Temple Viper

[marared]

Snake Oil with sugar cane, frankincense, champaca, opoponax, labdanum, and hyssop.

Decant. Holy champaca and sugarcane. This one is totally the diva of the Snakes that I've smelled so far - it sashays right up and smacks you in the face. I don't get nearly as much of the incense as everyone says, but I think that will develop in the scent as it ages. As strongly floral as it is, I'm surprised I don't dislike it. I'm definitely going to get good use out of the imp over time, but I don't really want a bottle.

[Schmoozy]

Another snake for the win. Temple Viper is resiny and herbal, and at times very woodsy.

At first the champaca is a little overwhelming, but after it has time to dry down it settles quietly into the background. Sugar cane adds a touch of sweetness while frankincense, opoponax and labdanum lend a musky, resiny scent.

It doesn't begin very well for me at initial application, but after dry down and has time to morph this becomes so beautiful.

[Saya]

In the Bottle

This is one of the snakes where I don’t get a strong whiff of snake oil from the imp. This is more of an incense/resin feeling to it. It’s also quite sweet with the sugar cane. I’m interested to see what this does on my skin.

On My Skin

There’s the snake oil! The incense/resin is still there but the sugar cane has isn’t as prominent. This is a very intense combo but so far I really like it.

 

After a Bit

Simply put this is a more dramatic, intense version of snake oil. Yum!

 

Rating 1-5 (5 being the best)

Scent - 4.5 Throw - 3.5 Longevity – 4

Overall (not an average) – 4.3

Final thoughts

Love this blend, I need to get a bottle ASAP.

[djsiberia]

i never thought they could bottle the smell of a greyhound bus. this totally reminds me of sitting in one for 8 hours with the scorge of america going some where for cheap...

it smells like the bathroom only with a touch of stale perfume...

maybe those pucks that they put in the bottom of the men's urinals.

 

i think its the scent as a whole. it doesn't seem like snake oil would have this problem on it's own (i think, will have to test that with obtaining an imp).

 

oh dear...now this vial is making me sneeze....[edit to add: fades away to something tolerable and light powdery, but still not worth a purchase]

[Mimosatique]

Wet: Sharp sugary-water with slight dusty opoponax and that familiar almost powder-ish but dark vanilla of snake oil.

 

Dry: HELLO sugar cane with a touch of something floral(champaca?)..I also detect a faint "moth-ball" like vibe beneath all this.

 

Verdict: It's a light blend with lots of sugary goodness..icy crystal clear sugary rush with opque-dusty and powdery slightly floral accent!! PRETTY

[rayvn1]

Plastic?!?! Why don't you snakes like me? King Cobra has been the only one of the half dozen snakes i've tried to actually work on my skin. I love Snake Oil and I can't figure out why these notes that usually love me keep going meh or bleh and to top it off I wouldn't even guess there was SO in here since I get nary a whiff of it. Off to a better home with you, my slinky friends.

[milica]

this was a generous frimp from a forumite.

 

and I'm glad I had a chance to try it before ordering a bottle, because this is not working out for me. It starts like a too sweet SO with frankincense, and at this stage I like it somehow.

but after five minutes turns to plastic/glue/something sour. don't know why, this should work on my skin. and SO is nowhere to be found to help this scent. I think this is about sugar cane, I've tried some other scents with this note and every one of them went totaly wrong on me.

 

I'll hold on to the imp for a while, maybe my skin chemistry will change, if not...

Edited January 2, 2009 by milica

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

Smoky, resinous, incensed gorgeousness! I agree with some previous reviewers that there is a distant grape note in the mix somewhere, but it is strangely not problematic. Mostly I get sexy, dark incense from this blend. I see tantric temples with yoginis dancing with slithering vipers. I adore incense and this, to me, is one of BPAL's all-time best incense blends evah, next to Mme. Moriarty. This is a distant relative of Bastet, but where Bastet went all cherry on me, this remains mysteriously smoky and sweetly sensual with a heavy dose of snake oil's spices for good measure. More, please?

[MCS4096]

In the Bottle: sweet sweet sweet champaca and Snake Oil! I've been dreaming of a wonderful champaca blend

 

Wet: It's like Snake Oil with less vanilla and more resins, but still very sweet. this is soooo so good.

 

Dry: Just a lovely, lighter/sweeter version of Snake Oil. Sexy Very heavy on the champaca.. which is fine by me!

Edited March 1, 2009 by MCS4096

[Tess]

In the bottle - Very, very much Snake Oil with some added incense to it. Almost exactly aged Snake Oil to my nose.

 

Wet - Oh no, nag champa! THE GRAPE!

 

Drying - Good old franky, stomping out and putting the schmack down on everything else. At least it's keeping the grape of the nag champa down. (My skin does odd things to some notes, I admit it.) Sadly, it's a very dark franky, so it's getting that twinge I don't like to it. Snake Oil and tangy frankincense.

 

Dry (1 hour) - Mmm, nice and incense with some nice Snake Oil. But it's pretty darned faint, which just about no throw at all. Boo.

 

Overall - This is a lovely, lovely one. But it requires someone who'll give it some oomph.

[donnatron]

Imp: Snake Oil and nag champa.

 

Wet: Snake Oil. With the exception of Cottonmouth I'm always disappointed by the snake pits while wet because they invariable go straight up Snake Oil on me. I can smell a bit of the frankincense and nag champa doing their damndest to overpower the vanilla and musk but we'll see what happens here.

 

Dry: The purest, sultriest, smokiest incense you've ever had the fortune to smell. Snake Oil is a compelling and dark base and the nag champa, frankincense and what I believe is the labdanum combine to make this very heady and sexy but in a very New Age-y sort of way. Luckily I am the New Agey sort so this works out very well for me. It smells both like perfume on skin and the scent of just marinating in a really luxuriant incense.

 

ETA: Been wearing/testing my decant for a few days and it really smells like a now defunct pagan shop in my city. I think it's the nag champa/frankincense combo. The frankincense is really sweet and high pitched in this and smells like frankinsence resin burning on charcoal. It's gorgeous but potentially acquired.

 

Throw: Decent.

 

Overall: I never used to be a nag champa fan but somehow I've come round and it's one of my favourites. Smokey, sexy, layered and complex. Definitely not the best Snake Pit to try if you're looking for something that uses Snake Oil without you realizing it's Snake Oil but if you're in the market for a sophisticated headshop type scent, definitely give Temple Viper a glance (sniff?).

Edited March 26, 2009 by paperrose

[cinnamonster]

Wow. That was my first thought. Then mmmmm Nag Champa, oooh, fizzly sugar cane, sooo good.

 

Four hours later, the incense has died down and snake oil is coming out more but in a shy and still very sweet and slightly vanilla way. If you like Tushnamatay I think you would like this.

[fairnymph]

In the bottle: Sweet and resiny. Snake oil, sugar cane, brown sugar, a bit of frankincense. Boozy and musky. Sort of reminds me of Smut. Light champaca.

 

Wet: Loads of that cola-red musk snake oil. Less sweet and musky, less like Smut. A bit minty-green - hyssop, making this fresher. Also oddly sour, I'm not sure from what. It smells a bit like cleaning solution.

 

Dry: It's like, extra-boozy mentholic bitter snake oil with cloying, incensey sweetness. Must wash off.

 

[spoilsofwar]

In the decant: Got this yesterday, and after unwrapping and sniffing (not opening), I could NOT get this scent out of my mind. Seriously. It haunted me up the stairs and into my shower. When I got out, I HAD to try it RIGHT that instant.

 

Wet: I've never tried Snake Oil so I don't have much to compare it to. This is HEAVEN in a bottle.

 

Dry: It lasted for 7 hours, and then I had to go to bed. I think I might have to buy about 15 bottles* of this.

 

*SLIGHT exaggeration.

[Serpentsdottir]

OK, I got my very first imps yesterday. I put a spot of 2 on my skin in different spots, to see how they would work on me. I wanted to try a light one for today, because of some important appointments. All night long, I smelled the Temple Viper... yummm.. but I don't want it to be this one!!!! mmmmm! I kept my hand with the spot near my nose all night. I bowed to fate and put it on this am.. now I'm just drinking it in! mmmm!

Has a feeling of church incense and sweetness, with a tinge of something dark.. yummy! Snakes! MMM! Like a dark small viper in the shadows..

a keeper!

 

Now if this is my first scent tried from BPAL, I think I'm in trouble!

 

Namaste,

Serpentsdottir

 

[janelle_hell]

Temple Viper now shares with Urd my #1 spot for "head shop incense" favorite scents...my favorite type of scent to wear during the summer! To make use of an overused metaphor, Temple Viper is what would happen if Snake Oil and Urd had a baby, and then said baby was teething on a piece of sugarcane Spices + Nag Champa + sugar. It has great staying power, too- I applied it this morning, and now 12+ hours later, it's still going strong. Not just a keeper, but a new favorite!

[catattack]

Imp: Grape candy.

Wet: Grape candy and bitter herbs and snake oil.

Drydown: I think the sugar cane and frankincense is combining to give a sweet/tart fruity scent. This is purply and beautiful. I tried TV over a year ago and didn't like it. Obviously my tastes have changed. Purple fruit, purple flowers and snake oil. Yum!

Overall: I'm glad that I tried this again. It's such an awesome scent!

[odalisque]

In the imp: very perfumy musk, reminiscent of department store perfume. A resinous sweetness, with maybe the slightest medicinal edge?

 

On skin: this is one of only three BPAL blends so far that were so repulsive I washed them off almost immediately. Snake Oil and I never got along, but it was never this bad. I can only speculate that the resins and hyssop are what pushed Snake Oil's "stale exotic cooking spices" over the edge into "rancid medicinal foulness laced with stale exotic cooking spices" on my skin.

 

Out of curiosity, I swiped some on Mr O. It's a perfectly nice resinous musk blend on him. Damn and blast.

[Mayhem27]

I got a bottle of Temple Viper unsniffed, because I read that it was similar to my beloved Hellion.

WOW! I can't enough how much I LOVE this! Not only does it smell almost exactly like Hellion, but it has incredible throw and really lasts!

 

[Monster]

In the bottle: A bit like Snake Charmer!

 

Wet: Oh yeah, this is very similar to Snake Charmer. This is more herbal smelling but definitely similar! The only thing I don't like about the wet phase is the champaca flower...sometimes it smells like plastic diapers on my skin. Initially when I swiped this across my arm I smelled Snake Charmer with a horrid plastic floral note. Thankfully, as this is drying that note has completely disappeared.

 

Dry: Dry this is (again) a near replica of Snake Charmer. Instead of the dark coconut from Snake Charmer, that scent is replaced with a more herbal, almost balmy smelling note. Temple Viper is more serious and somber than SC.

 

Overall: Gorgeous! I'm not sure if I'll be keeping my bottle but I've really enjoyed sniffing this one I much prefer SC to TV.

[crebbsgirl]

I seem to be having trouble with the Snakes. All that I have tried so far smell exactly like Snake Oil to me. This one was no different at first, but after serveral hours, the sugar cane came out as a distinct note, and I could detect the labdanum as well. This was nice, but I prefer Snake Oil itself, as there didn't seem to be much difference on my skin.

[cinderfallen]

This smells a LOT like Khajuraho to me, where all I really get is champaca, a super pink and sugary candy scent. And...that's it, really. Not much of Snake Oil at all to tone it down unless I stick my nose into my arm--and I think that's only because the high-pitched champaca has knocked out my nose functions.

[EdenIris]

Temple Viper is two scents in one!

 

In the bottle and wet, I get the grape candy that others have mentioned, but it's fleeting, Drydown brings up a rich, complex vanilla. For the next four or five hours I get straight Snake Oil. Following that, it's all sweet, heady incense without a trace of SO.

 

As it fades, I get a faint ghost of the grape again, but I really have to bury my nose in my arm to find it.

 

Gorgeous. This bottle, by the way, is a year old. The fresh stuff behaved a bit differently, and I only now got around to reviewing it. So glad I have a backup.

 

 

[Cheri]

In the decant Temple Viper smells a lot like Snake Oil. Once its on I agree with Monster that it smells like Snake Charmer. I also smell a bit of grape, which seems to add a sweetness that SC doesn't have. Its one of those oils that never seems to dry completely. I like it, but doubt I would get a bottle since I already have enough Snake Charmer.

[saralaughs]

A very sugary, resinous snake to be sure.

 

It goes on very sugary but is quickly joined by the frankincense. After awhile there is a bit of Snake Oil peeking its head through the blend, but mainly it stays sugared incense on me for a long time. I definitely do not get any floral at all.