Cottonmouth

[Tramp]

Snake Oil with linden blossom, calla lily, passion flower, and narcissus.

Wet: Springtime! All the lovely florals are almost tropical fruitlike - almost mangoish - all blended together. It reminds me of the Northwest Flower and Garden show. It's feburary, dark rainy Seattle, then you walk into the convention center and all the display gardens bursting with spring blooms. A riot of sweet scents that somehow all work together.

Dry: This didn't morph a lot on me, just toned the super sweet aspect down to a lovely incense floral

[forspecial_plate]

Cottonmouth has a strong, clean floral vibe that lasts and lasts. I am not a huge fan of florals but I can wear them every once in a while. It reminds me a little bit of Dirty, only stronger. Fortunately it doesn't have the linen note that my skin hates in Dirty (or if it's in here, it's behaving this time). However, it's not doing much for me. It's a fresh floral scent with just a little of the spices from Snake Oil.

 

I will hold onto this because I would hate to break up the set....so I'll let it age a little, and try again, maybe that will help. I will say this has been going strong for a few hours now so it does have staying power.

 

Edit to add: I tried this again, and I'm finding it much more likeable now. This seems to happen to me a lot. Something in the scent is more balanced now, maybe the linden blossom has settled down a bit. Looks like I'll be keeping it!

 

Edit again...(maybe I should just wait a month before reviewing anything) The more I wear this, the more I like it. I don't know why. I can't explain it. It just smells good!

Edited February 28, 2007 by Forspecial Plate

[The_Witching_Hour]

I, too have to remark on the 'clean' floral aspect of this blend. Linden blossom is the strongest note I smell lending this the sparkly, effervescent zing that stays the longest until just the slightest touch of what I know as the Snake Oil base.

 

So far, Cottonmouth has the least trace amount of detectable Snake Oil base of all the Pits to it but it lends a creaminess to the drydown. I'm surprised at how this one lasts and lasts.

[blueroses]

This one's hard for me to describe.

 

In the bottle I can smell sweet flowers. I can definitely smell linden blossom, but I'm not good with florals - the rest were a blur. When applied, it's Snake Oil with sweet floral incense. There's an odd note (narcissus, I think) that peeks out later and sort of sours the scent for me.

 

Cottonmouth is nice and pretty much what I expected, but I don't think I'll wear this enough to keep the bottle.

[Medici]

You say "calla lily" and I leap. I do jigs for calla lily. Seriously. So when I saw there was a snake oil variant with a hint of my favourite floral, I ignored all the other notes and shimmied around happily for a good five minutes.

 

The verdict: Cottonmouth is *everything* I had hoped for and then some... even ignoring the other notes in my first few moments of extreme excitement at seeing the lily.

 

In the bottle: Sweet and floral, with passion flower dominating, and no hint of snake oil.

 

Wet: Mmmmmm sweet flowers, with the linden blossom taking over the passion flower. As it warms it gets that musky, sultry quality in snake oil that I love so much, but it's not readily distinguishable. More like it's hinted at beneath that bed of flowers.

 

Drydown: The lily peeks out. I cry out loudly with a shout of pure joy and declare:

 

"I NEED ANOTHER BOTTLE!"

 

5/5 on Medici's Scale o' Lurve

 

(This blend is right up my alley.)

[Ina Garten Davita]

I can't believe how gorgeously perfect Cottonmouth is. I can't stop smelling my wrist. It's hypnotic, romantic, creamy and pink. Yes, pink! Creamy and pink with a rich brown underbelly.

 

Beautiful, sweet, creamy, rich, romantic, vanilla floral. With a delicately deep and spicy edge. This is LOVE.

[Loligo]

First it smelled like 7-Up. Then it smelled like bathroom cleaner. Then it gave me a rash. I'd say it was the worst of the Snake Pit, except for that Habu gave me a rash even faster!

[emzebel]

Wow. Just wow.

 

So, this morning, I was looking over my Snake Pit (what a lovely phrase that is ) trying to decide what to wear. I sniffed each and every bottle, trying to decide what to wear today, but I didn't remember any of the notes, or which ones I was most wanting to try, etc.

 

And I picked out 4-5 that were my finalists. Then I narrowed from there, down to Cottonmouth.

 

I would never, in a million, billion years have guessed that solely from my nose would I have selected the floral scent to be my initial favorite of all of the amazingly wonderful Snakes Beth gave us for this series. What has happened to my floraphobia?

 

But really, this is such a beautiful little reptile...smooth and slithery and soft. The lily may well be what makes it for me - kicks the sultry spicyness of Snake Oil up into rich sophistocation. Because I do love me some lily. And there is a tropical touch there, which just makes this blend.

 

I am so glad I flew blind into this - because it is gorgeous.

[edenssixthday]

Cottonmouth - When I was merely sniffing the various Snakes before actually testing them on my skin, this is the one I thought smelled the prettiest in the vial. It's a beautiful floral-Snake Oil scent. When I apply it, it starts off really strong with the linden and calla lily, but dries to the scent of Snake Oil with ribbon of soft, sweet florals running through it. There's not much throw or staying power, but this is really, really lovely. I tend to wear florals more in late-Spring and early-Summer and think I'll be getting some more use out of this at that time of year.

[LiberAmoris]

Cottonmouth is really such a gorgeous and elegant incensey floral.

 

At first I don't smell Snake Oil per se in here, but I can feel its presence, bringing down the brightness of the florals like a wash of sepia. But a half hour later, the familiar slither emerges on my wrist. And the resulting combination smells like a bank of lilies scalloped in the kind of golden sunlight that opens things up to their fullest capacity while pressing their smells close to the ground, the kind of warmth that has weight. Definitely a keeper.

[twistygirl]

When I was younger, I only wore florals, but as I got older and edgier, my tastes pretty much switched strictly to spicy blends. How exciting to find a scent that hits the PERFECT balance between spicy and floral. Cottonmouth is that scent. It's floral but not innocent, it's creamy, it's feminine, and it's just delicious.

 

It has good throw and stays for a remarkably long time, with little change from wet to drydown. Once again, a fantastic take on Snake Oil.

[sookster]

straight sniff from bottle is slightly fruity, slightly floral with a dab o'

snake oil...

 

once applied the florals and snake oil meld to perfection...this is such a gorgeous

scent on me and another winner from the snake pit

[olympia301]

 

My absolute favorite from the Snake Pit! The description does not do it justice, nor do the list of elements in it because they all combine to form something much more beautiful than the parts being flung in a pot and stirred up! I didn't recognize this as a floral in the first place, it was so well blended. There is a kinship to Snake Oil but you can't pin it down with your nose. I don't have it, I just sniffed it yesterday but it is so very beautiful. I was and am smitten, and I never thought I would say that about a floral.

[dronzeka]

I had high hopes for this, after reading the reviews, but sadly, it didn't really work on me. First, I should say that I'm not really familiar with Snake Oil, so I'm not sure I'll be able to say much about the Snake-Oil-iness of this. But on me, this begins as an extremely sharp white floral - and I'm a big fan of lily, but this is too much for me; I think it might be the narcissus misbehaving. After 1/2-1 hour, the initial white floral has mostly burned off, leaving behind a kind of sweet floral whisper over the vanilla-y snake oil, and I like this stage much much better. I'm just not sure I'm willing to sit through the initial nuclear floral blast to get here.

[luxuria]

My first thought when I smelled this was "Dragon's Milk!" I'm not sure why, but it has a vague floral-fruity smell that Dragon's Milk had for me, too. It doesn't smell like it has dragon's blood resin, but a similar vibe? I'm not sure how to explain it.

 

It quickly settles into lightly fruity, breezy incense. I don't smell the Snake Oil base at all--it's just kind of a girly headshop smell. It has throw, but not an overwhelming amount. Every so often I smell a pure, clean floral instead of the incense smell, so it's an interesting morpher. It's a good spring scent, I think, for people who usually like their scents heavier.

 

EDIT: A couple hours later, it's patchouli, patchouli, patchouli. Nothing else. The hell? That doesn't happen to me with regular Snake Oil. It's been like that for the rest of the day.

Edited February 13, 2007 by luxuria

[Blood onmy hands]

In the bottle this is a soapy, perfumey, sharp white floral. It scares me a little. I don't like floral blends generally and really don't get along with white florals. I wonder what possessed me to get a bottle of this (actually, I love the little pink snake on the label, lol).

 

I like this well enough on my skin at first, though I'm not so fond of the drydown. It isn't the soapy white floral that I was expecting though, so that's good. Cottonmouth starts out rather sweet on my skin and slightly fruity... it actually smells a lot like Juicy Fruit bubblegum. In the drydown, more of a perfumey, smoky floral comes out. Almost like a white floral incense.

 

I'd give the drydown a 2/5 score, personally. It's just a little too smoky and sharp floral perfume on my skin. It doesn't really smell like Snake Oil to me at all, though it is incensey in a smoky, acrid sort of way.

[grrrlennyl]

at first: wow. wonderful, sweet, creamy flowers.

on: i can barely smell this. there's a hint of blossoms of some sort.

half an hour later: a bit of powdery sweetness and some creamy flowers. very pretty.

1 hour later: very pretty, creamy flowers.

2 hours later: a sweet, creamy floral. very pretty.

4 hours later: this has faded quite a bit and is now powdery, with a bit of lily.

overall: this is really nice, but ended up powdery. this will be one that i'll need to try out again.

[Brianne]

In the vial:

airy with a light fruity scent

 

On me:

I wasn't sure how this would play out on me - I'm not very fond of "clean" scents but I do love Snake Oil, so I was trying this one in hopes that it would be a sweet clean scent.

 

When this goes on, it is very much a white floral - it's not soapy to me, like lily often is. It's more clean and airy. Makes me think of freshly cleaned linens. It's only very slightly warmed by the Snake Oil, mostly it's a linen smell right now.

 

After a while it's a slightly sweet, smooth clean floral. It's more complex than simply saying it's a white floral or a clean scent, but that's the best I can describe it. If Snake Oil and Dirty mated, this would be the lovechild.

 

Final note:

I like this for what it is - it's pretty and complex. I don't think it's the type of scent I need a bottle of, but someone who appreciates scents like Dirty would probably like this one!

[gingersnapp]

The springtime flowers have all overpowered the Snake Oil. I'm getting none of it. It is, however, a lovely springtime bouquet with a touch of... cotton? This is very light and white and pure. It definitely is making me long for springtime weather here in crappy Detroit.

[Emma2403]

I’m quite afraid it will be a cloying floral (hello narcissus!) but let’s see.

 

In the bottle: very fresh, nearly green floral. Not at all what I was expecting. So far, it seems perfect for springtime.

 

On my skin: a perfect floral springtime blend. A real bouquet of different flowers, but nothing cloying or nauseating. It makes me feel clean, it makes me feel fresh, it makes me feel like smiling.

 

After a couple of hours: it gets a bit more perfumey as calla lily shows itself. It’s still okay though.

 

Verdict: I don’t wear much florals but if I had to pick up one, Cottonmouth would be the one!

[themerrybaker]

I tried Cottonmouth because of the linden blossom . Unicorn is a favorite and I was wondering if linden is what does the trick.

 

I don't know whether the name "Cottonmouth" causing weird associations, but this gives me an impression of honey-sweet cotton candy cotton balls cotton bunny tails.

 

I like this one a lot for lighter moods.

[euterpe414]

Hm. At first this one smelled VERY acrid and musty on my skin; to be more specific it smelled like what happens when jasmine goes awry for me in a blend. However, there is no jasmine in this...so, confused, I decided to wait it out to see what happened in the dry down.

 

Thankfully, after a while the Snake Oil came out, the acrid BO smell went away and I was left with a truly beautiful scent! Out of all the flowers, the linden seemed to poke out the most. The Snake Oil also became very evident- this is definitely the light floral SO blend. It's very crisp and fresh, while still containing the spice of Snake Oil. Strange, but true, I suppose!

 

I am not sure if I want to put up with the really gross initial stage of Cottonmouth, but I must admit that the final outcome of it was quite fantastic. Perhaps it may fare better in a scent locket for me.

[em_h]

Pretty, light, white floral, kind of fresh and spring-like. It reminds me of a lot of the scents I wore when I was first getting into BPAL (before I discovered the dark smoky resiny blends I incline towards now). Honestly, I can't smell any Snake Oil here at all.

 

It's nice and clean, but not something I'm likely to wear very often or need more of; I'm really not much into florals at all anymore, and this reminds me a bit too much of my grandma's perfumes.

 

I wonder if it'll develop any more of a Snake Oil note when it's aged.

[Melenass]

This is a delicate scent, is pink, without being scent of the flower, is sweet, without being sugar, is romantic, delicate and subtle. This is snake oil all kindness and tenderness. I need more…

Edited February 27, 2007 by Melenass

[copyshopclerk]

In the imp: A "cool" floral - fresh. Not overly sweet or heavy.

 

Wet: Yep, definitely a clean floral - one of the flowers in this blend has a bit of a sharp edge, but on the whole Cottonmouth gives the impression of a clean & sweet blend. There's almost a fruity quality to it, somewhat reminiscent of cherries without actually crossing the line and smelling like a fruit blend.

 

Dry: The Snake Oil incense comes out more, and I think that's what's interacting with the florals to give this that cherrylike quality. It's still a very clean, cool scent.

 

Why am I oddly drawn to this one? I thought I didn't like floral blends! I like what the Snake Oil does to them, I think!