Snake Oil

[TigerLilyFeet]

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

I purchased a bottle of Snake Oil un-sniffed purely from reading of it being the very best perfume from BPAL and the creator's favorite.
Naturally I was curious, and I'm not quite sure what I expected this scent to smell like, but whatever that was, when the juice arrived it defied all previous expectations.
In the bottle and right after initial application of Snake Oil, I smell leather, and it's a brown, oily, sleek and dirty metal and leather aroma ( VERY unusual and just cool). I hate to sound like a cliche here, but this scent is almost Snake-Esq to be frank. ( like the smell of a Snake's skin or their slithering bodies coiled under a hot sun.)
I almost recoiled in utter horror and rushed to scrub it off. I'm so glad I gave Snake Oil a moment to shape-shift a bit, it's quite charming if given half a chance!
Snake Oil morphs into an strange orange blossom bitter yet decadently sweet vanilla, and with plenty of incense smoke and mirrors in the heart and dry down.
I've owned my bottle for a long while now, and honestly it's one of my favorite oriental spicy perfumes, and possibly the sexiest perfume I own.
I always receive tons of compliments when I wear it, which isn't very often....I save it for special occasions...

[lygophilous]

I feel somewhat behind finally giving Snake Oil a try, especially as anything with "sugared" and "vanilla" in the description usually ages well on my skin.

 

In the imp, I'm initially taken aback at the strength of the scent. Upon the second scent, I smell sweetness, definitely, as well as a unique buttery spiciness. This is a smooth scent.

 

Wet on the skin, at first, I get a whiff of that typical alcoholic tang that generic perfumes all have, so I waited about two minutes (after having read several other review that recommended giving Snake Oil some time to settle and "morph"), and I still smell that tang, though not so much in the typical store-bought perfume manner (thankfully). I'm catching mostly somewhat sugary spices.

 

Dry on the skin, after about forty minutes, and THERE is the vanilla! Truthfully, it took only about ten minutes for the sweetness to come through, but I wanted to wait and see how long the spice rack flavors would last. I'm so glad I didn't judge Snake Oil on my initial experiences, because I would be missing out on this wonderfully unique scent! No powdery, no soapy, though I wouldn't necessarily call this sugared vanilla so much as I would call it "spiced vanilla."

 

Overall, I had to reapply one time, but that was it. Snake Oil lasted very well on my skin without a suffocating throw. Several of my students (I'm a high school teacher) complimented me on my scent, but only when I was standing next to them while correcting work. I can see why this is a popular scent, and I will definitely be purchasing a bottle for my evening outings!

[Mellifluous]

Just like many of the last posters, I cant believe I am just now trying this >_<

 

I just bought my bottle 2 nights ago at the westcoast willcall and immediately fell in love with it! I'm not sure, but I think I may have got an aged bottle, because I cant imagine this getting any sweeter/better than it is now. I guess time will tell. On to the review..

 

Ok, out of the bottle this smells like sexy spicy vanilla. Not picking up any medicinal, or herby notes as stated by some others. Just pure warm sweetness.

On my skin, the same thing. Just a more dispersive sexy smell. Maybe a tiny bit of musk, but mainly just warm deliciousness. This almost has a creme brulee smell, but not quite that foody. Has a decent throw for the first 3 hours on me, and can smell on my wrist for up to about 16. Just yum! Will be great to layer with a lot of other scents.

[Vickery]

Lab Fresh

In the bottle: It smells like a wiccan shop I used to visit. Incense heavy, musty, and like powerful generic old people perfume.

 

Wet: The incense is very heavy, but so is the cloying old lady perfume. It's something my 60 year old mother would smell like, if I smelled her through a curtain of incense.

 

Drydown: Ugh. Marizpan? Baby Powder? Incense? Not my favorite scent. It keeps switching from this cherry almond like scent to baby powder with heavy notes of incense. About two hours in, it starts to sweeten up with vague thoughts of vanilla, but perhaps it's just the marzipan getting creamier.

 

2/5 This scent has potential. If the vanilla deepens and blooms to a full vanilla - then the incense might play out nicely. Until then, my first BPAL purchase is going in the back of a dark box to age.

 

Week Later: Now, it's all almond vanilla on my skin. No smokey incense smell or baby powder. Hours later, it dries down to a play doh like vanilla.

 

Three Months Later: The almond play doh scent has simmered down. I like the scent more now, but the incense shop scents are just not for me. I wear this when I'm feeling adventurous and wild, but this Taurus prefers more subtle scents. - like Dorian.

 

Two Years Later I love this perfume, it's just not quite me, ya'know? It's the scent that I wish I could be. Sweet, spicy, world traveling type. I have gotten so many compliments on this that I can't help but feel wonderful when I wear it.

 

Beautiful throw, better and better the more it ages.

 

It has a place in my scent collection, love vanilla, but I will never use it lab fresh. 4/5

Edited January 29, 2013 by Vickery

[ShannonElisabethJones]

Why oh why did I wait so long to try this? It's amazing!

 

When I first applied it, it was all vanilla. Tasty and cakey. Then it got spicy and sexy. So wonderful. I will definitely be ordering more!

[lavenderfrost]

I don't normally go for foody scents, but I figured that since this is pretty much the Official BPAL Initiation Scent, I should at least try an imp of it.

 

In The Bottle: Def. smell the vanilla, with an edge of something I can't put my finger on. Must be the 'exotic Indonesian oils.'

 

Immediate Application: HOLY CRAP.

 

 

NOW I'M HUNGRY, DAMMIT.

 

30-45 Minutes Later: After a few minutes the overwhelming flan/creme brulee smell backs off a bit, though it's still present. It's got that edge back, more of the Exotic Indonesian Oils come out and make it less foody. (I'm pretty sure some of it is frankencinse.) I keep sniffing my wrists because it's...interesting.

 

Verdict: I know vanilla supposedly turns guys' cranks in a big way, but it personally didn't make me feel very vixen-y so much as make me crave delicious vanilla pudding or custard-type desserts. Srsly. After putting this on and sitting here smelling it for about an hour, I finally made Mom take me to get some flan b/c I just couldn't TAKE it anymore. I was CLIMBING THE WALLS.

 

I'll re-test sometime when I've got vanilla pudding or something on hand, and I'll keep it around because it's supposed to be flat-out amazing when it's aged at least a few months.

 

This stuff also sticks around. I put it on yesterday evening and woke up this morning still smelling like it (though obviously a bit more faintly) until I showered. The smell is all over my pj's and I think it's on my pillow and blanket too. ^^;; Why can't my skin let my pretty florals and aquatics do this?! *grr*

 

All in all, while it's not bad, I wouldn't say count me in w/the Cult of Snake Oil. I like it well enough to keep, but not enough for a full bottle.

[JLH]

I tried this for the first time today, and I was so excited to try the most popular BPAL scent. Unfortunately, I don't think this is for me.

 

First impression, on smelling the bottle: a nice, sweet, somewhat powdery vanilla.

 

Wet, on my skin: whoa, spices! Not so much food-y spices (like cinnamon) but more like a spicy incense blend. Unfortunately, my skin turns the combination of vanilla and incense in this oil into something very much like patchouli or (dare I say?) nag champa. Not one of my favorite scents.

 

After it's dry, the vanilla comes back. On me it's not so much a sugary vanilla as a powdery vanilla, although that might be a hint of the lingering incense scent. My boyfriend said that this smelled like powdered sugar covered doughnuts!

 

In conclusion, while this is an interesting oil, I don't think it's for me. I know that this blend is supposed to change and improve as it ages, so I might order an imp at some point so I can test it a while down the road.

[venusinfurs]

I have almost used my entire imp's ear of Snake Oil. I knew I would like it, but I didn't want to because it was so popular, but I can't help myself

 

In the bottle: This does not smell like I was expecting it to in the bottle. Very spicy, but as other reviewers have said, not foody, more incense spicy.

 

Wet on skin: Wow spices! Then comes the vanilla, which is kind of a warm and smoky vanilla rather than a foody vanilla on me.

 

Dry on skin: I love it! So complex, yet soft and smoky and sweet and lovely all at once. I really don't find this an in your face sexy scent, which is what I was expecting. I can wear this during the day, no problem (unlike something like Vixen or Smut, which pretty much will make you blush just wearing them). It kind of smells like someone blew out a vanilla incense candle. It lasts a very long time, too. Definitely want a big bottle.

[girlcalledmoment]

Over the years I suppose I had formed my own idea about what this popular elixir might smell like, and in finally sniffing it, I see I was somewhat wrong. Snake Oil, on me, is far drier than I had anticipated - it's a rich, dry, spicy, smoky, sweet opoponax scent, so similar to Les Nereides Imperial Opoponax it's almost indistinguishable to me. I get vanilla, myrrh, benzoin and enough incense for my boyfriend to comment that I smell like a hippie - he's talking about the shops that sell tarot cards, dragon's eggs and Wiccan books. I do like the aroma, but it's very distinct; I can't see it quite working with my style, though I'm prepared to try. It's quite moreish.

The imp I have looks like it's been through a good bout of ageing, so I'm interested to see if new stock is better on my skin.

The voyage of discovery continues, but I'll keep my vial of Snake Oil for kicks.

3.7/5

Edited March 28, 2011 by girlcalledmoment

[Gin]

I've never reviewed this? I got an imp of this in my very first order in 2004. My first reaction to Snake Oil was not good. It smelled dirty and cold (?) so I put it away for a long, long time. When I tried it again, I was surprised by how much it had changed (or how much I had changed). It's now spicy-incensy vanilla. It ends up going powdery on me, so maybe there's musk or amber, too? The powder makes me feel headachey.

[Maxinux]

Well, isn't this yummy!! =)

 

New BPALer--psyched to be trying the famed one! =) And, like everyone else, I really like this. It's a crazy morpher.

 

In the bottle and wet, this isn't too appealing--it's musty and sharp. But after about 10 minutes of drydown, sugary vanilla sweetness whooshes out of it and tempers the bitterness. I have it on two wrists and it's doing different things on each. On one, the sweetness never really got anywhere, and it's a bit of a dark, complicated smell. My other wrist, though, smells exactly like Twinings Lady Grey tea! My favorite tea!! Which is hysterically funny. I've tried a few of the lab tea scents now, because I like lighter scents, and nothing has smelled as much like actual tea to me as this!

 

I love it. It's sweet and complicated and sophisticated. I give a breezy, leafy brown for color. I think, with my uneducated nose, this is what I hoped Dorian would be, believe it or not!!

 

Fabulous =)

[frecklestars]

I feel like I ought to put a disclaimer on this review, so I shall: I know this is the lab's most popular scent. I appreciate that. However, I am a girl who likes fairly delicate scents. I know this about myself. I do not like to blast other people with smellery. This is one of those perfumes that can blast people away. You've been warned.

 

In the bottle: oh dear, a dark oil! I usually find these too strong and upon opening it, I'm not reassured. it's very strongly CARDAMOM and something like powdered clay. I caught a momentary whiff of a sugary vanilla mixed with cinnamon, which was lovely, but then it's back to being too strong. I wish the lab would be more specific about what types of spices are in this one, so I could identify what I _don't_ like.

 

On my skin: I put the tiniest comma of it on my wrist, which was probably a good choice. it smells pleasantly of cinnamon-vanilla, with quite a lot of cardamom still. perhaps cloves as well. and still, that nasty powdered clay scent is coming through, dang it! whatever that is, I wish it wasn't there; I SO want to like this one! to love it as well as everyone else does! alas...

 

Last thoughts: the spiciness is very complex and is just too strong for me to parse and enjoy the various pieces. I adore the cinnamon/sugar/vanilla/cloves, could do with less cardamom, and just generally wish this one were less IN YOUR FACE. but again, see disclaimer above. please don't hate me!

[valnillarose]

What else is there to say? Since I'm late to the party by YEARS, I'll just add that I do see what all the fuss is about now. I fell so deeply in love with Snake Oil on the first try that I wondered why I didn't let it be my first BPAL. It is complex, deep, and sensual, but under all that is that vanilla sweetness that is just, well, perfect. I find it completely understandable that it's BPAL's best-selling oil. This stuff is GOOD!

[TheFrenchWaffle]

I acquired this scent via sales/swaps, so I am pretty sure it has been aged.

In the imp: spices, more incense spice than food spice

Wet: Faint spice and vanilla. Not a foody vanilla. I really wish the spice could have been amped up more...

Dry: Soft vanilla with a very faint whisper of spice, a very wonderful and seductive scent. Plenty of staying power and medium throw.

 

Final Verdict: I love this scent but wonder what an un-aged Snake Oil would smell like. Vanilla has a tendency to play well on my skin, making this scent work fabulously on me. I am defiantly keeping this imp and will buy a bottle in the future. Snake Oil, where have you been all my life!

[Kolayn]

I had to choose Snake Oil as my first review, it just seemed appropriate. This is a dark oil that is on the thick side.

 

Imp-When I first sniffed it from the imp months ago, it seemed WAY too strong and wrong. Never let the first sniff discourage you!

 

Wet-Still very strong, but now it's amazing. I don't know what happened, but I went from baffled at the smell to amazed when I applied it to my arm. It needs the dry down stage so that I won't knock others over with my scent.

 

Dry-It's so freaking lovely in an earthy, sweet way. I am a fan of sweet and spicy scents and this fits both of those to a T. It's not an overly foody scent to me, just a perfectly blended balance-exotically spiced sugared vanilla. Though I do get the slight dough note if I inhale deeply enough (lol) I have seen others review of, it doesn't bother me

 

Verdict-Beautiful and comforting in the sexiest possible way. I got my bottle about 5 months ago, and I haven't really noticed a difference between when I first got it and now...other than getting over the initial smell in the imp vs. on my skin. I love it.

[imaginepageant]

Review from 2005.

 

In the Vial: This reminds me of O, which makes me wary, but I can already tell it's nicer than that.

 

Wet: It's sweet but not sickly so, and I'm guessing that's from the vanilla, although I can't exactly smell the vanilla itself. It's spicy in an exotic way. There's also a very definite and strong minty fresh note, yet it stays warm instead of going chilly. The lab description of magnetic, mysterious, and sexual is right.

 

Dry: The more I smell it, the more I want to crush my wrist against my nose and leave it there all day. It hasn't changed much on the drydown, except that it's more minty now, and the mint works splendidly with the spices and sweetness.

 

An Hour Later: It gets slightly sweeter with time, but otherwise, it stays the same.

 

Overall: I'm enjoying Snake Oil a lot more than I thought I would on the initial sniff, but enough to buy a 5ml? I'm not sure yet. Sadly, I didn't get any compliments on this when I slathered it over my wrists, elbows, neck, and cleavage, so I'm willing to bet that there are other scents more suited to my chemistry than Snake Oil.

[invisible iris]

I got this as a free imp with my first BPAL order, which made me happy, as I really wanted it but only subconsciously. Thanks, Lab! Y'all are magicians.

 

So I popped it open first out of everything. It started off fine, hot & heady spicy vanilla. But then ohno! it turned to baby powder. It was awful! I scrubbed and scrubbed to get the headachey nightmare away!--However. I knew from reading reviews that I should let it age. And age it did.

 

For about 2 weeks.

 

And then my patience failed and I tried again.

 

And lo, it has never since turned to baby powder!

 

Strong, sweet, spicy, deep, reddish amber musky creamy vanilla. Is there red musk in this? Is there amber? Maybe cinnamon, because at one point I thought I smelled like a very sultry graham cracker? If so, I love all those things. Snake Oil is the most sensual blend I've yet tried. It walks the line of being foody, but then it transcends foody-ness altogether with some kind of ridiculous fuzzy warm sex smell that makes it too delicious to be eaten. Almost powdery, but in a very good way. I like to put it on directly after taking a bath and it makes me feel all pampered and divine. Then I lie around the bedroom half-naked like some kind of goddess. Seriously!

 

DH seems to like it, too.

 

Anyway, I am so happy that it got better, and that when it did, it got so good.

Great basic, go-to, one-size, feel-hot scent. Snake Oil gets the job done. Ain't fer nuthin' that it's the most popular blend.

[angelamaria]

In imp: spices is definitely right. I can't pinpoint any one scent from the imp (which seems suitably aged, as it's relatively viscuous), but it's incensey and nutty to my nose. I'm a little apprehensive. I can't get at the vanilla.

 

Wet on skin: wow, it's...yellow on my skin. Like as if I used a marker and dabbed at my wrist. Anyway, it's nutty, spicy, and very incensey. I can get a little of the vanilla now, but everything else is drowning it out. It's slightly powdery as well--is there rose here somewhere? It's not being entirely nice to me--my stomach has started to churn a little.

 

Dry: I only had four words in my scent notebook: "powder. oily powder. arrr." Well, I washed it off as soon as it dried, my stomach was complaining and I couldn't handle it.

 

Verdict: well, I didn't have a lot of hope, as I don't like incensey scents, but something went wrong here with my skin, I think, for the powder to have appeared with that intensity. I'm a little sad, as it's a popular scent, but well, those are the breaks! I'm not too surprised it didn't work for me.

[Slackerdemonchild]

I've just received my order today.(..sigh) the infamous Snake Oil has made me feel so wonderful!!! I cannot stop sniffing the bottle!!! I've read most of these reviews and when I tried it for myself, this is just simply perfect. When its in the bottle its smells like aged vanilla and some type of sweet scented smoke. It's delicious without being too girly and sweet. My on-a-desert-island-take two only, fave.

[stellamaris]

So. Snake Oil. So very BPAL cliche. Oh so popular. But then my BFF said, you must try the Snake Oil. OK, so I will.

Are you kidding me??? Why I have I lived so long without this?? Who knew I wanted to smell like a snake?

Excuse me please, I have to go off to the Carnival to buy a whole other bunch of snakes.

 

seriously, wow. This is the most perfect stuff. I have nothing to add except, love love love.

[Klolly]

I was so excited to try this! At first sniff in the bottle (I automatically ordered a 5ml) I thought it smelled like old man cologne. Not the best first impression but I was still optomistic. When I first put it on my skin it smelled just like coca cola or Mr Pibb but only less sweet. Once it dried it smelled like a beautiful cloud of spice with the slightest tease of vanilla hiding behind it. The spice scent, as some others noted, is not sweet, but rather dusty and heady, like tobacco but not as sweet as tobacco. It is a very empowering scent. It definitley makes me feel sensual and also cozy. If you could liquefy the husky voice a woman might use in private, it would smell like this. The unfortunate thing is that my husband doesn't like it :'(. I handed him my wrist after it had dried and he said, "Smells like incense," to which I replied, "You like the smell of incense," and he said, "Yeah but not on a woman.". Then I asked him to smell it again later because I was hoping he would change his mind and he said, "You smell like a head shop." It was about 4 or 5pm when I put the oil on and when I woke up in the morning it was still going pretty strong on me. The weird thing was, I had put dabs on my wrists and inner elbows and when I awoke my wrists smelled like sweet vanilla and inner elbows like pure spice. I then tried to wash it off so I could try a new oil and it took two washes with heavy duty face soap to get it off. The following day I kept noticing the smell on stuff I had touched when I wore it, such as the throw pillow on the couch, and it made me sigh happily . I have not yet worn it out of the house but I will update this post if I get some interesting responses.

Edited June 20, 2011 by Klolly

[KittyHawk]

Ahhh, I was so excited to try this after reading all of the hullabaloo about it here on the forum. I was lucky enough to snag it here, also, so I didn't have to wait for my lab order to arrive.

 

In the imp: Overwhelming and headache inducing. Maybe aged it would be okay, but not fresh. Blech. The spices are so strong to my nose they almost smell medicinal. I was afraid this would happen.

 

Wet, it's not much better. I don't get any vanilla, just a cacophony of spices that my nose can only translate as "OMG NAUSEA!"

 

Upon drydown, though, something magical happened. It took a good hour for this to mellow on my skin, but once it did, it was spicy vanilla goodness, and sexy as hell. I understand the hype! I'm bummed my husband is sleeping right now and has to work in the morning; I'm feelin' all sorts of frisky with this stuff on.

[Celune]

In Bottle: spicy, sweet, dark incense resins, alcohol (it almost gives me a headache)

 

On Wet: spices, sweetness, a tiny bit of vanilla, alcohol (the weird essence of alcohol smell may give me a headache on a bad day)

 

On Inbetween: sweet vanilla backed with some complex spices that have no more spiciness

 

On Dry: pure deep rich vanilla

 

I think my body amps sweet smells, even almost a day after putting it on I can still smell vanilla.

 

Someone mentioned Scherezade is like a grown up version of snake oil. They are quite similar actually, in the spice note, but I don't get any sweetness from Scherezade on my skin...

Edited August 12, 2011 by Celune

[megank4]

I have used this off and on ever since I started BPAL in 2007. It was one of my first bottle purchases in fact, along with Pumpkin 3 2007 and Gingerbread Poppet 2007.

 

Not much to say about this that hasn't already been said.

Fresh, it is way too medicinal for me, but aged a few years is amazing.

 

Oh, and I have to be careful where I apply it because otherwise it burns and irritates, like on my neck for example.

 

Reading about Snake Oil Bath Oil, I dumped a 2010 Snake Oil bottle in a body oil mist that I have, and richly covered myself this morning when I got out of the shower. It smells great, like Snake Oil coming from my pores. I wish I had bought 12 bottles or so per year and stockpiled them away so that I would have properly aged bottles now (preferably at least 2 years before using).

Edited August 23, 2011 by Megank4

[Balame]

In the Imp: After years of being with BPAL I'm finally trying its most popular scent. Go figure. So far it definitely reminds me of a lighter version of Cherry Coke.

 

Wet: Talk about a thick oil, I can see the orange against my skin! But oh, hi Czernobog. The cherry-woodsy smell is definitely mullein then, and this must have musk in it. It's actually very similar to Czerno except he was darker due to my dear vetiver. It's also not as intensely spicy as I imagined it would be.

 

Dry: The vanilla really isn't coming out to talk much. There's a vague creaminess involved which is no doubt its contribution, but it's also not noticeable on a large scale. Still not heavily spiced, which is a good thing, but I'm not going gaga over this either.

 

Overall: Seriously, this is a less dramatic Czerno. A bit more playful, a bit more... mm, flirty? Because Czerno is actually sexy to me, but sexy, "I'm gonna' rip your *(&$#ing clothes off and drag you into the forest," where Snake Oil seems more, "Hey handsome, let's talk." It's okay but nothing super amazing in my mind.