Western Diamondback

[copyshopclerk]

Snake Oil with leather, tonka bean, red sandalwood, and sage.

 

In the imp: Mmmm... leather and something sweet, almost like almond or cherry. *looks up tonka* - ah, wikipedia says the frangrance is similar to almonds.

 

Wet: Leather comes out a bit more to the forefront, with the sweet tonka close behind. I don't really notice sandalwood very much, and I can't pick out the sage at all.

 

Dry: Up until it started to dry & the Snake Oil showed up, I didn't think this was too masculine (thought it was rather gender-neutral, actually). The Snake Oil incense makes the leather aspect have a darker quality which comes across as more masculine on me.

 

I'm not sure it's a "me" scent, but it's pretty cool The leather & tonka are very interesting counterparts.

 

(edited to add description)

Edited February 28, 2007 by copyshopclerk

[SeaLady]

This is the first Snake Pit I've tried on skin so far ^.^

 

In the decant: I almost can't smell this at all. It's clean, and green, but barely there.

 

On: Snake Oil, Snake Oil, leather, heat, and plants (but desert ones).

My roommate says: "Mmm, it smells like walking in your cowboy boots in the desert," which I think is accurate. It somehow portrays the very dry heat of sand in the sun, and it's still sweet and snake oily. It faded very fast on my roommate, but I still have a delicious elbow! It's awesome, and I'll be getting a bottle sometime before the Snake Pit leaves us...

[maijasu]

This smells just like its description, Snake oil with smooth leather and dry, dusty sage, with a background of tonka and sandalwood. It could easily be worn by a man or a woman, and it's very sexy. I'm just decanting it for a circle right now, but I think I may need to get my own bottle sometime soon!

[gingersnapp]

The leather is most prominent, and it's the dusty sexy leather from Dead Man's Hand on me. Other than that and the Snake Oil, I'm not getting much else. Maybe a little bit of the herbal sage, but this is pretty much leather and Snake Oil.

[em_h]

I think this is the only Snake Pit scent that I actively dislike (though Temple Viper was also not great on me). My skin just amps the sage in a crazy way, and adds in some Comet cleanser. I can sort of get the other notes underneath that, but the sage/Comet note is just too unpleasant. Luckily it's a fairly fast fade.

[melissadragon]

WESTERN DIAMONDBACK:

 

Imp: Thankfully the leather is well-buried. - applied to middle of left forearm

Wet: Mostly sandalwood + sage + Snake Oil

Dry: Mostly sandalwood. Just nice and clean. A bit too squeaky clean to be Snake Oil, iykwim

1 hr later: It's faded a lot. I can pull out the leather, tonka, sage, sandalwood and Snake Oil.

Verdict: Feh, not a keeper. There's too many snakes I like and this one just doesn't really appeal to me.

[Fyre_in_Winter]

I was expecting a sexier/ more leathery version of Tombstone... alas, I mostly got a similar leather to Quincey Morris on dry, green, not-so-Snake-Oily base. It wasn't bad, but I see no reason to get a bottle when I much prefer Tombstone or layering Snake Oil and Quincey Morris (or De Sade).

[gwynethr]

Oh my. This is just unbelievably wonderful. It smells as good wet as it does dry, something I've often found varies wildly for me.

 

Leather has so far turned out to be either invisible (which makes me sad, as it's one of my favorite smells ever) or horrible baby powder; Snake Oil hasn't worked well on me yet (so far, very powdery, though I'm trying to let my already aged imp age more to see if it will help), either. But many of the Snake Pit scents are turning out to finally be Snake Oil I can wear and love, thanks to the other notes balancing them out. This is one of the best.

 

I get wonderful leather and the spicy warmth of the Snake Oil and sandalwood, the vanilla-y tonka, and underneath a slight whiff of the sage, just enough not to traumatize me (my bad childhood desert experiences come back when I sniff that in perfumes). This is my perfect scent version of growing up in the west. I'm buying bottles of this, for certain.

[SultryWolf]

in the decant: Cold leather predominates.

on: The sandalwood steps up, with tonka and Snake Oil bringing up the rear -but overall it is still leather.

[slave1]

WESTERN DIAMONDBACK

 

In Bottle: Leather and wood

 

On Skin: Wow, drop dead sexy. Can I get my husband to wear this??? This is the masculine form of Snake Oil for sure. The sandalwood and sage give a nice earthy and woody tone, very rugged and slightly minty. The Snake Oil and tonka sweeten the leather and keep it in check. Leather is my favorite note in Beth’s masculine blends and here is again the case. It’s spicy, woody, leatherclad and so very manly. I couldn’t picture a woman wearing this since it screams manly man. I want my husband to bathe in this. And I like that it isn’t overwhelmingly strong. It has a good throw and short to average wearlength.

[Teggy]

Bah...not quite for my body chemistry. On me, it smells like the leather protectant spray I use on my shoes and purses. It's too harsh on me. With the right body chemistry, it could be dreamy.

[themerrybaker]

Western Diamonback is an unusual blend of opposites. The leather/sage is very dry, the way I liked in DeSade. The "Snake Oil" part is very sweet and baby-powdery. I will definitely use up the sample and leave this in the running for the "can be only one" bottle.

[maribouquet]

Western Diamondback smells like an old leather jacket on me. Not unpleasant, but not great either - kinda one note with my chemistry, I guess. Oh well!

[Lionesse]

Western Diamondback has knocked Green Tree Viper out of number one snake position.

 

Every single note in it, is one of my favorites, and every single one of them work with my chemistry. There is the added bonus of NO evil baby powdery smell that I get from straight snake oil.

 

I get whiffs of leather that smells worn in, with sage/spice, and warm tonka, and sandalwaood, this goes on for hours. Being a Gemini, the differing wafts of scent keeps me happy =)

 

I will hoard this one.

[The_Merf]

I'm through five of the six Snakes I want to try, and of those five, one has become a top-10 all time (Death Adder), one has become a top-10 least fave (Saw-Scaled Viper), one was good enough to keep the bottle (King Cobra), one was not bad but not a keeper (Australian Copperhead)--and then there's Western Diamondback. I'm still not 100% sure what I want to do with WD. When I first opened the bottle, I wrinkled my nose in disgust. As many others have noted, the leather note in this blend is the same clean, cold leather note in Quincey Morris, a blend that did not work on me. Going with the 'you gotta try everything' theory, I put some on, and to my surprise, I quite liked the blend after the leather had a minute or two to settle down. The leather became much warmer, no doubt due to the SO background. There was a little bit of tonka also present, but I couldn't really pick up on the sage (unless I was mistaking it as part and parcel of the clean leather note). However, as the blend dried down, it left just the clean leather note and the sage. I really don't like the tone of the leather, but I imagine that this could be a scent that really becomes a superstar when the SO base starts to age. I'm really not sure whether or not to hold the bottle, or to try and swap it. Right now, I'm leaning toward a hold.

[dcmo]

Not a leather fan AT ALL! At least not on me. The tonka and sage are gorgeous in this though.

[jessiesquash]

I'm one of those rare and sad people on whom Snake Oil just smells kind of blah. So I really looked forward to trying these in hopes that one of them would smell awesome on me.

 

Something in this just brings out the sweet sugared incense that refused to come out before. I think it's the sage and the leather lends it a rugged, southwest feel. It's gorgeous and despite being pretty masculine it works for me. As someone born in raised in Arizona, I just couldn't resist it.

[dawndie]

In bottle: watery leather

 

On skin: mmm, warm Dead Man's Hand leather, one of my favorites, with a bit of sweet brown sugar

 

Half-hour later: the resins of Snake Oil are middling about, but it's still all about the leather

 

In conclusion: I'm completely biased towards loving this one, as I the warm dusty leather of Dead Man's Hand and Quincy Morris. I ordered hoping it would be the same, and it was! Yay! Just like Australian Copperhead, the Snake Oil isn't as strong as I'd like, but I bet it's only because the blend is brand-new from the Lab and needs to age. I'll look forward to loving it more and more

[GemmaCat]

Oh, this one is soooo good!

 

I get soft, worn leather layered with soft resins, the merest hint of vanilla (that has to be the Snake Oil base), and sage.

 

It is herbal-gentle-sexy goodness! The throw is perfect, too. I put a little on the back of my hand to test it this morning and as I was doing pilates an hour later, I received delicate wafts of scent.

 

This is such a winner.

[savage_rose]

It smells like incense on me. Incense and a touch of leather...smudging incense, with a touch of sweetness. Really nice, and one of those scents that can go either way, masculine or feminine, depending on the sniff. Very nice.

[shellyshells]

Hmm, I don't usually like leather but I do adore tonka & sandalwood... and its got Snake Oil so I have to try it.... hehe. Straight sniff from the bottle I get pure leather (like Quincey Morris). On my skin I get leather leather leather for about 15 minutes. It calms down a bit and I can detect the sandalwood and sage keeping the leather in check. It fades completely in about an hour and all I get is just a very faint whiff of Snake Oil Maybe it'll smell awesome on my bf.

[sarada]

I love every note in this so I almost ordered a bottle unsniffed, but I had to take it for a ride first...

 

Ahh, it smells just like Quincey Morris actually, once I test it. Very strong leather with some...other things in the background, but nothing really stands out. Snake Oil is nowhere to be found!

 

As I wear it, it's still a strong leather in the Quincey Morris tradition but sage makes an appearance, happily. I love sage. A LOT. Dry, herbal sage backed up with some vanilla-ish sweetness is the next stage, and that's about as far as it goes.

 

All that said I think I need to wear it around on its own some time to get a full feel for it. It would be good to wear on a walk in the woods, where all of the sage and buried sandalwood scents could come to the forefront. In the meantime, Quincey satisfies any interest in leather I could have, and this isn't at the top of my to-buy list.

[flyingpizza]

I am seriously wondering if I received a mis-labeled bottle of Asp Viper. All I smell is strong, strong almond-cherry, and none of the yummy sage. I will have to look for a decant of Western Diamondback to be sure.

[filigree_shadow]

This doesn't smell anything like Snake Oil to me, which is a little disappointing because I was looking forward to finding out with Snake Oil and leather smelled like together. I like the scent plenty well on its own, I just thought it would be a little different. Darker. This is sweet and kinda pretty.

 

When it's dry, I like it better. It has that smooth, rich SO base. Luckily I can't really smell the sage. Wouldn't mind having a bottle of this one...

[indicolite]

Leather leather leather leather sweet Snake Oil leather, warm comforting leather smell.

 

Not the leather from Loviatar, though: a warmer light-brown leather.