Snake Skin

[Failmingo]

For he seemed to me again like a king,
Like a king in exile, uncrowned in the underworld,
Now due to be crowned again.

A sinuous leather variant of BPALs Snake Oil.

Only side-by-side with Snake Oil can I tell the difference between these in the bottle.

It really was appropriate to name this after the snake's skin -- the leather wraps around the familiar blend like a sheath. And it's a grower, constricting slowly until it just might become the thing someone notices about the scent if they just happened to catch it in passing. It also nicely amps the woods in Snake Oil, which probably don't get enough love.

If you have a man in your life who loves Snake Oil but it's too sweet for him to wear, he will probably be unstoppable with this.

[Numanoid]

Oh...my....gosh!!!

 

Ok, anyone that loves Snake Oil and loves Western Diamondback, you need this!! To me, this is the big brother version of WD!! I can see this aging to utter gorgeousneous!!!

 

It is a beautiful leather Snake Oil! The leather is blended perfectly to me....but yes, a little more dense than WD. This is going to be a back up bottle worthy!

Edited April 26, 2017 by Numanoid

[boomtownrat]

Something about Snake Skin smells like Snake Oil + cherry--not the cough syrupy kind of cherry note, but real cherries. I think this is my brain misreading the combination of the leather and the vanilla, because when I huff more deeply I can tell that it's leather mixed with Snake Oil. The notes are blended perfectly and I believe it's going to age as fantastically as all the other Snake Oil variants I've tried.

 

It doesn't last as long or have as much throw as regular Snake Oil does on me, but while it lasts, it's infinitely huffable. This will definitely be a multiple-backup purchase, just as I thought it would be.

 

ETA: Almost a month later, the cherry is still kind of present, but it does smell like Snake Oil plus leather. It's still more subtle than regular SO. I'm still gonna buy a second bottle, maybe more.

 

Edited on 10/10/2017: I no longer get any cherry from Snake Skin, but what I do get is so good I don't know if words could do it justice. If you wanted something that smells like Snake Oil has soaked into the neck of your favorite leather jacket, I think you should get your hands on a bottle of this now. After eight months it's already this good. Just thinking about what a year or more will do for this scent, I wish I had bought more than two bottles.

Edited October 10, 2017 by boomtownrat

[Dark Alice]

Snake skin=Snake Oil and Western Diamondback had sex and created a gorgeous new species of snake: Snake skin. It's sex in a bottle. Snake oil with the leather from WD. Pure perfection. My second snake oil blend that I love. I foresee two more bottles at least. It's that dang good.

[Janel Kisner]

I love this one! It is exactly what it says- Snake Oil with leather... and they both work very well together. If you love SO, you will like this.

[rjoskow]

This scent has completely seduced me. I bought a bottle at the Lunacy event in February, and then ordered two more (though I gave one to my daughter). I seriously think i need to order a few more to stash.

 

Snake Oil tends to turn a little sweet on me, so the leather note in this makes it absolutely perfect, and it lasts a very, very long time.

Edited March 7, 2017 by rjoskow

[Bassmastadroog]

This is fresh Snake Oil, (personally I love both fresh and aged) and it's ravishing with leather.

 

In the bottle, leather.

 

On skin, instant LEATHER and Snake Oil. An exotic hardware store. However that sounds...it smells INCREDIBLE. At some points during the strong, long wear I smell opoponax...which is what Snake Oil and leather mixed together kind of becomes. Between that result from the equal joining of the two, the wear resembles an iridescent snake skin...moving it back and forth or smelling it this way and that gives you a range of scent.

 

It's magnificent. If Snake Oil is an important scent to you at all, unless you hate leather, this is so edgy and sexy. I think I might like it more than Snake Oil. @_@

[LiberAmoris]

Mmm, slinky! Snake Skin is exactly what it promises to be: Snake Oil and leather. On my skin, there's a phantom almond note that lifts up here and there, and a minty edge that fresh Snake Oil has. It's glorious stuff. Snake Oil in a leather jacket!

 

I bought a bottle for myself, but it also smells so good on my husband that I've added it to his collection. It's ok, I've already ordered some more for myself.

[blu°]

Subtle Snake Oil and a dry, sophisticated leather. Since there are comparisons to Western Diamondback, I find this to be more reddish-black where Western D has a golden-brown touch. It is less rounded and even less sweet, more airy and a bit hollow as leather scents can be. I think the leather must be black or red. It really tempers down the SO sweetness and I think it smells a little like the leather in Krampus. A worn and wheathered black-red leather that had snake oil worked into it in its years of wear. It is very nice and wearable, more wearable than Snake Oil itself, I think. More subtle.

 

I like this quite a lot. Will have to wear it a couple of times before my final verdict, but I think I'd like to own a bottle or two.

[Casablanca]

This is a stunning leather. Sniffing this is like sticking your head into an overstocked, intimate shop of well-worked and oiled leather goods (where some of that oil is Snake Oil). Something here also reminds me of teakwood, which I love.

 

Good stuff! I gave some to a friend and she fainted.

[theshapeshifter]

Yep. Snake Oil and leather! It was very leathery - reminded me of Dead Man's Hand from my early BPAL days - in the bottle, but the Snake Oil sweet dark vanilla comes out immediately on skin. The leather balances it out perfectly, as I find straight-up Snake Oil can sometimes do a slightly powdery thing on me. (In fairness, my bottle of Snake Oil is ancient.) I think this is going to become one of those all-time classics.

Edited March 21, 2017 by theshapeshifter

[megank4]

I really want to love this but it turns out to be very fresh snake oïl and a hint of cherry. I think it needs to be put in a drawer and forgotten for about five years at least, then rediscovered. I think it has potential.

[hem246]

While wet, this is WHA-BAM in your face leather. That sort of super clean, sharp leather that almost leans into cherry-cough-syrup territory. I was a bit terrified that my skin chemistry was ruining this, but after about ten minutes that sharpness starts to ebb and the snake oil comes out to play. The leather gets worn down and warmed up by the dark vanilla, and it melds into a beautiful unisex scent that is sexy as heck.

 

I think the sharp leather note will age out pretty gracefully, but even if it doesn't, the drydown is so perfect I won't be too bothered!

[ladyjc]

Um, wow. Yes, first on the leather is very prominent. However, once dry, it's aged Snake Oil rubbed on soft buttery leather love. I need a 2nd bottle. Unf.

[Little Bird]

I actually don't like Snake Oil (turns to baby powder and a weird, dirty hair smell on me), but I often enjoy it in blends, and I looooove Snake Skin. I like this a lot more than Western Diamondback, as the vanilla of Snake Oil seems to come out more, the leather is much smoother, and it doesn't have any other notes to muck it up.

This is the slinky musk of Snake Oil, the deep vanilla, and a smooth, sexy black leather. No powder or dirtiness or sharpness on my skin. Maybe a little black leather smokiness, but not a lot.

 

I'm thinking I should have purchased more than one bottle of this beauty.

[d0gbones]

I described this earlier as the midway point between Snake Oil and Eldritch Dark, and I'm sticking with that. ED is crazily long lasting on me, this hasn't got the same staying power but it does have the same sweet, musky leather note.

[theseagrows]

let me preface this by saying that i don't like snake oil on me, but i love many snake pits scents, so of course i had to try this. right off, it reminds me a bit of western diamondback without the tonka. so lovely. i used to have a western diamondback bottle, it was one of my favorites. i still love it, but i had swapped it because i just didn't wear it enough. it definitely reminds me of a lot of as above as well, it seems to be the same leather and i think there are some other similar notes. definitely a keeper and i am intrigued to see how it ages...

Edited November 9, 2017 by theseagrows

[lizabelle]

Oof, this one really doesn't like me. For about the first five seconds I thought I liked this better than Snake Oil (which on me is okay, but not the stunner most people report), but then the leather amped severely and turned into the weird, acrid raw leather that went bad on me in Wanda. There's also a touch of scented diaper (not used, but still), and it's awful. I had heard such good reviews that I almost blind bottled, but now I'm very glad I didn't. Why, skin chemistry, why?

[poofie]

I get whiffs of tempera paint when this is freshly applied, but I'm not mad at it. After it dries it's much more subtle than regular SO is on me, which is what I love about lots of Snake-Oil-And scents.

Edited January 25, 2018 by poofie

[RedAoife]

Definitely a whiff of true leather. It's unmistakable. I'm with Little Bird here in that Snake Oil has never quite worked for me, but its subsequent incarnations have been nice (I actually look forward to winter precisely because it gives me reason to wear Gingerbread Snake, which is an all-time favorite).

This, though, is a Snake Oil I can do. It's harsher at the start (a positive for me) but still relaxes into that sexy, familiar coil we all know and love. It's markedly different, though. I agree that it is very much like a sheath of leather over your regular Snake Oil. And I think I like it.

Bottom line, if you love Snake Oil, you should give this a run. BUT! if you've found Snake Oil to be a bit too disappointingly sweet (as I have), this might be your happy medium. I have yet to invest in a big bottle of SO, but I might spring for one of this.

[sailthetethys]

This one took a minute to appreciate. Actually, it took a full 30 minutes.

 

When first applied, this was a blast of harsh, chemically leather with faint wafts of very fresh Snake Oil. And the two didn't mingle very well together. I'm not a big fan of fresh Snake Oil - in fact, I've never bought a big bottle for this reason and have gotten my fix entirely on aged imps. Just too impatient.

 

But now it's pretty delicious. The leather has calmed tf down considerably and is now the warm, dusty leather note that I love. And the Snake Oil is now mostly soft, rich vanilla. This makes me think of Outlaw with Snakey sweetness instead of root beer. The Snake Oil is still a bit too fresh for my tastes, but even my impatient ass thinks this is worth snagging a bottle to age because it's going to be glorious.

 

One Year Later Update: yep, its fucking glorious.

Edited July 31, 2018 by sailthetethys

[Spaztic]

I'm thinking I need to let this one age a little as it's still only a couple days old...and I'm getting something rather different from others who have tried it

When I first put it on I get soil, not dirt, but soil. It smells like I just walked into a garden centre or nursery and it's a pleasant smell if a little confusing...I'm guessing: soil = fresh leather + my skin chemistry

Eventually the soil turns a little cherry and leather, then not long after that the Snake Oil starts to come out and then it's marvellous!

On drydown I get what most everyone else gets, amazing Snake Oil and leather! It's just that opening that's super weird on me

[ramblingrambler]

Mmmmm. Leather Snake Oil.

 

This is Snake Oil's sexy, leather-clad cousin.

 

To be honest, I prefer Snake Skin to Snake Oil. The leather really tempers it for me.

 

I'll be buying several back up bottles. Because dayum.

[Epiphany]

This smells like sex on me. It smells like sex on my man. Basically this is sex in a bottle for me. Wet and dry it's Snake Oil tempered with a soft leather, utterly intoxicating. The comparisons to Western Diamondback are obviously apt as they both contain Snake Oil and leather, but they are two very different scents in my mind. Whereas WD feels like a more casual, day out in the sun type of scent for me, Snake Skin reads as something I'd put on for date night and may therefore never make it out of the house....

[SimplySyra]

Snake Skin starts out with a strong in your face new black leather. For the first 10 minutes or so it is almost too much. However, it dries down into a much more balanced and lovely dark vanilla and leather blend.

 

The leather accord here does start to head into near almond territory for me which might be where people are getting cherry. I do wonder if almond might be a part of the Lab's leather since it can have that sort of acrid feel once in a while.

 

Regardless, what I end up with is a smooth sexy almond leather and Snake Oil experience. On full dry down hours later it smells nearly identical to regular SO's drydown.

 

I happily grabbed a full bottle.

Edited April 13, 2017 by SimplySyra