Tintagel

[sarahj]

Tintagel

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.

 

in vial: dragon's blood, bayberry, and wine

 

wet: becomes warmer and woodsier...the juniper appears

 

dry: I mainly smell dragon's blood, berries, and vanilla (?)...long lasting (over 5 hours)

 

verdict: nice, but no big bottle required

[edenssixthday]

Tintagel is a warm, resinous, dragon's blood scent that turns almost immediately into spicy red soap when I apply it. It smells like wood and stone and oak and moss in the vial, but that soap thing just isn't going to work for me. I frimped it off to someone I hope will enjoy it more than I could.

[catrinella]

Imp: Dragon's blood and pine.

 

Wet: Cinnamon.

 

Drydown: The dragon's blood (which is sort of sweet on me) is sweetening up the cinnamon. Wafts of pine, juniper, bayberry mingled in the spicy. Smells like Christmas, which is odd given that it's nearly 90F outside.

 

1 hour: It's turned to cinnamon chewing gum with that same powdery overtone.

 

Verdict: Room scent, where I hope the conifers and spices would stay true and not turn to gum as my skin chemistry wants them to do. (Also? I really want gingerbread cookies right now.)

[couscous]

Ha! Tintagel, you little devil.

 

This is as craft store candle as you can get. STRONG cinnamon (it actually made red marks on my wrists- don't worry; they go away in no time and they are a badge of honor), mulling spices (definitely clove, maybe a tiny bit of orange peel), and a bit of pine. I'm not getting ANY dragon's blood out of this, but perhaps the lilac-like delicacy of that fantastic resin has been beaten into submission by bad, bad, red hot cinnamon...it's already giving me a slight headache.

 

It's tough to wear, to say the least. People WILL think you've sprayed yourself with a room fragrance.

 

And yet, for all of the strikes against it, Tintagel evokes the yuletide season like nothing else I've ever tried. Not even the yule blends have the power to transport me from these wretched days of July into happier times drinking with Johnny Mathis on the stereo. I love iTintagel for it's singular ability to be the total encapsulation of a mood and time.

 

I'll be looking for this little guy as the time approaches. Nicely done, Beth.

[Emma]

I had a suspicion that Tintagel wouldn't work on me as a perfume but being the sucker that I am for the Arthurian legends, I just had to give this scent a shot. Too tart and berry-ish, and mixed with the almost claustrophobic dose of dragon's blood, Tintagel is more of an educational lesson for me on my Bpal olfactory journey. Glad I tried it but won't be ordering this in a larger size.

[steffanina]

Tintagel-

 

In Bottle: My first impression of this is a whiff of female sexual musk. The kind that makes me say, "You gotta be kidding, it can't smell like THAT" and think it's gone off or something. Beyond that, there's a spicy blend I can't pick out any more than that.

 

Wet: More spice, less of that musk. I really can't pick anything else out.

 

Dry: Fades after a relatively short time, and the finish is unremarkable. I never got a mood from this one.

 

Overall: Unremarkable. My first swapper. Sigh!

[mountainwitch]

This one turns into a perfect mulled wine, flavored by a little smoke. Like a good red wine, this is a rich, full-bodied fragrance--at once woody, spicy, and sweet. It's a little too much for everday use for me, but it's going to be perfect for the right cold, gray autumn day.

[The_Merf]

Oh, it's my first real BPAL heartbreak!

 

In the imp: This smells great--I can pick up on the dragon's blood, the wine and general berry scents quite easily.

 

Wet: Whee! This is great--what a quintessential winter scent. It smells exactly like Christmas. It's a mix of old leather furniture, spiced wine and winter trees. The berries add a festive flavor. All is well...

 

Drydown and wear: I look at my arm. Eh? Welts?! I've tried all sorts of weird stuff, as well as many cinnamon blends, and I've never gotten welts before! They did not go away, and they even started popping up on places where I had not applied the oil. I had to scrub thoroughly, and it still took 3-4 hours for the welts to start going down.

 

What a shame. My sister gets lucky.

[maijasu]

I didn't look at the description before testing this one, and I really had a hard time picking out the notes. To me, it smelled herbal, slightly fruity, sweet, and light. There's something in it that smells almost minty, kind of like an herbal toothpaste (but not in a bad way). I kind of like it, but I don't know how much I'd wear it, so the verdict is: keep the imp but don't order a bottle. Yet.

[kraken]

In the Imp: Mmm, spicy wood and dragon's blood.

 

Initial Wet: VERY SPICY, mostly cinnamon. I'm not getting any dragon's blood, but there is the woodsy scent vaguely in the background. It definitely has a bit of sweetness to it, perhaps that's the wine or the berry.

 

Initial Dry: The spicy has died down a bit, but still definitely there. And... oh, could it be..? leather that isn't going badly instantly on me. Wow, and it really does smell like leather, like I've-been-wearing-a-leather-jacket-all-day-and-now-I-smell-of-it. *sniffs* Yeah, that's definitely leather. Wow, so that's what it smells like on skin.

 

Drier Dry: Mmm, a very warm, dry scent that makes me want to curl up in front of a fireplace with a book and a blanket. In fact, yes, that's what it smells like: sitting in a leather chair in front of a fireplace that's been fed with pinecones and cinnamon sticks and a large old hardcover book in your hands.

 

Wow, a leather and booze blend that doesn't go all nasty on me. I swear dragon's blood fixes everything!

[melrose]

On, wet: Mostly bayberry, a little juniper. Lovely and fresh, but I want more.

 

Near drydown: Holy Mother of Camelot, it evokes the time and place so well. Spicy, sweet, woodsy, fresh greenery, with smoke and stone in the background.

 

Drydown: Sweet spices, a trace of smoke. Lovely and bottleworthy.

Edited September 13, 2006 by melrose

[RaeiNarcissus]

In the bottle, it smells very interesting and woodsey.

 

On me, first, it smells of leather and trees.

 

Then, the cinnamon comes in very strong.

 

Then, slowly, the cinnamon fades into the backround as the leather comes back in, with the cinnamon still definetly there, and a few very pleasant notes playing in the backround. The spiced wine is definetly the most dominant note in this for me.

[buzz23666]

Gummy.

 

Wet - gummy cinnamon, vanilla and dragon's blood

 

Dry - I am surprised that the dragon's blood couldn't save this one for me. It is very syrupy and sweet - almost nauseating. I also get the mulled wine and the juniper.

 

All in all - not for me.

 

Ugh - and I have a bottle of this one.

[TrailerTrashPrincess]

impsniff: leather, dragon's blood and pine

 

skinsniff, wet: dragon's blood, bayberry and juniper

 

skinsniff, dry: dragon's bloody christmas.

 

a lovely blend, yummy and gorgeous. but nothing i'd wear for personal fragrance and not something i see myself needing as a room scent or tart-oil.

[ND¢]

This is very cinnamony on me, and what I think is the dragon's blood adds to the sweetness. The bayberry completes what, to me, evokes a holiday potpourri scent.

[aquazoo]

Fruity cherry orange start. Spicy fruit salad. Fades down into a less sharp, more pleasant scent. Just ok. Not sure I want to smell like a vat of mulled cider.

[PilotKitten]

Mmmm... this smells sooo good. It's like a berry wine with hints of dragon's blood in the background. It reminds me of a sweet Christmas-time drink. Spicy and warm.. almost like Big Red chewing gum. I'm surprised the woods in this haven't completely ruined it for me. This was a frimp from the Lab, it wasn't on my wishlist because of those scary woods, but wow, this is so great on me. WTG Labbies! This is why I love frimps. I get to try something I wouldn't normally have ordered. This will definitely be going onto the bottle list and I'm going to try it on my husband and see if it's just as good or better.

Edited October 21, 2006 by PilotKitten

[supremegoddessofall]

Pretty spicy goodness! Dragon's blood is amping up, but I can definitely smell the trees and herbals in the background. Another Chistmas-y scent.

[sofiaviolet]

I smell mulled wine and rotting leaves. Or else burning leaves, maybe. It's very autumnal, if you're into that kind of thing. Unfortunately, I'm just not.

[nemaihne]

I have to say, this one went from 'what was I thinking?' to become one of my favorite scents. My first whiff of it was insulin sweet, so I wasn't even going to try it. But it was such an interesting looking little vial with its blood red from the dragon's blood resin. So I did a test patch. Good choice. I'm now wearing it more than any other scent.

 

In the Bottle: Coff, coff. Boy is that sweet.

Wet: Cherry coke?

 

But the drydown:

Spicy, woody and the sweetness is a nice note in the background, keeping the scent from being too sharp. It's a little outdoorsy and a little yuletide, but mostly it's just cheerful. Very appropriate for this time of year (November) but I can see wearing it year round. I like it that much.

Edited November 15, 2006 by nemaihne

[Alchemy21599]

In the vial: very sweet, with a whiff of dragon's blood.

 

Wet: berries and dragon's blood.

 

Dry: Oh, cinnamon spiciness, yum. The leather never did come out, unfortunately. This scent was far sweeter than I expected. A nice scent, but it didn't knock my socks off.

[forspecial_plate]

This smelled sweet and spicy to me, really pleasant. I can smell the dragon's blood resin, spices, and maybe some faint woods. Then, as with most of the lab's scents that contain dragon's blood, this disappears almost completely within an hour or so. All that's left is a faint ghost of the sweet and spicy scent that I started with, and maybe just a little wine. I guess my skin eats up dragon's blood. On the plus side the juniper didn't bother me like it often does. But this doesn't last long enough to be worth keeping.

[kwsix]

In the imp: Bubble gum, leather, and wine

 

Wet on my skin: As soon as the oil hits my skin a rush of sweet sticky bubble gum hits my nose. It departs almost as soon as it came, and is replaced by sweet woods, a little spiced wine, and the barest hint of dragon's blood. It's so soft and subtle that I have to put my wrist up to my nose to smell it at all. It's Blood's pale, tentative, wallflower cousin.

 

Drydown: Same as above, but there's the tiniest hint of leather coming out now. It's a very pleasant scent, but it is so faint that I have to put my wrist right under my nose to smell anything. Within a half hour it's completely undetectable on my skin.

 

Overall: Tintagel is a warm, sweet, woodsy scent with a hint of spice, but it's too subtle and boring on my skin. I'm sure Tintagel could be lovely on someone with different skin chemistry, but I'll stick with Blood.

[selkielass]

In the bottle; very sweet and fruity

 

On- spicy. I smell the cinnamon, but it is tempered by something else. It is a hot cinnamon, like a cinnamon broom, but it is fading ito something like hot candle wax.

 

The sweetness is coming out again, but it is a resinous sweetness, not a foody or sugary one. THIS I like.

The pine is subtle on me, thank goodness since I am allergic to pine and too more than a whiff makes me edgy. This is just enough to make me think of christmas without being able to put my finger on exactly why.

 

It smells like a holiday display! Candles and berries and evergreen and cinnamon, oh my!

[monsteralice]

Wet: Leather, apple, a little wine.

 

Dry: Less leather, something sweet coming out, maybe the dragon's blood? Spicy and woody, the blend is so nice it's hard to pick out individual notes.

 

Finish: Soft and spiced.

 

Duration: Some wafting at 2 hours. Gradually fades until at the 4 hour mark I have to have my nose to my wrist to smell it.

 

I want to test this one on the Tall Guy. I like it, but it's not an attention grabber on me, and I think it might be on him.