Saw-Scaled Viper

[miss_rynn]

Snake Oil with cinnamon, cassia, and red ginger.

In the bottle and just after application on the skin, this is a bitter, dry, mean blend. It is husky and almost acrid, like piles of dry, bitter spices and animal musk. It was NOT my cup of tea - I almost wased it off.

However, about 30 minutes later is softened. It became a sweet cinnamonny scent with little wisps of cassia and ginger over an obvious Snake Oil base. It was really quite lovely, although the original dab on the skin was a little traumatic. I recommend it, but with a caution - it will make you suffer before you get the reward.

I have sensitive skin, but I didn't get a rash or a sting at all, which is fantastic.

EDIT!

Ummm... you know how I said I didn't get a rash or sting? Well, actually I do. Big patches of red where the oil was applied and a faint itch. I think it depends on where the oil is applied - my first test was on the back of my hand, which was fine, but this second one (inner forearm and knee) has proven to be a little ouchie. It's not as bad as I've seen before, but you'll probably want to be a little careful with it. Edited February 22, 2007 by Celrynnya

[wolfie13]

In the bottle: GINGER and dry spice. A LOT more ginger than I expected. It's mostly ginger (but not sweet like gingerbread - it's very sharp and almost citrus-y quality of fresh ginger)

 

Wearing: Hot, dry ginger and hot, dry cassia. Very sharp - and did I mention dry?

(And i did get a red patch where oil is applied - I have sensitive skin and this occurs with most cinnamon/cassia blends, though)

 

After 2 hours: Yes, it takes THIS long for this blend to soften up on me - some of the Snake Oil shows up, but when it does, it has a bit of the plasticky/playdough edge which some people get with SO, that I usually never do!

Conclusion: Disappointed. I actually had the highest hopes for this one. I wanted it to be Snake Oil with a bit of heat, and instead it was a lot of heat with just a little Snake Oil. And this is another snake, that for me, rather than combining into something new, the added notes are just scrambling around on top of the SO base.

[nikkoblue]

 

This is what I was hoping (and am assuming that it doesn't, because this is saw scaled viper) that Shub would smell like.

 

This smells in the bottle very much like Red Phoenix in the bottle (which I also love)....however, whereas RP turns into a incense-laced melange of yumminess, this turns into pure, cakey delicious buttermilk gingerbread on me. I can't stop sniffing my arm.

 

No sensitivity here, which is surprising as everything makes my skin fall off

 

I'm ordering a second bottle. There's no way that this is going to go away without me having backup.

 

ADDED April 8:

 

I reviewed this when I first got it, but I feel it merits another review, as this bottle has now aged a couple months.....when new, the cassia was there but it didn't kill me.

 

Now:

 

The cassia is truly overwhelming, almost nauseatingly so, for the first 5 minutes it's nothing but bitter cassia.....and I tend to be OK cassia, but this is too much.

 

*****However, just like Red Phoenix, give it a few minutes.....*******

 

About a half hour later, the cassia isn't really noticeable but there's still some pungent ginger.

 

But an hour later, oh my. It's the best snake oil I've ever smelled, very vanilla and rich, almost like a sweet bourbon vanilla, with light gingery spice. I'm not getting any cassia now. This has become something GORGEOUS and I've gone from almost swapping both my bottles to wondering if I should buy a third. THis is a blend that does not give you instant gratification, but with a little patience the payoff is huge.

 

I also did the 'Child Test'. I let me son sniff my arm the first few minutes and his whole face wrinkled. An hour later I told me 'new perfume, smell!' and now he keeps grabbing my arm. he loves the vanilla.

[cuervosueno]

In the bottle this is so strong it is almost vile. I kept thinking what IS that scent? Then I realized it was cassia. All I get is cassia, cassia, cassia. After awhile it fades to....lighter cassia with a hint of vanilla.

 

I don't get the ginger at all, sadly.

 

Its ok but a bit one dimensional. I like the vanilla spice mix it dries down to, but there are other scents I like better.

[jesvet]

In the bottle: CASSIA. cassia, cassia, cassiacassiacassia. Being the intrepid BPAL explorer that I am, I put it on anyway even though past blends have made me all rashy.

 

The sharpness of the cassia gave way almost immediately to that cinnamon-soaked Snake Oil others have mentioned. Just a teeny tiny bit of ginger in this one. Did I mention I was allergic to cinnamon too? I am such a glutton for punishment.

 

The dry down was true to the wet, warm cinnamon with just a touch of snake oil vanilla, but not worth the spreading welt on my Arm of Sacrifice.

[black_and_bloom]

I agree with everyone else who said that Saw-Scaled Viper was dominated by cassia. I was really hoping for a good cinnamon shout-out, but the scent was sadly overpowered by the cassia. (This note also amped when I wore Phantom Calliope - I've discovered my first Note of Doom!)

 

The cassia does mellow quite considerably upon dry down, and I had a really warm, very dusty/dry/spicy Snake Oil scent lingering at that point. I'm just not sure I can deal with the cassia at all, though, so I'll probably put my bottle up for swap and continue my quest for the perfect cinnamon blend (Priala - here I come!)

[brit_brat100]

This is heaven! I'm sort of doing this backwards though, as I've never tried snake oil, but I'm sure I'll like it when I get to it.

 

In the bottle: Sharp, raw ginger and cinnamon. Like whoa. It smelled up the entire room.

 

Wet: Red hot cinnamon with ginger in the background. As it was wet, it left red marks on my wrists and neck, but they went away. (everything makes my skin rash.)

 

Dry: Mmmm....cinnamon and vanilla heaven!! I get whiffs of it and it is so good. I can't stop smelling myself!

 

An hour or so later: Dusty, spicy vanilla. Almost muksy, but not. So sexy.

 

I'm getting a bigger bottle of this for sure. Sweet, spicy, sexy lovers: this is a must try/have!!

[grrrlennyl]

at first: a very dark spice.

on: ugh. awful red ginger.

1 hour later: a lot of cinnamon with some red ginger.

2 hours later: a bit of cassia and lots of red ginger.

3 hours later: a faint spicy scent.

overall: i don't tend to do well with red ginger or spicy scents and this is no exception.

[Brianne]

In the bottle:

Gingerbread!

 

On me:

Woahhhh ginger and cassia. This is like Gingerbread Poppet all over again. I have a strange relationship with cassia - it's very hit or miss with me. I either love it or hate it. In The Phantom Calliope I LOVED it. In Monsterbait: Underbed I hated it. In Gingerbread Poppet, I hated it. It goes on like that, I just never really feel neutral about this note.

 

It is predominantly cassia on me when I put this on, which worries me a great deal. When cassia is dominant like this, that's when I tend to dislike it. It's when it melds with other notes that I start to get along with it. This smells just like Gingerbread Poppet on me so far. Spicey, dry cassia and ginger.

 

After 10 minutes, it finally settles down, yay! That Snake Oil comes out much more and it both sweetens this blend and grounds it. Now, Saw-scaled Viper smells more like a baked good. It's softly sweet and spiced, and not so fiery and untamed as before. Beautiful, much better than the wet stage of this scent.

 

Final note:

I would encourage anyone to give this blend a chance - just wait 10 minutes before judging this one, and it settles into a beautiful scent that is kind of foody. Makes me think of cinnamon buns! Foody or spice lovers, please try this one out, just lovely and yummy!

Edited February 21, 2007 by Brianne

[The_Merf]

In the bottle: A whiff of cassia and then GINGER!

 

Wet: All red ginger...except it's vile. Truly nauseating. I don't understand this. I have two bottles of Mum Moon...what is going on here?

 

Drydown and wear: I keep on forcing myself to check this again to see if anything other than the most vile, wretched ginger in the world emerges, but it doesn't. This is literally making me sick to my stomach.

 

ET fix: cardamon is not cassia, silly

Edited February 21, 2007 by The_Merf

[Emma2403]

I’m quite sure this one will be too intense for me, but let’s hope for a good surprise!

 

In the bottle: very strong cinnamon and cassia. Yuk, I don’t like that.

 

On my skin: cinnamon, cassia and something salted (is this the way ginger smells ? I have no idea). I still don’t like it, I feel like a cinnamon cake, made out of salted butter (yes, there’s something buttery too… it made me think of Jack, this is the same butter note).

 

After a couple of hours: it has a terribly strong throw, believe me. It’s still mainly cinnamon to me, but it starts burning, so I’ll take it off.

 

Verdict: I feel nauseous after scrubbing it off, I guess that’s enough to say it’s not for me.

[Musamea]

in the imp and wet: a smoky kind of ginger… this conjures up dust and ashes for me. Another reviewer mentioned this blend smelling like "real snake" and I can totally see where that comes from. This Snake Pit oil brings to mind a lone snake slithering its way across dry sands.

 

dry (initial-10 min): the cinnamon begins making its presence known… it's a very hot kind of cinnamon. Not exactly red-hots, but also not its milder, wetter cousin found in Chimera. I'm guessing it's the cassia that's giving this its fiery quality.

dry (10-30 min): the smoky/powdery ginger has faded back a bit, and I'm starting to smell the Indonesian oils in the Snake Oil. The waft from this is a beautiful spicy cinnamon. It's not at all a foody sort of scent, which is rather surprising, given the components.

(30 min+): Wow, my skin is amping this sucker! I'm sitting in front of the computer, and every now and again, I just catch the most delicious drifts of rich vanilla infused with a shot of pure cinnamon. When I sniff up close, it's still cassia and ginger's game -- dry and slightly smoky, but the waft is incredibly sweet.

overall: I was rather unsure of this snake when I first put it on, and the gingery wet stage still doesn't much appeal to me. But man, the extreme drydown is beautifully spiced vanilla, with the smoky dryness all but gone as the Snake Oil part of this blend emerges… and I adore it. I can't wait to see how this little imp ages… I have a feeling it's just going to get richer and richer as the ginger mellows out and the Snake Oil deepens. If it does, I may just have to snag a bottle before the Carnaval leaves town, despite the fact that I'm so snake-phobic that the idea of the bottle graphic is enough to send shivers (of the not-so-good sort) down my spine.

[rivki8699]

This and Green Tree Viper were the snakes I was most excited to try when I first read through the Snake Pit.

 

In the imp: It doesn't smell spicy to me at all. Or foody. It just smells, well, icky. Uh oh.

 

Wet: Ok, the icky note is hitting me on the side of my tongue all the way too the back, if that makes any sense. But I can definitely smell the cinnamon coming to the forefront.

 

Dry: Ooh, after about a minute and a half the icky note is gone (hallelujah!) and this is a lovely, slightly spicey, ginger/cinnamon. It's actually smelling a lot like Shub on me, but with a cinnamony and not a ginger edge. I hope that the vanilla will come out in time.

[Iceblink]

This starts out as very dry cinnamon, and after about an hour smells like spicy gingerbread. Waaaay in the background there's a little Snake Oily note that takes its time to emerge.

I was nervous about this one since I don't usually like ginger, but it's very yummy in this blend.

[empi girl]

In the imp, it smells so good. Lilke cinnamon-scented chocolate, covering slices of ginger.

On, it retains this for a few minutes, then morphs into cinnamon red-hots, with soft ginger in the background. It also develops a "baked good" scent that doesn't bang you over the head, but it under the surface asking if you're hungry. Eventually the red-hots soften, the SO emerges, the baked good note subsides and it's a spicy, dry blend. Not a lot of vanilla, but a ton of spice. I like it, but I'm not sure what I'll do with it yet.

[em_h]

This is nice, but once again seems not to have much to do with Snake Oil. It's a strong cinnamon/cassia, with maybe a hint of ginger. Striking and warm, but not very complex. I'd wear it again, though, certainly (I'm luckily not one of the people whose skin reacts badly to it). And maybe it'll develop more depth as it ages.

[Muppetk]

In the Imp: faint snake oil with LOUD sharp spice and a hint of baked goods. Made me recoil a little to be honest.

 

Wet on: Ooh, okay, the recoil baked-butter note is gone, and I have a light snake oil background and a sharp spicey foreground. Whoa cinnamon! But hotter and drier. (At this point, I actually looked up the notes and realized which imp I'd randomly pulled out of the pile. No wonder my wrist feels warm. Cinnamon AND ginger AND cassia?) It's probably the ginger pulling it so far to the hot side of the force. Within about 20 minutes though the spices even out with each other. Nice.

 

Sensitive skin alert!! Jeez, this has turned an area on my wrist slightly larger than a quarter red! I knew it felt warm to start, but wow. I rarely react to bpal and this one has got me but good. Mildly stinging, and I now know NOT to apply to my usual favorite spots: cleavage and behind ears, 'cause OUCH. Though seriously, it's causing enough enough irritation that I'm seriously tempted to experiment with using this on acupoints to see if I can stimulate an immune response without needles. I *think* it'll work, and a hell of a lot less akward than sticking myself with pins. [Note: I'm a licensed acupuncturist, not a creative masochist. This is professional experimentation, dammit! *ponder* I wonder if I can deduct a bottle of this as a business expense?]

 

Later (an hour or two?), the snake oil balances out with the spices better. The redness & most of the stinging is gone. And it's certainly yummy. I have a feeling that with a bit of aging, the snake oil will intensify and spices ease up and balance each other better. In the meantime, I think it's more about scent lockets than wearing it on ouchy locations.

 

Overall: Yum. Probably getting more!

Edited February 27, 2007 by Muppetk

[harmonyfb]

In the bottle: Whoa, this is sexy. Spicy, rich, luxurious.

 

Dabbed on my skin: WHOA. This is hella strong. I'm pretty sure people across town can smell me. A little dab'll do ya, yea, verily. It has a big rush of cassia and ginger, strong and a little overpowering. But happily, it starts to ease off as it dries.

 

Dry: The rich vanilla of the Snake Oil comes out, with a veil of cinnamon over it. Smells very like Morocco, actually. Yum! This is delicious, and I can only imagine how beautiful it'll smell when it ages up a bit.

Edited February 27, 2007 by harmonyfb

[gingersnapp]

This is the most Snake Oil representin' blend I've tried so far (and I'm almost done with the whole Pit). It's predominantly Snake Oil splashed with sweet sweet cassia and red ginger. I don't get much cinnamon, but the day is early. Perhaps it will come out later.

[slave1]

SAW-SCALED VIPER

 

In Bottle: Spicy whoah nelly

 

On Skin: Wow, this one doesn’t work on me for even a second. Pure spicy cinnamon and cassia… and then the reg ginger gives a very odd funk. I really dislike red ginger as a single note… this isn’t the sweet ginger like in Shub, this is the very sharp and pungent red ginger and it doesn’t work on me in the slightest. Cinnamon and cassia don’t work on me 90% of the time so I knew this one would probably be a quitter for me. But wow… it hates me. I need to wash it off right away. I can’t handle it, I’m sorry. SUPER strong throw though.

[Nadirah]

Wow this is Shub mixed with Snake Oil! Very subtle differences! I imagine this will get soo much better with age, The Viper doesnt have that citrusy feel that shub has, it is more like a big peice of cinnamon cookie dough.

[copyshopclerk]

In the imp: I winced! Bitter spicy! I almost didn't even want to touch it.

 

Wet: Still kind of bitter at first, almost like bitter almond-type bitter, with a whallop of candy cinnamon (the red hots!) Ginger is noticeable, but it's in the background. I would not have guessed there is Snake Oil in this.

 

Dry: Bitterness goes away and the smokiness of the Snake Oil incense is there now, plus a sweet cinnamon. But this is definitely more spice than sweet! VERY strong throw (was messing with the Australian Copperhead I was testing on my other arm at the time!)

 

It's interesting and is done really well, but it makes me crave something sweet to counterbalance how hot and spicy this is. Too bold for me!

 

I was also pleased to note that it didn't have any effect on my skin at all. This surprised me since I'm allergic to darn near everything & was expecting this to give me a reaction, but it was all clear.

[Browneyes]

This was one of the Snakes that I was really excited about! So glad to get to try a decant!

 

Imp: CASSIA/CINNAMON helloooo!

Wet: Still lots and lots of real cinnamon, as if you were grating a piece of cinnamon bark onto your porridge or something. The colour association with this phase of the scnet is definately RED, although, thankfully, my skin has not reacted to this! Yay!

Dry: Now I get more ginger, and it's kind of similar to the ginger in Shub. The SO base also emerges slightly.

The throw is spicy and sinus-clearing for about an hour-1½, and then the scent fades...

 

I really like it, and will test again to see if I can make it last longer or something... As far as ginger smells go, I do prefer my beloved Shub though. Saw-Scaled Viper is more like cinnamon-ginger candy, whereas Shub is ginger cake/cookie. And I seem to prefer baked goods to candy, when it comes to foodiness.

 

Will be testing some more, and considering a bottle... It could age really well... We'll see

[ForeverLastcXs]

In the imp: yikes! I really didn't like the smell of this in the imp, so much so that I almost didn't even want to try it out. Too bitter, dry, and almost masculine.

 

On the skin: Much better! It's still sharp and spicy, but very warm and sexy, and not nearly as bitter as it smelled in the imp. It's much more feminine now. The cinnamon is the most prominent note on my skin, and I absolutely LOVE cinnamon, so I'm pleased.

 

This is a lovely blend, and proof that first sniffs can be deceiving. I'll keep my imp, but I'll have to wear it another time or two to decide whether or not I want a bottle.

 

ETA: I now love this blend so much that I ordered a full bottle. It just arrived today, and I applied it right after I got out of the bath, which probably wasn't a good idea. OW OW OW OW OUCH! My wrists have been burning like crazy for the past 10 minutes or so, but my level of devotion to Saw-Scaled Viper is so high that even that's not discouraging me. Now it's beginning to calm down a bit and cooperate with my angry, red wrists. Yay. I love this blend! And hey, I have to admit, I do like a little pain with my pleasure from time to time.

Edited April 5, 2007 by ForeverLastcXs

[dronzeka]

Okay, so this is the first oil I've had any skin reaction to - it's not red, but it does feel a little tingly/burning/itchy. Which, honestly, is just as well, as to me this smells absolutely horrid. Seriously, it's one of the worst things I've ever smelled on me. It was VERY sharp and bitter on the imp - but you know, try everything once; and nope, it's still sharp and bitter on me. I'm not sure whether it's cassia or ginger, but something in here smells like burnt Indian food. In fact, I'm going to have to go wash this off, because the burning is uncomfortable and not at all redeemed by the smell!

 

(So glad this works for some of you - a neat concept - but wow, I can't wear it. It's a Saw-Scaled snake indeed!)