Temple Viper

[workedtodeath]

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

In the bottle all i can really smell is the snake oil
Wet it smelled a little like grapes. I bumped my nose against my arm, and it burns.
dry it smells like snake oil and frankincense. nose is still burning a little.
I like this one, but it kinda sucks that I have a reaction to it touching my nose like that. Well, I think I am going to go wash my nose off, and be more careful with it next time.

[Dinerdulcinea]

A little baby-powdery on me (snake oil does that), but with a very pleasant floral quality that brightens it up a bit. Also a little foody and delicious. We'll see if it goes full-on baby powder after along wait.

[grashopper8]

In the imp, this smells absolutely decadent and perfect, and just what I was hoping for! Incensey-sweetened goodness! Out of all the snake pit descriptions, Temple Viper seemed to be the one I would like best.

 

However, I just read some of the reviews here, and now that people said "grape!" I am totally getting that. All of a sudden, I think I smell like artificial-cloying grape soda.

 

Hrrmmm.....In the imp, it's just outrageous, but after it dries down on my skin, it smells so grape-y. I don't know if this is as bottle-worthy as I had hoped. Good for my wallet, bad for my expectations.

 

Good thing I have the rest of the snake pit to try out!

 

Edit: Mwah, considering what could happen after this ages for a while, I think I may actually just get a dang bottle. If there's any chance that the Fanta Grape soda note will calm down and this could smell like it does wet in the decant, well....It would be one of my favorites, maybe my #1! I've decided it's worth that chance

 

Edit after 6 months: THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!! :D Just as I had hoped, the grape-soda impression totally disappeared, and it smells just gorgeous. A sweet, resinous, incensey Snake Oil. I'm so glad I have an aged bottle to treasure now!!

 

5 out of 5

Edited April 6, 2008 by AEris

[Lupelele]

this is my first review

unfortunately, temple viper doesn´t work that good for me - or perhaps it works, but i don´t like it...

in the imp, it smells very sweet, too sweet.

wet on skin it´s the same: just extremely sweet, all i get is sugar cane, it´s really unpleasant.

when it dries down, the cloying sweetness begins to fade - fortunately! - but there´s still too much sweetness to make it wearable for me.

underneath the sweetness i can smell something warm, almost like a soft leather.

i wish i´d get more of that smell - or at least some incense...

hopefully some of the other snakes will work better for me!

[Styx]

Temple viper (yellowish orange oil)

 

Decant: Sweet vanilla, a bit perfumy and airy. Yum....

 

Skin: Walking in a hippie shop with a bag of vanilla candy. Hee. Its sweet and incensy, I think a lot of people will like this.

When the oil dries, the hippiness fades and its dry and spicey vanilla with just a hint of wood. I haven't sniffed snake oil yet , so I can't really tell if what I am getting is pure snake oil or not, but its nice. Will edit this later when I know what pure snake oil smells like.

About the grapey comment - yeah, its really strange but after wearing this for a while, the scent does morph into something familiar to a grape fanta. But when I stick my nose close and curiously sniff it, the notes kind of seperate out, and I don't smell the grape anymore.

 

warm, low-pitch, medium weight blend for autumn/winter.

Edited October 29, 2007 by Styx

[heathercaley]

Oh yum.. this is amazing. My husband said I smell like a headshop and I said "SERIOUSLY!! Yessss!!" I got a decant a while back but decided to drag it out after going on a bpal smelling binge. I smell soft and sweet, you can totally smell the snake oil underneath the champaca flower. I love everything with Champaca flower. It makes me feel so calm, and for some reason, I wanna hug a tree! It's not the sweetness of a foody vanilla, its like your holding a bottle of snake oil to your nose while burning nag champa incense in the background. So yummy!!

 

 

I went straight to ebay.. and whaddya know.. theres a bottle for grabs! I hope i win.

[ouch!]

I ordered a bottle of this the day after I smelled my imp.

 

Now, I'm a Snake Oil lover like many so I was extrmely excited about the snakes to say the least. I've only tried 2 but have 4 more on the way...this one I ordered first because of the notes.

 

I'm in love....this is Smoky and Sweet at the same time. Much more smoky when it's first applied, but then turns into this beautiful Vaniallary resin smell. Only slightly reminicsent of snake oil on me. I think i'm getting Champca too...does champca smell slightly like Gardenia I wonder because that's what I'm getting.

I was wondering what the snakes would be like considering that snake oil is such a potent blend with lots of throw, I though that it might just take over everything however, this is practiaclly a brand new scent that only slightly reminds me of snake oil.

 

It's a sweet very addictive smell, Definately something you would wear out at night dressed up in something slinky!

 

I think it might raise a few questions when I wear it..and for now I don't think any other snake is gonna come close to this!!

[dawndie]

In bottle: slightly burnt sugar

 

On skin: sweet, but I'm getting the impression of dark plummy fruit along with dusty resins

 

Half-hour later: sweetened-up Snake Oil, like glittering brown resins and Sugar in the Raw all mixed up together

 

In conclusion: at first this was similar to Australian Copperhead, and I don't know where I'm picking up the dark fruit. But this blend trumps Australian Copperhead as the Snake Oil base is really prominent, as it deserves to be! I will be reaching for this bottle often

[Avery]

Well, the Evil Mistress of Toast strikes again! She included a sniffie of Temple Viper in my decant package (thank you!!! ) and, well, I´m toast. These snake pit blends have me head over heels.

 

I actually didn´t think that I was going to like this one from its wet presentation, but... once it´s on my skin it transforms! The champaca flower must be the nag champa scent. The snake oil makes this blend slinky and smooth (in a powdered but not *powdery* way) underneath a fuzzy purple nag champa slightly grape-y vanilla sex. OMG. Yum. I am soooo glad I have a bottle on its way. These snakes are a serious surprise hit for me, since snake oil itself is (aging in my box with high hopes, but as of yet...) way too powdery for me to really wear.

 

wahoo, snake pit! I´m so glad they are sticking around for awhile, I need to figure out which ones I need more of then stock up!!

 

ETA: the fizzy purple quality I'm describing actually would be like a . . . silvered violet/plum velvet effervescence. Aww yeah.

Edited November 20, 2007 by Avery

[theseagrows]

something in this just isn't working for me, but i can't put my finger on which note it is. there is a nice incensy quality but then there is a sweetness which smells a little sickly sweet and fruity on me. i think i'll swap this one.

[tartchef]

Oh baby... now this is Snake Oil I can wear! The original SO goes PlayDoh sickly on me, and in the bottle, Temple Viper threatens to tread that same path... Luckily for me, all the additional notes Beth's added are consistant winners on my skin, and they conspire to make Temple Viper a delicious haze of fruity nag champa & opium smoke, with the sweet & buttery wood note that I get from wearing frankincense. It's actually very similar to Parliament of Monsters on me, and I can see similarities to Midnight Kiss, though not nearly as sweet & cloying. My only complaint is that it seems to fade much faster than PoM - not the all-day-smoke-up that I was hoping... ah well. This is still delicious, and I'm indebted to Clover for sharing the love!

 

ETA: Over 7 months later, Temple Viper has quietly worked its way into my Top 10...

Edited July 24, 2008 by tartchef

[porcelina]

yum! smokey sweet incensey goodness. this is how i wanted regular snake oil to smell. there's something in it that reminds me of Love Me. which is great because i love love me. this fades kinda fast, though. to the swaps!

[mspixieears]

This one smells lovely! I can definitely smell the Snake Oil upfront. As it starts to dry down I detect the frankincense and maybe the labdanum but would be hard pressed to detect the other scent notes. Very earthy and manly – I think this would smell fantastic on a man.

[Skirt]

Burnt sugar with a fizzy grape note, but with the Snake Oil dwelling underneath to mature it into something not resembling grape soda - not my favorite of the Snake Pit but worthy of a bottle anyway.

[Lethran]

In bottle: Sweet, almost too sweet. The sugar cane and vanilla combines with the resins to kick the shit out of everything else in there. I've only smelled champaca in one other blend and I've liked nothing I've smelled with labdanum, though there were enough obvious culprits, that I'm still trying to zero in on the element as an individual. It has a definate femme fatale air about it though. Wet: Sweet. Very Snake oil, with a softer edge. The sugar blens with vanilla to sweeten it, the frankincense and opoponax elevate it. I do like it, but it hasn't the stunning power of Banded sea snake. Dry: The more traditional Snake oil elements come out more strongly, the tree oil bringing out the herbals. It grows less sweet, though the sweet elements remain. It hasn't much throw, but it's pleasant enough. I suspect my sample needs seasoning for a few months.

[manusdei]

it's a little strange to notice that this doesn't seem to work on a lot of people, since this was an instant love. i only have a tiny bit in a bottle and that sucks. i need more asap.

 

i don't get grape and i don't smell like a hippie shop.

this is all resins (frankincense!) and sugar cane and snake oil on me. it's really sweet but in a deep way.

so sexy. so good.

[Seraphine]

hrmmm... first review.

 

i'm not sure that i know the individual notes of this scent, so i can't pinpoint much. i do know and like snake oil, even if brand spankin' new. this on me is a slightly sweetened version, just enough to knock the edge off the spicyness. and then, a bit more of an incense-like quality on top of that, to make it deeper... almost heady.

 

i don't get the fruity grape (whew) and not a bit of "floral" though i'm sure the champaca adds to the blend.

 

i gotta say that for me, it's fabulous. it is sex made into a liquid and bottled. yum.

 

i haven't gotten to try all the snakeys yet, but this is my favorite so far. actually, this is the *only* scent i'm planning on getting multiple bottles of. i adore it.

 

 

also... i just yesterday got to try the coveted Snake Charmer. yay! what tickled me is that, in my mind, it was simply Temple Viper Lite. hehe. and since i do love my temple viper, i can see why SC is so adored. luckily i get the same effect from Temple Viper, but with more throw. (Since my skin eats up perfume oil, I'll take any extra throw I can get!)

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Sweet and spicy

 

Wet: Sweet snake oil, plus some spiciness and herbs.

 

Drydown: Very incensey. I like this much better than Death Adder on me, it's sexy but not too dark for me.

 

3.5 outta 5

[girlygirl]

Snake Oil meets Midnight Mass. Yummy!

[Pendragon]

Sadly, Temple Viper makes me want to run to the bathroom - it actually made me feel quite ill! I was sooo looking forward to trying this, and very nearly bought a bottle unsniffed - man I'm glad I didn't!!!

 

From the moment I put it on all I could smell was a sickly thick resinous scent that just stuck in the back of my throat - I'm guessing it was the opopanox. Usually I like resins, however this was just not for me at all.

 

I gave it a chance to dry and change, but all I could smell for half an hour was the opopanox until I washed it off.

 

Bummer.

[hkhm]

bottle: snake oil with... with... grapes?

 

wet: this smells like sweet snake oil incense. this is so beautiful.

 

dry: this dries to a thick, sweet incense smell. the best bpal incese scent i've yet tried.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp, this is thick yet sharp - I smell the Snake Oil and the sugar cane with the frankincense & hyssop.

 

On my skin, this is definitely frankcinsense, definitely Snake Oil.

 

When it dries, it's too frankincense-y for me.

[angharad]

Sugar-slathered sex in a bottle. Temple Viper is one of those scents I somehow forget about until I come across it in my imp box, then I say, "HELL YES I'M WEARING THIS ONE TODAY!" As it dries, it becomes more resinous and sensual but retains that initial sweet sugary blast that draws me to it to begin with. This is, I think, the only Snake Pit oil that works for me, and I absolutely love it. Still need to pick up a full bottle (or two...or five). The throw is moderate, and it lasts four to five hours before needing reapplication.

[arabella]

First Impression: Snake Oil and sharp resins.

 

Dries down to: A mellower version of the same.

 

Additonal Comments: This one confuses me. It's a lovely blend but I couldn't name any of the notes if my life depended on it. It's not floral nor fruity nor woody nor smoky...no specific category comes to mind. It's an adult scent - quite sophisticated.

 

Lasted: About an hour.

 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

[TulaMontage]

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

 

Bottle: Sweet tingly snake oil. Sensual and light hearted.

 

Wet: This becomes deep and rooted as the sugar and opoponax melt together with the creamy snake oil.

 

Dry: The frankincense doesn't let this settle for too long. As it dries down, it's lifted and becomes wafty without being wishy washy. It's a smoky incense scent which tingles my nose. Yet the sweet sugar cane sticks to my skin and is the perfect stage for the frankincense to waft across whilst tiny dancers with vanilla shoes twinkle their toes and leave a creamy trail...

 

I need a 5ml of this asap.

Edited April 13, 2008 by TulaMontage