Temple Viper

[Aldercy]

Snake Oil with sugar cane, frankincense, champaca, opoponax, labdanum, and hyssop.

Pure Snake Oil for a second, followed by a tidal wave of sugar. There's also an odd hint of powdery grape, which I do not care for (I see others are mentioning it, too, which means this is not temporary insanity on my part, and the grape note likely won't go away...). I feel like Temple Viper could do better with age (this oil is apparently from July), but it's not what I was hoping for. I expected Snake Oil plus a load of smoky resins... and that's not what's happening on my skin. Edited November 13, 2009 by Aldercy

[Venneh]

Got this as a tester as part of a PIF package from Dark Alice. Thanks again!

 

In the decant, this smells like Snake Oil, but with a blast of sugar and really heavy on the spices, with incense, too. We'll see how this goes. On my skin, this is Snake Oil with more sugar and a little cinnamon(?) at first, but with some resins starting to come out. We'll see how the drydown goes. Ends up drying down as an incense with a kick of sugar, and smells vaguely like cigarette smoke. Not for me, sadly.

Edited December 8, 2009 by Venneh

[DeltaCat]

Not a bad snake! I get Snake Oil with a bit of grape sugar and a floral perfume smell. Dries down to a nice sweet perfume.

[CitizenBree]

Wow, what is it with me and the snake pit. I can't find a one i like!

 

This one is nice from the bottle, very incense-y, but on the skin it turned into plastic clay with a sweet fruit...berry undertone maybe? Not interested.

[angelicruin]

This is sugary snake oil and incense on my skin. Very nice. It's sweet but not too sweet for my tastes.

[Shollin]

First sniff: A very dark Snake Oil with plenty of incense behind it.

 

Wearing: Oh dear. I forgot how strong Snake Oil is when it first goes on. I think I’ve just been whomped over the head with a vanilla 2x4. There’s a deep, dark burned-sugar note underneath, and a background of soft incense.

[FathomBelow]

Got my bottle from Shollin at the last M&S:

 

This like plain Snake Oil + lots of incense. The frankincense is quite distinct (at least, I think it's the frankincense! Something pleasantly musty anyway). Not very sweet at all on me. Overall, I like it quite a bit, but I think it might be a bit much for other people to smell on me, if you know what I mean. It will probably be reserved for stay at home days. This is my first Snake Pit blend and has made me eager to try more!

[laslibres]

In the vial: just like SO, but sweeter...so pretty much only the sugar cane at first. Then on me, I _definitely_ get some champaca flower. Scratch that, lots. Like, nothing BUT champaca...pretty hippie-tastic, just this big, humid, very sweet tropical flower.

 

As it wears on, the SO pokes back out, which makes a nice resinous base to the champaca flower. It's one of those Snake Pits that's heavier on the supporting notes than the Snake Oil, though. It really is like a tropical temple, so it's very apt for this snake's name, but with the champaca and incense it's almost too hippie-ish to wear on certain occasions...too headshoppy, like you're trying to cover up certain other smells. *cough* It gets much less pungent as it wears on, though, more pleasant, more like a flowery temple garden, like Khajuraho with extra resins. Undecided on whether I want a bottle, because it also very much resembles Wet Affair, from Possets. Hrm.

[b00cat]

Mmmm...champaca heaven with an undertone of SO This is everything that I wanted Scherzade and Urd to be but didn't get from them. I am just loving the snake pit!! This is going to get expensive...

 

[sarielswish]

In the vial, it smells almost like an herbal brown sugar, oddly enough. Colorwise, red gold.

 

Wet on my skin, ack. I was hoping that age would temper the frankincense a little... Not so. It smells beautiful, but I can already feel a headache coming on. It's gotta go.

[Teaotter]

Wet: Sweet, almost fruity incense with just a hint of the vanilla smokiness I associate with snake oil. The fruit is almost grape-y, as mentioned above, but for me it doesn't quite get there, though I'm not sure how else to identify it.

 

Dry: Gradually, the incense notes settle out, with the frankincense coming to the front (I amp frankincense strongly) and the snake oil finally peeking out more. It ends up with the dryness of the frankincense balanced with the smoky stickiness of the snake oil, and mmmmmmmmm.

 

Not at all what I was expecting, but I looooooove it!

[Gold Dust Kitten]

Hello Snake Oil and Nag Champa incense. This is what I wanted Urd to be, but Urd smelled like grape blunt wrappers where Temple Viper captured that perfect grape-floral Nag Champa smell that I love so much.

[calivianya]

This scent is beautiful.

 

It is much sweeter than I thought it would be, but it does have sugar cane notes in it, so I'm not sure what it was exactly that I was thinking it would smell like. Tropical is definitely a good word for this blend. I'm not usually a fan of tropical, but I am right now! I have a bottle in my cart right now... so we'll see if I check out with it still there or if I put it off again, like I usually do.

[Icekitten]

Wet: incensy, smokey, tad of vanilla (snake oil)

Dry: smells a lot like snake oil now, very lovely.

After a few hours: i only smell insence now and a tad powdery.

 

Overal: it's still a nice scent but to plain on my skin.

[Incendiare]

I absolutely love how this smells in the bottle. It screams of sugared Snake Oil and incense. Wet, the frankincense and champaca come forth. At this stage, it reminds me a bit of Khajuraho, but eventually when it dries down, it resorts back to a more Snake Oil-based blend. Dry, it smells very similar to how it does in the bottle. This is probably my second favourite Snake Pit blend now.

[strahlend]

I just got a bottle in the mail today and I'm totally in love.

Wet in the bottle - it smells kind of sharp and herbal.

Wet on my skin - a lovely amber colored oil, sweet and incensy

After a little while - this is sexy musky sweetness. There's still a feeling of herbs or resin hanging around, but overall this is gorgeous snake oil all sweetened up and incense-ified.

Dries down to - snake oil PLUS awesome... whatever the additional elements are they work beautifully here. They don't just tag along for the ride, this blend forms a new whole that is its own animal.

My only complaint is that for some reason this seems to fade off of my skin extra quickly (some of the others in the snake pit have also) but it smells so good I don't mind reapplying.

[SophieCedar]

I tried this a few months ago and it went wonky on me during drydown. Trying again for a fair review,considering fall isn't the best season to test things...I'm very biased towards sweet musky and earthy scents during autumn.

 

In imp: reminds me exactly of a couple sample blends a friend made, when she was starting up, about 14 years ago. She called it "aphrodesia". Snake oil and champaca and cane sugar. Reminds me of a new age shop in the best way.

 

Wet: same! Champaca mostly. a touch of frankincense and opoponax. Wonderful incense blend with sweet snake oil making it enticing. I can tell there's sugar cane in here too. It has a distinctive grassy, reedy sweet note. Hyssop is here too! (which I love)

 

Drydown: the incense and sweet divide slightly.. I don't know how to explain it otherwise. Left in the center and most detectable is still champaca. Labdanum is recognizable but only if you're really stretching your senses to look for it.

 

Overall, glad I waited to review. Nice dreamy incense snake oil, with a few divine qualities! This will go in my brain catalogue for possible future bottle order.

[Ishtar]

This review is for a well-aged decant (probably over 2 years old), which makes for a fairly mellow Temple Viper: it's pretty much a sweeter version of Snake Oil, with the merest hint of incense in the background. Very wearable and not at all overwhelming.

 

From the description I was expecting something more robust and resiny, but Temple Viper is really lovely nonetheless. It smells rather similar to Asp Viper, now that I think about it.

[Helas]

I'm still a newbie and can't recognize half the ingredients in this blend, but the mystery is part of the fun.

 

Temple Viper is a little confusing for me; I expected a smoky resinous blend, and it is actually quite light and airy. There is a juicy, almost fruity component that must be one of the elements I'm not familiar with (champaca, labdanum, or hyssop?) a thick, syrupy sweetness from the sugar cane and vanilla, and the heavier and darker sweetness of the opoponax and frankincense. Normally, I dislike blends that are this sweet, but Temple Viper has a slight touch of mystery from the resins and an intoxicating, almost boozy quality. This is a fun-loving Viper that would probably disdain the solemn, ascetic temples that I had in mind from the description and instead haunt the ancient temples of Inanna, where sacred prostitution and joyful dissolution were practiced.

 

Four out of five stars.

[stellamaris]

I wanted this to be Hit You Over the Head Incensey Snake Oil, but instead it's sort of tame and ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. That said, all Snake Oil is good Snake Oil, so I'll let this one hibernate for a bit. Do snakes hibernate?

 

OMGosh Temple Viper I am so so sorry. I left you alone for a bit, and you are so wonderful now, not like Snake Oil Lite. I get Amber from this Snake sort of like the stuff in Haunted, Shalimar-y kinda smell, amazing...

Edited August 23, 2011 by stellamaris

[aimee_rene]

So, this is only the second bottle I've acquired from bpal as I'm very new to this whole world... that said, I adore this perfume oil. Temple Viper is very incense-y, and rich on my skin while wet, and even after the first half hour + while it's drying.

An hour later, I still smell frankincense with sweet undertones and I love it... now that it's been hours later, it smells gorgeous... a mixture of spice-y and sweet.

I am so in love.

 

[Honey]

Yummy yum!

 

Imp: Vanilla, soft spices and sugar! Smells like a delicious oriental cake!

 

Wet: Vanilla, sugar and champaca. Omg, how good is this??

 

Dry: Finally, a sugar note that does not smell like burned caramel or pee on my skin! Vanilla and spices make it really special so it doesn't smell like a generic vanilla perfume. The champaca adds that little oriental flavor. Man, I so wish I had a big bottle of this!

[CiaoBonefish]

This starts off very very soft, and then as it dries becomes stronger and deeper. Overall I get lots of champaca, a touch of frankincense, and a really nice resinous background over a very very subtle base of Snake Oil. The sugar cane really shines in this too adding a sweetness that is just beautiful without being achingly sweet, and the resins add an almost (not spicy but almost spicy) touch to the mix. The blend almost sparkles, like stars in the darkness. The sugar+incense combination is very similar to that of Midnight on the Midway, but without the florals and instead with resins and Snake Oil. The entire combination is almost heavy in a way which is probably because this blend is heavy on the incense, but the sugar cane adds this sparkly lightness that brings the entire blend to completely different level while the resins add a really nice dry warmth. Yum. I LOVE THIS. So glad I sprung for a bottle unsniffed, this should only get better with age!

[WidgetAlley]

I've already swapped this one away, so it will be a quick review. On me, Temple Viper was incredibly strong champaca and sweet resins, followed by just a hint of Snake Oil. I really expected to love it, but it was just.... way too LOUD for me. It's not smoky, deep, mysterious draw-you-closer incense, it's heady slap-you-across-the-face incense. I couldn't see preferring it to some of my other incense blends.

[StevenBoatman]

Cross-posting this review:

 

I got a partial of it in a PiF (thank you, dear toomuch!), and I'm in loooo-oooove! It's sweet, thick, and....does "twilight-y" make sense? It's not exactly a dark scent, but not light either. I get the impression of a man (only, I suppose, because I am male), dressed in a white robe, walking through a temple in a desert. The sun is setting, casting long shadows in the building. He carries a bowl of burning, sweet incense and has several jewel-toned snakes slithering around and on him. He is both comforting, and somewhat frightening. You know that if you look close enough, you'll see that his teeth are just a little too sharp, his face a tad too pale, and his pupils ever so slightly elongated. But you feel you can ignore that, because overall he is quite handsome.<br style="background-color: rgb(250, 251, 252); line-height: 19px; font-size: 13px; font-family: tahoma, arial, verdana, sans-serif; color: rgb(93, 93, 93); ">

You just hope he isn't as venomous as his....companions.

5/5