Temple Viper

[slave1]

TEMPLE VIPER

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

 

In Bottle: SweetTarts and snake oil

 

On Skin: This smells like the candy SweetTarts to me! YUM!!! Mixed with Snake Oil? You have me hooked Beth. As it develops I can smell the resins giving it it’s sweetness. Subtle spice, and a bit grapelike… but very golden and warm. It is very light, I keep leaning in to inhale my skin over and over. I see it being quite sexy and that people will want to lean and smell this one on you for sure. I love that its’ incensey and resinous without being very smoky or overwhelming. I love it!!

Light throw and short to average wearlength.

[asciident]

Wet: Mmmm, sweet frankincense!

 

First on: I'm already in love. My skin loves incense/resin, and this is like a sweet vanilla incense.

 

Dry: More of the same. I love all the notes, and it's heady and sweet. I can't stop sniffing myself. So far this is my favorite snake!

[sofaking6]

In the imp: Sweeet vanilla resin

On: Incense! This smells like a rich kid's dorm room (it's nice incense)

Dry: Incense...I can smell the Snake Oil but the champaca and frankincense are still very strong.

 

I do like this but I probably shouldn't have worn it in to the office

[Miss Lynx]

Hmmm... I liked this one when I tried it at the meet'n'sniff, but when I wore it again at home, it seemed -- well, very Snake Oil-y. More so than any of the Snake Pit oils I've tried so far. I know, I know, they all have Snake Oil in them, but most of them don't really smell like it. This one does.

 

Which would be great if I liked Snake Oil, but I don't. I'm one of that small handful of people it doesn't work on -- on me, it turns to Play-Doh and drugstore perfume.

 

This one doesn't do that, exactly... at least, not the Play-Doh part, but it is a little... perfumey, in a not-so-good way. I do like the eventual drydown, but the initial stages aren't quite as nice. The "sweet vanilla incense" description that a few people have mentioned does seem appropriate. In a way it 's almost more reminiscent of Snake Charmer than Snake Oil.

 

I don't know -- I may need to experiment a bit more. I don't entirely dislike it, but it's heading into approach-with-caution territory.

 

Grade: B/B-

[PurringPulsar]

Temple Viper

 

In the imp: mmm! Smells like Snake Oil (or even Charmer) with golden resins.

Wet on skin: now the sweeter notes come out, the champaca and the sugar cane. I really hope the champaca doesn’t turn this to banana incense…

Dry: mmm, this is good! It’s a very sweet incense blend, but the frankincense tempers that sweetness so that it doesn’t turn cloying. It smells exotic and golden, richly resinous, and the frankincense and opoponax are wonderful here, and they seem to prevent the champaca from becoming too much like overripe fruit. I can’t really smell as much Snake Oil now but I think it adds to the overall sweet incense feel of the scent.

After a while: now the frankincense has moved out of the way and the champaca takes centre stage. but this isn’t the cloying, over-sweet banana blossom I feared. It is sweet and fruity but pleasantly so. Now the scent smells strongly like this year’s Khajuraho which I love! Only this time the sweet vanilla-honey has been replaced with sugar, and the other flowers have been replaced with resins. Fruity-floral incense goodness, I agree with Bagfish in that this is a mix of Khaj and Snake Oil, although I don’t smell too much SO yet.

Then it smells like exotic incense with a pink candy like coating, which I love! Like a swirl of pink, terracotta, gold and deep maroon. At this point, I also detect a little of the Snake Oil underneath, the rich patchouli and vanilla.

Then it becomes a lovely sugared champaca scent. Very pink, funnily enough, but very pretty as well, almost like sugary nag champa…only slight remnants of resins remain now. I can’t smell as much Snake Oil now either.

The end scent is like sugared incense and pink flowers, light and sweet but also gently ashy and softly smoky, and more like nag champa than before. It also smells like lotus now, which is very nice…and I also get a slight hint of candle smoke.

Verdict: this is a beautiful sweet incense scent, with aspects of both rich and resinous at the start of the scent, and an almost sugary drydown. I think the champaca note that Beth uses in these recent blends is much nicer and softer, and doesn’t turn to evil banana on me. This is another Snake Pit scent I adore. It reminds me of those sweet incense scents like Midnight on the Midway, Cairo and Khajuraho, a delightful mix of almost candy-sweet notes and deep resins. I love the just-dry stage, a wonderful mix of frankincense, opoponax and Snake Oil, but then the champaca comes out to play and adds a very pink sweetness, soft floral covered with sugar over a softer incense base...very pretty. However, this isn’t cutesy frilly pinkness, this is exotic and complex pinkness, like a pink version of good quality nag champa, there’s something smoky and mysterious behind the sugar. The Snake Oil in this plays hide and seek, sometimes showing up, at other times hiding behind the sugary champaca and soft incense. And the drydown, when remnants of sugar and flowers mingle with candle smoke, is lovely. I was worried that it would be cloying but thankfully it wasn’t-I love this! I think aging will make it even more fantastic. One to get a bottle or two of!

Emoticon rating:

Is it a keeper? Definitely a bottle candidate. And a few more bottles for aging.

If you like this, try: Khajuraho, Hellion, Snake Oil, Snake Charmer, Vaskakajja, Midnight on the Midway, Chintamani Dhupa

[GemmaCat]

This smells alcoholic in the vial. Yum!

 

Once on, it's initially very sharp and biting; a little bit too much for me, really. It settles into lightly sugared frankincense and champaca scent, with that bite coming from the labdanum.

 

Although deliciously resinous, it's a little too sharp for my tastes.

[concrescence]

in the bottle it smells very floral.

 

wet on the skin the snake oil becomes much more prominant. it's more noticable than in the only other snake i tried, king cobra. the flowers, though, are still at the forefront, especially the champaca.

 

as it dries down and the resins come out, it reminds me very much of snake charmer. it has the same sort of complexified/well-aged snake oil quality. but this is a little more floral, while snake charmer is a bit more fruity. very similar, though.

[minnalavender]

Can't believe I haven't reviewed this yet! It's one of my very favorites in the Snake Pit.

 

As many others have remarked, Temple Viper is sugary sweet, juicy champaca incensey Snake Oil. I love the sugar cane in the wet stages. In the vial it's all fruity sweet spices - delicious! Once on my skin the incense notes, the opoponox, and the frankinsence bloom - oh, it smells wonderful, exotic, resinous, and mysterious. There's a note in there I can't identify, but reminds me of summertime. I slather it because the throw is pretty close to the skin, and the more skin I scent, the more places I can enjoy during the drydown.

 

Oh, the drydown. It's smoky and still resinous, but Snake Oil vanilla sweet, too. It's glorious. If you like incense blends you'll love Temple Viper. I have one bottle and I'm stocking up on a few more before the Carnaval rolls out of town.

[metaldog32]

I bought this decant from a generous forumite..thank you sooo much!!!

 

So far Green Tree Viper was a hit..maybe Temple Viper will be too???

 

Here we go:

 

Initial sniff from decant: Huh??? I smell…something grape-like?? That cant be right…right?? Hmfph…yep..that’s what I smell..something sweet too..no frankincense to speak of. Usually labdanum is a bit sharp on me..and hysspop..well that usually is kind of herbal I think too..so I am a bit confused but will push on…maybe the fruity note has to do with the champaca???

 

Applied wet on skin:Okay..the fruit is there but not overt..I get some frankincense and maybe the opoponax…not so much the hyssop and labdanum..it’s not in-your-face incense at all…just a nice mélange of notes..I can’t quite describe it accurately though

 

Five minutes later: I am still having trouble getting an accurate and descriptive read on this. For whatever reason I am getting predominantly a wafty cloud of champaca and frankincense over a bed of SO. I like it…don’t get me wrong…but with GTV the SO notes came out a bit more clearly and in this blend the lines are very much blurred.

 

I do have to say though..for whatever reason…this smells in feel to Snake Charmer. I just acquired a bottle of the famed stuff and although the only other time I actually tried it was dabbing from my gf’s bottle..I do remember what it smelled like..and somehow..Temple Viper kind of reminds me of it as well. Again..am not getting an herbal slant from the labdanum or the hyssop.

 

Twenty minutes later:Same vibe from before..except now I can smell the Snake Oil peeking through…adding a bit of a different depth of sweetness if you will

 

Drydown: It’s the champaca and Snake Oil..with the frankincense rounding out the back.

 

Staying power is 4+hours with throw soft.

 

Bottom Line: Temple Viper is good..no doubt about it..but I am on the fence since I do FINALLY have a bottle of Snake Charmer. Temple Viper would be great in the late summer to early fall and winter….it’s allure is so very tempting for me to just break down and order the bottle…hmm…decisions decisions….

[karihan]

Oh, MY. I dabbed this on an hour ago, and I still can't keep my nose away from the spot!

 

In imp: Spicy, resiny sweetness, with just a hint of herb, I presume from the hyssop.

 

On wet: LUSCIOUS. Champaca flower is a note I never encountered before Kajurajo, but my skin adores its warm, slightly fruity sweetness. Add in the sugar cane, the lovely resiny frankincense and the Snake Oil spices and I am in LOVE. The other notes fell to the background pretty quickly, but they're still lending a touch of depth.

 

On dry: This one hasn't morphed much at all, which is just fine by me. It smells like a slightly subtler, spicier Kajurajo on me, and Kajurajo is one of my faves. The throw is light to moderate. It has only been an hour or so, but so far it hasn't faded much at all, so I have hopes for it lasting reasonably well.

 

Absolutely must get at least one bottle of this one!

[filigree_shadow]

I adore champaca and opoponax, and they smell glorious with Snake Oil. I like Snake Oil plenty well on its own, but I find this combination incredibly appealing. I love the incense in it. It smells more smoky and mysterious than Snake Oil usually does.

 

I'll have to get a bottle of this for sure.

[Naamah_Darling]

Wow! This is pretty much pure incense, and it's lovely. There's a sweet breath of flowers in there, and the frankincense has that tart overtone that's almost citric or lime-like in nature. I like this right away; it doesn't smell like Snake Oil at all.

 

The sugar sort of binds it, this is a sweet incense, champaca and hyssop are both sweet scents as well, and they blend beautifully with the resins for a scent that is perfumey yet dark, that is bright but not high-pitched. It's a subtle, soft, pleasant scent that owes just a little to the original Snake Oil.

 

I like this a lot. I'm fond of temple vipers, too. They're very cute.

[Phaedra]

Wet this is Snake Oil and a general "perfume" note- almost like the alcohol note in commercial mass market perfumes. I can also smell a hint of the frankincense. When first on this is pure incense with a hint of sweetness in the background. It's similar to Midnight Mass at this stage. After about a half hour it's become more sweet, almost like caramel. I can't really pinpoint any specific notes. After a couple of hours this smells like a softer Smut mixed with light Snake Oil. Wonderful!

[flco]

I have never tried Snake Oil. I keep meaning to, but I always forget. Boomslang works amazingly on me--seductive, spicy coacoa that sticks around all day. I decided to try another from the Snake Pit collection, and I was attracted to the notes in Temple Viper because of the frankincense and champaca.

 

I like how it smells in the bottle, but let's just say that it does not like me. At all. It smelled faintly placticy while wet, and I gave it time to dry down. But then it just got more plasticy. After a couple hours, it smelled like baby powder, which was not as bad, but still not desirable. Then it faded.

 

Damn my skin chemistry. I'm beginning to think that I just can't do scents with sweet or sugary notes, seeing as Aquolina Pink Sugar smelled like (yuck!) burnt plastic on me.

 

Summed up in an emoticon:

[supremegoddessofall]

In bottle: A very dark snake oil.

 

On me: I think I'm getting more opononax and labdanum than anything else. Very little snake oil here.

[bibliophile]

Count me among those who are getting a sweet, Snake Charmer-y vibe from this. The sugar cane and champaca (which didn't work on me at all in Khajuraho) are delicious in this. I was expecting this to be almost too resiny and incensy on me, given the listed notes, so am really happy to find that it is lighter and sweeter than I expected. Though I adore Snake Charmer, there are times when my chemistry + SC create a much stronger "come hither" vibe than would be appropriate for my workplace. This is much more mellow and close to the skin on me... sort of a "work-safe," but still delectable and decadent, snake.

[Carmencita]

I let this age a couple of months before testing. I wanted to let it age much longer, but didn't have the patience. I was desperate to TRY it.

 

in the vial: honeyed vanilla poison

 

on me: Bailey's Irish creme, amaretto, and fruit

 

OMG, this is this dulce de leche Spanish ice cream dessert I had on the Balcon de Europa a few years ago. With a side of fruit.

 

I was testing a lot of oils today so the only free spot I put this on was on my knee. My boyflame kept looking at me funny because I kept lifting my knee to my face.

 

Instant BOTTLE.

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: this smells so fabulous! Spicy and resinous.

 

Wet on skin: The laudanum and hyssop are so yummy. I think I may have found a snake that I can wear!

 

Dry: Alas, this was not to be. This lovely scent morphed into the same plastic smell that I get from "regular" Snake Oil. Drat!

[Trish]

I'll say this up front. I LOVE this. It's a soft, sweet vanilla incense with touch of dusty floral at first. It's quite light but gets deeper and stronger (and more Snake Oily) as it dries, plus the floral disappears. Other than that it doesn't change at all on my skin, it just stays absolutely wonderful from start to finish. It has better than average last and a bit of soft throw.

 

This is the first LE (Idmittedly I haven't tried a whole lot thus far) that I need to get another bottle of before it disappears. As good as it is now, I feel that when aged it will even better. And if this resembles Snake Charmer I really do need to get my hands on it somehow.

[Meg]

In the bottle: very sweet Snake Oil.

 

Wet: frankincense, resins, champaca... then sugar cane emerges.

 

Drydown: it's very discreet, suprisingly. I get a whiff of champaca flower, very nice, and a lot of sweetness from the sugar cane. I think I smell frankincense, but it's well blended, not so obvious. The Snake Oil hovers underneath, letting out it patchouli, mostly.

 

Overall: The frankincense still gives me a sore throat, even well hidden. It's a surprisingly gentle scent, though, I really expected to smell more Snake Oil, but it's well behaved, buried in the background. Mostly, this is very sweet, waxy champaca on me, and some kind of aquatic. Nice!

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Really odd, kind of waxy, a little sweet with a slightly peppery kick at the end

 

Wet on me – The waft is extra sweet Snake Oil, close to it’s kind of smoky and woody

 

Dry on me – This is a drier, smokier Snake Oil

 

Overall – I can’t think I would reach for this over Snake Oil

[n0thing]

This is my favourite snake of the 4 i've tried

 

In the bottle - thought i was going to hate it! Wierd, confusing herbalness

 

On skin - HIPPIE SHOP!!

 

When dry - sweet, smokey, sexy incense. My friend thought i'd been burning nag champa, and is now demanding a bottle too.

 

I LOVE THIS SNAKEY!

[alicia_stardust]

Temple Viper is hands down my FAVORITE of all the Snake Pit scents. I have a weak spot for resins and this is the exact perfect blend of resins + Snake Oil. The resins are neither too sweet nor too dry, and they give off the sense of wafting incense in a temple. Perfect, perfect, perfect! This is both magical and sultry. I can't hoarde enough of this.

[cinderfallen]

I seem to amp the champaca, and Temple Viper ends up smelling a lot like Khajuraho. It's less sweet, but considering that Khajuraho has ingredients like dates and vanilla, that isn't to say Temple Viper is anything approaching dry and fully resinous. It's definitely restrained in comparison, though. I want to get more Snake Oil and resins out of the blend to ground the sweeter aspects, so I'm thinking of holding onto my imp. However, I wouldn't mind swapping for a bottle for my experiment, either. I do quite like both Temple Viper and Khajuraho.

 

I can also see where people are making their Snake Charmer comparisons. It's the juicier, champaca sweet version.

Edited August 17, 2007 by cinderfallen

[spessartine]

Temple Viper was the first of the Snake Pit scents I came across, and I'm in love with it. On me Snake Oil is a little too medicinally astringent for me to really love it, despite its spiciness, but Temple Viper is a wonderful softer, rounder equivalent. It stays relatively close to my skin, but it has a great husky, quietly sultry, resinous quality that just seems to work really well on me. A bottle is on the way!