Saw-Scaled Viper

[Joyleaf_]

Snake Oil with cinnamon, cassia, and red ginger.

 

2016 Version.
The cinnamon and ginger are the star players here. Maybe I amp cinnamon, but for a solid hour all I smell is cinnamon. Its like I open a jar of ground cinnamon and just stuffed my nose in it. After a little bit of time I start to get hints of snake oil and it warms and gets sweeter. I feel like I am baking snickerdoodle cookies when I wear this, and I love it.

[HerbGirl]

The above review is my experience too. I adore this.

 

Eta: After 4+ years of aging this is still amazing. I'm wearing it next to Spanked Revisited and the ginger is noticible but not loud. There's just a touch of Snake Oil but honestly? If I didn't know it was in here, I wouldn't have guessed it was. The cassia is the star here, and I love it. Aging has smoothed it out enough that there is heat and just a touch of itchyness where the oil is applied but no welts. 🙂 Really good.

Edited March 16, 2021 by HerbGirl
Aging!

[BetteNoire]

Every once and again I put on Snake Oil and wish it were heavier on the spices. Saw Scaled Viper is exactly what I've been craving on those days. It's the truest to Snake Oil of the Snake Pit blends, it seems less like SO plus other things and more like a tweaking of the original.

The cinnamon is very realistic, no red hots or Yankee Candle here, and surprisingly sophisticated. The ginger almost has that "clean", fresh edge that ginger sometimes takes on, which actually keeps the Viper from going too far into foodie territory, thank all the gods.

 

Overall, so very pleased. And it doesn't give me hives so far. Fingers crossed!

[LizziesLuck]

I smelled a sniffy of this, and decided it was too overwhelmingly spicy. I never tracked down a testable amount to actually put some on my skin until now No idea what made me decide I had to try it! But I have a decant of the original and 2016, and I am giving them both a go, on each arm.

 

Original:

 

Wet: Blech. Smells more like galangal than ginger. Like savory cooking spices. There's something really rooty and earthy about it. I can't detect the Snake Oil at all. This oil is darker in colour than 2016.

 

Dry: Still a weird, herbal, almost medicinal note that I just don't care for. My guess would be the red ginger. Very different than 2016 to my nose.

 

 

2016

 

Wet: Mmm. Much lighter, not as punch-you-in the-face spice. Sweeter as well. The cassia is slowly amping up, but it's sweetened nicely. There is a huge difference between the two, currently.

 

Dry: Much better than the original on me. My guess is the Lab uses a different red ginger note now. This is mostly cassia. It's too overwhelming for me, end up in Hot Hearts territory. Still, glad I tried it!

[doomsday_disco]

This is a review of the original release.

 

In the decant: A treasure trove of cinnamon and cassia poured over Snake Oil. I really, really hope this one doesn’t burn my sensitive skin.

 

Wet: Tons of cinnamon, cassia, and red ginger. The Snake Oil spices are also at play, but they are not as strong as these spices, and I’m not getting any vanilla at the moment. I’m not sure if it is the cinnamon or the cassia, but one of these notes is dry.

 

Dry: The spices are still going strong, but they’re not as strong as they were before, and the Snake Oil base is far more prominent. Snake Oil’s vanilla is present now, but it is not nearly as strong as the spices.

 

After a few hours, the vanilla does end up playing a greater role, so that it’s vanilla mixed with lots of spices, with the ginger standing out to me in particular.

 

Verdict: I like it, but I am not in love with it. I have so many Snake Oil variants in my collection that I feel the need to be pickier about which ones join, and I just don’t think I’d reach for this one over scents like Pumpkin Spice Snake Oil or Gingerbread Snake. I am glad my skin didn’t end up being too sensitive for this one, though!

[Lucchesa]

I got to try a decant of the original Saw-Scaled Viper via a swap with a marvelous forumite, and after applying I had to check the site to make sure it was indeed a Snake Oil blend. Unusually, it took a long time for the SO to assert itself; instead, this was like Chimera (which I love) with vanilla. I didn't get nearly as much ginger as I did cinnamon and cassia. While most of the Snake Oil blends I have tried sooner or later turn into Snake Oil, this one never did; the warm sweet spices remained its primary identity. What I did get and appreciate, though, was Snake Oil throw. This is lovely on me and may well warrant a bottle purchase.

[zankoku_zen]

2016 version

 

I am getting a hellacious amount of cassia. For me, this is almost like a cassia SN. With a tiny base of SO. Good throw and wear length.

[Kmichh]

Aw man, I just found out that I can't wear this! It turns my skin red. I can't even wear this on my wrists! My skin is just too sensitive for cinnamon oil in this concentration. I don't want to buy a scent locket just for this.

 

Guess I'm gonna have to trade this for something without cinnamon in it. It smells really good though. Bummer.

[Cali]

This is looooovely, but my skin just.. eats this. Almost everything. 

I'm left with a warm, but very soft (aka have to get up REAL close to sniff it) vanilla and cinnamon. 'n that's that. Which IS quite lovely, but not at all what I was hoping for, weh.

[Ennikar]

Bottle purchased 2023. In the bottle, this smells very "tasty" - warm spices and vanilla. Excited to try it. My second nose said he got straight wafflecone, then some spices, for a very dessert-ish impression.

 

Unfortunately, on application it does not work for me. Fades very quickly, and while the drydown is still a spicy-vanilla, it's quite faint. I wouldn't describe it as "gourmand", even though it's on the sweeter end, more a clean cinnamon-vanilla situation. I imagine it'd be liked more by someone who prefers closer scents, maybe grown-up warm vanilla. I've tried straight snake oil, and while I do pick up on some of its influence here, it seems very toned down.