The Coiled Serpent

[cherryontop]

A potent yogic oil that stimulates the kundalini, provokes spiritual awakening, and releases the energy seated in your root chakra.

Well finally....a freebie I really like! Thanks!!! Once again, I am digging the patchoulie blends. This one is quite nice through all stages. It reminds me somewhat of Goblin. I really like the smokiness of this one though. That seems to be what sets it apart.

[zankoku_zen]

Whoooof. This is patchouli. Dirty hippie kind of patchouli. It makes me think of all the hippie stereotypes - peace, sandals and into meditation and crystal energy.

 

Erm.. Yeah.

 

And I can joke about it because my aunt is a bonafide hippie, complete with crystals.

[GeorgeJr]

From a imp I ordered months ago . I really need to review more of those ...

So anyway , I'll follow the hippy theme espoused by others before me . I'll also admit to really liking the Coiled Serpent . It is serious patchouli , but there also is a bit of a fir or mild pine in there somewhere too . It's a fairly strong blend . Lot's o' waft I'm trying to say if the patchouli thing isn't for you , you may wish to avoid this . I on the other hand will take any that the rest of you don't want . And don't let the smell of it in the bottle throw you off , it does mellow out some on the skin . But it is still quite strong . Very green / fresh smelling .

[rayvn1]

Very dry and very dusty even while wet. This dries to a sexy, dangerous smelling patchouli. Yay! I never get enough patchouli out of many of the BPAL blends and this straight shot of it is just what I wanted.

[magikalbrownies]

i smell patchouli...

 

NO bueno on me. again, wet dirt.

 

 

breaks my heart, cool name for a perfume that wont work on me.

[ShadowsDance]

The imp smells strongly of patchouli.

 

On my skin the patchouli is still dominant, a very deep and earthy scent. As it dries down, it does soften a bit.. I though I'd gotten a hint of sandalwood at some point, but I'm not sure. Patchouli does stay front and center the entire time, however.

[lookingglass]

Deep, diry patchouli and something a little sweet on the drydown. Love it. I'll mix it with O.

[chrystanthem]

I got this as a freebie, and I am SO glad I did!

 

First sniff: Slightly sharp and very... reptile-ish? But not reptile-ish like a cold, slippery snake. More like a wyvern that is bathing in sun, its skin hot from the sunrays. definitely patchouli.

 

wet on skin: earthy and something slightly floral in the background. Sexy.

 

Dry: soft and beautiful. It really melts down into your skin, making the scent a part of you rather than somthing you just put on.

 

Final thoughts: Absolutely LOVE IT! It melts beautifully onto my skin, and my mother likes it on me. Will definitely wear it.

[Tanya]

Coiled Serpent is said to have certain powers involving Kundalini energy, etc. After a critically stressful , chaotic week at work and a particularly bad day yesterday, I wore my locket with Coiled Serpent today because I like the smell. On the drive in I started feeling very calm and focussed (despite the double cappuccino). Once there, solutions to problems just stacked up. I was thinking clearly, having great ideas,etc., even after not sleeping well. Coincidence?

This is a hard-line patchouli scent. I love it (former San Fransisco Hippie in the building). Until anyone proves me wrong, I may just believe there's magic in this potion.

Just took another sniff. Damn, it's nice.

I feel really good.........Maybe it's in my head.........Who the hell cares

Edited May 20, 2009 by Tanya

[blacklacestatic]

Initial unsniffed impression: Intrigued to see what kind of effect it will have. The description appeals to me.

 

In the Imp: Very sharp, bright. I recognize something in it but can't make it out.... Juniper? Pine? No.. it's Patchouli!

 

Wet on skin: Vibrant, herbal, still quite sharp to my nose. Certainly does wake me up though.

 

Drydown: Woodsy patchouli. Oh yeah, lots of it. Feels more suited to an anointing oil than a perfume though. Kind of relaxing, very spiritual, very earthy.

 

Overall: Very much a true patchouli scent. I'm not going to wear this often, I like patchouli mixed with other notes but when it's front and center as it is here it's just too much, too strong, too earthy for my taste. It's definitly not a bad scent, it's actually a really pleasant fragrance. I just prefer to wear more sweet and femme scents, not really big into wearing earthy, head-shoppy blends. However if you love wearing patchouli get a great big bottle of this!

[Vitrea]

I really wanted to love this and out of the vial it smelled divine. So divine that I put it into my "keep vial" pile. Then I tested it on my skin. ~cries~ I don't know the terms and the official notes and what should smell like what. I'm pretty simple and thus I will only write about the impressions/images I got when testing it on -my- skin (curse my body chemistry)...

 

It was a nice strong patchouli scent, rich...earthy....but then as it dried I got these images of old urine. i think this is the first test I've ever had that made me want to wash my hand but I persisted hoping it would change.

 

And it did..it softened a bit..cleared up into a lighter scent of patchouli on me..woodsy but the urine scent rode right underneath all of it.

 

Smelling it again....I can see how this might smell nice on someone else but on me..it's like I got really dirty and haven't changed my clothing for months and decided to cover it up with a nice patchouli.

 

I think I need to wash my hand now...btw...at the time of washing it off which is about 20 minutes for me it's become more resin-y. Which is nice...but maybe that's the urine smell I am detecting. It's very sharp on the nose. I love burning resins at home but resin in an oil on my skin I am realizing is not nice at all...surprisingly the foodie sweet scents and honey and wine scents are amazing on me. I never would have guessed! lol

 

Sad kitty,

Vitrea

Edited July 14, 2009 by Vitrea

[tragedy]

I smell patchouli and vetiver in this, also a background citrus, very faint.

Its a very dry blend, very woody.

Nice, but I dont think I'll be wearing it.

 

ADDED July 31:

 

This on me is a pretty basic patchouli.

Which reminds me of my mom, cause she was a hippie and wore it.

Dont wanna smell like my mom though.

[March]

Smells mostly like cedarwood to me, which I happen to love.

[femmefatale]

It does remind me of a bit Goblin, but an older brother version. It's woodsy and does have the same sweetness as the coconut in Goblin. There seems to be something vaguely...salty here?

Whatever it is, it smells fabulous. I prefer Goblin for myself, but this might be a good one for dh, though I might steal it now and then this fall.

 

 

 

[Suu4LC]

In the imp, this feels like a slightly herbal patchouli blend to my nose.

 

Yep, on my skin it's about the same-basically straight up patchouli O_O Gah, wait, as it sits on my skin it gets a lot more woody...and is pretty much morphing straight into pencil shavings =_= I hate when that happens!

 

Hmm...this blend goes back and forth between cedar shavings and soft, lovely Lush-like patchouli. If it was ALL that lovely Lush patchouli I might be tempted, but that cedary scent drives me crazy! Oh well! I imagine this would be great on the right person!

[MamaMoth]

In the vial and wet on, this is heaven. A kick of almost pure patchouli. I was ecstatic.

 

As it dries down... it's still good, but I like it less. It reminds me of Anne Bonny, in that it gets dry cedary-woods on me. It's not quite as agressive as Anne was, so I call it Anne Bonny lite. I'll be keeping the imp, but probably not a bottle purchase.

 

I'm beginning to think that BPAL patchouli does not work on me unless it's paired with something sweet, which is somewhat disappointing.

[skylarkza]

In the imp: Lemony patchouli with a touch of pineapple.

 

Wet: It is a kind of woody coconut.

 

Dry: Woody patchouli. With a hint of pina colada.

 

A while later: Something slightly fruity and resinous. But not in a normal fruit way, more like a tropical fruit "a coconut and a pineapple had a lovechild" kind of way, with a touch of patchouli. I quite like it. Of course, my nose and skin chemistry may be playing up at this particular point as mine seems to be very different from everybody else's results.

[starfish327]

in the imp: incense and vetiver/smoke

 

wet: incense and vetiver/smoke

 

dry: incense and vetiver/smoke but increasingly light and sweet. whiffs of something almost fruity. increasingly patchouli and the smoke starts dying down. reminds me of ritual- reminds me of a dragon ritual i went to this summer specifically though i'm not sure why. masculine but i also can't see this on a guy either.

 

huh. don't know how i feel about this one. it sort of sets my teeth on edge, but i like it at the same time. i do have to say though that it's calming in an odd way.

[angelicruin]

I'm getting wood notes, smoke, and incense on my skin. If there's vetiver in this one, it's strangely behaving itself. I usually amp vetiver (and not in a good way). Not to say that there aren't scents with vetiver in them that actually work on me, but it's very rare.

 

I do like this blend, just not so much on me personally, because it's a bit too masculine for my tastes. It'd be nice on the hubby though.

[impolight]

:::THE COILED SERPENT:::

 

Mmmmmmmm...This one was significantly underestimated, even after reading the description.

The Coiled Serpent has what is probably the cleanest, freshest version of Patchouli in it that has been encountered anywhere else on the planet, thus far.

This could also contain Cedar, Narcissus, Vetiver, Rose, Moss, Ylang-ylang and Lemon peel

 

...Ok, birds fly through the air and their serpentine counterpart glides through the air from treetops thanks to specialised ribs.

Penguins "fly" through the water, and their serpentine counterparts are Sea Snakes...

Well, The Coiled Serpent proves the subterranean equivalent.

The Coiled Serpent is mystical and earthy.

This is probably what the maiden voyage of becoming a vulcanaut smells like!

Skin says: All of the above, yet more so! A floral note, hitherto undetected, emerges which adds a cologne feel similar to that in Michtecacihuatl... But subterranean.

This is a diamond hars smile for Him!

An epiphany!

4.9 out of 5!

[ami226]

Hmmm, green wood. Pine or cedar?

 

Slightly sharp. Not for me.

[Balame]

In the Imp: Oh my hippie, this is definitely PATCHOULI. Doesn't bother me though, love the earthy smell. Very rich and dry.

 

Wet: Interesting... I was concerned this might be too dry for me like Dance of Death was, and it's definitely wooden and has an "arid" feel, but it's not overwhelming. There's something sweetening it slightly - I can't honestly wager a guess since my nose isn't that talented, but I'd agree with some of the other members and say maybe frankincense, or a tiny hint of amber? Whatever it is keeps drawing me back to it. I have a thing for "church" smells, like the old wooden and/or cathedral-y kind, and since this kind of smells like one out in the middle of a forest, I'm enjoying it. But that specific image has been taken more fully by Aureus' charms, so I'm on the fence.

 

Dry: It's gotten quite a bit sweeter, but not so much as to overtake the earthiness of the patchouli.

 

Verdict: I like this, but on me it's not complex enough to want to flaunt, and not simple in the right way (I'd argue that it doesn't make a strong enough "statement" to only hold one or two overlapping scents). That being said, whatever the combination is, it's intriguing and elegant.

 

*edit* Just an update from '11. Initially I felt what I said in my review, that this was "good" but not amazing. And yet, I've kept the imp over the years and it's one of the scents I most often feel myself drawn back to for more applications. It's very nice.

Edited June 30, 2011 by Balame

[mxtine]

I love patchouli with an unholy passion. It's the same patchouli as Goblin, with some frankincense and a drop of cedar (which is the same stuff I smell in Mme. Moriarty). I really like this oil and I can't wait to try it out in my next yoga class.

[Edeniade]

I opened up my imp of The Coiled Serpent and found dirt and patchouli inside. The exact smell was fresh garden dirt and hippies. I do not do very well with patchouli of any kind (I swear my olfactory system rejects it outright and will have nothing to do with it) and dirt is not my ideal scent of the day. However, after reading about its other uses, I may just keep it around for a day when I could use some soothing yoga and release some pent-up energy.

[lavenderfrost]

Note: This was a freebie from the lab, and I knew from this forum post that this oil was pretty much patchouli, with patchouli and a touch of patchouli for variety. I have a history of not getting along with patchouli, to put it nicely. It literally makes me ill.

 

In The Imp: ...yep. Patchouli. And I still put it on. *headdesk* This is why I'm a dumbass.

 

Immediate Application: Oh god no. *hurk*

 

30-45 Minutes Later: Didn't even last 15. I ended up scrubbing my arm with dish soap and one of our rough green plastic dish-scouring sponges while retching over the sink. At least I managed to get rid of it. XP

 

Verdict: My first instinct was spot-on with this. I read the forum reviews, went "EEEK!" and immediately put the imp in my swap pile, un-tested. I should have left it at that instead of listening to the nagging "well, maybe THIS blend will be ok..." voice in the back of my head.

 

Patchouli has made it to my list of Mortal Enemies in terms of fragrance.

Edited April 11, 2011 by lavenderfrost