King Cobra (2006)

[crebbsgirl]

Snake Oil with orris, frankincense, and copal.

Alright, I really tried to make this work. I think I have discovered I have trouble wearing frankincense. This started out really beautifully. Someone previously stated this blend had a cavernous feel to it and I have to agree. The orris cuts the sweetness of the Snake Oil wonderfully. However, after a little bit, the frankincense starts overpowering the blend and I get that hint of eau de play doh that I've been getting from blends with frankincense in it. In the end, it's just all frankincense on me. Pity. Edited January 23, 2009 by crebbsgirl

[inkaddict]

In the imp: spicy sweet resins.

 

Wet: Rich and incensy, but with something almost...alive? It's difficult to explain. It doesn't smell like something that comes out of a bottle, it's like finding yourself in the middle of an ancient ritual: smoke and incense, golden masks gleaming in the candlelight. A deep, mysterious scent.

 

Dry: Incense and powder

No more mysterious temple, this now smells like an old shop full of rubbish nobody's bothered to dust in a long while. To be fair amber amber on me almost always turns into nondescript old things.

 

Verdict: I love it for the first ten minutes or so, but I don't want to smell like a dusty attic. Mep.

[aedes]

Whoa, weird! I'm normally Queen Resin and they all smell dark-power-sexy-creamy on me. But this was way sweet on application, like lotus and sugar cane. Not a BAD sweetness, but I almost thought there was some berry, wine or grape action going on here. Maybe it's the Snake Oil? Took an hour to kind of settle down to the normal creaminess I expected, though it's still a little sweet. Reminds me of Hungry Ghost Moon in that it conjures an image of a black-and-pink naughty style that's chic, but is it me? Hrm.

Edited March 17, 2009 by aedes

[lucyintheSkywithDemons]

As I have a serious thing for everything with Snake Oil atm I HAD to have the King

and try it out.. sadly its not for me.

 

Its too heavy and dark, and it gave me a slightly sick feeling in my tummy..

other thing on the boy.

 

:yum:

 

I dabbed one drop of King Cobra on him - and the room was filled with a sexy-dark-vampire

like smell, sweet and romantic and wild.

 

I was sitting 5 meters away from him - and I could still smell that teeny drop...

it made me a lil *woooowwzzaaaaa* in the head actually.

 

I was wearing NA´s Bee Venom today and the mixture of King Cobra / boys chemistry / Bee Venom

made me a very happy girl tonight...

no need to say more.

 

This baby is pure S*E*X....

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Surprisingly light. Only a bit of snake oil, with some powdery-heady orris, soft sweetly incensey frankincense, and smoky-resiny copal. Smells like diapers.

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Oh wow, I was not expecting to love this based on the smell in the vial, but it just goes to show that you always have to skin test before passing judgment on these blends. On my skin, this blooms into the most heavenly incense blend. Why have I overlooked this snake for so long? This is quite possibly my favorite snake next to Saw Scaled Viper. It's almost a marshmallowy incense blend over snake oil spice and vanilla...sweet, creamy, hazy incense!

[janelle_hell]

For the first hour or so, King Cobra smells like Snake Oil (of course) and Midnight Mass...2 of my favorites. I get no sweetness at all from this blend, just straight-up Snake Oil and frankincense. As if Snake Oil got dressed up for the holidays. After the first couple of hours, it turns into pure frankincense on me. Heavy incense, but not "hippie/headshop" incense. There's something golden and glowing about the scent. Don't know if I need a whole bottle, as I already have both Snake Oil and Midnight Mass, but I'll be keeping my imp to wear for the holidays.

[ShadowsDance]

This is a rich, incense smell. It smells a lot like Snake Oil did in it's imp, but this does not go powdery on my skin. Slightly sweet incense, with a good throw.

[EdenIris]

I don't know what it is that's giving me the scent of institutional disinfectant. I get along well with copal and frankincense, and I think orris is OK. I've never tried straight-up Snake Oil (heresy, I know), but other members of the Snake Pit smell gorgeous on me.

 

The disinfectant backs off a little as it dries, but then all I get is a faint bitterness mingled with sugar, like strange old candy.

 

Not such a tragedy, though -- more room in the box and the budget for Temple Viper and Habu!

[jewelbug]

Imp: I was expecting a wallop of strong resins and thick snake oil vanilla, but I’m getting something very light and almost fruity??? Er?

Wet: dark musky, slightly vanillic, something almost licoricey. Still, I’m really not getting a super resin/incense. Kinda smoky.

Drying: Musky, smoky, rich, but that fruity feel from the imp is making a strong comeback…like cherry or wine or something??

 

Dry: Okay, I swear…musky vanilla and WINE/GRAPES. WTF? Is this mislabeled, maybe? Except none of the other snakes list wine/grapes, either. Huh. I was expecting that earthy/dusty orris and some lemony copal and frankincense, but what I get is vanilla musk and wine. Its nice, just very unexpected. About 5-6 hrs in, I could smell frankincense for a minute, but honestly, most all of the dry down was winey snake oil. Lasts about 8-9 hrs, and has very good throw.

 

Overall: I like it, but there are others I like better. Mostly, I'm just intriqued about the winey turn this one took. I will pass the decant on, but glad I got to try it.

 

[Aldercy]

Firstly, let me give a big thank you to orris for not ruining this blend on me with its fluffy, powdery fail.

 

Secondly, King Cobra is very Snake Oil, but less creamy and more serious. The vanilla is really downplayed and, while the frankincense and copal do not really rear up as prominent, distinguishable notes, I think they just lend a certain staid, solid quality to the base of the blend. The peppery smoke of the frankincense appears a little more on the dry-down, but it's still very close to the original SO for me.

 

 

(Jewelbug, loads of people get wine/grapes/grape soda/grape candy from Temple Viper, so that actually could be a mislabeled decant you have. ETA: Actually, now I'm getting grape from King Cobra, too. Nevermind!)

Edited November 14, 2009 by Aldercy

[DigitalCoyote]

I thought, initially, that I'd put Habu on again. I got something sweet--like a vanilla--which probably made me figure that's what had happened. What gave it away was that it just wasn't as "in your face" or obvious. As it dried down, it turned in to a woody incense that didn't go powdery on me. This is probably why my boyfriend's boss thought he was wearing a new aftershave or something. I applied it about 18 -20 hours ago, but I can still catch a whiff of it every now and then.

[angelicruin]

Dusty, smoky snake oil best describes this on my skin. Like it, but not really *loving* it.

[voorishsign]

My very first snake pit oil, via a circle! I'm nervous. Snake Oil did precious little for me but I am hoping I'll find a snake pit scent that will change my mind. I'm not sure why, but I bought a half-bottle because I had a good feeling about it.

 

In the bottle: Orange-gold oil. Surprisingly light smell. Frankincense and resins.

 

On wet: Still very light. Slightly dusty, in the good way. Barely any throw.

 

Dry: A light, glowing incense.

 

Now there's a Snake Oil I can appreciate! Among all my usual dark and brooding scents, this one is downright friendly, I don't quite understand complaints of this being too dark, but maybe my skin chemistry is a bit funny This is free of the two things that I disliked about the original Snake Oil, the sweetness of the vanilla and the exotic intensity of the incense. It's plain, a little smoky, pale, dry and wonderful.

 

ETA: Sad to find that this fades on me, fast. Three to four hours, tops, and it's barely noticeable unless you press your nose to the skin. Woe! Still, I like it enough to use up.

Edited January 28, 2010 by voorishsign

[DeltaCat]

This on me is Snake Oil with a touch of sweetness. I honestly can't place the sweetness as it isn't fruity, candy-like or floral; but it just smells sweet. Not a terrible blend. Actually a nice variation on Snake Oil.

[CitizenBree]

Snake oil and....clay? I can see how it could be incense, but it's not coming out that way on my skin. I actually think the snake oil is holding this back from being really great. It's as if it's cancelling something out.

 

Yea, if i think about it really hard, I think it would be some sort of pottery shop. Earthy, wet, with an undertone of chemicals. Weird.

 

[Gold Dust Kitten]

In the imp, Snake Oil. Wet on skin, aged Snake Oil and faint cherry...or is that Dragon's Blood? It's Snake Oil candy! As it dries, it turns into Snake Oil Bath Oil mixed with frankincense, then it starts to get more and more powdery. I usually hate perfumes that go powdery on my skin but this is different. It feels comforting, but it doesn't last long at all.

[Seamyst]

Got this as a frimped tester, so it won't last too long.

 

On me, it's dark, dry, dusty, full of incense and a nice hint of sweetness (that would probably be the Snake Oil). It's definitely not the best BPAL scent ever, to me, but it's growing on me as a scent. I won't try to hunt down a bottle of this, but I think I'm going to end up wishing I'd gotten a full imp/decant.

[Penance]

Origin:

 

5mL from the Lab.

 

Preconceived notions:

 

This sounds like it's made of awesome. I love Snake Oil and I love frankincense. Orris and copal are generally good, too, although copal occasionally goes bad on me. This and Temple Viper were my most lusted after picks in the Snake Pit.

 

First sniff:

 

I don't really smell Snake Oil in here, which is surprising. What I get it a gentle, smooth resin blend. It reminds me in some ways of Heavenly Love & Earthly Love. It has a sort of...liquidness to it. It's hard to describe but both King Cobra and HL & EL give me a sort of synesthetic impression of amber colored water rather than dry resins or incense smoke. It's strange but surprisingly pretty in both cases.

 

Wet on skin:

 

Initially, King Cobra smells the same on my skin as in the bottle and then it suddenly develops a sort of almond-like scent to it (Temple Viper does the same thing, so I'm guessing it's some shared component causing it; I'm 99% sure there's no almond in either one, though, since it doesn't make me queasy) and a sweetness. That stage doesn't last long, which is good, because I really don't like that particular part.

 

Dry down:

 

Soft, smooth, silky resins. I'm still getting that amber-colored water impression. It smells liquid and smooth, slick but not slippery...kind of snake-like, I guess. The Snake Oil never really comes out in this one on me. Instead I get pure resins, which is perfectly fine by me because I'm a diehard resin/incense lover. If I had to compare this to BPAL's other resin scents, I'd say this is most similar to Heavenly Love & Earthly Love on me. It's much silkier and smoother than Penitence and less sweet (and more liquid) than Cathedral. It's nothing like the very deep, dark resin scents like Minotaur and Scattered Gloom.

 

The bottom line:

 

While there were some "uh-oh" moments during the dry-down, this is definitely a winner. I'm not going to be heartbroken when the Snake Pit leaves town with the Carnaval, because BPAL makes several absolutely gorgeous resin blends that I either own already or can get easily (and Heavenly Love & Earthly Love is similar enough to King Cobra that I can find solace there, provided it doesn't get discontinued), but I'm probably going to buy at least one more bottle of this. Probably two or three more because this is a beauty and there's no such thing as too many resin blends.

[calivianya]

Initially, all I smell from King Cobra is Snake Oil, which is to be expected. However, when it starts to dry down it starts to smell really dry, like Snake Oil in a desert, and a little citrusy. I attribute this to the orris and frankincense, respectively. This is definitely a favorite from the Snake Pit and a keeper!

[mistressfizz]

Sniff: Oh, I am in love! A golden warm resin with a hint of herbs, soft and creamy

 

Wet: This is a desert caravan, traveling along dusty cliffs and dunes, filled with exotic spices and dried woods and rich incense. It's light (well, relatively speaking - for Snake Oil, it's light!) with a warmth like amber and just the right touch of vanilla sweetness.

 

Dry: Pretty much the same gorgeous desert blend, flush with sunlight and sand. The incense is a tad dustier, the orris lends an earthy vibe, and the vanilla a bit stronger, but it retains a mysterious beauty. This is hazy, hypnotic and very evocative. So far, my favorite snake pit blend!

[Suu4LC]

For the longest time I just didn't "get" Snake Oil, so the snake pits had never done anything for me. Well, it took a few years, but I finally get what the fuss is all about! So I am excited to sniff more Snake Pits (and one day to go back and retry the ones I passed on!). In the imp, this is an extra resin-y frankincensey Snake Oil blend. Like the darker side of Snake Oil magnified.

 

On my skin, it is pretty much the same. A beautiful, resiny/frankincense heavy Snake Oil. As it dries, it smells almost more woodsy to me.

 

Basically, this blend smells pretty much like what you would imagine. Snake oil and frankincense, basically a Snake Oil that is extra woody, smoky, resiny, and incensey. I have other SO type blends that I love more than this, but if it sounds up your alley, you at least need to grab a decant! It did happen to dry down completely to be a bit powdery on me though, which is the only thing I would have to warn about. However, my skin tends to overpowderize blends in general, so it may just be my wonky skin!

Edited November 27, 2011 by Suu4LC

[84trillion]

I've found a new love in the Snake Pit! Received a decant of this today and it is absolutely wonderful - dark and seductive and beautiful.

[sunlitgarden]

I was frimped a partial decant of King Cobra in a recent swap. I am excited to try it because I am a Snake Oil fan and orris, frankincense and copal are all good notes on me.

 

In the imp: Snake Oil, but with the orris giving it a bit of powdery sweetness.

 

Wet on my skin, it pretty much is Snake Oil, but again, a bit sweeter. Even though I like Snake Oil, sometimes it's a bit too strong for me. But King Cobra is a softer, sweeter version. I think I'll need a bottle of this once the Carnaval comes back (along with Green Tree Viper! They can be snake buddies with my Boomslang.)

[chimera87]

I am so in love. This is actually smells even MORE sexy than normal Snake Oil on me! Who knew!? It's like a less sweet SO with a kick of frankincense and copal. I am not really picking up the Orris yet, but hopefully I will. It of course has longevity like all of the Snakes, at least it does in my opinion. I will definitely be on the hunt for more!