Gingerbread Snake

[OctoberGwen]

Oh dear! I'm a quarter gone!


Gingerbread and exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.

 

Yes. Just yes.

I am not a foody gal, but the combination of this ridiculously gourmand-quality gingerbread with my beloved Snake Oil is just...to die for. Really, really good.

Just get it, already.

[zankoku_zen]

Super vanilla gingerbread. Toothsome and vanilla!

 

I'm neither a fan of Gingerbread Poppet and Snake Oil, but the combo is enough to turn any girl's head (even a professed hater!).

[Leopard403]

Still not sure about Gingerbread Snake. I bought it mostly because I am kicking myself for not buying a bottle or two of Snakes in the Pumpkin Patch, and I thought this might be a reasonable substitute. So far, though, this is ALL gingerbread with NO Snake Oil. Given the nature of SO I'm sure that will change with time, but as gingerbread ages it runs a greater risk of reacting with my puny white skin.

 

The good news is that because this is strong, the throw is incredible and just a dollop to test remained on my skin through a hot shower. As a result, it is probably amazeballs in a tart burner.

[Astarial]

This is a very bready, foody, nutty gingerbread from start to finish. It's savory, not sweet. It gets a little less foody and more spicy/snakey after a few hours, but the gingerbread is definitely the main player here.

[ReallyZeb]

Very little to add to the previous glorious endorsements but this:

 

My skin isn't burning!!!! :joy: :joy: :joy:

[ajcj213499]

I was really expecting more Snake Oil from this. When I put it on, it smells very similar to Gingerbread Poppet (I even did a side by side comparison and was surprised how similar they were). It has a bit of extra sweetness from the red musk. I do like it, though I was hoping for a bit more Snakeyness. Still, as I love all things Gingerbread, I do like this. I think it will age really well.

[kajacana]

To echo Arylkin's post above, this is basically Gingerbread Poppet + Snake Oil on me.

 

In the decant: I can smell both.

 

Wet on skin: The gingerbread takes over. Gingerbread Poppet turns to cinnamon Red Hots candy on my skin, and so does Gingerbread Snake in the wet stage.

 

Dry on skin: The Red Hots are gone and we're back to predominantly Snake Oil, only it's much more mellow than Snake Oil proper, with the faintest hint of gingerbread spice.

 

I actually like this better than regular Snake Oil, which tends to go a bit cloying on me. The spices temper that nicely. I'm not a fan of the wet stage, but it's thankfully brief.

[lucycat]

In the imp: All the gingerbread, none of the Snake.

 

Wet: Strong, dry gingerbread spices. I specify dry because to my nose, Gingerbread Snake doesn’t smell like baked gingerbread at this stage. It smells like the dry spices used to make gingerbread, after someone has blended them with the flour, but before mixing in the wet ingredients to make batter.

 

Dry: This sweetens as it dries, and after some hours, the Snake Oil appears. I’ve now had my imp a week, and when I tested this oil on first receiving it, I didn’t get any Snake Oil at all, even after hours of wear. So I’m guessing this will get more Snake Oily as it ages.

 

This is delicious, and I need a bottle.

[bellumed]

Gingerbread plus Snake Oil? Should be the best thing ever, no? But this is sharp sharp sharp SHARP. GS softens up a lot on my skin, but still reads more like ginger (with maybe a LITTLE sugar) than gingerbread to me. It’s okay, but not a favorite. Seems like this works for a lot of people, but different strokes and all that.

[Quillifer]

I love the gingerbread note, but I find Snake Oil alone too - erm, too snake oily! - for me, and I enjoy blends which have just a little in (eg My Mommy in a Boat). This has too much of it for me: a little too sweet, - if I say too sexy that makes me sound a right old maid, but I know I can't carry this off, it would feel like a kind of pantomime sexiness on me.

 

I do actually like the smell of this, I just know I couldn't wear it.

Edited January 13, 2014 by Quillifer

[zombiewench]

In the bottle I LOVE this. SO much. On me...I'm still amping the Snake Oil like crazy. It doesn't overwhelm the gingerbread completely, but it still ends up just being way too strong on me, and I end up not being able to wear it for the same reason I can't wear regular Snake Oil. I'll keep it to see how it does over time, but for now I'll have to be content just sniffing the bottle!

[Animae]

I love this scent. It is the first one of the Yules that I have gone back and ordered more bottles. This has this lovely warm, spicy, comforting snake oil. TO me is it very much reminiscent of my childhood and baking cookies with my mother and grandmother and licking the gingerbread and snickerdoodle cookie spoons at the same time. I will be loving this for a long time!

[welcometothefamily]

In the Imp: Wow. Rich SO, with sharp, sweet ginger root. It's got a real bite to it.

 

Wet: Fresh ginger root BLAST. Then settled down into a sweet, but still very gingery baked goods smell.

 

Drydown: The sharp fresh ginger wears off pretty quick which I'm happy about, ginger is not a scent that I can wear well. I really, really like this. It's spicy, but not as spicy as snakes in the PP (thankfully). The throw is soft and perfumey, and close to the skin, it's snugly, milky (oddly enough) snake oil.

 

Verdict: I really like this. I think I'll snag a bottle.

 

4.5/5

[Circaea]

Strong ginger at first, and spices. Over a base of Snake Oil. And I remember now that I don't actually like gingerbread. Many years ago I worked in a restaurant where the chef used to put plates of gingerbread loaf out for starving waiters and cooks, no doubt to discourage us from grabbing fries out from under the heat lamps. Being young and poor I was always hungry. But I got pretty tired of the stuff.

 

Gingerbread Snake has a cakey, spicey base. But the spice is quite sharp, almost nose-stinging. It's a little aggressive, as scents go. As it dries down, it goes slightly dusty on me. I think I'm in the minority in preferring Snakes in the Pumpkin Patch to this. But then, I'm not a gingerbread fan. Glad I had a chance to try it, though.

 

 

 

[vthesiren]

Others have already said it, but I'm going to mention it again: if you're underwhelmed at first try, wait and try again. I was so unsure of this when I tested it fresh from the mailbox - the gingerbread was a little too sharp and though I liked the drydown, I didn't think it was my kind of thing at all - but about a week later, it's fabulous. Gorgeous gingerbread with a bit of a lemony icing kick and really, really wonderful spices.

 

I agree with the comparison to spiced chai. This is awesome and I can imagine it'll only get better with age. Get backups.

[brilliantcat]

Just what it says on the tin. Yummy spicy gingerbread with slinky Snake Oil as frosting. I don't have much of use to add except that it's surprisingly softer than I expected. Throw is light. I like it a lot but it does go oddly musty on drydown so no bottle.

Edited January 17, 2014 by brilliantcat

[Magycmyste]

In the imp: Spicy and gingery.

 

Wet on skin: Still a spicy ginger. There is a tiny bit of sweetness coming through, but it's overwhelmed by the spice right now.

 

Dried down: Still gingery-spicy, though I think the Snake Oil is coming through a little bit.

 

Throw: A bit more Snake Oil, but there's still the gingery spice.

 

Verdict: **** I really like this a lot. I think with an aged oil, I could love it. This will definitely be a retest in the future, but I think I need to snap up a bottle. Or two.

[IambicDearie]

This is a totally unexpected reaction and has never happened to me before with any BPAL product.

 

This one burns on my skin. I put a dab on my neck and it's stinging in a really nasty way and it's freaking me out. Maybe it's just that my skin is dry, but that didn't happen with the Strawberry Moon I had on this morning.

 

I'm chalking this one up to ill-fated chemistry and giving the decant to a friend. I like the scent well enough, but I'll take not smelling like gingerbread over physical pain any day.

[JazzieCazzie]

From an imp from a decant circle.

 

Brief preface: I'm part of an apparently pretty big group that loves the scent of gingerbread but, for whatever reason, most of the BPAL gingerbread blends, per se, have not really worked for me (I remember how disappointed I was when Gingerbread Poppet just didn't do it for me). However, SHUB is one of my Top 5 scents ever.

 

AND while I really like the scent of Snake Oil in and of itself, it always goes TOO sweet on me ...

 

But I wanted to try this and see what happened. Not enough to buy a bottle, but enough that I ordered TWO imps instead of just one.

 

IN THE IMP: In order of the notes coming at me -- gingerbread, Snake Oil, GINGER ALE! Whoa. But a GOOD whoa.

 

Dabbed on one wrist and in the crook of that arm.

 

WET: Yup! GINGER ALE! Somehow this combines all the great parts of the Shub ginger and freshly baked spicy gingerbread, AND a subtle dose of Snake Oil, but does so with this fizzy effervescent dose of ginger ale.

 

DRYDOWN: The Snake Oil amps a little more as it dries down but it sweetens a spicy fizzy yum yum good gingerbread to the perfect degree.

 

OVERALL: This is absolutely what I would have hoped for in my fondest wishes and more, because I didn't expect the ginger ale. I probably won't actively try to track down a big bottle, only because I have TWO full bottles of Shub already, but when I finally update my swap list with all of the bottles/imps I've been working through to sniff, I'd guess that if someone has a bottle of this, it would be something I'd definitely love to swap for.

 

On a scale of 1-5, a definite and surprising 5.

[unlaced]

In the bottle: warm gingerbread and powdery spices. I can't quite pin down what spice(es) it is. Ginger? Cinnamon? Allspice? Nutmeg? All of the above? It's very distinctly powdered spices, it has that very slight nose-burning strength that you get if you sniff powdered spices directly.

 

Wet: That same powdery spices with the addition of vanilla icing. I'm not getting any gingerbread at this stage. It's all the spices you'd put in gingerbread dough but it's not a cookie yet.

 

Drydown: Pulverized gingerbread and a bit of vanilla icing. The powdery-ness is still there but the raw spice quality is fading and it's starting to smell like actual gingerbread.

 

I'm really not smelling any of the "exotic Indonesian oils" here. It's all spice and gingerbread. With the vanilla making an occasional small appearance. Though it seems like the kind of scent that will get better with age. I'm not sure I need both the bottles I bought. I might swap one off...

 

(Edit) Long Wear: Ahh, okay. more than an hour after I applied I'm getting the tiniest hint of something Snake Oil-like. I think this is going to need a bit of age on it to really hit it's peak.

Edited January 22, 2014 by unlaced

[calivianya]

I am seriously getting all gingerbread from this. There was a hint of a Snake Oil note when I first applied it onto my skin, but that note was quickly sublimated by the gingerbread. This is SN Gingerbread - and it's a little too foody for me.

[astarinel]

Like some others who reviewed this, I put it on and wondered where the Snake Oil went.

 

I find this very strongly spicy gingerbread, and not the soft chewy gingerbread of Gingerbread Poppet (the only gingerbread scent I like), but a drier sharper gingerbread scent.

 

It reminds me a little of Shub, which I am not a huge fan of. I think if I end up craving some gingerbread + SO, I'll layer my own with Gingerbread Poppet.

[milo]

Lots of ginger, I'd say it's more sharper and less sweet than Gingerbread Poppet. Not getting a lot of Snake Oil, it's all about the gingerbread. After a bit, there's a teeny bit of Snake Oil, but gingerbread is still dominant. I really don't need this, it's kind of nice, but I'd like a more 'snakey' vibe, and I can layer another spice scent and get pretty much the same effect. Asp Viper is a much nicer spicy snake that is not spice dominant if that makes sense.

[thekittenkat]

In the decant: Gingerbread next to an open bottle of aged Snake Oil.

 

Wet: Now the fumes of the gingerbread and Snake Oil start to co-mingle.

 

The dry-down: A nice gingerbread and Snake Oil combo--this is like aged Snake Oil, only better.

[Ajila]

In the bottle - Less gingerbready than I was expecting with hints of a clean musk, not very Snake Oily either

 

Wet on me - A dark gingerbread with a raw spice note and a hint of vanilla in the background

 

Dry on me - A dark rich sticky gingerbread

 

Overall - I would have likes more of the Snake Oil to come through, but as I'm a bit meh on fresh Snake Oil anyway I think this may be one to age