Snake Oil Help! Layering it, Snake Pit scents, blends with Snake Oil

[spaceprostitute]

I ordinarily don't like vanilla scents. Mostly, I don't like smelling like baked goods. I usually like the scents in the bottle (I love Dana O'Shee in the bottle, I like smelling Honey I Washed the Kids soap dry, etc.), but on me, I start feeling like I'm trapped and suffocating in a bakery display case. Now, I'm liking Snake Oil (I have 5mLs of it per forum recommendations), a bit more than I thought I would actually, as it's a less foody vanilla and there's a little spiciness, but occassionally, I get that bakery display case feeling about it. Actually, it reminds me more of fried ice cream. So...

 

Any recommendations on how to make snake oil just a bit less foody? Any single notes (or even blends) that you recommend? I don't mind fruity, I just don't care much for baked goods.

[heartbeast]

If you like classic commercial perfumes, I have had great results layering Snake Oil with both Shalimar and Youth Dew. I'm sure any other spicy oriental would have similar results.

 

ETA: I'll bet sandlewood might be really good, too...

Edited July 30, 2004 by heartbeast

[Morrighana]

Snake Oil layered with Bloodlust is quite amazing, IMHO. It's hard to describe exactly what the combination smells like on me, as there are SO many notes, but overall it is sweeter than either on their own (but not too sweet) and lighter/cheerier than Bloodlust on its own, but more resinous and spicy than Snake Oil on its own.

 

I would certainly recommend giving it a go!

[renaissancerouge]

Yesterday I layered a little smidge of Snake Oil over some orange body lotion into which I had mixed a drop of amber oil (non-BPAL)...the resultant fragrance was exotic and spicy- edible but not like a case of danish.

[Lady_Ell]

ooh ooh ooh, this is something I want to shout to the world:

 

Snake Oil and Loup Garou are damn amazing when layered.

 

I have the same problem with Snake Oil as you do - I love it, but it's so bakery sweet unless it gets slapped down a bit by something else. Loup Garou is really woody (juniper and cedar) and for some reason, on me at least, it complements Snake Oil to form the perfect sophistocated blend.

 

Lots of compliments from strangers when I rock this combination.

[Ina Garten Davita]

Snake Oil and Haunted is my favorite combination. Just wonderful and totally un-foody. Just warm and rich and sensual.

[Carolyn]

My absolute favorite BPAL is still Snake Oil. When I look at some of the reviews for my other favorites I see that people often compare them to Snake Oil, too--Mme Moriarity, Sin, and Smut are three current favorites that have a Snake Oil vibe. I'm wondering if there are any other Snake Oily scents that I should sample. The only one I haven't liked is Snake Charmer, although I wonder if I should maybe try to sample it again (I know, I know, fat chance!). I also think that Blood Amber has a little SO thang going on, and it's also one of my favorites.

 

I am thinking I should try:

 

Scherezade

Bloodlust

 

Just wondering if there are any other scents in the Snake Oil family that you think I should try.

 

Thanks!!

[lookingglass]

DEFINATELY Mme Moriarty!

 

IMHO think that Blood Kiss is closer than Blood Lust for that vibe.

 

To add to your list, I think that Eat Me and Black Phoenix also have that thick richness that Snake Oil has. Not that they smell ALIKE... not at all...they just have the same vibe to me.

 

 

Check out dragon's blood as a note as well...sweet and deep...mmm...You never know what you will like with it!

[Iceblink]

Dragon's Musk and Vixen both remind me of SN. Vixen has to age a little bit first and then whoa it's awesome.

[cinderfallen]

Check out Lampades. On me, it was Snake Oil with a little dried red berry, hold the vanilla. (But then, Snake Oil is never vanilla on me...)

[mmmitchell]

I second Iceblink's recommendation of Vixen. It has a VERY Snake Oil-like vibe to me. To me, it seemed like Snake Oil with patchouli heart rather than a musky base.....like the love child of Snake Oil and LUSH's Karma fragrance.

 

Good luck! And have fun with your search!

[Carolyn]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to have fun trying these!

 

Just wondering...does anyone feel that Voodoo smells like Snake Oil? I thought I might have heard that.

[kwsix]

To add to your list, I think that Eat Me and Black Phoenix also have that thick richness that Snake Oil has.

I second the recommendation for Eat Me. Much to my dismay, Snake Oil doesn't work with my chemistry at all. Eat Me is what I wanted Snake Oil to smell like on me. Something about Storyville also gives me a Snake Oil vibe, but good luck with that one.

[waffelo13]

DEFINATELY Mme Moriarty!

 

IMHO think that Blood Kiss is closer than Blood Lust for that vibe.

 

To add to your list, I think that Eat Me and Black Phoenix also have that thick richness that Snake Oil has. Not that they smell ALIKE... not at all...they just have the same vibe to me.

 

 

Check out dragon's blood as a note as well...sweet and deep...mmm...You never know what you will like with it!

I'll second the Mme Moriarty, on me it is very similar to Snake Oil.

And I'll also second the dragon's blood note - I recently received a Dragon's Milk frimp from the Lab and I adored it! It's not that it smells like Snake Oil, but has the same feeling / depth to it. Very warm and sweet and yummy...

[Teggy]

From my personal experience...

 

Mme. Moriarty: Similar base, but fruitier. Heavy on the plum.

 

Snake Charmer: Um...how to describe this? Somewhere between Snake Oil and Mme. Moriarty. A little fruitier, but not too fruity. Good luck getting your hands on some though.

 

Vixen: Snake Oil with some kind of citrus-cleanser start. At least to me. Vixen on me was nasty at first, then transformed into a slightly less potent Snake Oil after a short while. Maybe it would work better on you.

[styro]

I second the recommendation for Eat Me. Much to my dismay, Snake Oil doesn't work with my chemistry at all. Eat Me is what I wanted Snake Oil to smell like on me.

 

I prefer Eat Me as well: to my nose, it's as if someone took a drop of Snake Oil and enrobed it in fruity vanilla goodness. On my skin, Eat Me layered with Snake Oil is more like what I expected from Snake Oil than Snake Oil alone.

[gchao]

Dragon's Musk and Vixen both remind me of SN. Vixen has to age a little bit first and then whoa it's awesome.

 

That's really funny...I wore Vixen today and noticed for the first time that it was alot like Snake Oil. In fact, I thought that I had gotten them mixed up, but no, it was Vixen. I'm at the bottom of an imp that I ordered at the end of July, so I think you're bang on when you say that the similarity only emerges after aging. However, I like fresh Vixen as much as the aged version.

[Iceblink]

My imp of Vixen was ordered in late July too--I guess we've hit on the right amount of time to age it!

[bibliophile]

Continuing with the Dragon's Blood suggestions, I find that Dragon's Heart gives a similar warm and yummy effect... and second the Lampades rec. On me, many of the red musk blends give off the same vibe.

[klavierbarrette]

moriarty is a toned down version of it. VERY lovely. it's like a version of snake oil that i can stand (the musk and patchouli in snake oil just made me cough and wheeze. i got no vanilla )

 

also third dragon's heart and lampades, though they do not smell at all like snake oil to/on me. two of my fave blends, however!

[blu°]

Thanks everyone! I'm going to have fun trying these!

 

Just wondering...does anyone feel that Voodoo smells like Snake Oil? I thought I might have heard that.

 

Voodoo to me wasn't similar to Snake Oil at all, might be a question of skin chemistry, though.

 

Much less sensual, rather hectic and much greener than Snake Oil.

[parrot_suspect]

Dragon's Musk and Vixen both remind me of SN. Vixen has to age a little bit first and then whoa it's awesome.

 

I second this. Snake Oil is one of my favorites, and these are two others I reach for often. I also find something Snake Oil-esque in Tarot:The Devil.

 

Snake Oil is fabulous layered with Scherezade (which is good on its own, too!).

[lookingglass]

Oh, and when I first tried Chimera, I thought it had a similar "undersmell"... I don't any more, though...but they are still 2 of my favorites!

[Iceblink]

I've been wearing Tombstone this week and the vanilla in it is very Snake Oil-y; looking at the reviews for Tombstone I see I'm not the only one who noticed this! Sort of a Snake Oil without the spices.

[bheansidhe]

Just wondering if there are any other scents in the Snake Oil family that you think I should try.

 

Heh! On my spreadsheet I have a category called "Snake Oil Scents," for anything that has a similar heavy, resinous, oiled sweetness, dominated by patchouli. To my nose, the family includes:

 

Lust - Uncontrollable passion and insatiable sexual desire: red musk, patchouli, ylang ylang and myrrh.

 

Sin - Thoroughly corrupted: amber, sandalwood, black patchouli and cinnamon.

 

Anne Bonney - A blend of Indonesian red patchouli, red sandalwood, and frankincense. [Lacks Snake Oil's complexity, but the drydown may be similar on you.]

 

Tombstone - A celebration of one of the first commercially produced perfumes of America's Old West. A rugged, warm blend of vanilla, balsam and sassafras layered over Virginia cedar. [Fresh, it smells a lot like Snake Oil, but the sassafras really alters it in the drydown, at least on me.]

 

Morocco - The intoxicating perfume of exotic incenses wafting on warm desert breezes. Arabian spices wind through a blend of warm musk, carnation, red sandalwood and cassia. [This has the spicy complexity but is much lighter, and lacks the heavy resinous base.]

 

Scherezade - Saffron and Middle Eastern spices swirled through sensual red musk. [On me this became faint and powdery, but it could definitely work for the right person - maybe layered with Anne Bonney?]

 

LEs:

 

Snake Charmer - Sensual, sibilant, sexual and hypnotic: Arabian musk and exotic spices slinking through Egyptian amber, enticing vanilla, and a serpentine blend of black plum, labdanum, ambrette, benzoin and black coconut.

 

Theodosius the Ledgerdemain - Earl Grey tea leaves, a white fougere, jasmine leaf, pearlescent white musk, and vanilla bean. [At first whiff, this is Dorian on steroids, or his bastard love child by Snake Charmer. A masculine vanilla musk, where Mme Moriarty is a feminine one. ]