Snake Oil

[Faerykin]

Snake Oil

 

By far, our most popular scent! Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.

 

Swiped across wrists and along collarbone.

 

Initial Wet (8-8:30am): Mmmm … this is vanilla. This is so unlike the vanilla that you find in commercial perfumes or bath products. This is a warm vanilla with an underlying spiciness – there is something else there, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. This is truly divine.

 

Initial Dry (8:30-10am): The vanilla has calmed a bit as it rounds out the scent. I can detect the other spices a bit more, but they are still unidentifiable – as exotic spices should be. This is a very pleasant, warm scent.

 

Throughout the Day (10am on): This has really sweetened up, like sugar – though, it rests just under the ‘too sweet’ mark. The underlying spices keep it from being too foody or too sweet. It is still rather warm, and I feel as if I am basking in some sort of glow.

 

I must try this on the hubby. He likes vanilla. Seeing as this is gender-neutral, we’ll have to see what it smells like on him. Mmmmm …

 

This settles down to a warm, soft, spicy vanilla. I can understand how this would be a very popular scent, as vanilla is well known to be one of the top comfort scents. However, I’ve never really been a big fan of vanilla. I’ll certainly keep the imp though. I haven’t gotten any compliments yet (but I work in a very conservative office, and have yet to get a compliment on any BPAL scent), so we’ll see how this fares in the future, with the general public.

 

Definite lasting power, as this is still present as I leave for home.

[Larila]

I like the the sugared vanilla aroma with the spicy undertone. Wet went on little on the heavy side, It mellowed very well,like a incensed spiced sugar vanilla scent. Wasn't too sweet at all. I just love it, can't say enough about this one. On me the vanilla was more pronouced. And the lasting power was awesome! bigger bottle!

Edited September 29, 2005 by Shollin

[ghoulie]

Snake Oil meshes so perfectly with my body chemistry, it's incredible. I almost enjoy the reaction I get from other people more than actually smelling the scent on me!

 

It's a definitely attractor. I've never gotten this many compliments on a scent, ever. The other day, I kept catching my friend sniffing me. Each time he caught a whiff, he closed his eyes and sort of murmered at me. I think the poor boy is falling in love with me over Snake Oil!

[ChupaChup]

I didn't get hold of Snake Oil until I think my third order from the lab. I was so curious to see what everyone was raving about and I was sure I would love it straight off. Well, I didn't, I didn't get it at all! I couldn't smell any vanilla and barely any spices, and it didn't seem as strong as others were saying. But I perservered and kept wearing it and what do you know, now it's vanilla and spices and a whole bunch of other things . I think there is so much going on with this one that my nose was confused and just shut down at first. Now I absolutely adore it and never want to be without it. I would recommend to people who try Snake Oil and think they don't like it to give it several trys. Oh, and the same thing happened with my boyfriend, he hated it on me at first and now he loves it too

[purplecat]

I wasn't so sure about Snake Oil when I first tried it. It is not mixing well with my chemistry. I love the vanilla and the spicyness of it but I am not sure of the powdery scent. I am going to have to give it another try. I really want to like this one.

[glampyre]

Snake Oil.

 

I ordered Snake Oil without ever having sniffed it. My decision was based on the reviews of a few close friends, one of whom tends to like the same scents that smell good on me.

 

I'm SO infinitely glad that I made that gamble. Snake Oil is so luscious and smells fully edible...like milk and honey with delicate spices to give it a sexy edge. And sexy it is. Everyone loves this one and asks what it is.

 

The first time I wore Snake Oil, I applied it by touching the mouth of the bottle (Yes, I jumped right in with a big bottle on this one) onto my wrist. With some scents, this is just the right amount, but with Snake Oil it was too much. A little dab with a Q-tip is all you need. A bottle will last through hundreds of applications. Which is fortunate, because I'll wear this a LOT.

[hadaverde]

Snake Oil goes on sweet vanilla with a mysterious smoky quality lingering beneath. The spices quickly move forward, however, keeping it from becoming cloying in its sugariness.

 

The vanilla remains apparent, but not enough so to drown out the subtly layered spices. I think I can identify amber and myrrh somewhere in the mix, as well as a sweeter spice...clove or nutmeg, perhaps?

 

Several hours later, this oil is still going strong. The vanilla is blending equally with the spices now, and the mixture smells good enough to eat. I absolutely love this oil. My only complaint is the fact that it stains my skin yellow -- right now, I look like I've been playing too rough, as the stains on my wrists and neck look awfully similar to fading bruises...

 

(edited for typo)

Edited October 1, 2004 by hadaverde

[merveilleuse]

to me, this is more comforting than sexy [though it is sexy in its own way .. more sensual rather than outwardly sexy].

it smells best when it's gotten onto my clothes and i can smell it the next day and the next [as in wearing the same shirt to bed every night].

 

it's my favorite and i keep coming back to it [though i've never gotten a real compliment on it].

 

elizabeth

[tempete]

The vanilla note in Snake Oil is rich and rounded rather than overly sweet, and makes B&BW vanilla concoctions seem screamingly artificial in comparison. The Indonesian oils are the perfect counterpoint to the simpler, open, more familiar vanilla note, because they bring an air of mystery, sophistication and exotica to this scent. On me, the vanilla note is most obvious when wet, although traces of it are apparent in the drydown. The end result is extremely addictive and utterly gorgeous!

 

Of the BPALs I've tried so far, Snake Oil is the one I wear when I want to be noticed, as I've received two compliments from co-workers. I also wear it when I know that I'm going to have a shitty day - I get an immediate mood lift when I sniff my arm and remember how amazing I smell

 

I never want to be without Snake Oil, which is why I bought two decants from malanna while I anxiously wait for my bigger bottle...

[sihaya09]

In the bottle, all I smelled was the vanilla, but when I swiped it on my arm, it immediately turned to baby powder! Luckily for me, the drydown went much better. It warmed up and I could smell the vanilla once again, but this time, it was spicy underneath, like sandalwood. It had notes of amber for me, too. It wasn't quite what I expected, but it is a lovely, calming scent nonetheless. On second try-- whoa! So, so sexy without being a headachy-floral. I have only two words: bigger bottle.

Edited October 14, 2004 by sihaya09

[Caitfish]

In the bottle, Snake Oil is extremely sweet vanilla - warm too.

 

On me initially, I get lots of vanilla and something fresh - almost like baby powder underneath.

 

After a while, though - this turns almost to straight patchouli on me. I smell like a hippy, and the boi doesn't like hippies.

 

It's a pretty scent, but I hate it to fade to almost straight patchouli on me later. That, and I'm not a huge fan of strong vanilla scents.

[Reinaluna]

Snake Oil BELEIVE IT OR NOT I received as an imp in my very first order a year ago. Why I am just getting around to reveiwing it now I do not know. It is very sugary on me when first applied. Then the spicyness is swift to make its appearence. Warm and exotic like I like it I thought it over real hard and I am going to purchase a 5ml of this in my next order. Maybe mostly so I can say that I do have this famous and much loved blend.

Edited October 11, 2004 by Reinaluna

[nhough73]

This turned out to be a powdery vanilla incense on me that gave me a bit of a head ache. After all the great reviews I wanted to like it but I dont think that vanilla works too well with my skin. I keep sniffing it and wanting to like it but its not happening.

[autumnviolet]

Snake Oil-

The top notes are sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Then a spice/musk smell. STRONG! Masculine but not (all that brown sugar smell)

 

After drydown- I keep sniffing it. More masculine spicy notes on me, with vanilla and...cocoanut on top?

 

A really odd scent for me, but I plan to wear it this winter. For me, it's a fall/winter smell-heavy.

[rainbow]

I can't believe I haven't gotten round to reviewing this one yet. I got a Snake Oil imp as a freebie with one of my orders. I would never have picked this out for myself, as vanilla and I don't get along and I definitely don't like foody scents. But, in the interests of scientific inquiry, I've given it a go anyway. The results:

 

First sniff and immediate application- Heavy and sweet. This is much heavier than any scent I usually wear. I'm not sure I'd quite describe it as heady, but it's definitely heady. It's a "brown" scent to me.

 

Development: This develops into a more powdery and spicy scent. There's something almost watery that's coming through. It sounds like a contradiction, heavy, sweet, and watery, but there's definitely something watery there. This is not unpleasant (this is a huge deal to someone who normally hates vanilla and things that smell of food.) This might be the most rapidly changing oil ever- every time I sniff I get something different.

 

End result- I sort of like Snake Oil. I'm happy to wear it. It's not one of my favorites, but as I mentioned above, the fact that I'm willing to wear it is a huge deal to me (and speaks very highly of Snake Oil) as I generally hate things that are vanillary-sweet.

[evil_laugher]

Ugh, SWEET VANILLA HEAVEN IN A BOTTLE. There's also a little bit of incense in it, reminds me of sandalwood. I bought this as a gift for a picky friend, and I'll consider her to be a huge weirdo if she doesn't love it...

Edited October 31, 2004 by evil_laugher

[eleventhousand]

This smells STRONGLY of opium on me.

Opium, the musky/amber-y note from Spellbound, a bit of clove, molasses, and finally vanilla. It is dark and not as uber-sweet vanilla and baby powder as I had expected.

 

It lingers in a wafting sort of way.

 

I wish it didn't stain my wrists...

 

Edit**

 

This burns my skin!

Edited November 7, 2004 by eleventhousand

[Eris]

Hmm, none of the lab's vanilla blends ever smell sweet on me. I'm not sure if that's a Lab thing or a me-chemistry kind of thing.

 

Anyway, I was first hit with a strange, medicinal smell in the bottle and upon first application. That faded fortunately, and I was soon able to pick out the honey and vanilla, as I've run into them before in other BPAL blends. Unfortunately, neither really work well with me. The honey in Snake Oil didn't react as weirdly with me as it does in O, but there was still something odd and artificial as it sat on my skin.

 

After a few hours, I finally got a nice creamy smell blending into my skin that I liked quite a bit. Unfortunately, I don't think I'd have the patience to wait that long for it in the future and be forced to endure the medicinal/artificial smell.

 

Alas, I guess I'm not a Snake Oil lover. Away it goes to swap.

[kadmia]

i think i must have gotten a strange batch of snake oil..

 

mine wasn't sweet at all--it was ALL spices. i kept reading about it being very vanilla and too sweet, but i couldn't find any sweetness at all. not in the bottle, not wet on me, and not after drydown. it just screamed SPICE.

 

i guess i'm one of the few that didn't jive with snake oil, but i might give it another try...i'm hoping i just had a dodgy batch.

[pkwench]

Snake Oil

 

My very first response to Snake Oil was thus: "HOW IN THE NAME OF GOD HAVE I GONE SO LONG WITHOUT TRYING THIS?"

 

Yes, and in all caps too.

 

Snake Oil is a delicious, creamy, sexed up, hotter n' hell vanilla. In fact, the spices are so fabulous, that I don't even think of it as vanilla, but as this gorgeous, luxurient blend of spicy, creamy joy.

 

And, yes, because you can think in all caps: I WANT MORE!

 

[fragrantgrasse]

It has taken me a long time to review Snake Oil even though it was one of the first imps I bought. The description just jumped out at me and yet, still, I waited....

 

What Scorpio doesn't want to smell magnetic and mysterious, i ask you? We all do! (this is the royal "we") Snake Oil is nothing if not magnetic and mysterious. In fact, it is dripping in magnetic and luscious aromamolecules.

While I am not able to pick out the Indonesian spice oils - I certainly do get that gorgeous sugared vanilla right up front - and there it stays. This is a scent that warms to my body growing rounder, softer and more soulful as the day wears on. In fact, I believe snake oil only gets better with age, which is so valuable in signature scent.

 

Snake Oil is a classic. It is creamy-yummy, warm, soothing, relaxing, inhibition-dropping, and sexy-without-borders.... and one of my all-time favorites. Like Egyptian Amber & ambergris (now discontinued), Haunted and O - to me they share a similarity of sorts - a kindred spirit'dness....And they are all on the top of my BIG BOTTLE list.

 

 

Edited November 12, 2004 by fragrantgrasse

[JazzieCazzie]

BB (before BPAL) I would never had thought myself a "vanilla" scent person ... don't get me wrong, I am a vanilla-holic when it comes to desserts, etc. It's just that most vanilla-scented items that aren't BPAL are too sickly sweet to the point of being nauseating. Because of that I never would have thought of ordering any of the scents that had it listed ...

 

But the lovely enabler named Summer sent me both Snake Oil and Velvet imps in a swap and I fell in love ...

 

I didn't, however, review Snake Oil when I received it because ... oh God, dare I admit this? ... I lost the imp after one application.

 

I remembered how much I loved it, however, when I placed my recent September order and bought a 5 ML, which I am much less likely to misplace.

 

Though most of the two dozen imps I received in said order are new to me, and all will be reviewed, I decided to wear my Snake Oil today (and review it as well) ... I have a hairdresser appointment and want to go with tried and true sicne she's going to be sniffing me for a few hours

 

BOTTLE: Just like I remembered, sweet and spicy and delicious. More of a dark sweet than a light sweet. On top of that was a strange familiar scent that I took a few whiffs to try to place ... and I may see why a few people have used the word "medicinal" in their wet descriptions ... it smelled like the old drugstore I used to go to when I was little, where I'd go to the back and be able to order an ice cream cone. The word that came to mind wasn't "medicinal" but rather "apothecary."

 

I swiped lightly on both wrists, arm crooks, behind ears and cleavage ... too much? Some people have said a little goes a long way. But I'm finding it to be perfect amount.

 

WET: Sugary delicious goodness without being cloying. Probably the spices offsetting things there ... a little touch of cotton candy. I just want to lick my wrists but am resisting the temptation.

 

I know AutumnViolet mentioned coconut and my husband also thought he sensed that (I am making him sniff each scent to get another person's opinion and if my daughter were home from school I'd be shoving my arms in her face as well). I don't sense that at all but it's one of the great things about BPAL, different people smell different things on the same person (example: when I wear Veil, all I smell are the flowers, and all he smells is the sandalwood).

 

Interesting thing about Snake Oil? To me it's a real "what you smell is what you get" scent ... hours after application, it smells exactly the same to me as it did in the bottle and on application. And that is a good thing. It has the perfect amount og staying power without being overwhelming at any time and without fading.

 

REVISITING AND RE-REVIEWING IN APRIL 2013:

 

It sort of seems like overkill to be revisiting and reviewing Snake Oil again 8+ years later seeing as with 37 pages of reviews, who really needs what I think about it post-body chemistry changes ... however I'm in the midst of a project to review and revisit and retest every single scent in my collection and if I leave out Snake Oil I'll feel like I failed in my mission. So here goes ... this is a swipe from my own decant of a bottle about two years old ...

 

IN THE IMP: Sweet sweety sweetness. Not pure vanilla but definitely more vanilla and sugar than spice.

 

Dabbed on wrist and in crook of arm because I know a little goes a long way.

 

WET: As many have learned, it is difficult to perfectly describe Snake Oil, which is part of what makes it so unique and popular. Spicy sweetness that continues to evoke that "ice cream cone" pharmacy smell for me.

 

DRYDOWN: Again, a little goes a long way and this is a strong, strong scent that stays with you for the duration. I find it, on its own, just a little too strong to wear with any regularity (which is why I swapped my 80% full bottle for another scent I adore and CAN wear regularly, but kept the imp decant). The middle eastern spices become a little more predominant as it dries but it's still more sweet sweet sweetness than anything on me.

 

OVERALL: I love the basic scent of Snake Oil but to me it's like a Single Note. What I've discovered is that I like Snake Oil a lot better when it's a component in another blend that has something more resiny and sharp to offset it (for example, O where the amber offsets the vanilla and honey).

 

On a scale of 1-5, I give it about a 4.

Edited February 23, 2014 by JazzieCazzie

[Penance]

I keep meaning to review this and keep forgetting to, so here is the world's most overdue review.

 

First sniff:

 

Vanilla, but not the artificial, rot-your-teeth sweet vanilla most people think of when they hear the word "vanilla." I'm talking about vanilla bean. Dark and rich and almost spicy smelling. This smells goreous and expensive somehow.

 

Wet on skin:

 

The spices really pick up once it hits my skin and I get the most wonderful combination of vanilla bean and sultry spice. No matter how many other oils I try, this one remains one of my favorites simply because it manages to smell sultry and innocent and womanly all at the same time.

 

Dry down:

 

Snake Oil mellows somewhat as it dries, becoming more rounded and blended and reminding me somehow of aged rum. The difference between Snake Oil wet and Snake Oil dry is like the difference between fresh-malted scotch and 12-year-old scotch. At least on me at any rate.

 

The bottom line:

 

A perenial favorite and one I'll keep coming back to time and again. It's rich and dark and seductive and innocent all at the same time. Snake Oil was love at first sniff and will always hold a special place in my BPAL heart.

[Fishwomon]

This is my first BPAL review, and I'm nervous. Snake Oil, beloved of BPALers everywhere.

 

I've been trying my imp of Snake Oil off and on since it arrived last week. I didn't fall in love immediately; on me, the scent is strong and sweet. The barest dab on one wrist is enough.

 

The oil is a perfect blend of vanilla and exotic spices, but it doesn't smell foody. It smells golden and mysterious. It smells like warm, dark skin (but I am very pale). I have a small wooden chest that I use as an altar and to store my magical tools, and for some reason I want to anoint the altar with Snake Oil. Snake Oil smells magical to me.

 

My lover said, kindly, "it's just not you." I think he's right...but I think I'll keep wearing it anyway.

 

Complicated. I haven't decided whether to get a big bottle or not.

 

Update: 10/27/05

 

I put my BPAL oils away between March and September; then I revisited Snake Oil. Perhaps it's an aging issue, but now I love, love, love Snake Oil. It is totally me. Even my lover likes it better now (er, same guy). I stand by my description above but want to add: It's delicious, it's wonderful, it's heaven, I'm getting a big bottle. If I could have only one BPAL oil, it would be Snake Oil or O.

Edited October 27, 2005 by Fishwomon

[orangepoppy]

Snake Oil took two tries for me to really appreciate it and I'm glad I didn't give up. This is sweet vanilla and spice, and there's also something almost root beery about it, maybe there's sassafras in this beauty of an oil. I really like the honey edge in this, it reminds me of the honey in O which is so nice.