Temple Viper

[cuervosueno]

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

This smells like frankincense, champaca and opoponax in the bottle and when wet, which I love. The opoponax is a little more regular (bitter) myhrr than sweet myhrr for my taste, and while I like this, the unfortunate hyssop starts sneaking in.

It is very similiar to King cobra though. Just slightly more bitter. I like King Cobra better, and this fades fairl quickly on me.

[valentina]

Count me in the group that finds an initial similarity between Temple Viper and Khajurajo, no doubt due to the champaca flower and perhaps the frankincense. I actually put a bit of Khajurajo on the opposite hand so I could start to compare the two at the same time. The similarities end after a more thorough dry-down occurs, for the Snake Oil in Temple Viper is tremendously evident. After another hour, it mellowed even more, and becomes a soft, sweet Snake Oil with a bit of incense and hyssop around the edges. It's very pretty, very gentle, a much, much mellower scent than Snake Oil or any number of the more incense-like BPAL scents. The viper is a quiet and meditative little snake. I love incense scents and Snake Oil, so I am in heaven. But I think anyone who's found the incense-like BPALs or Snake Oil a bit overwhelming might really want to try Temple Viper, because of its softer, gentler quality.

[Loligo]

For me, this is generic BPAL, but not in a bad way. It's the smell of my BPAL box. It combines a sweet fruity floral with incense and resins and vanilla and spices -- all the scents that work on me, in one. However, this leaves Temple Viper feeling kind of... undistinguished.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: dark and a bit sweet.

on: very, very dark.

1.5 hours later: still dark, but with a light sweetness. this isn't heavy.

2.5 hours later: soft, with a little bit of sweetness and a lot of frankincense.

4.5 hours later: sweet and powdery incense.

overall: this is really, really lovely, but not really something i would wear. if you like someting a bit dark that ends up as a sweet incense, this is perfect.

[eternalargus]

In The Bottle: I'm smelling cream and sugar, not much in the resin category.

 

 

On Skin: My skin is sucking this up like crazy, so right now I'm just smelling the cream and sugar for a few seconds.

 

 

Dry Down: Okay, still smelling faintly of cream and sugar, but now the resin and spice notes are starting to appear. Now I'm feeling realllyy drowsy. Whoa.

 

 

 

This is a keeper, but I think I'll wear it only when I need to relax.

[Em-]

Temple Viper is almost like Snake Oil prime - take every thing snake oily about Snake Oil and amp it - the spices, the resins, the vanilla and make it spicer, resinier, vanillaier and sweeter - and that is Temple Viper on my skin.

[Brianne]

Okay it ate my review so I'm just going to say this - Temple Viper is Snake Oil incense. It's heady and deep and resinous and backed by champaca (which smells like gardenia to me). Not for me, but incense lovers will enjoy it

[Emma2403]

In the bottle: I don’t recognize much. It’s pretty sour, and I can smell frankincense if I try quite hard.

 

On my skin: it gets sweet and bit fruity (where the hell does that come from?). There’s still some frankincense, but it plays very quiet while it usually amps up like crazy on me.

 

After a couple of hours: it gets more floral. I can’t really recognize Snake Oil as I get no spiciness. Frankincense seems to be gone as well.

 

Verdict: not my type of scents.

[xoe]

Temple Viper is very light in the bottle. On my skin it is also very light. Nice, but very very faint. Just a whisper of a scent.

 

On my lovely spouse, it is a bit stronger. And much more delicious. Sweet and resinous and delicious.

[euterpe414]

My there have been a lot of lovely chamapca blends as of late, and this is no exception! Initially with this one I get a lot of champaca and frankincense. It is smoky yet understated- not a low of throw. I never end up smelling much Snake Oil in this one, I think it just adds to the smoky incense feel that is behind the champaca.

 

I really am liking this one, but my only complaint is that it is not very strong or long lasting. It really fades out to a whisper after an hour or two. Perhaps that will change with time. Either way, I'll still keep my bottle cause it is a lovely scent!

[themerrybaker]

Incense blends don't usually work on me but Temple Viper behaves pretty well. This snake is sharp-sweet and smoky - very much like burning incense. Although it is fine as a perfume, it would be awesome in an oil burner.

[sixthsentinel]

This actually reminds me of this incense I used to buy from Spencer's called Ancient Perfumes, if I remember correctly. I swear that stuff always cast some sort of heady spell over me; and so does Temple Viper. I am at its complete mercy, forced to bow in supplication before it, under the control of the intoxicating enchantment it has over me. The name is apt.

 

It does start out smelling kind of like grape kool-aid, but as it dries down & the other notes emerge, the mezmerizing effect it has over me begins. It's so odd, I can't explain it. It's absolutely hypnotizing. There is something slightly sharp (?) in the blend that won't let me float completely away & I'm thinking it's the frankincense. Whatever it is, it threatens to pop the balloon in which I'm floating ever upward, but it only threatens, never follows through. Thank goodness. I want to float away on a cloud of Temple Viper forever.

 

I'm going to need a lifetime supply. This is to be my drug of choice.

[juniperus]

Bottle: sweetness, second sniff I recognized the snake oil, but none of the other notes yet.

Wet: opoponax and hyssop can be identified, but mainly just slightly sweet snake oil.

Dry: much the same, but deeper...the sugar isn't going strange places on me yet, mainly it feels like it's taking the hard edge from the resins, and the hyssop is just loverly.

Later: it's gotten a bit sweeter, and in the bargain lost a bit of depth...but very pretty, delicate.

[em_h]

Hmm, I was looking forward to this, but it's a bit meh on my skin. I think the champaca is dominating it, and making it mostly a somewhat bubble-gummy floral. I can't smell any incense, though my husband apparently can. Right at the beginning I got a whiff of the opoponax, but it seemed to be crushed by the champaca. And not even a tiny trace of Snake Oil. It's not *bad*, it's just not that great, either.

[fiddledragon]

Wet, this has the unmistakable sharp sour-sweet scent of Chinese Grocery Store. I have no clue what's causing it, unless it's hyssop gone horribly wrong. All these notes normally work on me, except oppoponax and that just has the tendancy to go kind of "cold". Once it dries, it's pure Snake Oil hippy-store with the spices maybe a bit amped up due to the additional resins. I'll let this one age for a little while and see if the notes make friends some more. I really thought this one would work :-(

[Keslynn]

In the bottle, this one smells very cologne-y. I think that frankincense is the culprit. Not quite sure I like it.

 

Upon application, I am now sure I do not like it. It turned instantly into baby powder and urinal cake. Yes, urinal cake. I am so sad about this one. All the notes in the description sounded so tasty, and I really wanted it to work.

 

Verdict: Wah! Maybe another try will make a difference. If not, off to the swaps.

[Inanna9]

As soon as I read the description I was positive this would be a Holy Grail scent for me.

 

In the bottle, it's pure nag champa. *swoons*

 

On, it's that lovely, incensey aroma I love so much - similar to the nag champa in Midnight on the Midway, but with vanilla and spice instead of soapy flowers. I'm extremely happy, but if I get too close something sour and doughy dominates. Not quite the full-on Play-Doh that Snake Oil can sometimes do on me, but still...it ruins some of the fun

 

Once it dries, it reminds me of...wait for it...Hellion. And I know everything reminds me of Hellion, but there it is. They're kissing cousins at the very least. Now, Hellion is in my Top Ten, so this is not a bad thing at all. I will definitely get a bottle and add it to my spooky, wicked incense blends collection.

[copyshopclerk]

In the imp: Frankincense, general "perfume" scent - sugary sweetness underneath - I like that part!

 

Wet: Resins - I smell frankincense & what I think is the champaca mainly, but the sugarcane sweetness is more noticeable on me than it was in the imp. Something's not quite right on me - an alcohol scent, like freshly sprayed department store perfume.

 

Dry: Yeah, this one didn't work with my skin chemistry - the sugarcane sweetness goes away, and this is just sort of herbal. Husband said it smells like soap to him. Oh well, not one for me.

[gingersnapp]

When I first put this on, it was all HEADSHOP!!! in my face, which I enjoy... don't get me wrong.

 

Now that it's dried a little bit, it is still resinous and incensy but has calmed down considerably. I smell something a little woodsy and sweet that I will guess is the sugar cane.

[Browneyes]

Of the 6 Snakes that I am sampling at the moment, this was the one I was most sceptical about (on the basis of the previous reviews). Having little or no previous experience with the notes in this, I was ready for anything. Now the inexperience makes me wonder if this is how it's supposed to smell, or if it's just not working right on me?

 

The review:

 

Imp: Sweet sweet sweet smell...

Wet: Sweet, soapy? floral, incency?

Dry: This is like a piece of edible incense, or incense that smells like candy. An occult candyshop Not really me. After a while the edible incense phase fades out and I get sharp/sour floral. Then hours later (and several handwashes), I get something that seems like the usual SO base, but modified.

 

Anyways, I don't think this works on me, although I am willing to try it again, perhaps in a scent locket.

Edited March 1, 2007 by Browneyes

[tamburlaine]

Someone above remarked that Temple Viper smells like Snake Oil incense. I agree, though I'll expand on the image and say that it smells like a viper who works at a head shop. (Imagine that!)

 

Immediately I smelled that bittersweet frankincense and hyssop, followed closely by the unmistakable champaca. The blend then dried down with a sweetness, and I'm left with the sugar cane and remnants of the champaca. Very interesting, but not a keeper.

[melissadragon]

TEMPLE VIPER:

 

Imp: A sweeter Hellion. - applied to side of left wrist

Wet: Sugary ... cream of wheat? with flowers. Weird. the hell?

Dry: I can still smell the random cream of wheat note. With a mix of floral Snake Oil. This is the weirdest damn thing BPAL has done on my skin yet.

1 hr later: Ohfuckyeah, cream of wheat is gone, this is just now well-blended sweet Hellion-flavored Snake Oil.

Verdict: Keeper.

[gaai]

I had high hopes for this here snake, but alas...it wasn't meant to be......

 

On wet it did hold some promise, but when it was on for about 5 minutes it turned into Khajuraho...... I seem to amp the champaca to the exclusion of all other notes I might as well wear a champaca SN.......

 

Sad, but I'm glad some other snakes *do* work for me, so I'm good.

 

eta: I tried this one on again and it wasn't as 'champaca-single-notey' as it was the first time I tried it.....it's still a very prominent note, but it blends more with the rest of them and I can actually smell the SO in the blend! I might be able to use up my imp after all ( still don't think I'll get a bottle though ).

Edited March 23, 2007 by gaai

[akw]

When this first arrived, the frankincense, Snake Oil and champaca didn't seem really well integrated. The frankincense, especially, was a little too loud. There was something interesting and compelling about it thought, so I kept coming back.

 

Now, the frankincense plays nicely with the other ingredients, and I get more Snake Oil than in the beginning. I can barely detect the labdanum. I think it probably helps ground some of the other components without being in-your-face itself.

 

It starts out wet as a sweet, resiny, well-blended Snake Oil concoction and dries to something more subtle and less sweet, really beautiful and interesting. Definite keeper, and maybe second bottle-worthy.

[SultryWolf]

in the decant: An Indian importers!

on: Much the same; faint, but well-balanced and complex.