Snake Oil Soap

[gingersnapp]

Magnetic, mysterious, and exceedingly sexual in nature. A blend of exotic Indonesian oils sugared with vanilla.

Water, Saponified Organic Palm Kernal Oil, Coconut Oil, Soy Oil, Macadamia Nut Oil, Sodium Lactate, Jojoba Oil, Caster Oil, and Snake Oil.

First off, the wrapping is just gorgeous. I love the little black ribbon that encircles the paper wrapping as though you're opening a special gift.

The bar is a very generous size and the top is engraved with an alchemical symbol.

The Snake Oil in the soap is fresh Snake Oil, which caught me a little by surprise, though I really shouldn't be since the bottle of the perfume oil I'm using is almost two years old.

The suds lather very well. I only needed one or two swipes on my mesh puff and it was enough to wash my whole body. This is also the first bar of soap that I've used in as long as I can remember where my skin didn't feel tight or dried out like paper after using it. With a little bit of lotion I was good to go, no itching or cracking like with other bar soap.

I can definitely see myself ordering more of this when my first bar is gone. It will be a perfect compliment to my aged Snake Oil and all of the Snake Pit blends.

[mooncityminx]

This soap is really beautiful. It's brown, tan, and cream swirly. It has the symbol for brimstone in the middle.

 

The wrapper...

Has a picture of a palmistry chart on the outside the color of parchment. The inside has a little bit of information about the soap.

 

The smell is like sugared tea with cream, not very Snake Oilish to my nose, but exceptionally wonderful all the same. I cut off a travel-sized chunk from the end to try, so that may be why the fragrance is different for me. It may be that scent varies throughout the bar.

 

Usually I am allergic to almost all soaps although some with a higher glycerine content are safer. This soap however gave me no problems and feels very luxurious to use. It doesn't seem as glycerine heavy as soaps by Lush for instance, and seems to hold up better. I don't notice the scent lingering on my skin much, but I put other things in my bath water so maybe that's why.

 

I will very much enjoy this bar and look forward to trying other fragrances. I would also consider giving bars as gifts.

[Kimocean]

As the two previous reviews note, this soap is just gorgeous. So pleasing to the eye both in it's wrapper and out.

 

And then you use it...it is silky and lathers like a dream. For me it was the scent of lightly aged snake oil. Spicy, vanilla, goodness with a bit more creaminess than the oil alone in it's fresh state and just a tiny hint of patchouli. As I lather up with it I am surrounded by a cloud of this gorgeous scent. I even used this to shave with as it has a very smooth, slippery texture and it let the razor slide along my legs easily.

 

After I get out of the shower and dry off, I notice that my skin is nicely moisturized. I skip lotion so as not to pollute my review and nothing cracks open. As the day goes by, if I directly sniff my skin I can smell the scent but it doesn't waft away from my skin. By the end of the day it is merely a hint until I go to workout which seems to reactivate the scent from the heat and the sweat and I get a fairly strong dose of snake oil wafting up from my body.

 

Overall, a new staple for me. I'm pretty sure this is going to be my regular soap from now on.

 

~Kim

Edited February 27, 2007 by Kimocean

[CapricornSister]

As others have said, the packaging is just gorgeous! I carefully opened mine and cut a piece off the end to use. It lathers very well and I was even able to use it to shave my legs, and they are nice and smooth It definitely has a hint of Snake Oil in it, maybe a bit spicier to me. It's not overpowering and didn't really linger on my skin afterwards. Still a great soap overall!!

[CiCi]

I have used this soap for a few days now to get a feel for it. It does lather really well and I didn't need a cloth or scrubby. The scent was not as strong as the oil which I liked because I was concerned that I could only wear Snake oil that day. That is not that case. While I was surrounded in lots of steamy bubbles, the gorgeous scent did not linger long so any oil would be okay to use for the day.

 

I was also happy that my hubby can use this. I love the moisturizing feel and the light scent. It is not drying at all and I am excited to try one of the other soap bars that I purchased. How about candles?

[QueenFae]

Oh this stuff just rocks!! I wasn't sure what to expect scent wise. This smells very strongly of Snake Oil, but when you lather it up, there's (of course) a silky soapy undertone, which smells fantastic combined the oil.

 

It has a very nice lather; rich, smooth, silky, decadent. It leaves my shower smelling of Snake Oil, as well as my skin. I used some before bed last night, and I felt so pampered laying in bed with my whole body smelling of one of the best BPAL scents of all time. I have always wanted to be able to bathe in my favorite BPALs, now I can! I can't think of anything better than the lingering smell of Snake Oil on my skin.

 

I love the beautiful labels that the soaps come in; they are lovely and have some eloquent things written on the inside. I haven't found any soap I like as much as this beside Burlesque from Arcana. My skin feels soft, clean and conditioned and smells sooo sexy. I think I could invest in a small closet's worth of this soap. I also ordered Bliss, MU, and Dorian, and I just can't wait to try them all. This is awesome! BPAL soap, I am in heaven!!

[parrot_suspect]

Since I'm a Snake Oil addict, bath items in this fragrance are like a dream come true for me. And this soap is no exception. The soap is large, well-formed, and wrapped nicely. You can smell the scent even through the wrapper. I used the soap this morning with my scrubby, and it lathered well; the suds felt smooth and silky and smelled lovely. Some cold-process soaps can be drying, or can leave a film on your skin, but this one does not. It rinses clean. Definitely a high quality soap, and I'll definitely order another one.

 

Now all I need is a Snake Oil body lotion or cream, and my Snake Oil layering fantasy will be complete!

[shelldoo]

i always joke around saying i "bathe" in snake oil.....actually i just slather it. but anyways now i bathe w/ snake oil the packaging was so pretty i was hesitant to even open it, but the soap tempted me past that. the inner packaging is just as pretty. and the soap is divine. stunning, silky, soft, lathers nicely. the scent is light fresh snake oil, and although i could smell it in my hair after my bath, i didn't really detect too much on my skin....which is good so my soaps don't interfere w/ my oils. i am just in love w/ these soaps.

[PirateMaggie]

I'm another person who would bathe in Snake Oil if I could, and now thanks to the Trading Post I practically can.

 

Snake Oil Soap is utterly sublime, in keeping with the Brimstone symbol carved into it. The smell is more on the incensey side than vanilla, and is utterly gorgeous. It leaves me lightly scented, but I can still wear non-vanilla/incense blends after using it. I cut of a piece and stuck it in my shirt drawer. Now all my tank tops and tee shirts have a light Snake Oil smell to them, which makes getting dressed a lot more fun.

 

This is really top-quality soap. It cleans without stripping, and makes a lovely creamy lather. I've been having obnoxious dry overly-sensitive winter skin, and this doesn't leave me feeling all tight and itchy when even my standby olive oil and chamomile soap had let me down. I don't need a really heavy moisturizer after washing with it, and have switched back to my summer blend. I will most definitely be ordering more of this.

[The_Witching_Hour]

This is the *shee-yut*!!!!

 

Oh, man....this is the most incredibly scented, luxurious and decadent of them all so far. It lathers and bubbly-blooms into the most fragrantly aged Snake Oil in the bath.

 

Puddin'? You wouldn't happen to be selling these in cases, would you?

 

SIGN ME UP!!!!!

[inkmonkeys]

Just used this stuff in the bath, and I can't add much to what's already been said, except for this:

Here's what you need to do. You need to go into the bathroom prepared with the following implements:

 

1 bar Snake Oil Soap

1 bottle Boomslang, aged Snake Charmer, or Mme Moriarty Misfortune Teller

1 exceptionally fluffy towel (one of the big beach ones)

Several pumpsworth of unscented lotion

1 box tissues

 

Step 1: Place Snake Oil Soap in shower soapdish.

Step 2: Disrobe. Take shower, using SO Soap liberally.

Step 3: Step out of shower. Use fluffy towel to towel off.

Step 4: Put 2-3 drops/swishes of Boomslang/etc. in palm of hand, pump 3-4 pumps of lotion on top of oil, mix, slather on self. Repeat so that all limbs are lotioned.

Step 5: Use tissues to swap tears of smell-induced joy from face.

 

That is all.

[siggster]

This is my second soap review...Dorian being my first. Let me just say right off the bat that I love these soaps. They are exquisitely silky and lather very nicely. They leave your skin feeling nice and soft and lightly scented.

 

This is where I ran into the problem with Snake Oil soap. It was too lightly scented. It was barely there...even before I used it. Unlike the Dorian, I could not smell it at all after my shower. I guess I should state that I do not plan to use these wonderful soaps as an every day cleaning bar, but more as a base for my daily slathering of BPAL oil. That being said, I wanted to be able to smell like Snake Oil after my shower. I did not. That was quickly amended by a few quick slatherings from one perfectly aged imp.

 

While the soap did most of its job, I wish there would have been more of a Snake Oil smell to it afterward. Instead, I got nice clean soft skin with no Snake Oil smell to it at all. Thank Spirit for horded aged imps!

 

One small caveat. As with the Dorian bar, I sliced off a small piece from the end. In all fairness, there is a possibility that the tiny piece I sliced off did not have as much oil mixed into it. It may be a stretch, but I want to be fair and give it the benefit of the doubt.

 

Also, I wonder if you can age a bar of soap? Snake Oil is definitely more potent after it's been resting for a while. I might give that a try!

[jesvet]

I wasn't quite sure how much of this was hype and how much was real, so I was very excited to try out my first soap today. And can I say....WOW.

 

As soon as I opened the wrapper, I was greeted by the wonderful rich smell of Snake Oil. And after using it, I can say it is definitely not just hype. This soap is wonderful. It is scented enough to really envelop you while you are showering, but does not sit heavily on the skin afterwards. The lather is thick, but not greasy. I just adore this.

 

And because I am a fan of the scientific method, I lathered up simultaneously with all the soap bits I had in the shower- the Snake Oil soap, some Arcana soap, a glycerin soap from an ebay e-tailer, and some Dove. Even if I had never smelled BPAL in my life and had no prior connection to Snake Oil, I would be an instant convert. Bravo Macha!!

[theseagrows]

i havent tried snake oil for a really long time, but i notice from the soap i get the same kind of powdery-creamy scent that i did for the oil. i have been ambivalent about the oil, but after trying the soap, i want to re-try the oil. it's a soft, slightly-resiny vanilla with a slight powderiness. i didn't detect any patchouli, but the bar was scented softly. the lather is really lovely and moisturizing but feels gentle and silky at the same time.

[Gemini noir]

The packaging is so elegant; the soaps would make lovely presents.

 

I only got the softest of smells from the wrapped bar, but accidentally leaving it overnight in the closed storage compartment of my car's center console led to a strong, beautiful scent when I opened it during my "where the hell did I put the soap after Will Call?" Quest For Soap. I don't know whether using a bar to scent a drawer would be a good idea, leading to similar creamy, sweet-smelling goodness or overkill as applied to underthings.

 

The soap is smooth and very creamy, about the color of a very light mocha latte... it lathers well and is nicely moisturizing. The scent is so lovely, but it doesn't smell quite like Snake Oil to me, more like a creamier Snake Oil hybrid with less patchouli. I wouldn't mind if it was a bit more heavily perfumed (if it wouldn't screw with the soap's overall loveliness), but I don't mind it smelling like a Snake Oil hybrid at all. It's a creamy, sweet (but not excessively sweet), vanilla scent, with a bit of spiciness.

 

I forgot to use perfume before I went out for the night only remembering when I leaned to whisper to someone and caught the scent of my soap (vanilla spice).

 

My thoughts were like a clichéd commercial moment:

 

"Aw, I forgot perfume... "

 

*sniff*

 

"Oh, it's okay, I used Snake Oil Soap."

[twistygirl]

Sorry, LUSH, but I don't think you're going to be getting as much of my money on soaps anymore And I do love my LUSH soaps...

 

Everything about this soap is fantastic. It's packaged beautifully, is very creamy and makes my skin feel SO soft after showering, and IMO it has just the perfect amount of scent in it. I am a hospice social worker, so I have to be careful about wearing scent to work, as it bothers some of my patients, but this is a fantastic solution to that problem. And the bar doesn't disintegrate within a week like so many of the LUSH soaps do.

 

I like the fact that it is a milder version of Snake Oil, because it lends itself so well to layering other fragrances on top of it.

 

Another fantastic product from the creative geniuses at the Lab and Trading Post! I've already ordered several additional bars, as this is one soap I wil ALWAYS want to have on hand.

 

And I let a group of my non-BPAL friends who are LUSH fanatics smell it and they went wild. I love to enable.

[gaai]

I love the soap! It smells good ( just the right amount of scent ) and it lathers wonderfully!

It's just very drying......but that's just my skin.....basically anything with any kind of soap dries out my skin and I have to moisturize after I use it ( hell, even washing with just water dries out my skin ), but that's okay.......I ordered some unscented lotion and I'm going to add a few drops of Snake Oil to it to use after my shower and all is well with the world again!

 

(so now to copy/paste this review to the Shub Suds thread and replace SO with Shub)

[Donnababe]

I'm going to be boring and echo many of the reviews here.

 

The packaging is beautiful.

 

The soap looks beautiful.

 

It smells divine without overpowering the entire bathroom (something the hubby despises).

 

The lather is nice, (although a bit muted on a cloth.)

 

It doesn't dry me out.

 

It's soft enough for me to slice some off then carefully repackage the rest

 

You know you've sudded in Snake Oil but the fragrance is by no means intimitading and it's a perfect base for any BPAL, but especially the Snakes.

 

Exquisite.

 

I cannot wait to try Bliss!

[Blood onmy hands]

Snake Oil can smell so different to me depending on its age and what else it's blended with. The soap smells like spicy incense and baby powder... but is still pretty faint. I wish that all of the soaps were more fragrant. There's a light fragrance from this one while I'm lathering up, but it doesn't linger on my skin and it isn't very strong. It had a nice creamy lather and left my skin feeling just a bit dry, but not horribly so. I probably wouldn't purchase this because I cannot justify the price, but it's a nice enough soap, especially if you like something with a very light fragrance.

[copyshopclerk]

Just opened this one up 2 days ago.

 

It smells *amazing*. This is important to note because I cannot wear Snake Oil as an oil - it's heavily smoky incense on me with barely any vanilla. But the soap is what I wish the oil was - a gorgeous vanilla with enough incense to give it an interesting kick. Though it's not scented as strongly as the Shub soap, the Snake Oil soap is making my bathroom smell fantastic. It doesn't linger on my skin long and I wish the fragrance did because this is what I wanted Snake Oil the oil to be! But as a soap, it's fantastic, creamy, non-drying, and smells great. Most definitely worth every penny!

[oedipa]

Ok, let me preface this review by saying I have never been particularly interested in scented soaps - I use Dove because it gets me clean and doesn't dry out my skin, and that's that.

 

However, because this is BPTP I decided to give soap a chance. And I'm so glad I did!

 

It arrived so beautifully packaged I almost felt bad opening it. The scent was super-strong Snake Oil even through the wrapper, and when I removed that I found a delightfully scented little brown bar with its own brimstone stamp. I carefully cut away a good-sized slice, noticing the marbling through the bar, and practically lept into the shower.

 

The lather is good, not great, the scent is fabulous - it's starting to get cold in Seattle so I actually stay in the shower much longer than usual & end up using the soap twice, once at the beginning of the shower and once at the end.

 

Out of the shower, the scent lingers lightly on my skin for a few hours...I catch a whiff of it every now and then, surprising myself. My skin doesn't seem overly dried out or overly moisturized. Overall, this soap is totally a worthwhile indulgence...not for everyday use, but definitely makes me feel luxurious!

[alicia_stardust]

Well many people know that I am completely in love with musky, sexual scents and Snake Oil is one of them. The soap is no different. It has a strong Snake Oil aroma that scents the entire bathroom and leaves my skin silky soft, with a bare hint of the scent left to linger on my skin for a short while after my shower or bath. This is one that I must always have on hand, no matter what!

[Electra]

Two caveats at the beginning of this review -- 1) I am not a bar soap person, and 2) I don't like Snake Oil. The reason I ordered a bar of this soap was because it had been getting such rave reviews. and I really, REALLY want to smell Snake Oil the way it smells on all the people who love it (it's awful on me), so I ordered the soap to see if I liked the scent any better in this medium.

 

The presentation of the soap is beautiful. The packaging is exquisite. I would not hesitate to give BPTP (or Silk Road Trading Company) soaps as gifts. The soap itself looked very attractive when it was removed from the wrapper. It feels nice in the hands whilst lathering, and the lather itself is rich and creamy. I also tried it with a shower poof, and it lathered easily. The soap is not drying. So -- packaging is great, quality of the soap itself is great.

 

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the scent. It's not even that I dislike it (which I was prepared for) -- it's that I can't smell it. This soap may as well be unscented. Even when I practically jam the bar up my nose, I can only smell the very faintest whisper of something that's vaguely, generically sweet and for some odd reason reminds me a bit of cereal.

 

The only reason that I would reorder -- and I *will* consider this -- is that when I eventually have a place that's big enough to have a guest bathroom, I could very easily envision using this as the guest soap. 1) It would look beautiful sitting in the bathroom in the wrapper, 2) once unwrapped, the scent is so nonexistent that it could not *possibly* offend anyone (they'd just think it was unscented soap), and 3) because of #2, I wouldn't worry about the scent fading over time if the soap sat there unused for a while.

 

I wish I could give a better review. It is a very, VERY nice soap. I just can't smell anything, and $10 per bar is steep for an unscented soap.

[ravenfeathers]

i'm still working out my love/hate relationship with snake oil, the oil. i got a bar of this while i was in a love phase.

 

dry softer, creamier, and more incense-y than snake oil with nary a patchouli (yay!) and a good helping of vanilla (yay!)

in the shower this is the softest, mildest BPTP soap i've tried so far and the scent is outstanding. it smells exactly as it did in the wrapper and i wish snake oil was as sweet.

after shower this leaves almost no scent, much like the carnal soap, just a lingering sweetness. this is my pre-smut soap, as the musky sweetness makes an outstanding base for smut, with just a tiny hint of incense that only i can smell.

[Miss Lynx]

I ordered a slice of this from a decant circle even though I'm not a big fan of Snake Oil in general (it turns to Play-Doh on me). And I'm glad I did, because I like it much better as a soap than as a perfume! I guess in soap form it's not on my skin long enough for my skin chemistry to do anything bad with the scent.

 

The texture is also amazing -- super-rich and creamy, very moisturizing.

 

I can't say it's my favourite of the BPAL soaps I've tried -- that honour definitely belongs to Shub. But it's certainly quite nice, much more so than the perfume of the same name.

 

Grade: B+