Banded Sea Snake (2006)

[theseagrows]

Snake Oil with oakmoss, sea moss, and olive leaf.

wow this is beautiful. in the imp it smells quite green and leafy but on my skin it's very warm and almost vanilla-leather-like. at least to my nose it is. i definitely smell the olive leaf, which is warmed by whatever is coming out in the background. the leathery smell dies down after awhile and i get a stunning but simple vanilla-olive leaf combination with a touch of something tea-like. i am coming to find i am liking the snake pit much more than i thought i would, and i may have to get a bottle of this one.

[alicia_stardust]

Ah, a scent that is aquatic/mossy... that I actually adore! This is amazing stuff. I love that it seems like a subdued Snake Oil with an overlay of water and moss. The scent has a very green color to it. On my skin it has strong throw and long staying power. I find Banded Sea Snake to be especially comforting.

[poisons_sanity]

This to me is the sum of Jolly Roger + Snake Oil + .09 of Vanillia.

I this so much. As it dries it gets warmer and softer. I can't stop sniffing myself. It's giving me a headache but I love it so much.

[modernsaints]

Something about this is very heavily reminiscent of Haloa (which I loathed) - I think it's the olive leaf/vanilla/spice combo. Except dirty. Just cake-y and gross and heavy; this is the smell of a mud wrestler who has not bathed in a month and then he decided to wrestle in cake instead. Blech.

[grashopper8]

For those of you whose favorite part of Snake Oil is the spices, this once's for you.

 

With my skin chemistry, Banded Sea Snake is just Snake Oil with twice the spice. It's just too much for me, and I'm not a huge fan.

 

I can see others loving this blend, but for me it was just sensory overload. Too much spicy woodsy, and not enough vanilla gooeyness.

 

[fireflower]

In the bottle, this is very pretty. Aquatic and mossy with an underlay of Snake Oil.

 

Applied wet, the aquatic, mossy part is taking over, but there are beautiful spices underneath that make this really complex. It strikes me as masculine, but it's still so nice that I wouldn't let that stop me from wearing it.

 

When on for over a half an hour and completely dry, the Snake Oil softens and becomes less spicy. I can smell the oakmoss, sea moss and olive leaf over the Snake Oil, but just as you're done sniffing and have stopped inhaling, the Snake Oil becomes present. It's very beautiful.. I bought a bottle during a visit to Shelldoo's salon. =) I had a huuuge list but could only pick three, and this is one of the bottles that I decided I needed in the end.

[storme]

In the imp: hmm, this is quite faint, and sort of dark-green-ish to my nose.

 

On me, wet: ....very very faint. whispers of oakmoss and that faint tinge of plasticky snake oil beneath it.

 

On me, dry: nope, that plastic killed the rest of the notes. I can just about sense an aquatic note fighting madly underneath, but it's a losing battle.

 

Verdict: Blech, no, alas. I wanted the mossiness and it never really came out to play.

[mspixieears]

I’m testing the Snake Pit fairly quickly and am quite sceptical about detecting the notes in this blend though the actual Snake Oil is wonderfully strong. There’s definitely a mossy presence any maybe if I strain I can get the olive leaf (there is an ‘oily’ quality to this Snake blend). I quite like this one, it’s gentle and subtle.

[Lethran]

Snake Oil usually needs aging to be good, so this will likely only improve with age, though Ican't imagine anything much better than this. In the bottle: Oh my God1 I'm already in love. It's got this tobacco store thing going on. there is vanilla over the wood oil that makes up Snake Oil, modified by glorious mosses and leaves. Very masculine and very exciting. Wet: as above. The various botanicals mingle though, bringing to mind wet rocks jutting out into a wild November sea. The tension between the sweeter elements and the herbal elements is quite exciting. If you like snake oil, you'll love this. Dry: If anything, it grows richer, the dragon's blood base doing strange and exciting things with the sea snake components. This is a real winner, folks.

[cranberry]

I haven’t reviewed this one yet, but it’s been a favorite from the Snake Pit to start, and it may just be my very favorite. I think that Slave1’s description of this being a lighter, brighter Snake Oil is dead on.

 

When it’s first applied, the moss is the strongest smell, with vanilla and incense in the background. As it wears, it quickly becomes quite sweet. The vanilla gets really strong, so it’s like a very vanilla-mossy-bright-Snake Oil.

 

I wouldn’t classify this as aquatic at all. Nor masculine. Of all the BPAL scents out there, it reminds me most strongly of Ravenous and Vixen, but the patchouli is not as strong. To me, the singular characterizing scent here is vanilla. It’s quite wonderful, and reminds me of the vanilla from Dragon’s Milk.

 

This is a multiple bottle purchase for sure.

[naeelah]

I don't think I tried this when it was fresh, and now it's about 6 months old.

 

Wet, I get a strong wave of oak moss. As it dries, the snake oil becomes stronger, but it remains balanced by cool, dry mosses. I'm not usually a huge moss fan, but they're an excellent contrast to the rich, sweetness of Snake Oil. They aren't musty at all here, just light and cool. On the whole, I don't think it's anywhere near as dry as Western Diamondback. From a distance it smells just like Snake Oil, only the mosses take some of the sugary edge off.

 

I'd definitely recommend this one as a cooler or more unisex version of Snake Oil. The throw is really good, and I don't know yet about wear life.

Edited January 7, 2008 by naeelah

[hkhm]

bottle: light snake oil. i can't really smell any mosses...

 

wet: there they are. the mosses are still farily light and there's a very strong snake oil back.

 

dry: the mosses are more evident once dry. the snake oil is quite tame yet rich at the same time.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, it's surprisingly light & fresh - the mosses float over the Snake Oil.

 

On my skin, I like this quite a bit so far - the mosses and the olive leaf, but with the warmth of the Snake Oil.

 

When it dries, it's really light and nice, but not for me.

[arabella]

First Impression: LUSH's Olive Branch.

 

Dries down to: A softer Olive Branch.

 

Then, after a while, the oakmoss and seamoss start to amp up - especially the sea moss.

 

Additional Comments: I love the early stages of this blend but once the mosses come out (and I think it's the sea moss that's the culprit), it smells like piles of seaweed washed up on the beach in November. What a shame.

 

Lasted: A couple of hours.

 

Rating: 2 out of 5

[alsatia]

Expectations: This sounds like a good way to ruin some lovely Snake Oil. I imagine it dirty and musty, with a bit of saltwater trying and failing to counteract the dryness.

 

In vial: Leaves and sweat. I'm guessing the sweat comes from the slight muskiness I detected in the original Snake Oil, but otherwise there is nothing Snake Oil about this.

 

On skin, wet: A bonfire on the beach. I'm getting dry leaves and grass that are about to be ignited, and the occasional waft of saltwater.

 

On skin, dry: Oddly, when the oil is dry the scent is less dry. I'm getting a bit more of the mustiness I expected.

 

After time: It's only been 20 minutes, but I haven't got a lot of patience with scents I don't like. If I sniff really hard I smell something that might be the tiniest bit of the Indonesian oils aspect of Snake Oil, but I also could be imagining it because I'm so desperate for it to be there.

 

Conclusion: The idea of the Snake Pit, I thought, was to add ingredients that enhance Snake Oil. Not make a scent that is absolutely nothing like Snake Oil! And that's how this one turns out on me. It's pretty gross.

[backwards8]

A slightly woodsy and light green Snake Oil. After it dries, it doesn't smell very different from Snake Oil on me, apart from being a little less intense.

 

I'll definitely be finishing my decant but I think I'd rather stock up on the original Snake Oil and the other snakes that I love so much (and are completely different from SO on me) instead.

[jentifer]

I wish I were one of those who could wear the mossy scents well, alas, I am not. This one screams masculine on me, and if I had a S.O., I definitely try it on him. Otherwise, this one is nice to have as part of the pit, but it doesn't get much love from me.

[voodoocatwoman]

To the untrained nose *points at self* this is Snake Oil set at 11. In the imp and wet, I don't get salt or bayou or aquatic anything. Just snake oil. I can taste it in the back of my throat when I get a whiff. That is how strong it is.

 

Now that it's drying down, I am picking up playdoh, which I know is my version of vanilla. And something mildly sweaty. And something that reminds me vaguely of iodine. Salty? Maybe. Bayou or aquatic? Who knows.

[DogNPonyShow]

In the vial it's powdery and medicinal. On, it's the same and stayed that way until I ran to the bathroom to wash it off.

[maribouquet]

I like the moss, and at first this smells promising, but like the original SO, it goes plasticy/powdery on me.

[Delirium1009]

In bottle/imp: Snake oil with some nice bright green notes.

 

Immediately on skin: I smell the Snake Oil, but also a fresh green scent, like freshly cut stems. The result is a sweet, green, and earthy scent. But lurking under is a touch of baby powder. Uh oh…

 

After a few minutes: This has become a very nice earthy green Snake Oil scent. The moss and olive leaf blend beautifully to create something that is comforting and soft, yet still slightly sweet. I really like this one!

 

Overall Impressions: For a sea snake, this blend hits me as really earthy. It went from crisp to something smooth, understated, and very comforting. I would definitely wear this on a day when I want to feel grounded.

[motdakasha]

In the bottle:

Rating: 4

Notes: oakmoss, sea moss

Comment: Not a very noticeable scent in the bottle.

Wet on skin:

Rating: 4

Notes: oakmoss, sea moss

Comment: A little bit stronger smelling on the skin, but still very subtle.

Dry on skin:

Rating: 3

Notes: oakmoss

Scent Intensity: 3

Comment: I smell more snake oil than mossy notes in this one. Also faded comparably faster than others from the Snake Pit.

Misc:

Duration: 2+ Hrs.

Keyword(s): N/A

Color: olive

Smells like: N/A

Edited July 2, 2008 by Akasha Tsang
Removed Lab description --Shollin

[greenranger]

Wet, aquatic, probably the oak and sea moss.

 

 

Drying, a coolly spicy Snake Oil...interesting, but, I'm not certain those notes are going to play nicely together on me.

 

 

Alright, the notes have reached a truce with my skin...but it isn't much more than that so far. I'm thinking this one may be going to a better home.

[nekogrrl]

This is such a lovely wet green scent. Wet on skin, I really smell the oakmoss and sea moss. On drying, the Snake Oil comes up to play and prevents this from being a icy wet green scent.

 

It's been about 15 minutes, and this has warmed up quite nicely. It is still very green, but there's an underlying tone of orange which really makes it pop.

 

Yummy.

[galahad]

In The Bottle

Slightly aquatic with sanke oil in the background

 

On Application

Fresh and almost fruity with the sweetness of snake oil.

 

Dry Down

Vanillary, fresh and slightly earthy. Really hard to quantify other than to say I like it. Eventually dries down to a nice vanilla and leather.

 

Rating (0-5)

5