blackdove

I love Snake Oil and I love pumpkin & spices... but I am on the fence about this blend of them. Wet in the bottle this smells almost like straight cloves, or slightly sweetened cloves. Wet on my skin it's pure Snake Oil--heady and sweet, spicy with a dark twist. Dry, it's shifted over the first couple hours of wear. At first it smelled like raw pumpkin flesh--fresh and almost bitter. This threatened to go fully plastic but instead has warmed up to a foody spice blend that has the strong throw of Snake Oil with far less sweet vanilla. I had hoped that this would be a less sweet, more "autumn spice" version of Snake Oil and it really is--but with this much throw it kind of goes too far and smells a lot more like pumpkin spice syrup than I would prefer. It takes about an hour before it mellows out. The Snake Oil sweetness comes back into it and the blast of cloves backs down, although there is still a hint of plastic close to the skin. I like this stage a lot better--I'm getting more nutmeg and vanilla, Snake Oil with a hint of cozy spices. But it takes time to get here and I can't wait through a Snake Oil-powered cloud of cloves and cinnamon every time From many of the reviews of Snake Oil and blends that use it, it sounds like letting it age might mellow its rawness and let the spices deepen into the blend. I'm going to set this one aside for a while and try it again!

After more than 10 years of wearing BPAL I finally fell for Snake Oil this year. I am currently obsessed and want no other perfume, unless it is Snake Oil mixed with something else! I haven't smelled the Snow White blend straight, but on me this seems like more frostbite and less Snake Oil. I can detect Snake Oil's spiciness through it but it is mostly cool white flowers, that snow note--I don't know what that is, but it is a nose-opening scent that really does smell like fresh snow, or the cold air of a newly snowy day--and vanilla. What's odd is it smells a little different on each wrist--vanilla and a hint of Snake Oil on one, refrigerated flowers on the other! it lasts as long as Snake Oil usually does on me, which is until it is washed off--overnight or longer--and fades to almost all vanilla. Its throw is also thankfully less powerful! If Snake Oil is a sensual perfume, this is its romantic incarnation--not at all innocent, but softer, cooler, and more playful.

In the bottle, it smells so delicious--almost like dark chocolate, but not so dry. Sweet and dark. Wet on my skin, it is immediately completely different. Piercingly sharp with an undertone of soil. It hit me right between the eyes. It's like the sugar just flew away on contact, leaving only the patchouli. Dry was about the same, until I finally washed it off, worried that its strength was overwhelming and that it would give me a headache. It didn't fully wash away with one rinse, though, and it has left a trace of cotton-candy sugar in its wake. I bought this in a weird frenzy of being online at the time the sale started, being weary of having things I had been tempted to buy becoming so popular that they became inaccessible, and wanting, for some reason, all things patchouli, in the right blend. I am not sure this is the right blend for my personal skin, though. I am going to try it again at another point in my lunar month and see if it saves some of that deliciousness it has in the bottle for wearing. ETA: Another reason I bought this was for the art on the label. It sounds like adding frivolity to frivolity but I love Aaron Horkey's text art and I think this is my favorite example of it so far. It's just perfect.

Just dropping in here to remark that this scent has aged very well. I liked it initially, but to be honest it was just barely wearable. I think the thyme and anise in it were producing a strong, herby, dry scent that was not playing well (to my nose) with the sweet, gingery brown sugar. It smelled like something I'd like to walk into in my kitchen but not wear on my skin. I put it on today, as today's Friday the 13th, and it has mellowed into a warm, delicious, spicy/sweet, comforting scent. I think the chocolate and baking spices are more apparent now, but this is still not really a chocolate or even a foody scent. The herbs are still there, but not as sharp and "woody" as when it was new. I'm enjoying it much more now and am glad I kept it.

Balm of Gilead, benzoin, frankincense, balsam of peru, beeswax, saffron, galbanum, calamus, hyssop, mastic, lemon balm, and white sage. *nod* Same. I had to quote this because your description's so perfect -- a "hot assault." The smell was initially so sharp that I was afraid to try it on my skin. I thought it'd come on too strong and then be impossible to wash off! Glad I did though -- I can't really say more than what's been said. The sparking hot zinginess mellows out as the beeswax warms; the honey ages it years in minutes; the combination of herbs and sweetness is somehow richly comforting and whole. I even wish it had a little bit more throw and lasted a little bit longer. I put it in my bath, too, and its hot steam smelled wonderful. Transformed my bathroom into something more spacious and rustic than it really is. This is the first BPAL oil I've had that is cloudy in the bottle, though. I held the bottle to the light and noticed that the heaviest components are a darker color than the rest of the oil and were sitting at the bottom, so I rolled the bottle in my hands and shook it slightly to mix it up. The result smelled the same but went cloudy. I hope that's what it's supposed to do -- it may have been "refrigerated" on its snowy way to me this week!