The Coiled Serpent

[Neely]

The Coiled Serpent

A potent yogic oil that stimulates the kundalini, provokes spiritual awakening, and releases the energy seated in your root chakra.

 

In the bottle: creamy wood. Not patchouli, but cedar or maybe sandalwood. This is lovely in the bottle.

 

Wet: peppery wood. No creaminess remains. I get wood sprinkled with black pepper. Hmmmm.

 

Dry down: pencil shavings! It smells just like a pencil sharpener does when you open it to clean it out. Magus did this to me too. I don't know which wood it is, but I need to avoid it.

 

30 minutes: pencil shavings.

 

Conclusion: pencil shavings. Damn. I really really wanted this to work. I need some help opening up my root chakra.

 

Rating on my skin, this is a 2.

Edited September 25, 2007 by Shollin

[LadyCrow]

I didn't pick this for its yogic use -- I'm limited in the amount/types of yogas I can do because of a disability, and I know only the very basics about chakra theory -- but if this fixes my sciatica, I will do it intravenously.

 

For skin use, though: I like it a lot. It's very grounding -- it helps bring me back to the present moment, which is something I need a lot, because I tend to -- hey, look, a butterfly! I love the deep grittiness of the (black?) patchouli, tempered a bit by the incense and woods. To me, this reads mostly as a sharp, citrusy patchouli with good throw and, of course, the hellish staying power that patchoulis are known for. I guess I'm developing a bit more of a note-sniffing ability, because I really can tell this apart from Malediction, and feel I could even in a blind nose-test. I would wear Malediction to a big, outdoor event, particularly in the summer when I'd sweat away anything lighter; I would wear Coiled Serpent when I had nobody around to impress, inspire, or inflame but myself, and therein lies the key difference. Both wonderful patchoulis, both very strong, but Malediction is more of a party patchouli. I can see myself cracking open Coiled Serpent to help finish a stubborn task... even though it does not smell like marijuana; it smells like people who might smell like marijuana.

[Vampy]

To me this smells of just about pure patchouli and vetiver. Red patchouli I think, though it's possibly a blend of both red and black. It's very sharp - in fact, when I first got this a little more than 6 months ago, it was just too sharp for me, and that biting in the back of my throat made me feel a little nauseated, so I put it away for a while to see if it would mellow.

 

I tried it again recently and discovered it had in fact mellowed - though it's still a very sharp scent, it no longer provokes that "urk" reaction in the back of my throat. It really does scream DIRT. It's very grounding and stimulating. I like patchouli and vetiver, but as a perfume this really just has too much of a pure DIRT thing going on. It isn't unpleasant smelling though, and does seem to work for its purpose - it makes me feel calm and centered and more alert - good for meditating with. When I apply it to the base of my spine, I don't know, it may just be the power of suggestion and all, but I feel a distinct warmth spreading out.

 

I doubt I'll be buying a bottle but I'll probably be using up the imp. And trust me when I say a little goes a long way - this imp should last me a while.

Edited August 23, 2007 by Vampy

[tartchef]

Dry dry dry, and hot. I get a huge whallop of peppery sandalwood at first, with dry cedar & a bit of patchouli surfacing once things warm up. It's like a dry sauna - it seeps into my bones & warms me from the inside out. Perfect for cold, rainy days & when I'm feeling my Kapha tendencies slowing me down.

 

(Vetivert amps on me to the point of nausea, and I'm not getting a trace of it here, thank heavens.)

 

ETA: O alas & alack. Hormonal shifts bring what must be the tiniest dab of vetiver out of hiding, baring its pointy fangs & chasing me out of my toasty warm sauna. Phooey.

Edited September 4, 2007 by tartchef

[idoru]

Wet: WHOA patchouli, with an afterthought of green.

 

Dry: Warmer, but still 97% patchouli, my nemesis. Less offensive to my nose than I expected, considering. Surprisingly energizing feel, once I got past having my panties in a twist about bein' all patchoulied.

I seriously considered keeping the imp for yoga work, but really -- I don't do yoga regularly enough for that. Someone else can love this. Off to the swaps!

[daiconharuko]

HOLY CRAP! I looooove incense scents!!! This is the perfect one that I've been looking for!!! I LOVE Patchouli and Sandalwood. I get that with a hint of something else that I can't put my finger on. Maybe cedar? Or some other wood.

 

I love smelling like a dirty hippy! This is totally the scent for me! It's what I wanted the Caterpillar to be.

[Styx]

The Coiled Serpent (deep yellow oil)

 

gImp (Thank you!): acrid, nutty, and a tad sour.

 

Skin: The moment it hit skin, acrid and nutty went away. I got cedar wood, some patchouli, a touch of vetiver, a whiff of benzoin.

A very woody and dry incense blend. The stongest note on me, was the same cedar found in Kathmandu. Very stable.

Lasts like crazy!

 

Heavy weight, skinwarm wood blend, for evenings.

[yewberry]

Received this little gem in a swap. It smells pretty much like patchouli and cedarwood on me, though all stages, and doesn't mutate much. After about 20 minutes, though, I detect a warm, almost creamy anchoring note. Could be sandalwood (which I adore) and maybe some sort of flower?

 

I love incensy blends, and this is right up my alley. A masterfully evocative blend.

[Pottersville]

This smelled very grassy/woody to me and the patchouli took awhile to rear its pretty head. I'm on the fence about it!

[lilirose]

I didn't wear this myself, I used it on my Tantra partner while doing energy/chakra opening work.

 

Hot damn. And I mean HOT DAMN.

 

Yes, it smells like incense- like a head shop, even- but on hot, sweaty male skin, it's the sexiest thing since...anything. It's dead sexy. It made me want to forget the meditation and ritual and...well, since this part of the forum is public, I'll pretend I'm a polite person and stop there.

 

Oh, the meditation bit was also really effective. We cleared a major block that's been causing him problems, and the energy work was too intense to try to describe in words. My partner and I are not strangers to energy work, but he usually leads and I follow. This inspired me to be more active, to excellent results.

 

(Maybe it didn't help that I was wearing Voodoo Red Devil, but still. Sexy.)

 

I'm buying a 5ml. I will probably never wear it myself but I'm going to use it in the context mentioned above as much as I possibly can.

 

Oh, yeah, what exactly did it smell like to me? Patchouli, sandalwood, vetiver, and musk.

Edited November 23, 2007 by lilirose

[bryghtrose]

Manly, patchouli, musky.

It doesn't work on me, but I want to smell this on a man.

[dluszcz]

Wet in the bottle and on the skin, this was all brown leather and black pepper. As it dried down it became patchouli and black suede. Definately masculine in a "dirty hippy" sort of way; I think this would smell great on a man or be great for a woman to use to help tap her masculine qualities. Jim Morrison must have smelled something like this.

 

It reminded me immediately though of someone I hadn't though of in years, a guy from Ghana who was in one of my grad school study groups. He always wore a thick, almost indecipherable accent and a brown leather bomber jacket. He spoke so softly, that you could barely hear him, and was always surrounded by a cloud of strong scent that I could never decide if I really liked or really abhorred. I would sit around, trying to understand what he was saying, and inhaling him, trying to figure it out whether I like the smell or if I was disgusted by it. I dediced that I still haven't decided....

[girlygirl]

The Coiled Serpent

 

Wet: medicinal, smoky. Smells like another oil, but I can't put my finger on it.

Dry: still a bit medicinal. Woodsy. incensey. Seems like it would be long-wearing. A dab will do ya.

As drydown continues, this blend becomes warmer (the vetivert coming out).

 

LOVE. Reminds me of Lush Rainbow Worrier. Not exactly the same but in the family, if you know what I mean.

 

Interesting to note it is supposed to help with sciatica, because I am having a huge issue with that right now. Perhaps not a coincidence this was my random imp grab today? Hmm...

[djsiberia]

i'm not sure what yogic oils do with chakras...

 

i tried this from the reviews as i love patchouli scents and was desperately searching for one.

 

i hit the motherload. love at first sniff.

i wore it all day and it was wonderful, the patchouli, the spices, everything about this screams buy a couple bottles and age them!

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Dry, slightly woody patchouli.

 

Immediately on skin: This is a strong patchouli blend… very dark and dry. I can sense some cedar or some other fragrant wood as well. The patchouli is very thick and gritty.

 

After a little while: This hasn’t changed at all except to get more faint as I wear it. It’s dark, dry patchouli with a slight woody feel.

 

Overall Impressions: I don’t like patchouli, so this isn’t a blend for me… BUT I can imagine that patchouli lovers might like this if they’re looking for straightforward patchouli. It’s dry and dirty and slighty woody.

[Nightroad103]

In imp: Kind of leather. It smells a bit like my leather jacket does.

 

I've tried this twice -- once over Namaste after it turned into soap on me. Combined with the notes in that, it smells like the place where I got my industrials done. Kind of incense-y, kind of tobacco-y, kind of leather.

 

Alone, it's leather and patchouli and spices. Rather masculine, but I like it.

Edited February 24, 2008 by Nightroad103

[donnatron]

The Coiled Serpent: Peppered patchouli.

 

Wet: The patchouli goes big and dominates the scent. It's a really nice patchouli oil, though, so I'm not complaining.

 

Dry: A subtly spiced patchouli. There's a hint of what I think is black pepper and a slightly resinous scent I can't identify. Well blended, but clearly more theraputic than purely scent-driven.

 

Throw: I leave a trail.

 

Overall: It's strong and I like the way it reacts with me. I'll use my imp up and see where that takes me.

[faded_stranger]

This scent is dominated by straight-up dirty patchouli. I love it. I think I get a little vetiver, too, but I'm not sure. Either way, it's fantastic.

[VioletChaos]

in the imp: vetiver and cedar.

 

wet on skin: same.

 

dry down: mostly woodsey now, with an undercurrent of something citrus. reminds me of being in a forest with sunlight coming through.

 

in all: while not the 'enlightening' blend i was hoping for, fans of wood-based scents should really like this one.

 

 

 

[hkhm]

imp: a very light, incensey patchouli.

 

wet: oof! vetiver! but a bit more woodsy perhps. like a strong woodsy vetiver with some patchouli incense in the background.

 

dry: this dries to a very light and faint vetiver and patchouli.

[Browneyes]

I LOVE this. It's exactly the kind of "dirty hippie" smell that I like. It's dry, gritty, dark, woody... and yet it also has a sweeter edge, like incense.

I'm considering a 5 ml based on scent alone. I *really* like this.

 

I can imagine it would not be everybody's cup of tea though. (for the record I love patchouli and vetiver...)

 

I haven't tried it for yoga or chakra work yet, but I intend to

 

ETA: THIS IS DIVINE. 5 ml bottle for sure!

Edited May 7, 2008 by Browneyes

[Seismogenic]

This was one of the frimps in my first order, and it's certainly not something I would have thought to try on my own, since I know nothing about chakras and have never done yoga. But I am certainly someone who could benefit from some grounding - particularly around finals time! My evaluation of this will be based purely on scent, though, rather than suggested purpose, if only because I don't know better.

 

In the imp: This smells like walking into an Indian grocery store. It's warm and spicy and sharp. I can distinguish patchouli, maybe something a little woody, and there are background notes that, in this context, remind me of pepper and curry powder.

 

Wet on skin: Very strong! I don't think I smell curry anymore, though patchouli is definitely still there. It's giving me an impression of wet black soil.

 

Drydown: There is something in here that's making my nose itch a little. Uh oh! I wonder if that might be vetiver, since I know vetiver is related to citronella, and I'm very allergic to citronella. But I'm not sneezing or wheezing yet, so the test goes on. It's not soil anymore as it's drying. It's pretty much just vaguely woody patchouli incense, and it's not quite as strong when it's not wet.

 

Okay, this has only been on for half an hour, but my throat is getting swollen and scratchy and my nose has become stuffy enough that I can't really smell much anymore. I have to wash this off.

 

...which is apparently easier said than done.

 

I'm actually pretty disappointed by this allergic reaction, since I rather like the in-vial scent of The Coiled Serpent. Were I not itching and sneezing, I'd consider trying this as a room scent, since I like that Indian grocery store vibe and since the room doesn't have weird chemistry. But as things stand now, I'm going to have to swap this. I'm not going to write off the allergen as definitively being vetiver yet, since I haven't tried any other vetiver things, and since the specific notes aren't actually listed for The Coiled Serpent. A repeat performance, no matter how undesirable, from another blend will be what proves that point.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Not alot from the imp but I do get whiffs of earth.

 

On Application

Patchouli with something sweetish in the background

 

Dry Down

Light warm and earthy. Definitely some frankinsence in there, warming and sweetening the blend eventually. Really pleasant and light. Worth trying again.

 

Rating (0-5)

3.5

[IronMollyBlack]

This one's almost a dead ringer for some "Samhain" oil I got at a Renaissance faire a couple of years ago. I don't know what's in that one, or in this, but I like it.

 

I'm not a big fan of straight-up or overly fresh/strong patchouli, and I'm not getting that from The Coiled Serpent. It is heavy and warm. Definately a down and dirty, earthy scent. It's similar, to my nose, to Voodoo. Something I would wear more for ritual, or at home, than for going out, I think. Definately unisex, bet it would smell great on a man.

[sqwook]

Frimp from the lab - thank you!

 

Wet: a great patchouli blend

 

Dry: Woods (cedar?) and spice, warming. The patchouli is not overboard here, it's blended well with dry woods scents. For me, a golden scent. Really good. This is a definite keeper.