Death Adder

[Tramp]

Snake Oil with vetiver, black coconut, vanilla, and opoponax.

I won't lie to you - this is the blend I was most looking forward to out of the entire snake pit. When I first smelled it I was like "ick" it was much more masculine that I was anticipating (for the record I LOVE vetiver). I still gave it the prime testing location of my top left wrist and going on it has a heavy dusty coconut vibe - not juicy like I was hoping - but then again it does say BLACK coconut so I don't know why I was surprised. Five, ten, fifteen minutes go by and still it is a bit to bold for my taste then something wonderful happens. Maybe the vetiver just needed to get warmed up on my skin but now it is a lovely smooth coconut/vetiver mix that has just a hint of sweetness. Finally there is just a whispered suggestion of resiny goodness to round out the mix. Thank you Beth!

[Eros]

In the bottle this is juicy, for lack of a better word. The black coconut is gorgeous. It'd be flat out gorgeous if there wasn't a strong, powdery apple note that's trying hard to give me a headache I'll probably put this one aside and try it in a week or two.

 

eta: Because I have no patience I tried this again today(01/21/07-day after it arrived). Applied a bit more this time and WOW!! Made all the difference in the world =) Beautiful herbs and coconut with an undercurrent of sweetness. Snake Oil lingering teasingly in the background...Absolutely lovely!! Yay!!!

Edited January 22, 2007 by Eros

[minnalavender]

Death Adder is named thus because it smells so beautiful it kills you.

 

I received 8 bottles in the order that contained Death Adder - and it was the first and only one I applied after opening the bottle. I wore Snake Oil today knowing that my package would be arriving in the afternoon; I wanted to see if I could detect it in DA, or see how it was different. I could, and they are.

 

(The bottle art on the Snake Pit is amazing - so beautiful!)

 

In the bottle I don't detect any vanilla or coconut - just the Indonesian oils and the vetiver and maybe the opoponox? It's an ingredient in Schwarzer Mond that I recognize here, too -dark, resinous, and strong. This is not a girlie scent! Snake Oil is so strong I can taste it in the back of my throat, and that same phenomenon occurred when I first applied Death Adder - it struck quick and hard, straight for my throat, almost closing it. Sweet vanilla and coconut are nowhere to be found! This is a brutal, aggressive, sexual scent. My skin amps sweet notes, and yet they're really faint, at first. As it dries down they come out a little more, a whisper beneath the assertive resinous notes.

 

Some people found Smut smutty, but on my skin it's sweet and playful and I can wear it any time. I personally wouldn't wear Death Adder to a parent-teacher conference. It's definitely a "going out and getting yer *cough* on" kind of scent on me.

 

As it dries, I can really smell the Indonesian oils and the vetiver blending together, with vetiver becoming the predominant note. The combination makes for a gender-neutral scent - I can totally imagine a man wearing this and me wanting to tear his clothes off and smelling incredible.

 

From the coconut and vanilla notes listed, I was expecting a much sweeter, gentler scent - silly me! This is about as sweet as a pair of black leather pants. If you love Schwarzer Mond and Snake Oil I think you will LOVE Death Adder!

[filigree_shadow]

In the bottle: Medicinal.

 

Wet: Vetiver and vanilla. Yum.

 

Dry: I can definitely tell that this has a Snake Oil base. But it doesn't do that powdery thing that fresh Snake Oil does on me, it goes in the smoky-vanilla direction like Snake Charmer does. The black coconut adds to the sweetness and overpowers the vetiver -- when it's dry I can't smell the vetiver nearly as well as I could when it was wet. And the opoponax = hubba hubba.

 

This is absolutely everything I wanted it to be: smoky, dark, and smooth.

 

ETA: After a couple of hours on my skin, Death Adder is close to Snake Charmer, my most favorite BPAL ever. It's smokier, a little bit less vanilla, and not as strong. But it's certainly close enough that I'm going to be forced to order about three bottles of this.

Edited January 28, 2007 by filigree_shadow

[bibliophile]

I got a bottle of Death Adder right off the bat because of the black coconut and vanilla in the description, which tend to combine very well with spice notes for me (e.g., in Snake Charmer). However, vetiver is an iffy (and sometimes headache-inducing) note on me in general, and about 30 seconds after I applied Death Adder, it amped way up until it was all that I could smell. I am glad that I resisted the urge to scrub it off, because now, about an hour later, it has settled down into something much sweeter and spicier on my skin. The vetiver is still there, but is now using its inside voice instead of screaming. I am not sure if this particular snake is right for me just yet, but I think I will try aging it before I do anything with the bottle.

[nineveh]

I love vetiver and I love Death Adder! Nice gritty vetiver is at the forefront with this blend. Under that is a sort of dry, smoky coconut. It doesn't smell like the suntan lotion kind, which I am thankful for.

 

The vanilla is there, but it's only adding a slight sweetness to the background. I think I can pick out the richness of the opoponax, but it's hard to tell since the Snake Oil base is similar. I can definitely smell the SO in this one a lot more plainly than in Banded Sea Snake.

 

I'm happy that this smells basically like I thought it would from the note list. The only "problem" is that the Snake Oil is doing that weird plasticky thing that fresh Snake Oil is wont to do, but a little aging will easily fix that.

[LittleGreyKitten]

This reminds me of an extra sweet Snake Oil base plus the hardcore vetiver from Lenore. I found the gorgeous sweet vanilla base to be intriguing with the vetiver. I don't yet know if I'll reach forit a ton- the vetiver is a bit difficult for me on a regular basis- but it's very interesting and the sweet underscent beneath the vetiver is amazing. The vetiver throws farther than the SO base scent though. Didn't notice coconut. I love the Snake Pit concept and I'll have to get a few more to snuggle. (And oh dear god but Boomslang is OMGGOOD).

 

3.5 out of 5.

[slave1]

DEATH ADDER

 

In Bottle: Vetiver

 

On Skin: Let me start off by saying Snake Oil is one of my favorite scents ever. I was very excited for all the notes in this blend except the vetiver. Sadly, the vetiver amps like crazy on me. I get an overwhelming earthy dirt note from this, wow. It just overtakes the scent on me. I get a little bit of a Schwarzer Mond feel from this scent (yay opoponax!!) after about 10 minutes and my attitude improves because I adore that scent. The sweet resins start to come more forward and I can finally smell a bit of coconut. The coconut is very much black coconut, not sweet or caramelized coconut like some people might expect. It has that fresh coconut meaty smell, not very sweet at all. The vanilla comes out and helps even the scent out. I don’t really like this scent until about 15 minutes into drydown and then it just gets better and better. It’s a scent I want to try and age for sure since my aged Snake Oil is one of my prized scents. It starts out with a very, very, very strong throw and long wearlength although the scent becomes much more light and tame after about a half hour.

[zenvodunista]

Snake Charmer + Lenore = Death Adder.

 

I happen to love these, so yes, I will be getting a bottle.

 

This is gorgeous! And the vertiver isn't BAM like in Lenore which is ALL vertiver - it's a lot more mellow than that. But really, this smells almost exactly like SC to me, with vertiver instead of plum.

 

I am the happy

 

N.

[Little Bird]

I'm going back and making edits to my reviews of the snakes, now that I have my own full bottles and have been able to spend some more time with them .

 

Death Adder is a favorite for me. I was afraid that the vetiver would make this blend too dark & earthy, but I honestly don't think that I would actually pick vetiver out of this at all. It's amazing that plain ole Snake Oil smells awful on me (no matter how fresh or aged it is), but several of the snakes have been so wonderful, and so different from each other.

 

Death Adder definitely smells like Snake Oil, but it doesn't turn rancid on my skin. It's like a sexy, sugared, dark muskiness with the addition of a sweet, dark, dry, woody coconut and an extra helping of a sexy, dark vanilla.

 

My boy has a coconut scented hair gel that made me realize I love the smell of coconut on him, and Death Adder is a perfect coconut scent for him. It's a complex, dark, sexy coconut. I'd wear this myself and love it, but I love it even more on my hubby-to-be.

 

I'll have to snag a few backup bottles of this one before it disappears for good.

Edited June 26, 2008 by Tania

[The_Witching_Hour]

I kept trying to figure out what note in this reminded me of SMUT and still can't figure it out!

 

In the bottle and the first 30 minutes it has a vanilla feel but somehow its a dry feel. I say that because I usually think of vanilla as sweet. As it begins to dry it develops a sweetness and somewhat bubble-gum feel that I always associate with SMUT. That stages only lasts about 15 minutes and the resemblence to Snake Charmer becomes very apparent!

 

This stays close to the skin but remains stronger than some of the other members of the Pit in drydown. Very beautiful in all of its stages!!

[forspecial_plate]

I'm glad I waited a few days before reviewing Death Adder. At first, I was just smelling a lot of vetiver. Now, it seems that more of the other notes come out when I wear it....and it's really good! It is still a strong vetiver scent, but there's also the coconut and vanilla that gives it a good dose of Snake Oil. I think opoponax is sweet myrrh, and that gives it a little touch of resins...not as much as Snake Charmer, but I think this is similar to that scent. But with the strong vetiver note this becomes its own scent, definitely. And I think that this will smell even better 6 months from now. It's one of my favorites out of the Snake Pit.

 

Edit to add: A couple months later, I have to say that I really have to be in the mood for vetiver to wear this. The vetiver is very strong and lasts for hours on my skin. That one note out-lasts all the others by a long shot. I do still like it, but I haven't worn it a whole lot.

Edited March 29, 2007 by Forspecial Plate

[Ina Garten Davita]

I loath the smell of vetiver, don't even want to put it on my skin. But I gave Death Adder the benefit of the doubt because it's Snake Oil with black coconut and vanilla !

 

Where is my vanilla? Where is my coconut? Where is my Snake Oil? Vetiver is just too aggressive. If I didn't know better, I would think that this is a bottle of vetiver single note. I need to wash it off.

[edenssixthday]

Death Adder - Holy carp, that's a load of vetiver! When I first apply this, it smells like a vetiver single note. It's strong, and dark, and very, very scary! Fortunately, the vetiver calms down after drydown. The other notes are very soft and I can barely identify them, and probably couldn't at all if I weren't aware of what was already in this blend. Vetiver always clings to my skin and overwhelms any other notes, so I'm not surprised how this is working out. It's mostly a vetiver and Snake Oil scent on me. Four hours after I applied this, I took a shower. Eight hours after that, I rolled over in bed, and caught a huge whiff of vetiver coming from the arm where I first tested it. That's 12+ hours of staying power, including survival through a shower! That's the kickassingest strong BPAL blend I've ever worn! I do like vetiver, so it's really nice after it calms down. I just wish the Snake Oil were more predominant in this one. I may have to layer this blend with my plain Snake Oil and see if it works better that way.

 

ETA: My other review is 2.5 years old. At this point, after 2.5 years of aging, Death Adder is significantly mellower. It opens up with a gorgeous snake oil/coconut scent that instead of being overpowered by the vetiver, is simply backed-up and deepend by the vetiver, which is so subtle now that it could probably be loved even by vetiver-haters. I actually wish the vetiver were stronger upon drydown now! It's a gorgeous scent, and much more wearable than it was when it was fresh/new. I'm excited to see what more aging does to this blend. It's really lovely and I will certainly not be getting rid of this one...ever.

Edited August 20, 2009 by edenssixthday

[Scylla]

Upon first sniff of Death Adder, I smelled almost ALL vetiver--and nearly recoiled in horror! Vetiver and I don't usually get along. But I tried a little bit, and it became a really masculine Snake Oil on me.

 

So I told my husband to smell it. He sniffed the bottle, dabbed some on, proclaimed "I love it!" and walked off with it. He was sort of a BPAL convert before, but he actually said something to the effect of, "That's it! I'm only wearing BPAL from now on. You've converted me!"

 

And it smells so sexy and wonderful on him. Death Adder will definitely be a multiple bottle stock-up purchase for Mr. Scylla.

[schackjj]

I don't get any coconut OR vanilla - what a disappointment What I do get is a weird dustiness. And I'm amping what must be the vetiver. For me, this is a masculine scent, but I don't think I'm even going to keep my bottle around long enough for my husband to test it.

[LiberAmoris]

Death Adder is a true morpher on my skin. When I first put it on, I thought the vetiver was going to knock me out. It's strong, and I'm not a vetiver person. But after about ten minutes, it really backed off, and I got more black coconut (yum!) and opoponax (double yum!).

 

At this stage, it's much more balanced and I can see myself maybe reaching for this when I want something darker and more dangerous in feel. I think it's worth aging a bit to see if the vetiver backs off a little more, but even if it doesn't, I think I might be able to wear this when I get in the right mood. It's really kind of unapologetically sexy and rough-hewn!

[Lorencita]

This is gorgeous too... it starts off with a kick of Vetiver, but it calms down to a slightly spicy, creamy snake oil. I dont know exactly what opoponax smells like, but Im sure it helps with the loveliness of this blend. The pit is incredible so far!

[nikkoblue]

Got this today, fearing the vetiver kick....vetiver can go either way on me, and so can coconut. So......this was a leap of faith.

 

Ahem.

 

Wet: eeeeech. Vetiver, but not like a musty vetiver....a living, green root-of-the-grass-from-which-it-came vetiver. Now, i've never had snake oil before and the vial I have is fresh, so there's some balancing notes in the background that are keeping the vetiver from kicking my butt. Onward.

 

Skin: boooooooff. Vetiver. But it's being kept in check. And no coconut that I can sense, thank goodness. There's also something soft holding it together; I'm thinking it's oppoponax, which I always seem to like. OK.

 

Dry: hmmmmmmm. vetiver's there, but it's not overpowering. I'm getting some milder notes including the oppoponax and vanilla. I like this. If I were somewhere and some person was wearing this I'd be leaning over ever-so-unintrusively to sniff it. Probably more so on a man as it seems to be masculine sexy...however, I do like this on me. Yay! first snake adopted and kept.

[euterpe414]

This is a havenly scent for any vetiver lover! It does not morph much from the wet to dry phases, unlike the other snakes I have tried. I can really sense all fo the notes in this one, they seem to meld with a SO base to create a really heavy, rich scent. For some reason thought the vetiver and smoky coconut waft most of all, and it is positively intoxicating.

 

I will definitely cherish this one! It's so lovely and perfect for my tastes. many many thanks to the lab for this wonderful Snake Oil incarnation.

[melia]

this is my favorite from the pit so far. the coconut is not sweet and cloying like I find it to be in elegba, nor as nutty and delicious like in spooky (one of my all-time faves), but it brings a needed levity to the oil. the vetiver makes this a dark and dangerous scent, and having just discovered my love for opoponax (thanks to the fabulous schwarzer mond), I knew death adder would be a definite keeper for me.

[Lionesse]

I have a love affair with vetiver, and it loves me back. This one is no exception.

 

Imp: strong vetiver, and dark coconut

wet: VETIVER

dry: vetiver, dark coconut, vanilla?

 

I keep saying dark coconut because I can't think of any other way to describe it. Its not suntan lotion, its not fresh cut coconut, its not a drink, its... dark and mysterious!

 

I will be buying a full bottle

[Ohmaude]

Death Adder is the snake pit scent that caught my eye first. I mean, Snake oil with Coconut? I just had to try it. Black Pearl is one of my top GC scents. I didn't know before trying bpal, but I love, love, love smoky coconut.

 

I was worried about the vetiver, as I hadn't tried that note before, and people seem to love it or hate it.

 

When I smelled the vetiver, I knew it instantly. There is a wild grass that I have smelled before while doing field work in various regions of the tropics. Every time I experience it I freak out: "oh there it is! what is that yummy grass smell!?" I was never able to identify it, and I don't know if it is also vetiver but they smell identical.

 

I guess that makes me a vetiver lover.

 

In the bottle the vetiver makes me think of hot sun, yet it smells like dark night. This is instantly followed by my beloved smoky coconut. It is is rich and dark, (but an out-of-doors dark, not a dungeon dark.) A hot dark night with cicadas and stars.

 

On my writst, the vetiver and coconut is going strong, followed by the snake oil and vanilla. As it dries down it sweetens up and mellows out. It is dry grass, earth, coconut and sweet snake oil.

 

The final verdict? Damn. Damn, Damn. This is sexy, smoky , botanical scent. Like all the snakes; as this one ages I think it is going to ge even better: the vetiver is going to mellow out a bit and the snake oil will become fuller.

 

Overall, fantastic Beth!

[Loligo]

This is the one and only true hit for me out of the entire Snake Pit. It has bumped Snake Charmer from my top three. True, it does smell like single note vetiver for the first few minutes, but soon all the notes even out to a cool and mysterious coconut - vetiver - vanilla mix. There's something spacious and airy about the scent, even though it's pretty intense. It reminds me of Samhain 2005, not in the notes per se, but in having this strange sense of... dimension to it. (It also smells just like Lush's Coolaulin conditioner -- not surprising, since that is scented with coconut, vetiver, and benzoin.)

 

I could wear this every day and not get tired of smelling it.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is smoky coconut...

 

once applied the snake oil steps forward with lots of vanilla and vetiver....

 

this is astonishing ... i absolutely love it ... a sexy and smoky snake

oil blend that lasts forever on me...