Saw-Scaled Viper

[abejita]

Snake Oil with cinnamon, cassia, and red ginger.

First impression in the bottle: My eyes! Heh. It's just a very, very thick and intense woody cassia. That's all I get. Overwhelming enough to catch in my throat. It's the cassia of Monster Bait: Underbed with the dial set on 11.

On, wet: My wrists are warm, but no burn. I would not suggest applying this right after a shower, though. The cassia is still howling, but not to the point where my throat feels scratchy sniffing it. I smell something sweet, but oh that cassia. Pipe down, you! Well, hello cinnamon. It's nice to make your acquaintance. The cinnamon is politely asserting itself, firmly telling the cassia to chill the fuck out. The cassia has decided to be sensible and take cinnamon's good advice and has receded, but not departed. Red ginger is peering in the doorway, probably trying to gauge cassia's mood.

Dry: Red ginger has decided that it is safe to make an appearance. Cassia is contrite and apologizing like hell to red ginger. They have made up and are strongly joined in the scent. The cinnamon is a sweet cinnamon. Like in Australian Copperhead, the Snake Oil aspect is the backdrop. It's there, but not centerstage. Again, this will probably emerge more on aging.

The Verdict: Even before aging, this is a great spicy, warm scent, just not as deep as I'd like. I have confidence that in a few weeks, this will be killer. I am not disappointed, I am looking forward to this one "maturing."

ETA: Strong throw like whoa. I put my wrist down to my side and it still smells like I'm huffing it.

Edited again to add: Hours later and the Snake Oil is much more apparent. It's a great mix with the spice.

[Tramp]

Holy crap! Nothing subtle about this puppy! At first sniff I thought I was smelling cummin or curry or something but no, it was just the strongest dry cinnamon I have every smelled. I actually think it is the ginger/cinnamon combo that led me to the curry note, or maybe just yummy Thai food note.

 

The drydown the cinnamon becomes much better behaved mellowing to sweet spicy goodness. More of a bakery cinnamon rather than a candy "red hots" cinnamon. I want to lick my hand but know that would lead to very bad things

[lapetiteflower]

in the bottle it is a sharp, sharp cassia......so sharp it hurts. wet on the skin it settles to a hot cinnamon, like a red hot hard candy but upon drydown it settles to a warm swirl of cinnamon/ ginger/smoky vanilla snake oil. with each sniff i take of my arm i get a nicely balanced blend of all the scents, you can distinctly smell everything but nothing is competing or overpowering the other components. glorious!

[requieminblack]

OMG EVIL GINGERSNAPS.

 

*This* is exactly what I thought Shub Niggurth was going to smell like. Shub ended up being mostly lemon on me, much to my disappointment. I never got the ginger snappy cookies out of it that everyone else did. But THIS yummy serpentine concoction smells just like teh eeeevil spicy gingersnaps. Just like them, but spicier if you can imagine it.

 

I think I need at least 5456342 more bottles. *huffs spicy goodness on my arm*

[Ah Xia]

Holy hell! This is mucho cinnamon! It means business!!!! I kinda wished Shub smelled like this, too. Usually I don't like cinnamon but this is such a ferocious assault of uber-cinnamon it kind of works for me! It is rich, in your face, and dry. Not sweet like Red Hots candy. This is a really commanding blend -- and I think if you were really into the LE Shub that was more gingerbready, this might really work for you.

[arxev]

Disclaimer: This is my first review ever! Also, I'm really bad at picking out notes, so this is going to be fairly general. But after taking my first whiff of Saw-Scaled Viper, I absolutely could not resist the urge to come on the forum and gush about it.

 

In the bottle: This may honestly be one of the greatest things I have ever smelled. Warm and sweet and spicy and delicious. I definitely smell the ginger and the cinnamon -- which are two of my favorite notes -- in spades, but they're sweetened by the other notes into something lovely. It's also kind of woody, which I usually hate, but it works really well here.

 

On wet: Almost exactly the same as the bottle. The cinnamon comes out to play a lot more. I'm not usually sensitive to BPAL, but it actually stings a bit! Also, wow, this is incredibly strong.

 

Drydown: Something sweet, I'm guessing the cassia? Is playing up more. Oh, this is lovely. I agree with whoever said "evil gingersnaps" -- even more than Shub!

 

After a couple of minutes, the throw dies down a bit, although it's still quite strong. I kind of agree with the 'hot red' comments a bit.

 

Verdict: I like it more in the bottle, but this is still an absolutely stunning scent. It reminds me a little of Shub and Three Witches, which are two of my favorites. I'm so, so happy I bought a bottle!

 

ETA: After a few hours, this has sweetened up even more -- the Snake Oil's much more prominent now. I officially am in love.

Edited January 26, 2007 by Vera

[Little Bird]

I love cassia (love Underbed) and Shub Niggurath (though Shub doesn’t smell ultra spicy on me – more like lightly spiced cookies and a hint of a wet, mouthwatering citrus-esque note … oooh I love Shub). I don’t usually care for cinnamon, and can’t wear it in heavy doses.

 

Saw-Scaled Viper is much, much too much cinnamon for me. I was hoping for a Snake Oil with licks of cassia, but this blend is all burning red hots cinnamon candies on me. It’s too strong and gives me an awful headache. I could only keep it on for a half hour before it started burning my wrists and I had to scrub it off.

 

I can’t pick out any cassia, ginger, or even any Snake Oil in this blend; it’s just loud, screaming, burning cinnamon.

[clover]

Confession: I am terrified of ginger. I was traumatized by an imp of Red Ginger single note early in my BPAL career, and I've never looked at ginger in the same way since.

 

So, what smacks me over the head like a caveman when I open this bottle? The scent of Red Ginger. And I'm scared. Really and truly. Don't want to try it out, at all.

 

So I let it sit for a few days, eyeing it ever so often...and then try it on first thing this morning, thinking I'll be hopping in the shower in a little while and if it's scary, I'll wash it right off. But it's not scary at all! Almost as soon as it hits my skin the cinnamon & cassia take over (truth be told, I'm not sure I can separate the two, so I'm just claiming both), and it turns into Cinnamon Snake Oil. The heavenly cinnamon snake oil that I've dreamt about. True, like all of the other Snake Pit scents, it takes a while for the "Snake Oil spices" to show their stuff...but it's completely worth the wait. It's a triumph! A triumph of cinnamon!

 

Take that, wicked ginger!

[The_Witching_Hour]

I like cassia, ginger, vanilla and of course Snake Oil. In 'fresh' Saw Scaled Viper though, the only thing I can smell is cinnamon....and man is it RED HOT!

 

As it dries down, the cinnamon seems to temper some and a candy-ish note starts rising to the surface. I suspect that as this blend ages and the Snake Oil notes become more prominent, this will really become quite a beauty!

[Gale]

WOW. This one morphs like crazy!

 

In the bottle and on wet: I do not like this at all. Heavy, thick cassia and something sour. But, I know by now to never judge BPAL by how it smells wet...

 

As soon as it dries (I'm talking a few minutes here, no longer) it becomes sweet bakery cinnamon and vanilla! It stays like that. Holy cow, this is beautiful! It's delicious, but not too foody.

 

Beautifully done!

[Ina Garten Davita]

 

Whoa! Right out of the bottle, Saw Scaled Viper smell just like the taste of burning hot Ginger Altoids.

Evil, evil ginger.

 

I put the tiniest dab on the top of my right hand hours ago, having done dishes and washed my hands several times in between, the spot on my hand is still red hot and burning. The skin below my neck is pretty much made of asbestos.

 

At the moment, I can smell faint ginger and just the suggestion of Snake Oil hiding beneath. Where is my cinnamon Snake Oil? I'm hoping with a bit of age, the Snake Oil component with intensify, the ginger will mellow and submit to the cinnamon.

 

If you are of the delicate skin variety, please be careful where you apply this oil.

[Bagfish]

Saw Scaled viper is pure powdered dry ginger in the bottle, it smells like the dry ginger and sugar mix I use when setting up a ginger beer plant It has an almost savoury kick to it when wet.

 

As it dries, it is still GINGER, but the cinammon and cassia start to peek out. I wore this on my cleavage today as I was trying out two others on my wrists and had to keep slipping out of my office to take deep sniffs down my top to catch the smell

 

It is very very gingery and the Snake Oil sweetness is very subtle, but it is there. This is definitely not a foody scent, no baking gingerbread here, but I can't wait for this to age a bit longer to mellow and combine the spices and vanilla as it feels quite raw at the moment. It is a lovely scent, but I think the potential of this one is mindblowing!

[sarahmarie]

I am totally, head-over-heels in love with Saw Scaled Viper. It's 100% pure awesome. It's all spice and sex, warm and strong, comfortable but definitely smoldering. It wore beautifully on me, much better than plain Snake Oil did. The spices are definitely quite present, but the spiced vanilla underneath grounds the scent and amps up the sex factor quite a bit. I'm just totally in love. If you like spice, or warm, sexy blends, DO NOT PASS GO, buy yourself a bottle of this one.

[sookster]

straight sniff from imp is hot ginger and clove...

once applied the clove and ginger amp up tremendously ... not getting

much snake oil scent to start...

 

after 30 minutes or so it gets sweeter ... still lots of clove and ginger...

 

oddly enuff no snake oil can be found in this blend with my chemistry...

[edenssixthday]

Saw-Scaled Viper - When I first apply this, it's almost entirely red ginger -- enough that it feels like a single note of it. As it dries down, the ginger mellows significantly and becomes a gorgeous blend of cinnamon and cassia, with the spicy ginger and creamy SO backing it all up. Now, I don't normally like cinnamon or cassia, but wow, they blend so gorgeously with the rest of the notes. It's still not a blend I'd find myself reaching for often because of just *how* spicy it is, but I think I'll grab it on occasion because it really is a fabulous spicy scent. The staying power is really strong and the throw is absolutely perfect.

[kat15lee]

I agree with everyone else... its a really "strong" scent.

 

I don't like Saw-Scaled Viper alone... its a dry, dirty smell.

 

But it layers oh-so-beautifully with a cloying sweet scent. I layered Brandied Apples by the Body Shop over it and it is LOVE. Tomorrow I think I'm going to layer it over Lady MacBeth or March Hare.

 

Alone 2/5

 

as a layering scent 4.4/5

 

[wikkidraven]

oh, what a glorious scent for a sweet and spicy scent lover like me! i got my bottle from ah xia, who knew it would be right up my alley

 

this is STRONG right from the bottle, and so in your face that my eyes truly did threaten to water. but don't be discouraged; on the drydown this turns into sweet ginger and cinnamon love. i love it, and i can't wait to see what happens as it ages.

 

lovely.

[Scylla]

In the bottle, Saw Scaled Viper smelled of, well, Snake Oil mixed with cinnamon and ginger. Exactly what I expected.

 

I am usually really wary of red ginger, because it turns into the smell of hot asphalt on my skin. (No, I'm not kidding--that's what Moxie smells like on me!)

 

The red ginger mixed with the cassia and cinnamon (and Snake Oil) thankfully doesn't go the freshly poured asphalt route, but HOT DAMN! It is REALLY hot and spicy!

 

On drydown, Saw Scaled Viper develops sort of a feral smell behind the spiciness. Which could be the "dirty" smell that kat15lee mentioned a few reviews back. But you know what? I kinda like it!

[LiberAmoris]

Saw-Scaled Viper is crazy hot stuff. Wow. Spice lovers, this is the snake for you! The first few minutes are pretty intense, but then everything starts mellowing and it's a vibrant but not incendiary mix of the ginger, cinnamon, and cassia. It's very invigorating.

 

As this dries down, I also get a hint of the 'feral' note mentioned by others, and what's incredible is that it actually kind of smells like a real snake to me. Amazing.

[forspecial_plate]

My last Snake Pit review, I think...

 

Saw Scaled Viper....how to describe. Up close, I smell the cassia foremost. In the throw, the ginger comes out more powerfully. But honestly...I think that Shub is a stronger ginger scent, at least on my skin. Shub is 'louder', more emphatic somehow. Saw Scaled Viper is....softer, maybe more slithery! But it's dry like a desert, almost dusty to my nose. In the first hour or so, I could smell the Snake Oil components if I sniffed up close, but eventually they faded altogether.

 

I'm not liking this as much as I wanted to. Like most of the other Snake Pit scents, I want to see (smell) how it ages. I think it has potential for times that I want to smell gingery but Shub is too powerful for me. And to me, this isn't a crazy strong cinnamon/cassia scent. I guess I'm not sensitive to those notes because I'm not getting the big OMG reaction, smell-wise, that others got from this scent.

 

Edit to add: A couple months later, I wore this again, and a little aging has helped. It's all about the throw in this one. Up close it's not doing much for me, but it does put me in a spicy cloud of gingery, Snake-Oily warmth that I like. And I think as it ages it will just get better and maybe sweeter. I'll hold onto it for a few more months before I make any final decisions.

Edited March 29, 2007 by Forspecial Plate

[savage_rose]

Smell-wise, this is most excellent. Warm and spicy and lovely...mmm. Like Tanin'iver's older, crankier, flamier brother. And I am so loving it for the first 5 minutes, until a red blotch appears where I applied it. Sigh...I never break out, unless I've been exercising and I foolishly apply perfume oil to my already-inflamed skin. A little aloe moisturizer is helping, but yikes. This baby leaves burn marks!

[Macha]

In the bottle, what I smell the most strongly is fresh ginger essential oil, the kind that has an earthy dirt note to it. Underneath that, there's some cinnamon and cassia, but I have a strong sensitivity to that ginger note, so it's what I notice the most.

 

I'm fortunately not particularly sensitive to cinnamon or cassia essential oils, so skin contact did not produce a rash, welts or the burning sensation that others have reported.

 

When first applied, Saw-scale is very spicy, with the Cinnamon/Cassia quickly battling it out with the ginger and winning for predominance. Underneath, it's supported by the scent of Snake Oil. As the scent dries, true magic happens. It becomes creamy spice, and really wonderful. I like spicy scents, and I like the initial application well enough — but the dry down is pure heaven.

[maijasu]

I just knew I was going to love this one, ginger and cinnamon fan that I am, so imagine my surprise when I applied a drop and smelled something that turned my stomach. It's hard to describe, but it might be what others have described as "dirty" and "feral." It was very strong, slightly sweet, and just slightly "off" smelling, for whatever reason.

 

Thankfully, I left it on, and it dried down almost immediately into something absolutely divine. It does remind me of the older version of Shub, although it's not quite as strong or long-lasting, at least on my skin. Before it fades completely away, the Snake oil comes out faintly.

 

This is a beautiful blend, and I will definitely enjoy wearing it now that I know that the initial whatever-it-is doesn't last long. And if it ages well, I'll be hoarding more before the Carnaval leaves town.

[melia]

I think I need to let this one age a while. in the bottle, it smells AWFUL (to me!). like meat or something that I just don't want to put on my skin. but I did anyway. that bad scent stays for quite a while, and when the drydown finally happens, it becomes a bearable, but not fantastic, scent. I was hoping that the cassia would remind me of monsterbait: underbed, but something ain't right. maybe the way it works with the cinnamon? or maybe I can blame this all on the red ginger, which I have no experience with. after it dries, I can start to smell the snake oil, but really it's buried under the other red scents. please let time heal this particular wound!

[euterpe414]

Ginger, ginger, and more ginger. with some cassia and cinnamon on the side. This is perhaps the most extreme spicy scent I have ever smelled. There's definitely enough spice in here to clear your sinuses, and then some! Thankfully my skin is not sensitive, or else I could see this becoming a complete disaster.

 

I can only smell the Snake Oil base when it has been dry for while, i.e. over an hour. But at this point the blend becomes wonderfully balanced, and not so much like a spice rack explosion. It lasts and lasts, too.

 

At first I wasn't sure if I like this one since it was a bit on the intense side, but it is just so exotic and creamy when it's dry. I catch wafts of it whenever I move my hand and those wafts are just...yum. I think that this one needs a little while to age, though, so that the SO can come out a little more and the ginger can mellow.

 

Still, all in all a fantastic blend!