Asp Viper (2006)

[luckybuzz]

Snake Oil with red mandarin, myrrh, and almond.

Almond. AND Snake Oil.



I am completely smitten.

I don't really get the mandarin or myrrh here...just this amazing, almondy Snake Oil.

:swoon:

[Bagfish]

I don't do well with BPAL almond, however this is the exception.

 

After a slightly bitter almond smell to start with, Asp Viper dries down to delicious sweet almond cake with Snake Oil slinking around in the background. Absolutely beautiful, warm, enveloping and like a big warm cakey hug.

[steffanina]

Asp Viper-

 

In Bottle: Mmm, almond sweetness, and richness underneath.

 

Wet: Strong almond.

 

Dry: The almond sweetness recedes and leaves around the cleanness of new Snake Oil, but that's no bad thing. The impression I get is of sweet Snake Oil upon the depths of the dry down. I really like this blend.

 

Overall: Delicious!

[Tess]

Almond tends to be powerful and overly clarifying on me, but I loooove citrus notes. Can that almond stay calm on my skin?

 

In the vial - Holy amaretto, Batman! I am a big lover of red mandarin and it's quite noticable, giving the spicey almond a bright note. Yum.

 

Wet - The moment this hits my flesh, that almond goes clarifying and, oddly, the myrrh kicks up about seven notches.

 

Drying - Oh dear, the almond is taking this over completely. It's so nose-clearing clarifying and the spices from the Snake Oil are only helping it along. The myrrh is giving it a bitter edge, but the citrus is gone, gone, gone. So freaking strong, that almond and spice...

 

Dry (1 hour) - For awhile, this had the exact same scent as Snake Oil, but it's since gotten awhole lot more powdery from the myrrh. The almond and the spice have pretty much faded into the sunset, but the mandarin never peeked out for a moment.

 

Overall - If it stayed true to the smell in the vial, I would love this. But my skin just isn't having any of that.

[Ajila]

In the bottle – Almond with just a hint of mandarin in the background

 

Wet on me – Still predominantly almond, with a hint of mandarin and spices

 

Dry on me – Warm spicy Snake Oil, but made softer by the almond and deeper by the myrrh

 

Overall - A sexy, warm, drool-worthy blend

[Rouge]

I wasn't that impressed with Snake Oil at first ( I know, I know, feel free to throw rocks at me) but after leaving it to age for a few months, and testing out a number of the Snake Pit oils, I'm getting more and more besotted with it and all its variants. Asp Viper is easily my favourite so far!

 

In the vial - Sweet, rich and delicious. All the lovely thick almond of Queen of Sheba is here, with an undercurrent of myrrh.

 

Wet on the skin - Almond still dominates, creating an absolutely luscious and almost edible blanket of scent. I can't smell the mandarin at all, though.

 

Dry down - There's still no mandarin, but the Snake Oil base has become far more apparent as the scent dries and morphs. I think I can smell a hint of vetiver, too.

 

In essence; rich, deep and languid, and I suspect it will improve even more over time. Very highly recommended!

[metaldog32]

Okay…so I received this decant from a generous forumite who was selling from her own stash…thank you soooo much!!! The snake pit has been good to me so far…I am wondering how this particular little guy will do with me. I do like myrhh and almond..so I am hoping for success. Let’s see how it plays out.

 

Initial sniff from decant: Yep..I get a heavy almond note..and it’s not too too bitter..along with something a bit fruity…I guess that is the mandarin. I think the myrhh blends beautifully with the Snake Oil base..and the waft of all of this is a bit on the heady side. This smells right out of the decant like it would be perfect in fall and winter.

 

Applied wet on skin: Almond and myrhh..the tiniest wisp of mandarin..but it’s basically the almond/myrrh over that base of Snake Oil. Very nice.

 

Couple of minutes on skin:Still that winsome almond note…and interestingly enough I still get the mandarin way in the back. The myrrh is not overpowering but it does balance with the Snake Oil and gives it a nice sweet-ish/powedry slant.

 

Twenty minutes later: I agree with other reviewers…this seems to be a bit “lighter” in its throw and presence. A Snake Oil “light” if you will. The mandarin is now MIA…and the myrrh is still kept in check with the almond over the Snake Oil base. I have tried Black Phoenix and I find both scents a bit similar..but in this fragrance the “cherry” vibe some people get from scents with the almond note is absent…more nutty. Still really pleasant and non-offensive to me.

 

YBNB likened this to Bastet..among others..I agree..it definitely runs along the same lines and I happen to have a bottle of that little kitty myself.

 

Thirty minutes later:A light and dry version of Snake Oil….it has softened considerably..staying really close to my skin.

 

Drydown: Dry and a touch dust-like..but it’s still Snake Oil.

 

Lasting power is formidable; from first application to the last dregs of scent this particular little snake went 12+ hours..I kid you not..but throw was indeed a bit soft.

 

Bottom Line: Asp Viper is a lighter and drier version of Snake Oil..and yes..the almond note is strong..but if you like almond this little guy could very well be right up your alley. Since I do find this a bit similar to some other blends in my collection I may hold back from buying a 5ml..but I am definitely keeping my imp.

[furygrrl]

In the imp: Uber Almond! Yum!

 

On wet: Nothing but almond at first. A few seconds later, there's a tinge of darkness from the myrrh, a lighter sweetness that I'm attributing to the mandarin, and a delicate slither of snake oil. Mmm, I smell like a complicated amaretti cookie!

 

Drydown: Snake Oil + something smoky + a weird herbal peanut butter (wtf? where did *that* come from?) = a very strange, almost savoury version of my favourite GC fragrance. Not what I was hoping for, and not a scent I'm enjoying at the moment. It's actually kind of turning my stomach...

 

Overall: Well, I've found the first Snake Pit scent that doesn't work on me. It had to happen sometime, I just wasn't expecting it from one of my most anticipated combination of notes. A disappointed 2/5.

[hackess]

Imp: Almond and vanilla

Wet: Almond extract, dry and bitter. A bit of ginger comes out as it starts to dry, and I know where the Snake Oil is.

Dry: Ugh. Myrrh. It turns to total incense on me. I actually liked it when it was wet.

 

Until the drydown, I enjoyed Asp Viper. It was a gorgeous spicy cookie with bite and then went very dry and smoky.

[alicia_stardust]

Sweet and soft, with a strong kick of almond. This reminds me of amaretto and almond milk, with a touch of mandarin and a grounding note of resin to go with the musks and vanilla in snake oil. This one is going to age so well. Love!

[CrazyPretzel]

In the decant: almond and orange and a bit of spice.

 

Wet on me: Almond biscotti and juicy orange.

 

After a few minutes: The myrrh starts to come out and make the scent heavier and a little narcotic; it's less foody now. Still sweet and almondy.

 

Drydown: Vanilla and almond darkened by myrrh and spices. The citrus has faded considerably and this dries down to a much darker, more seductive scent than it seems on first application.

 

Mysterious and sexy and yummy.

[JenM]

In the imp: sweet snake oil. Reading the description, I think I’m getting the almond.

 

On the wrist: I smell the almond, and I smell something cocoa-y too. The almond lingers a bit, but after an hour it’s almost completely gone, along with the rest of the fragrance.

[vividdreamer]

I smell more almond than Snake Oil, though there's definitely some hiding there in the background.

 

And then, on my skin, it's practically ALL almond. I actually think this smells kind of...watery. It's not heavy at all, and I can tell that it's going to fade quickly. Almond scents seem to do that with me...I guess my skin just eats them up. It's a shame, because I do love them so.

 

And...it's almost imperceptible after 45 min. Snake Oil Light, absolutely. I completely agree with that.

 

Not bad, but not the quite deliciousness I was expecting. I'm hanging on to my 5ml, though!

[bellis]

Spicy incensey almond cookie. This is delicious, a bottle is definitely going on my next order. YUM!

[joseybird]

Fresh, this is heady, fruit-tinged marzipan. Then the myrrh comes out, marrying beauifully with the almond. The snake oil bit is very much in the background, which surprises me considering the original's headiness.

 

This is a delicious, surprisingly light, almost foody fragrance.

[tartchef]

Mmm, almond fortune cookies! The myrrh adds a deep smokiness that cuts through what could be cloyingly sweet Snake Oil & marzipan. The mandarin is barely there, more the skin & pith than the actual fruit. This is so cozy & yummy...

[mspixieears]

Almond doesn’t tend to like me so was quite sceptical about this blend though oddly enough the myrrh makes it more palatable on. I don’t smell any of the mandarin in this blend, just Snake Oil with myrrh and almond. A hint of something spicy or could that just be the myrrh? A while later it does just smell like Snake Oil proper.

[donkehpoo]

Wet: Slightly sweetened snake oil.

 

Dry: Omg.. this is easily one of my favorite scents so far! Sweetened Snake Oil, with almonds. Gorgeous! I want to BATHE in this! The scent has average throw, and lasts for about 8 hours on me. Ohh, so good.

 

 

On a scale of 1-5, I'd give this a 5.

I wonder if one bottle will be enough?

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Ameretto!

 

Wet: Ameretto and Snake Oil is a delicious combo! The Snake Oil turns Ameretto very sexy!

 

Drydown: Mmm, the vanilla in the snake oil and the myrhh have come out to play! This is so sexy and grown up!

4.0 outta 5

[willowtreeling]

I pretty much only get SNAKE OIL and almond from this...which is nice, because I like Snake Oil...but since I have a bottle of that, I don't think I would buy Asp Viper, even though I like it a bit more than plain Snake Oil.

[hkhm]

bottle: almond and myrrh.

 

wet: almondy snake oil. now that is the snake oil for me!

 

dry: sweet, tender almonds doused in snake oil. beautiful.

[ravenfeathers]

in the bottle fruity snake oil, heavy on the almond, but not in a cherry-ish way, more like marzipan.

wet on skin hm. the myrrh is taking control of this show, but that's fine because snake oil + extra myrhh= OMG YES! it's so sticky sweet and incense-y liek whoa.

dry on skin no change in dry down except that the snake oily bits amp up over the extras and it's the soft, sinuous, and stiflingly dark sweetness of snake oil without the sharper impact of snake oil. it's like a well-aged snake oil, but sweet sweet sweet.

 

edit y halo thar, mandarin... i think asp viper has shot directly up into my top five BPALs ever. this is why we should frimp early, frimp often. this wasn't even on my radar, even after a painstaking review of the snake pit a few months ago. HUGE WIN.

[SarahScent44]

In the imp: mmmm, almond - both the cherry-esque almond oil smell and the nutty smell of actual whole almonds.

 

On my skin, it's still almond, just a hint of myrrh and SO's "Indonesian oils" - so far, the best Snake-Oil-based scent yet.

 

When it dries, it's warm and sweet - definitely almond-centric, with a hint of mandarin, but complex underneath. Nice, but not for me.

[Josh]

Popcorn jelly bellies swirling in a chilled glass of Disaronno.

 

This is quite nice.

[arabella]

First Impression: Snake Oil and Almonds.

 

Dries down to: Almond Roca.

 

Additional Comments: I only get the almond note, which always amps on me, but it's being tempered in this blend. I love almond so this is a great blend for me. It's my favorite of the Snake Pit series. I wish I got a bit of the red mandarin but I won't complain. None of the Snake Pit lasts long on me so I don't know if I'll spring for a bottle but if I were to do so, this is the one I'd get.

 

Lasted: A few hours.

 

Rating: 4 out of 5.