Anaconda

[joseybird]

A sugary, sandalwoody Snake Oil with a bit more vanilla. Very nice, very yummy, but I'm content with Boomslang =)

[hkhm]

imp: caramel, brown sugar, light sandalwood and snake oil.

 

wet: add butterscotch and maple syrup to the above notes and that is what this smells like on my skin. this is incredible!

 

dry: whoa! this smells like there's honey in there too! so we've got caramel, brown sugar, butterscotch, maple syrup, honey, sandalwood and snake oil. i would so buy a bottle or two (or three or four) of this is i could. wow.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this is sweet - almost caramel-y, with hints of coffee and brown sugar.

 

On my skin, it's sweet tobacco with brown sugar - really yummy. GAH - why do I always love the ones you can't get?!?

 

When it dries - wow wow wow wow wow - it's carmelized brown sugar, with just a hint of the warm sexuality of Snake Oil behind it.

[FandF]

I was surprised because I'm not getting too much of that sweet foodiness that everyone is getting. It smelled a bit like cola going on...and then i got more of the nuts. It's definitely the snake oil that is the base....mine is not sweet like sugar skull or rot your teeth out...AT ALL. I thought....musky like snake oil, a bit of cola, a bit of cocoa/chocolate/coffee...maybe a hint of tobacco. This was more like elegba with el dia de reyes and snake oil to me..maybe even boomslang but more complex. As it's drying there is almost a coolish menthol headiness to it, without an actual menthol smell....something that is pure and piercing my nasal passages (in a good way).

 

Somehow, it seems like a scent that would work on everyone. I can see why this isn't a risk to hunt out....it's so broad in its appeal. niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.......

[arabella]

First Impression: Snake Oil, Honey and Burnt Sugar.

 

Dries down to: No change.

 

Additional Comments: Honey and I seldom get along, so it's no loss to me that this blend is rare. I was grateful to receive a teeny sample so I could test it and stop lusting after it immediately.

 

Lasted: A few hours.

 

Rating: 2 out of 5

[greenranger]

In the imp, caramel, almost.

 

On me,wet, buttery caramely sweetness.

 

Drying, some spices are managing to swim to the sugary surface.

 

We'll see what it dries down to, but, so far, I like snake oil better...which would be good, since it is far far easier to get ahold of more snake oil, than more Anaconda.

 

Dry, I'm beginning to like the way the scent is changing. The OMG CARAMEL and brown sugar are making way for the spices and there's ....something...providing a base. It might be the tobacco others have mentioned, but if it is, it is rich sweet tobacco. There's still too much sugar covering it to be certain. It's becoming a more rounded scent.

[tarotgirl99]

I've never been someone who had to have super-rare scents...all I care about is how something smells on me. I didn't even have that much interest in Anaconda but after inhaling a sniffy, I kinda went ape...non-reptilian, but quite excitable.

 

On me, this is warm, spicy snake oil...with a rich sweet tonka thing going on. Maybe it's the tobacco? But I can dab on a drop and it lasts forever and I truly do inhale the part of my skin that I have anointed.

 

I am not a foodie. And as I read the reviews, it is so clear to me that my skin is atypical. Because this isn't foodie at all on me, it's just sexy and not remotely cold-blooded.

 

If I could purchase this in bottle form, I'd buy a few. And normally I'm not much of a bottle collector, either.

 

The Anaconda transforms me into a habit-changer

[fairnymph]

In the imp: Deep reddish-brown orange or auburn-coloured oil. Sweet, foody Snake Oil. Creamy! Caramel and vanilla and sugar heavily laid atop spice, musk, earth and wood notes.

 

Wet: Much less intensely sweet and strong. A touch plasticky, as fresh SO tends to be on my skin. The caramel is darker, more molasses-burnt sugar, and this is much less creamy, much darker in feel. A strong woody base emerges. Mahogany? Teak? Complex.

 

Dry: Slow to dry. The plastic-sharp note is unaged clove, I believe, but it is less present here than in standard SO. There is a bit of that SO-cola note too. The caramel has firmly deepened into molasses, and the blend has darkened greatly, developing a smoky flavour.

 

Later: The woods only strengthen over time; I think my initial guesses were right, but there may be more too - they all blend together so well, it's hard to tell. Oak, perhaps? There's that rooty-earthy patchouli from SO, too. The clove softens; Smut-like and red musks emerge.

 

Summary: This doesn't morph much; it evolves, deepens. Caramel-tinged dark molasses, deep woody teak, mahogany, and oak, heavy smoked vanilla, all over a base of Snake Oil with that cola note, boozy and slightly harsh musks, and sharp clove. Dark, sweetly foody, lightly spicy and unisex. Good throw, great lasting power.

 

As I don't care for Snake Oil or foody stuff generally, this one isn't for me. Thank god! I should also note this reminds me GREATLY of one of the CT IV bottles I received (XXIV- 24). It's seriously almost a dead-ringer.

[QueenFae]

Oh yes, this is indeed good stuff! I definitely agree with the previous reviews that this smells like a combination of aged Snake Oil and Sugar Skull '04. There is that fabulous musky, vanillaness of the Snake Oil, combined with the slightly burned sugar edge that Sugar Skull, the original release, has. This is just fantastic, I honestly can't think of two better BPAL scents to combine. This is pretty much custom fitted to my scent tastes.

 

It's strong, with a lot of throw. Rich, deep, dark, drop dead sexy.

Why can't I buy a gallon of this??!!!!!

[milo]

This is very a very sweet and caramelly scent. I know there is snake oil there, but I can hardly detect it until after around 15 minutes or so. This is pretty foody, and I like it, but I'll probably only wear it when I'm craving caramel and need a substitute. On second thought, I think I'll let it age more and see if the Snake Oil comes out a bit more.

[zankoku_zen]

Ah, the fabled Anaconda. This is a sugary, sweet maple syrup Snake Oil. Take Snake Oil and add caramel. Stir. Taste.

 

Don't get me wrong... it's very good. It's not toe-curling good in my book, but even I, an admitted non-Snake Oil fan, can see why this is the ultimate foodie Snake Oil combination.

 

Thankfully, I arranged a good swap for it already.

[Dark Alice]

Snake Oil with a a hint of caramel, maple syrup, and the spices of snake oil. It's okay, I am glad that I can swap it out so that others may get to try it!!!

[angelicruin]

On me this is Snake Oil layered with baked brown sugar.

 

[spiresinthesnow]

Its really ...yummy! Snake oil and brown sugar head on. There is something else in there (forgive me, i'm not good with spice naming) ginger? nutmeg? allspice?! not sure but something like that in there with it. It also smells similar to 13, the one from Feb 2009, with the dark navy label, but less spicy, must be the brown sugar.

Edited June 14, 2009 by glasspillars

[devilot]

Definitely agree with others-- very reminiscent of Sugar Skull (but to me, also other such syrupy dark blends like Midnight Kiss). I do get a hint of the Snake Oil which makes it a bit more unique. This is delicious but I'm afraid I'll have to be blasphemous now... I wonder if I couldn't replicate something close to this by layering good ol' SO with one of those sugary sweet blends? And if so, I'm starting to think maybe this imp of Anaconda could find a better home elsewhere. *strokes chin thoughtfully*

[iletaitunefois]

Oh Beth, why have you done this? I was worried as soon as I heard this imp was coming my way. It sounded wonderful...and super rare.

 

Unfortunately, it was even nicer than I'd expected. It was everything I'd hoped Bite Me would be and more. It smelled as if someone had whipped together creme caramel and Mexican hot chocolate. Creamy, sweet, and just a little bit spicy. Absolutely swoon-worthy.

 

This is seriously gonna have to be a once in a blue moon scent for me. And as soon as I use it up--

[hazakaza]

As a newcomer to this scent, I must say I was astonished to smell caramel in the bottle but not actually get the death-caramel I know so well on my skin. It must be a different combination--probably brown sugar and honey?--that is producing the caramel note, because ANYTHING with caramel in it is death on me.

 

That said, once it dries, I get a strong undercurrent of cleasing fir / pine. It's warm and foody with a cold green core. Very interesting. As it dries, the fir note gets stronger.

 

As a lover of cake smash, I wonder if this could be reproduced by combining, in some proportions, Snake Oil, Dorian, and Doc Constantine?

[DeltaCat]

Caramel syrup. The kind you use on caramel popcorn. On drydown the caramel morphs into something a little more spicy and buttery while still holding onto the caramel background. Glad it isn't a fav as you can only get it imp style!

[SmileCat]

Crap. I really really like this. It's Snake Oil with sandalwood and brown sugar. Definitely sweet with elements of edible notes not really "foody" to me. It's missing SO's patchouli, which I am not. Overall a lovely scent that gets even better with age and I am all a-woes that it is so hard to get.

[Tess]

In the bottle - Burnt caramel and more burnt sugar. Hrm.

 

Wet - Uh, nothing.

 

Drying - Hrm, okay, now I get the Snake Oil. Amber and caramel with some sandalwood. There is... a lot of sugar in this, but brown sugar. Sticky and slithery. It is becoming less and less "burnt" as time wears on, the scent also getting stronger as my body heats it. It does, indeed, remind me of aged Snake Oil layered with Sugar Skull.

 

Dry (4 hours) - This is... really nice. It sticks to that nice Snake Oil + Sugar Skull, only it doesn't go burnt on me the way that other sugar scents do. It so lovely. So. Freaking. Nice.

 

Overall - I was hoping that I wouldn't like this, but it's... incredibly nice. I'll never get myself any more, but maybe I can do some layering to emulate it...

[Schmoozy]

I can't put into words how many times I have skin tested & sniffed this in high hopes that it would work. I adore Snake Oil, but Sugar Skull on the other hand is not cup of tea. It has the burnt brown sugar note of doom and no matter how hard I try, it smells aweful on my skin. Unfortunately Anaconda is all about the burnt brown sugar. When I first apply, it is all snake oil with a hint of sugar and something spicy. I still can't to this day pinpoint the spice, but it's a sweet spice. AS it dries down, the snake oil all but disappears and the sugar combined with the spice translates instantly into brown sugar and caramel.

 

*sigh*

 

Maybe one of these days.

[filigree_shadow]

It's the same on me as everyone else.

Snake Oil plus caramel/burnt sugar, something that smells a bit nutty, and gentle spices. I wear Snake Oil and the various Snake Pit scents with alarming regularity, and this is one I'd have in the standard rotation if I had a bottle of it. I'm generally not a huge fan of the burnt sugar scent (like Sugar Skull), but it's light enough in this that I like it more than usual.

[SophieCedar]

Wet: snake oil and buttercream caramel and extra vanilla? Yum. is there a touch of hazelnut? Maybe. Wait. yes.

 

Drydown: I don't get the sandalwood like everyone else. Maybe arabian muskiness, but not sandalwood. there's still a strong caramel and hazelnut to it. Lovely.

[Lethran]

In bottle: (Aged sample). Cocoa and incense over Snake Oil, with sugar, probably nuts and extra musk, and maybe a touch of berry. The incense is strongest with cocoa second. Wet: Cocoa dominant with incense a strong second with musk and snake oil in general in third. It is less complex on my skin. As it warms the musk and insence move into first place. Dry: Incensey Snake Oil.