Tintagel

[CrazyPretzel]

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 the imp: berries, a little cinnamon.

Wet on skin: oohhh.... there's a deeper spice coming out now which is...frankly arousing. Quite warm, a little bit of damp wood and flowers, tiny sliver of soapiness which I hope goes away.

Ye Gods, what is making this smell so good? Is it the leather? I'm leaning back in my chair for minutes at a time, sniffing my wrist with what can only be a ravished expression on my face.

Drydown: a little bit of a metallic note coming out now, but still very natural-smelling. This is utterly delightful.

It was a frimp with my last Lab order - I never would've picked this out for myself. But I adore it. Thanks, labbies!

ETA: I should mention that this reminds me a bit of The Hanging Gardens... Edited July 30, 2007 by Shollin

[JennyGardener]

Tintagel smells like Christmas in ye olde days, the way Christmas ought to smell. Mulled wine, warm cider, hearty laughter. There's a strong cinnamon smell to this blend. Both Faerygirl and I are now desirous of this blend for Christmastime!

[500ml]

Very underwhelming, I could barely smell anything! I could smell a faint metal overlayered by some sweetness. To me Tintagel was boring and even a bit bland, which made me just a tad sad as I'd really been looking forward to trying it out.

[darkblade]

Bottle: What the hell? Ghick. I think that's the dragon's blood. I almost don't want to even put it on, but things are often so different from bottle to skin, so here it goes...

 

Wet: Sweat, wine, and dragon's blood. .. ick.

 

Dry: The dragon's blood is overwhelming everything else. Bwar.

 

Verdict: Looks like I'm 0-4 tonight. Pass and swap pile.

[Czarina]

In the imp: evergreens. My daughter thought it was pine. Kind of nasty, actually.

Wet: Hm. Complex. Leather, metal, and the evergreens. I can pick out hemlock and juniper, dragon’s blood and bay.

Dry: A lovely, balanced scent. It smells –good- and it is hard to pick out individual notes now, although the wine and leather seem to come out a bit.

 

I desperately wanted to like this one because of its story and my enchantment with the Arthur legend. It did not disappoint. Brilliant scent.

[madeleine]

Tintagel is a wonderfully evocative scent that...can't make up its mind on my skin!

 

It starts out very herby - the junper, bayberry, etc - and clean in a way that reminds me of books like Wise Child. Herbs being thrown on the fire to scent smoke, thatched huts in Cornwall, one of the flashbacks in The Dark is Rising etc. The dragons blood takes forever to show up, but when it does it brings the spices - cinnamon? - in with it. The story stops being about "ordinary" people and becomes about warlords and ladies. There's a good deal of roughness to it, but these people have power from more than just ability. It's like a room being cleared for a returning soldier. Really reminds me of the film Becket, or anyway, the sets for the movie.

 

So I like Tintagel a lot, at least partly for what it makes me think of.

[MaidenGenevive]

Tintagel

 

First, mulled wine. Then just wine. Berries come in and become wine berries. The berries spice up, then does the wine. A spicy berry wine. Now a hint of warm leather. This is evoking weird imagery for me. It's like holiday spices with leather. A biker's Christmas, perhaps?

 

[2 - Dislike / 3 - Like] : I liked it up until the leather. I'm not into leather notes.

[Gwydion]

Leather and spicy fruit. Strange. Alas it fades quickly, so it's hard to get a good feel for it. It’s too delicate and faintly off. The wine is blending badly with the other elements..

[Kimbernunk]

In honor of spending the afternoon reading Gottfried von Straussburg's Tristan, I thought I'd give this scent a try.

 

It stunk in the bottle of something like damp, rotting branches, so I was expecting to hate it. And then I put it on and something really amazing happened: it went really sharp, spicy, very clear mulled red wine. It's glorious. As it's dried down over the past couple of hours, it's given me this incredible mental picture every time I sniff it: mulled wine being drunk by lots of lords and ladies in medieval garb who are forming the audience of a jousting tournament deep in a Cornish forest in Autumn - there are sweaty knights on their horses rejoicing in the smell of the air and the wine and the weather, which is typical Celtic mist with hints of sunshine breaking through. It's really, really, really lovely -- I MUST get a bottle of this. I'll have to try it on the fiance too if he's willing.

 

For me, this is a clear winner and will be on my next order. I love that I love it because I loved the idea of it so much, and it's just amazing. It's perfect for this time of year and will be lovely all the way at least through the December holidays... and then nice and warming when it's snowy in February. Wow.

 

5/5.

[starwild]

Whoo, baby! Tintagel loves me and I love it. In my quest for the Holy Grail of dragon's blood scents, of course I had to try this blend.

 

Imp: Sweet and slightly spicy.

 

Wet: I get leather, warm spice (the mulled wine?), something sweet--juniper and bayberry, maybe?

 

Drydown: Sort of cinnamon-orange, which I'm guessing is mulled wine (never had it before, woe!) It's very WARM, exactly as described, and complex. I can just about make out each of the listed notes, but can also take them in as a whole. My nose is getting confused between the woodsy scents and the dragon's blood, but they're both there.

 

Very, very nice. It doesn't have the bitterness some dragon's blood scents have, and the leather's not overpowering the way Dragon's Hide does on me. Overall, not quite as good as Red Moon, a lot stronger than my beloved Dragon's Reverie...I'd compare this more to Wrath or Rage, because of the warn spiciness, than the Ars Draconis scents.

 

PROBABLY not bottle-worthy, but will wear the imp. This is like a dragon's blood scent to wear during holiday feasts.

 

Also...this will sound weird...but it smells like the inside of a CRACKER BARREL. I'm not joking. And I mean that in a good way.

Edited October 21, 2007 by starwild

[pinkpepper]

I got this from shackjj. Thanks again!

 

In the bottle: Sweet red berries from a distance, cherry cough syrup up close. Hmmm . . .

 

Wet on skin: Blech. Cough syrup.

 

Dry on skin: Now there's something else coming in, something a little metallic and a little amber-y and very magical. Or maybe it's a few somethings. I think maybe I like it. . . . I can't decide!

 

Conclusion: I'm surprised this works on me, since both dragon's blood and leather hate me so. Not bad, but I'm undecided as to whether I'll be keeping it or not. One thing's for sure - it does smell like its description.

 

ETA: This has really developed into something comfortable and cinnamony. A spice for spice haters. I know I like it now.

Edited October 24, 2007 by pinkpepper

[TheOneTheyCallLuna]

In the vial: berries and mulling spices.

 

On the skin: I don't know, but it's reeeaaaalllyyy good! Mulled wine comes to the forefront, berries still going strong. Yet, there's some other smells intermingling now...soft, lush misty forests and yes a "magical tingle" of dragon's blood as well. This is a rich, spicy scent rife with an air of royalty. This is a keeper! 5/5

[aestien]

Bottle: craft store holiday potpourri

Wet: mostly bayberry and wine

Dry: still bayberry and wine, with enough juniper to make it seem like a cheap holiday scent

 

Meh. I wanted to like this one. I don’t think my skin likes bayberry or the wine note, as both go way too sweet on me. Not for me.

[synestheticheart]

Hmm...I wasn't crazy about this one.

In the vial: Strawberry

On my skin after two hours: Smells powdery...a little like heliotrope. There's a hint of musk as well.

 

Overall, the scent kind of bothered my sinuses. I gave it to a friend who absolutely loves the way it smells on her skin.

[akiko]

I had no idea what that would smell like, so I had to test it at will call last month. I liked it so much I bought a bottle.

 

Bottle: Fruity and spice, probably the mulled wine. This is what I wish red wine tasted like.

 

Wet: Changes a lot. Goes through a phase of smelling like cinnamon bubblegum (like Big Red chewed with Dubble Bubble, or Big Red soda, which is not-bubblegum.)

 

Dry: Something sweet and something spicy, which I can't quite define. Could be the mulled wine, could be the dragon's blood resin.

[RogueBelle]

I originally bought this in the summer, and while I liked it, I had to put it away then and bring it back out now. It's very nice, and very unique, but it's definitely a midwinter scent. It's the tree smell that does it, I think. I can't not think of December. The wine scent doesn't seem to come out on my skin -- the bayberry seems to linger the longest.

[megank4]

Definetely mulled wine. Maybe some berries. No leather. Nice. Quite Christmasy and definetely smells like a candle. Very strong.

[scarletgenesis]

I ordered Tintagel as an imp and just tried it out. Keep in mind that I have a nasty cold, so my senses may be a bit off right now. I like to try scents first without having the lab description in front of me, so that I can figure out how I think it smells before being 'influenced' by words, if that makes sense.

 

In the bottle: Woah...booze! Specifically, red wine. Maybe something like wet grass (or maybe moss?)

 

Wet, once applied: Still gorgeous red wine...red currants and cherries..also some pine maybe or moss?

 

Drying and Dry: the wine, cherries/currants, and piney scent still remain and now I'm getting mulling spices like cinnamon and cloves. There are also very brief notes of something metallic, making this a bit more martial.

 

In looking at the description, I think I did pretty well with identifying the scents. The pine I smelled was probably the juniper making its presence known.

 

This is really not at all what I'd expect from a scent called Tintagel, but its completely lovely! Very comforting and complex all at the same time. I want to wait to try it again when I don't have a cold, to make sure I still enjoy it. If so, I may order a bottle. I am finding myself loving several scents, and have not even tried very many of them.

 

Anyway, I believe this is another winner.

 

 

Edited to Add (1/5) - I tried this again today. While I still like it, I am getting a very spicey holiday potpourri scent now that I didn't get last time I tried this. Very cinnamon-y. I would bet that this would be lovely in a room scent. I wish the wine scent and red fruit that I got before were lingering more.

Edited January 5, 2008 by scarletgenesis

[maribouquet]

The first time I smelled Tintagel, months and months ago, I thought it smelled vomitously sweet on me. I never gave it a fair try or review though, so I'll do that now.

 

It is very sweet at first, mostly the mulled spicy wine, but after a moment I can smell the juniper/bayberry and the dragon's blood.

 

This is actually pretty nice in the dry-down, a little spicy and smooth, and the dragon's blood is minor enough that it hasn't (yet) gone to mothballs! Glad I gave Tintagel a second chance.

[MaeKitty]

In the bottle: Wine, berries and a floral

 

Wet: Berries, a very autumn sent...Very warm and sweet.

 

On Me: The floral is completely gone. I absolutely love this scent. It's a good one for comfort and strength for me. I adore Dragon's blood, and it's sitting there politely in the background, letting the other scents out to play. I don't get much cinnamon from this, though I can tell it's there with the leather, warming it up. It's a little woodsy. Fades very quickly on me, which makes me sad. Definitely a keeper. The wine sweetens it a bit, without being too much or floral. I think the "metal" gives it a bit of a tang, sort of coppery. I'll have to wear this one again and see what happens (I think my chemistry is affecting it). Absolutely lovely.

[ImperatrixMundi]

Lab Frimp, but always one I wanted to try.

 

For the first 20 minutes I could smell all the stuff listed in the description, it was amazing.

It starts with spicy mulled wine, then woods and evergreens come out and I can smell the leather and even a very metallic note in the background, like rubbing a coin and sniffing my hand afterwards. Musk and dragons blood must be there too but I cant separate them like the other components.

 

This stage is impressive and evocative but unfortunately not very stable. After too little time this turns into something that smells like tonka bean. I like tonka but this is not supposed to be it. Maybe I have better luck an other day with diferent chemistry. But this really makes me wish I had a locket to try it out in.

[UploadedLobster]

Faintly leathery and woody, but mostly that gorgeous sweet, sharp dragon's blood. And that's a big deal for me--I love dragon's blood, and whatever type the Lab uses usually goes to lilacs.

 

Lilacs = blech.

 

Tintagel = win!

 

It's definitely a studly sort of scent, all brash and resin-y. I love it immoderately, and am pathetically relieved to have found dragon's blood that actually smells like $%^$% dragon's blood for once.

 

 

Lobster Rating

better than: $^%^%$ lilacs

[taramarie]

On me, Tintagel is spiced wine with a hint of dragon's blood (plumeria on me), very nice. Unfortunately, it started to burn so I had to wash it off. Someone else can enjoy this.

[Northernskygal]

This is.. spicy.. I see why people say it smells like.. Christmas.. you know those little holiday crafty type stores you go in around the holiday season.. this is a very similar smell. It is not bad.. it is just.. not something I want to go around smelling like.. I think though, it would be stunning as a room scent come the holidays!

[Honeygirl]

Bottle: Wine and leather

 

Wet: Wine and leather along with herbs and dragon's blood. I don't get along with dragon's blood so I knew right away this wouldn't work on me.

 

Drydown: It's pretty spicy on me, actually. I don't mind it as much as most dragon's blood blends. Hmmm.

2.5 outta 5