Tintagel

[Mistral]

According to legend, the birthplace of King Arthur. The scent of a castle's great hall in the midst of joyous feasting. Spicy mulled wine flowing through the musky heat, warm leather and bright clash of armor, the damp branches of Cornish hawthorn, blackthorn, juniper, English elm and bayberry, and the magical tingle of dragon's blood resin.

I've been meaning to review this for awhile, because I love, love, love it - it's by far my favorite scent so far. It smells the same in the bottle as it does on me, and it lasts. However, I'm not sure what else I'm smelling besides cinnamon, though I know there's more there. I mean, I'm smelling warmth, and joy, and celebration, and family, and happiness...but as for actual notes, I guess my nose isn't educated enough yet to pick them out.

But I adore it, and I've ordered a 5 ml bottle.

[magikfanfic]

In the bottle: Mead flavored bubble gum. With some spice to it. Well, this might not be so bad after all.

 

Wet: Still has that nice, spicy mead flavored bubble gum kick. (Dubba Bubble for those of you wondering, the heavily sugared, pink kind.) The undernotes of the spice must be those wood branches but, thankfully, I'm not allergic to them. This smells like Christmas and wine and sticks of wood.

 

Dry down: The sweet kinda goes away leaving the sharp spicey notes and more of that wood scent. I'm thinking that cinnamon kick might be the dragon's blood. This is a warm, festive scent that makes me think of crowded halls full of smoking pipes and wine and loud voices. It's also one of those warm oils.

 

Dry: Little hint of the sweet in the background, but mostly that spicey wine scent that prevails. I like this one. But it seems to be a good winter scent as in the summer I think it would be too hot for me. It reminds me of the wassel we made one year in Foods class in high school. I smell yummy.

 

I doubt I'll ever buy a big bottle (unless the boy really likes it), but the imp and I will have fun throughout the holidays as this is the perfect scent to wear when it's cold and you need a little pick me up.

 

ETA: I may be getting a big bottle of this. It's a nice warmer scent for me. Titania is my cold scent, this could be my warm.

[scourgeotheseas]

I swapped with Longstofly for this, and I'm really loving it!

 

In the bottle: Mainly Dragon's Blood. Warm, spicy, a little sweet.

 

On/Wet: Upon first application, I smell the same warm, spicy scent that was in the bottle plus a greener note (maybe the woods? or the juniper?). I'm not a real fan of the green. I can't smell leather at all.

 

Drying: Thankfully, the green smell goes away almost immediately. What's left is a complex blend of spicy and sweet. It does smell faintly of holiday potpourri, I guess, but I truly enjoy it.

 

After a while: It doesn't last very long on me, unfortunately. Within a couple of hours it fades to a very light scent. I could also see this as a more masculine scent, perfect for a guy in the SCA. Not only is the imp a keeper, but I may need to get a bottle of this.

[shelldoo]

ok please bear w/ me as this is my first review and actually only my 3rd try of any bpal scent. i am still trying to besome familiar w/ "notes" ect but will give it a whirl as i fell in love w/ this fragrance. i was enticed by the description as i love everything from that time period.

 

in the bottle i really smelled pine, fresh cut evergreen of some sort.

 

wet smelled like drunken evergreens. i could really smell the wine and pines i put it on before church and chuckled thinking they will think i was drunk in the forest last night. the woodsy smell and alcholly smell lasted a few hrs then mellowed.

 

now after 7 hrs it is the leathery mulled wine i loved the middle and end stages of this could have done w/o so much pine in the beginning but as it ended up all is good and i will soon be placing an order for a 5ml

 

eta this is my favorite scent i adore it and one 5ml def is not enough i keep coming back to it i simply am in love.

Edited January 2, 2005 by shelldoo

[Ariella]

This is one of my (stealing the name from the title of that thread in BPAL chatter) OMFG oils. I dabbed some on my wrists, sniffed, and I swear, my eyeballs practically rolled back into my head out of sheer joy.

I could feel myself IN a castle. I could hear the bustle and clank of people eating and talking, see swirling bodies through the half dark murky air, smell candle smoke and spice. I've never had a scent take me someplace so fully before. It was frickin awesome.

I couldn't really pull out any specific scents, but together, well, OMFG.

Edited December 13, 2004 by Ariella

[FireInCairo]

There seems to be quite a bit of apple cider in this blend. A true harvest blend. I like to put it in my oil burner- but I'm not too keen on wearing it as a perfume.

[LupaWulf]

Ok, this I admit was a must have more due to the name than anything else. I'm such an obsessed freak with castles and whatnot... Yeah. A scent of Arthur's legondary castle, is a must have for me.

 

SPICE!

That's the first thing I smell. Not bad spice, but good spice, HARD spicey scent. Mead is hideing in that mix as well. Sweet cinnamon and other sweet scents under that too...

 

Wearing it is wonderful. Spicey, alive! As the day goes on, the spices and first harshness wear down to berries, and sweeter mead notes. I honestly don't smell leather in this one at all. (might be due to body chem this week. Shall try again)

 

Overall I feel bold and it reminds me of some song lyrics from the song "Heart of the Dragon" by DragonForce

Proud and so glorious

Standing before of us

Our swords will shine bright in the sky

Proud and so glorious

Standing before of us

Our swords will shine bright in the sky

When united we come

To the land of the sun

With the heart of a dragon...

The heart of a dragon...

The heart of a dragon we ride...

 

I'm very pleased with this imp! I can forsee a 5ml in the future!

[Faerykin]

Tintagel

 

Swiped across wrists and along collarbone.

 

Initial Wet (8-8:30am): This goes on sweet, woodsy and a bit spicy. The dragon’s blood definitely brings a warm sweetness to the woods.

 

Initial Dry (8:30-10am): This continues to sweeten – or rather, the dragon’s blood thrusts its way to the top and begins to overpower the woodsy notes. Either way, it makes for an, as always, pleasant dragon’s blood scent.

 

Throughout the Day (10am-on): Yup, dragon’s blood. That is pretty much all I smell now. Not a bad thing, mind you, I was just hoping for something more. However, it seems dragon’s blood likes my skin and tends to overpower anything else. *shrugs* Still, that very fact makes this a keeper.

[rainbow]

In the bottle and wet on my skin- bubblegum and booze! Yum! (and a bit odd, but still yum). There's also a hint of cinnamon. As I'm wearing the pine and and greens cut through (is that the hawthorn and juniper? It's hard to tell) and they mix beautifully with the cinnamon. The bubblegum scent does fade but is still present. It definitely has the celebration, banquet-type feel about it. Over the course of wearing the scent becomes spicier- warm and festive! On the drydown this gets a nice resiny smell, similar to what I get from the drydown of Kabuki.

 

This is a lovely, complex scent- there's more going on than I can possibly adequately describe. Seriously, Beth is a genius for putting this combination together. I have no idea how she does it, but it's such an unusual mix that works so well together.

[Macha]

I'd heard some good things about Tintagel and well, who can't love the name? (I'll admit to being a little bit of an Arthurian freak too in my spare moments.) I swapped for an imp of it with a fellow forumite. My boyfriend, also a lover of all things King Arthur-ish, rushed to grab and open this one with excited glee the moment he pulled it out of the mail envelope.

 

In the bottle: My boyfriends smells it and wrinkles his nose. "Woah. What's THAT?" I take the bottle from him and sniff. It's warm and woodsy. There's spicy notes, but overriding all of that is something boozy and cloyingly sweet. Now my sweet Irish boy is, ironically, highly allergic to alcohol, so he's not a big lover of most alcoholic smells. Plus, I'm honestly not sure that's what's causing the reaction. Could that sweet note be the dragon's blood? (I honestly have no clue what dragon's blood smells like as a single note.) It's a bit much for me too. If it smells like this on me, I'm going to be one highly disappointed kitten. I say, "Let's see if it smells like this on me. I can always wash it off."

 

Wet, on skin: The transformation is immediate. The super sweet smell vanishes in puff of dragon smoke. Spicy dragon smoke and leather. Wow, what a difference. I shove my arm back in front of his face. My Irish boy exclaims, "That doesn't smell anything like the vial!" I nod. No, no it doesn't. The question is...how many more times will this scent shapechange?

 

Dry, on skin:The answer is: how many times do ya got? Every time I raise wrist to nose I'm catching different notes. One minute it's woodsy and damp, then spicy wine and leather, then heated cinnamon and the faintest smell of fire. It never completely settles down, and as someone mentioned, it lasts and lasts and lasts.

 

Conclusion: Do I like it? I'm not sure. It's certainly the most unusual fragrance that I've smelled so far, and it's absolute art in it's ability to evoke the image of knights feasting at the ancient castle. On the other hand, it didn't evoke a 'wow' reaction from me, more of just 'hmmm...that's interesting' which likely means that it's not enough to make me put this in regular rotation.

 

On the other hand, I suspect I can get my sweet Irish boy to at least TRY this, now that he knows it won't necessarily keep the notes he found so objectionable in the bottle. It may yet be amazing on him.

[Finny]

Thus started my love affair with dragon's blood.

 

It is a spicy, tingly, smell. I get dragon's blood at first, spicy and fruity. As it dries the leather, wine, and juniper come into play. I sniff my arm compulsively when I wear this, I can't help it, it smells so good.

 

I wear this everyday, even if only to bed. I just ordered a 5ml and I am already wishing I had gotten a 10ml instead.

 

Next order 10ml!

[paperdoll]

Initial Sniff: Sweet, green, cinnamon, woodsy... this is gorgeous! I am deeply in love with this scent. It seems to be the scent of another time - a time when the world was fresher and greener.

Wearing: The dragon's blood comes to life on my skin, providing a sweet base for the green and spice notes. At times it smells almost floral, at times I smell berries, and at times it is almost aquatic. It is ever-changing and long-lasting.

Final Impressions: I have a 5ml of this and shall enjoy every drop!

[tsarina]

This scent is so bright and enjoyable. Everyone I've shared it with adores it.

 

For me, it's a bit spicy, with the sweet wine note and the piney tang of juniper. It blends well on my skin, the notes weaving around each other. One moment it's greenery, the next it is warm and full of the mulled wine scent. This has to be one of my favorite BPAL scents.

[requieminblack]

First sniff from the bottle- Spicy Red Hots!

 

After 10 minutes- MMmmmm spicy! Cinnamon and dragons blood...with juniper and wine. Wow. This is very similar to Old Madrid but more spicy. The cinnamon in this is dominate and burning hot...like red hots candy or Goldschlager.

 

After 30 minutes- This is the darkest cinnamon BPAL scent yet. It almost has a smoky bonfire feel to it. The leather is coming through too...amazing!

 

Summery- While I am the of spicy scents I think this one is too masculine for me to wear. I love it though...it would be an amazing scent for my car!

[DiamondHeart]

In the bottle:

 

HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL, IT'S DUBLIN WITH DRAGON'S BLOOD IN IT!!! (I LOVE Dublin like woah.)

 

On me:

YAY!

 

This is a definite bottle for me!!

 

~Diamond~

[byrdie]

Bottle ~ Boy, am I having trouble describing this scent. If band-aids smelled good and sweet, they'd smell like this? Perhaps the way a good chai spice mix smells before diluted? I dunno. It's nice and sweet, but has a slight medicinal sharpness to it.

 

Wet ~ A very sweet cinnamon and nutmeg scent, I guess. There is something that this is reminding me of, but I can't put my finger on it.

 

Drying ~ For something so sweet and heavy, it's lightening up with a bit of ... maybe citrus, or something similar.

 

Drydown ~ Earlier, I was tempted to say that this had amber or a resin in it, but I resisted. Then I went back and looked at the description because I was having so much trouble describing this scent, and discovered that it contains dragon's blood. That makes sense. On me, though, it's coming out as far more sweet and foody than the description suggests.

 

Dry ~ Interesting scent. When it lightens, it really lightens. I can't even wave my wrists near my face and get the scent. Wow. If I put my wrist right up to my nose, I can still smell this oil on the skin to which I originally applied it. The other wrist, the one I rubbed the prime wrist against, only has the memory of something sweet happening.

 

Fade ~ The stronger wrist is just starting to suggest the plasticy side of a resin scent. The other wrist is still pleasantly vague.

 

Final thoughts ~ Thus far, my favorite of the Wanderlust series. I'd probably get another imp of this one, as it's quite pleasant; but it's not screaming "big bottle" at me.

[The Ace of Spades]

In the bottle: Tintagel smells, on first sniff, like spicy berry pie and mulled wine with some herbs.

 

On application: This one made it to my Favorites list on first wearing. I got several compliments on how scrumptious it smelled on me, and it took on a very diverse selection of notes, all of which smelled wonderful. It lingers, but it's not strong -- it's a very comfortable, warm, spicy scent on me. This smells how I always imagined Samhain would.

 

It morphs as I wear it, and all the notes make their voices known, but the slight sweetness of the dragon's blood stays with it throughout. Dragon's blood loves me, and I love this.

[Gin]

Tintagel is spicy and sweet with a green edge. The greeness of the fades into a spicy cinnamon. It's very festive! I just wish that my skin didn't intensify the cinnamon so much.

[aurianrose]

Another smell that I fell in love with almost instantly...

 

I agree with everyone else. It is a very Christmas-y scent. However, I think it would be fabulous to wear year-round, but especially in the winter. It was very spicy and warm and comforting. I don't think I've ever smelled a perfume that made me have such a sense memory like this one did.

 

Amazing, amazing!

[linaerys]

The most noticeable note for me is mulled wine, but it definitely has something herbal and dark underneath it. The leather isn't something I can really pick out, but it deepens the overall impression. It is a spicy winey cidery scent to me, but not too alcoholic like Centzon Totochin or Wanda.

 

I guess it is a little Christmasy, but it is also kind of woodsy. I think this is one of the best-crafted scents the lab has created--everything balances perfectly!

[sarahjay]

I just wiped a little on my arm to try this (not on a pulse point) oooh - it doesn't just smell tingly - my arm is tingly! I don't think I'd better wear this in the crooks of my arms....

 

oh this is lovely, spicy, warm. it is a christmassy scent, but I would wear it when I want to feel warm. it reminds me very much of Lush's Chai shower gel and I think it would be lovely after a bath with one of their seasonal products like christmas cracker bubble bar slice.

 

I'm not sure if I need a big bottle, but I'll hang onto the imp. DH likes this a lot

[voodoobaby]

In the bottle: Spicy and red! A floral scent lies underneath, with a little bit of fruitiness.

 

Wearing: This takes a little bit to warm up on my skin, but once it does a lovely cinnamon type scent comes forth. I put it on this morning, and my friend said to me, "Mmm, something smells like those cinnamon thingies you get at Taco Bell." It does, but it's much richer and juicy.

 

Later: Has a vague lipstick smell to it, and a wee bit potpourri, but I'm definitely not complaining. Finally, a spicy scent that isn't foody! My only complaint is that it doesn't last long enough. That and I was wanting there to be more leather. Maybe I could layer it with De Sade--I think it would be a lovely combination. Definitely keeping the imp.

[britgeekgrrl]

In the bottle: YOW! Sweet candy smell! Maybe too sweet? Let's find out...

 

Wet: Some of the sweetness faded immediately, and a strong spicyness (cinnamon?) became apparent. Uh-oh. I'm not real keen on cinnamon. But it's not too strong, and there's other things going on that suggest I should wait a bit...

 

After an hour: Oh. My. God. I love this. I can't quit inhaling my own wrist. It's dried down into a warm, rich, very sexy scent. Spicy leather (but not TOO leathery) and almost fruity (I guess that's the 'mulled wine' bit kicking in)

 

I really like this one, once it's dry on my skin.

 

Unfortunately, my cat loves it too. Like, really, really loves it. Like licked my wrist raw and started nibbling on my skin. Have the BPAL folks come up with a substitute for catnip? I'm not entirely sure how often I'll be able to wear this scent - not wanting to be eaten by my cat, and all - but I'm definitely going to hang on to my imp and do my best to wear it again...

 

- Johanna

[brownbat]

This scent was very reminiscent of a very sweet, spicey room freshener. It wasn't particularly bad, but it also wasn't really doing it for me, so I swapped it.

[Moonpuff]

Mmmmm Yummy.

 

In the bottle it was fruity and candyish.

 

When I put it on - it totally morphed into a yummy spicy cinnamon scent. It tingles a little but no red spots so we're good. It screams fall harvest to me. I imagine sitting inside on a crisp night surrounded by a festive feast.

 

Unfortunately, it also screams candle to me. Yet...it's still soooo yummy I might have to big bottle it. We shall see, shall see. The big bottle wishlist is quickly becoming rediculously large.