Snake Oil

First review in a year here people. Why now? Why THIS perfume, you ask? Because, quite frankly, I have been beguiled and charmed by this mystical snake oil. I've also been playing with it for a week (or should I say it's been playing with me) and each time I put it on, I fall deeper and deeper under its spell. This is niche territory people. I would put it right up there with the likes of my beloved babies L'ombre Fauve and Loree Rodkin Gothic l. In fact a reviewer mentioned the similarities between gothic and snake oil and that is exactly how I became I intrigued. Personally I think it leans more towards L'ombre, but that is neither here nor there, as both are mystical perfection in a nottle. So listen, the opening (wet) of snake is a no. It's a food grade syntheyic vanilla and it's just not magical. But don't let that fool you. That's just what she wants. This potion MUST be applied on the skin. That's when the dance or should I say, trance, begins. At first, it's snake medicine and vanilla. But then, ohohohohoh, please oh please, just give her 5 minutes to work her magic. All of a sudden, wafting about, enveloping and encasing you, is the most enchanting spicy, warm, vanilla, smoky, resinous, amber dusted skin you've ever smelt before. You're literally under your own spell. You can't believe you are so exotic and powerful, sexy and mysterious. You can't stand it, you don't know what to do with yourself, so you just keep smelling you're wrists in hope to satiate these feelings. But then, it gets wven worse, and you bury your face even deeper...and on and on this goes, til you finally give up, give in and pass out. Okay so maybe you don't pass out, instead, you allow the madness to over take you, which generally results in an over application of yet even more magical potion and watchthe whole process begin again. If this is all from my fresh and supposedly immature, unsettled bottle of snake oil, then I'm terrified for the frenzy this will cause me when she grows up and refines her magic with age. I'm ordering 5 more bottles of this and locking them away so I can find out.

I think, for some, Snake Oil isn't what they'd expect. I knew I thought it would be much more straight vanilla (which I adore) with some mild, sugared 'spices'. When I first cracked open that bottle and took a whiff, it was much more SHARP than I had anticipated, with a slight medicinal undercurrent (this fades with aging). This was my first forray into BPAL, so I guess I was used to more commercial scents... Easily S.O. has now become my 'ride or die', works every time scent. Despite our tumultuous start, it soon grew on me & I realized I was hording bottles of S.O., aging bottles, collecting other items in that scent: the Snake Oil soap, the hair gloss, the bath oil, etc... A bit of an obsession, really! PLUS: it is the ONE fragrance I've worn out and on SEVERAL occasions had complete strangers complement me on 'how good I smelled'. In essence: it is thick, resinous, exotic, mysterious, rich, sophisticated, and very, very sexy. Makes me feel confident, and just a little different than run of the mill... A Classic.

I've been wearing Snake Oil since 2005. The fresh oil is lighter, vanilla incense powder. But aged? Glorious! Dark, spicy resinous vanilla. There is nothing out there like it. It is a crowd pleaser, by far my most complimented fragrance of all time. I think this works best in cool or cold weather, and for evening/night. I actually don't wear it very often, even though it's near the top of my list of favorites. Maybe 8-10 times per year. I tend to wear it on especially fun and/or special occasions. Concerts, birthdays, big dates, holidays. Keeps it special! I've sampled many BPAL offerings through the years, but this is the only one I keep ordering. I'll continue replacing my little bottle of Snake Oil as long as it is offered for sale.

This is an absolutely superb oil! This is my first experience with any BPAL oils. Definitely a great first impression! I was lucky enough to snag an aged bottle from a fellow Fragrantican. I was so worried that this would turn baby powder on me like other reviewers have stated. Some scents really do turn into baby powder on me (a couple come to mind)... Not this though! Yay! So glad it works with my chemistry. This may be my HG scent and even my signature. I can smell the "cola" that others have described in the early stages of wear. It is vanilla, incensy, cola, spicy, and yes, powdery too (but not too much so). It also has great sillage and longevity! A little goes a long way. Absolutely love it. I need to buy myself a backup bottle!

This review is for a new (about 1 month old) bottle of SO. This smells verrrry different from aged SO to me. It smells... Woody, buttery, coconutty and vanilla in the early stages of wear. I will come back and update later about how it changes and the longevity. Update: 3 hours later and still going pretty strong but I don't think this is as strong when it is fresh. I keep getting little wafts of that old familiar Snake Oil smell I've become accustomed to with the aged stuff. Update 2: I could still smell this on me 8+ hours later, even though it was close to the skin. Very good longevity for being fresh. I love the aged oil the most but this is still a very good perfume!