actual plant Darlingtonia californica, not lilies. It still smells great, though!

 

It smells very sweet, kind of like agave nectar. Very juicy and bright. I was afraid of it because of the name, thinking that it was a poisonous flower or something, but nope, just a hungry carnivorous one, trying to lure us (and others) in with that dripping sweet, bright nectar scent. Mm.

 

Drying down it's starting to smell more... well... dryer. Rich spicy, almost, but still sugary-nectary-sweet. I REALLY like this scent. The folks at BPAL must know I like sweet, fruity scents.

 

I should also add that this is a very strong scent on me and has been lasting a long time! Delicious and yay!

 

Unlike others it makes me think of bright greens, like I'm smelling this in a greenhouse.

Edited January 11, 2007 by ☆ a n o w y n ☆

[Athena's Owl]

imp: sweet, floral, sugary. where's the sharp? it's like a hard orange candy.

 

wet: oooooh. more with the florals, and i've been on a real floral kick lately. i wouldn't be surprised if there was a tiny bit of dragon's blood in here, making that sweetness amp to candy.

 

20 minutes: yow. it's fading already?

 

later: an overtone of spice, and the florals are *poof* gone.

[Jilara]

I wanted to like Cobra Lily. It had such potential in the bottle. It was lily with a slight tartness.

 

Wet, it stayed pretty much lily with an underlying tartness like orange peel. Then the drydown started. It turned to old gym socks, with an undertone of stinky cheese mixed with the lily. The lily answer to durian fruit. Sigh, looks like this is one to swap... Something here doesn't react well with my body.

[alliekat13]

This doesnt really smell like lilies, per se, but there is a really strong unidentified fruity note with a hint of a floral. The oil is really red, so I thought that there might be be dragons blood in this, but I don't smell any in this blend. It's very light, and it fades away on my skin after about an hour or so, and there is very little throw. The last stage of this scent before fading away kind of reminds me of Black Lily's last stage...some wierd funkiness. I'm not really sure why my skin has done that to these two blends, but altogether I like Cobra Lily, although I probably wont buy a bottle, but I will hold on to my imp and use it up.

[Medici]

In the imp: Well, despite the majority of reviews in this thread, I definitely smell that creamy lily note in here. That's not the interesting part (lovely, but not interesting.) The interesting part is the heady, musky nectar balancing out the floral.

 

Wet: Smells like lily and body sweat. So much for the nectar. :/

 

Drydown: Okay, no. Gym socks and melted wax candles.

 

Verdict: Not for me.

[Meg]

In the bottle: A fresh, sweet floral that reminds me a bit of lily of the valley

 

Wet: It nearly has a fruity bite, and possibly a bit of spice.

 

Drydown: This is a beautiful floral. It's slightly fruity and rather green, though I couldn't really say which fruit it reminds me of. More than lily of the valley, the floral reminds me of hyacinth. There's a hint of aquatics, too.

 

Overall: It becomes rather discreet in the drydown, and just says there at the edge of my nose, fresh, floral, slightly fruity. It's a very beautiful floral, just a little bit of bite, lots of greenery, and yes, heady. Great summer blend.

[neuilly]

This comes off primarily as sweet, bright, and soft...but then every now and then I get a whiff of something sharp. bitter and almost medicinal. If it stayed in the first phase, this would be a keeper because it's absolutely gorgeous. However, those random bitter whiffs are too offputting for me.

[grifyn_whiffs]

In the imp, this one is heady and sweet -- sort of intoxicating, really. The spice keeps it from going over the edge into "like you've been mugged by a flower" floral. I wish I knew what the other notes were.

 

I'll admit that I was drawn to this on in my imp box because of it's BRIGHT color. It just looks pretty and magical.

 

Unfortunately, this one dries down to just spice. Whatever that floral and possibly fruity note was... gone like Keyser Soze. Dammit. I'm gonna use the rest of my imp just in slathering. I like the blend of warmth, fruit, floral and spice, and will be looking for it in something with a bit more sillage (on my skin, anyway!).

[Brianne]

In the vial:

Lily

 

On me:

Lily is there first and foremost but it isn't soapy (yet anyways). This is kind of a warmer lily - not the white, delicate lily but an airer and yet warmer cousin.

 

And..ummm. That's it. Like almost all the blends in Rappaccini's Garden, it's just very simple. The good thing is that this doesn't go soapy on me like all other lily blends.

 

Final note:

This seems like a great Spring blend

[juniperus]

Bottle: delicate floral, more like the riotous orange lillies that grow in my yard than those pale creatures that come from the florist

Wet: the same, an almost buttery floral

Dry: there is a spiciness here, it reminds me of the forsythia in my grandmother's yard that smells faintly of cinnamon...spice and floral, but yet not very floral or very cinnamony precisely.

Later: SO beautiful and so short-lived on me.

[brit_brat100]

My first from the garden, probably because I've been avoiding everything floral. Seemed to make sense. This was a frimp from the lab (you guys are awesome!).

 

Imp: Honey and something funky. I'm not sure if it's the lily clashing or what, but it's a little off for me.

 

Wet: Mildly sweet and spicy at the same time. This actually reminds me a bit of a more floral O....

 

Dry: Exactly as described, lily, honey, and spice. Nice!

 

Final Thoughts: I don't know if this one will be sticking around just because of the floral content, but I'm not immediately writting it off, which says something. =)

[taramarie]

On me, Cobra Lily is slightly spicy, honeyed lilies with a hint of orange. I love it, even though it's fading fast. I may have to get another imp of this and find a way of making it last.

[Miseraya]

In the imp: This has a green something in it... Like flowers freshly cut, but it's barely noticeable. Mostly, I smell floral notes, very sweet.

 

On the wrist: This is a very sweet, cloying scent, instantly upon application it bursts into heavy floral dragon's blood. Very thick on me, but that's probably because dragon's blood hates me.

 

Drydown: Lilies and dragon's blood, no fruit notes, no more green note.

 

Overall: I swapped for this before I realized I'm a huge not fan of lily, but I've resolved to try every oil that comes my way, so I gave it a shot. This is not a me smell at all, too sweet. I would recommend this one to dragon's blood and lily fans and anyone who likes a thick heavy floral.

[CrazyPretzel]

Freakin' awesome! A good strong floral that isn't too perfume-y: there's a tartness to this that stops just short of being citrusy and makes it very unusual. The BPAL lily blends don't smell at all like white Easter lilies to me; they're much sharper and more....full of character, somehow.

 

I was wearing Voodoo Lily this morning and VL seems to have a spicy note that Cobra Lily is lacking; I poured the VL imp onto a voodoo altar at lunchtime though and so no longer have it to compare the two side-by-side Whatever though, I really want bottles of both of them. Just wonderful.

[underline2]

In the imp:

Lilies! Woo!

 

Wet:

Lilies with something lighter and sweeter in the background. Generally, I don't like florals of any kind, but this is very nice. Soft and sweet.

 

Dry:

An orangey citrus note comes out and blends very nicely with the lily. It's a wonderfully low-key scent, but it's definitely not innocent or vulnerable.

[daiconharuko]

I got this as a freebie!

 

This is a very pretty light floral scent. It smelled to me like Jasmine... or at least this jasmine perfume I had as a kid. Very light and pretty... but the floral notes are still pretty strong to me, so I can't wear this. Oh well... my mom gets it!

 

I would totally tell you to get this if you like to feel pretty. This made me feel really pretty, despite the headache.

[AmyAngel]

In the imp, this is a sweet fresh floral. I'm gonna guess that's lily! On, it starts out the same, and then starts to morph a bit. There's a bit of soapiness going on. I can't even tell what to write about this one. It's nice, pretty, but I don't know if I'll wear it ever. The more it dries, it becomes a touch spicy almost, and there seems to be something almost metallic in the scent. I keep thinking there might be dragons blood, but I can't tell for sure. There's a strange thickness to it, though it's melded into my skin and is barely detectable.. It's definitely a strange one, and I think it will require another test to see what I really think about it. Well, after half an hour, I have to really huff my wrist to get any scent at all, so I think I'll swap this out. I have too many imps to keep ones that don't last on me!

[slave1]

COBRA LILY

 

In Bottle: Sweet and herbal

 

On Skin: Very interesting! The dominant note is a sweet floral, followed by a soft herb. The herbal note is not really medicinal but it does have a planty earthy quality. I smell honeyed lilys with a nice soft warm spice that has a slight bite, maybe cinnamon? The scent is light and subtle, a nice alternative for a floral. I like it, but nothing compares to my Black lily which is one of my favorite florals. This is more like an orange/yellow lily. Low throw and short to average wearlength.

[Czarina]

In the imp: lovely red color, generic floral scent.

Wet: flowery, very, very sweet.

Dry: aldehyde. Lilies. Decay. Meh.

Not much throw.

This combines with my skin chemistry very nastily, sigh, so I suppose the lack of throw is good.

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Spicy lillies

 

Wet: I get a really nice lily smell, it's very natural and not fake at all. It gets a bit spicy on me.

 

Drydown: I think this would be better in my hair. I think I'm taking away the spiciness and I want it back!

3.5 outta 5

[waternight]

In the imp: Heady floral note that I'm beginning to associate with "lilies", because I recognize it from Voodoo Lily. Only here, it's spicy.

Wet: That heady floral note with a yummy, spicy orange note blossoming out of it. This is quite yummy. Sharp, spicy, sweet, heady.

Dry: Pretty much the same as when wet, this one doesn't morph much on me.

[Indefatigable]

In the vial: very strong floral -- but like real flowers, not fakey.

 

Wet on me: hot summer night with garden in full bloom. Green plant smell as well as blooms.

 

Drying: going a bit sweeter, but that summery greenness is still there.

 

I'm not sure I'd buy this again because I'm doubting my ability to wear heavy floral notes, but I do like the scent in general. Maybe in a locket or something.

[TrueStar]

Herbal, and a bit earthy. Kind of 'dark'? I enjoyed it for the short time it lasted which wasn't very long at all. It's heady and has a bit of a bite. I've never smelled lilies that I know of, but if this the norm I'd like to try out others.

 

I'll keep the imp, bot not getting a bottle. Doesn't last long at all on me.