kscha2017

One of my favorites, my go-to "purple" scent. A very sweet, dark, warm plum is prominent. Behind it lies a hint of exotic spiciness which reminds me of Snake Oil. I get no hint of grapefruit, bergamot, or amber but perhaps their combination with orris is what my nose is translating as SO-ish spice. This is rich, deep, regal and powerful. A bold and long-lasting scent.

Is it Theotokos?

http://www.bpal.org/topic/76515-theotokos/

Does anyone remember the Winter BPAL bottle that had an icon of the Virgin Mary on it? I believe it was called Theodosis but when I look for it in reviews I can't find it. I have an old bottle of it, but the label is damaged and I can't quite read it. It's from when I first started BPAL so back around 06 maybe? It was one of my first bottles. I'd appreciate any help tracking it, and the review page down. Thanks!

I received this as a frimp in my last order and I'm grateful because somehow I never noticed this one in the catalogue. It's a perfect "me" scent and is quite a bit like my most favorite BPAL scent, Malediction. It has that same bold, dark, eye-watering bitterness that reminds me so much of the forest behind my old house, yet Qandisa is just a touch brighter due to, I think, the lemon. The honey (which I picture dark and opaque with pollen) is for me an afterthought in the background upon drydown, but does lend a touch of sweetness that's not apparent when wet. I immediately ordered a bottle.

2016

Being a rose fan, I slathered a goodly amount of this on. Whereas Faith blooms large and lasts without fading, Hope is much more shy on my skin. I was expecting just the opposite (bold rose, shy violet). Hope blooms and rapidly fades to almost nothing, being detectable only if I press my nose right on the spot. It seems less sugary/musky than Faith as well, although when sniffing from the bottles they are equal.

2016

Whereas Hope blooms on my skin and fades rapidly, Faith blooms big and warm with almost a cocoa butter undertone, and lasts without fading. It actually feels warm on the skin as well.

(2016)

Very pretty, and does an excellent job of evoking sorrow. It smells both wet and dry, like tears and dust. I'm certain I can pick out the river reeds and palm fronds. In my old children's Bible there is a picture of baby Moses being found sleeping in his basket amongst the reeds of the Nile. This smells like that.

In the bottle, overwhelmingly beautiful floral - mostly linden and lily. After application, I got a big *boom* of the florals before it toned down. The Snake Oil peeked out after it dried and went a little "off". The scent rapidly faded and after an hour I can only smell very faint linden if I press my nose against my wrist and inhale deeply.

The reviews for this were so generally positive that I ordered a bottle even though I couldn't imagine how the scents would fit together. I'm a new convert to SO and wasn't yet introduced to BPAL for the last Carnaval, so I was eager to see the Snake Pit offerings. My first sniff out of the bottle was pure Snake Oil. 2nd sniff was all mint. 3rd sniff was mint on top of SO.

I applied and it remains, both wet and dry, a gentle mint with Snake Oil peeking out. After about 30 min I can pick out the pretty bergamot and green tea. I still can't fathom all these scents working with SO, but they do and it's beautiful! It also reminds me, oddly enough, of our pool in the backyard on a hot summer day when I was a kid. I think my mom must have had a suntan lotion that smelled a bit like this. It makes me long to sit out in the sun all day and get tan, worry free, like I did back then.

So far, a nice medium throw and good lasting power. I'm one of those for whom a dab on each wrist is sufficient to clear a room. I'm working with a one-wrist-only application here and I give it a A+.

My nose says Temple Viper is a deeper, richer, and darker Snake Oil with slightly less vanilla. It evokes exactly what it represents - a warm, dark, incense smoke-filled temple that's a tad frightening. It immediately made me think of Medusa from the old Clash of the Titans movie. After an hour or two, I'm picking up a deep purple/grape tone that reminds me of one of my favorites, Queen Gertrude. I'm not sure which component it is, but it fits. Like you were brave/faithful enough to put aside your fears in the temple and came out knowing you were blessed.

I wasn't going to get this one after reading reviews but I'm so glad I did. Will need Ordered another bottle. Out of the Snakes I chose, it's by far my favorite.

A beautiful, dewy, deep blue reminding me of humid summer nights when there was heat lightning on the horizon. It has that feeling of excitement and langour. Midnight on the Midway but without the sugary incense and diabolic undertones. As with MotM, I have to keep sniffing myself every few minutes. Sometimes I think there is a blue lilac bush in this mix too.

30 minutes later: I had to wash this off. My lips and tongue started to burn and tingle. Same thing happened with Muse of Fire (which was the first time I had a negative reaction to a scent). I have alot of other floral/incense/lemon BPAL scents that don't do this. I wonder which ingredient is the culprit.

Very lemony for me. I love it. Fresh and clean. Reminds me of the lemon body wash I enjoy all summer as well as my favorite lemon verbena hair conditioner. Guess I just love lemon.

I completely agree with zankoku_zen. I tried this last night. Sniffed my decant first and thought it wasn't nice. Afraid to spray it and get a migraine. But then I thought okay I can deal with it, and sprayed it on my pillow. It was lovely and lemony. I really liked it. I'm currently wearing the Lab's "50" and they are quite similar.

My nose says this is a very sweet, rich, homemade vanilla custard with a hint of mild sandalwood. I can only just barely pick up on the rose if I re-read the description and remember it's there. Quite pretty and rather calming/comforting. Also reminds me of the white chocolate version of the Peter Rabbit we sometimes got at Easter back when. Given the masturbatory title, I feel a bit ooky for saying this would be a lovely scent for a child.

(My test: Rubbed onto skin, not poured into bath)

I never would have thought of combining lavender with cedar, although I suppose it must be common to store clothes or linens in cedar chests with lavender sachets. I've used one or the other, never both. This is wonderfully odd and comforting. The lavender is sharp and cold, while the cedar is mellow ("buttery" smooth mellow, if that makes sense, rather than mild/weak mellow) and warm. I'm not picking up the frankincense or jasmine but perhaps it's just that well-blended. This is really good! I would love this in a room/linen spray!

When I was a kid, our backyard was enclosed by a thick border of lush, pink peonies which were often heavy with bees. They were torn out when I was about 12 because we had to put up a fence due to our swimming pool. I always loved those peonies and missed their smell. This is just how I remember them smelling round about the 4th of July. Happy memory in a bottle. ♡

Sex in a bottle. I'll also echo the Elizabeth Arden Green Tea reference but add in a little sweet cream. Even without the name and the label art, this conjures up in my mind a warm sudsy bath, a fluffy white robe, and multiple orgasms. One sniff out of the decant and I was placing an order. I'll be pairing this with the Post's Yakumo No Chigiri Bath Oil as well as A Fling in the Lagoon Bath Oil.

Gifted with a partial decant. This is sultry. Greta Garbo sultry and sophisticated. Silk pajamas and a long black cigarette holder, shiny fingerwaved tresses, high arched brows, and deep red lipstick. Don't fuck with me/screaming sex appeal. Not so much a scent as an attitude.

I was imagining this would be cold, wet, freshly-cut lawn. It's more like sun-warmed denim jeans with a big green grass stain on the knee. Ya know, just like the name implies. Which is even better than what I imagined because it evokes so much more than "wet grass". It's perfect for combining with the Easter Lily SN of course. Very nice.

Update, 6 weeks later: The grass is now heavenly sweet, maybe studded with clover (oh, to be a rabbit), a bit warmer and dryer. The new blue jeans scent is still present, slightly richer even. Very, very nice. I now wish I had gotten a 2nd bottle of this too.

This is spot-on sheer perfection, moving and miraculous. Almost more real than the flower itself. How many lilies were liquefied to make just this one bottle? I too layered it with Egg Hunt Grass Stain and it's *swoon*.

This is one of the first frimps I received from the Lab. It's what made my nose realize I loved the scent of dirt so much that I wanted to wear it. Back then, when it was fresh from the Lab, I don't recall much, if any, rose or moss offsetting it - just a general "something herb-like" mixed in. I tucked the frimp into the box I designated for samples I wanted to keep. Now, a couple years later, digging through the box for something to wear to bed, it called my name. It has aged into the remarkable for not only the strength of the parts, but also the sum. It is red roses wilted and drying. It is damp green moss. It is earth that has been turned over, perhaps containing a stray splinter or two of wood and some bits of ragged cotton. It is slightly mournful, slightly menacing, slightly horrifying ... like that photo and story of the real zombie woman in Haiti ... but, as this is only perfume, that's a good thing. A bottle or three must be added to my collection.

For me, this is a beautifully uncomplicated and perfectly balanced scent: rose, amber, ice. Nothing more, nothing less, each component equal. One element does not stand out over the others, although the rose scent does bloom on warm skin. The amber lends a soft powderiness to the rose and the ice lends a fresh aquatic. It's like fresh, dew-laden roses at the height of their glory were dried and ground into the finest particles without losing their dewiness. I keep thinking this would be a gorgeous scent for a traditional June bride.

2016 Luper, fresh from the Lab and eagerly, generously applied ... eye-watering, sinus-clearing ROSE OUDE (yes, in all caps)! It is elegant, regal, sophisticated, rich, deep, attention-grabbing. I have not a single item of clothing good enough to wear with this. It's perfect.

Exactly what I was imagining and hoping for! I had the (good?) fortune to have actual, Mother Nature-made sleet in my hair about 2 or 3 nights before my order arrived, so I can attest that this is the scent of real sleet, at least the sleet that falls where I live. It's a clean, cold, refreshing scent, icy with a hint of evergreen in the background. This is a bold, strong scent too and I could smell it in my hair many hours later (it took about 4 hours to lose the "just sprayed" power). In fact, even after I washed my hair with shampoo a few days later, the scent was still there! I had to get a 2nd bottle. Sheer perfection.

I concur with everything the first poster says. Fresh, green, invigorating! This is the scent of how I feel after a long hike in the woods at the beginning of spring when the sun is warm and the snow has melted into mud, but there are still little patches of ice in the deepest shadows. I also think it's perfectly unisex. So much better than I imagined.

Didn't think I'd like Snake Oil as I generally don't like "spice" anything and I got it into my head somehow that this was loaded with spices. Finally after several years, I ordered some, just to try it, see what all the fuss was about. Fresh bottle, right from the Lab, it's ambrosia for the nose, nasal Nirvana. In the bottle I got marshmallow-rootbeer-patchouli. On my skin I got Rice Krispie bars made by angels. It's glorious. It's not what I expected. It's not "me" at all. But yes! Yes! I will be wearing this. I am a fan. I will buy more.