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Narth
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Hello Friends, it’s Narth here reminiscing about one of my longest holy grails of scent. Not a particular bottle, but an idea in my head. I’m sure we’ve all had them, seeking a rose with that cold water dewy note, the patchouli that was the loamiest of loamy earth, actual salt (still never found that one). When an idea of a scent is stuck firmly in your head it can seem that nothing ever quite fulfills that desire. Some years ago mine was GREEN COCONUT. I loved coconut so much but I absolutely did not want to smell like a baked good. Smelling like a baked good sells, as can be seen by all the etsy scents, candles and perfume oils promising you will be wrapped in the warm aromas of a glazed brioche almond muffin with berries. People like this stuff and a lot of products do a very good job of replicating the decadent deliciousness of baked sweet treats. Sadly though I don’t have much of a sweet tooth either on my plate or my skin. My hunt for green coconut was constantly thwarted by vanilla.
My green coconut search did have a few hits. Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess was kind of okay, but it was more reminiscent of suntan lotion than that sharp, husky greenness of freshly opened coconut. The Body Shop had an extremely excellent coconut body cream which I went through multiple bottles of but despite their products having excellent sillage I am still a perfume person and I wanted that scent in a bottle. Their edt’s were flat, sour and ephemeral in comparison. For years I thought about what exactly my green coconut should smell like. What I really wanted was a coconut version of L’Artisan’s Premier Figuier. That slightly bitter, lactic, vegetal fig without a sugar stick in sight only not fig, coconut!
Zoologist Elephant 2017
Chris Bartlett
Top: Tea Leaves, Darjeeling Tea, Magnolia
Middle: Cocoa, Coconut Milk, Incense, Jasmine, Woods
Base: Amber, Musk, Patchouli, Sandalwood
In Zoologist Elephant I have now found what I believe is the closest I will get. I’d like the coconut to be more dominant but the coconut that is in there is gloriously, fragrantly, green!
Zoologist Elephant is a raw, linear scent that anyone seeking more more more green will appreciate. There’s the intense vegetation, the crushed coconut mixed underfoot with earth and broken leaves. It’s lactic. It’s cold. It’s not screechy or in your face. I wish I got the humidity some people mention, I wish I was truly in the jungle but for me this is a cooler clime sedate fragrance. If you’ve enjoyed green scents but find the vintage ones like Estee Lauder’s Aliage too intense or grating this may well be your answer. Zoologist fragrances often take me back to older era scents but they’ve been retooled and the more abrasive elements are gone, replaced by something quirky. I’ve been wearing Elephant for several days and I’m looking forward to trying it in the heat. But for now I’m happy that a decade old desire has unexpectedly been satisfied.
Have you had a note you’ve been searching for, ever hopeful you’ll find exactly what you dream of?
Bye for now, Narth xx
Australian Perfume Junkies 
YAY for finally finding the one you looked for Narth. This brand has been one of the most successful new houses to come from within the perfume community. There are so many scents in the line now, and often by perfumers I really admire.
Thanks for introducing me to Elephant.
Portia xx
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Most of them are complex and interesting to think about I’ve found. So far my clear winner is Bat 🙂
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Hi Narth, I was lucky to lay my hands on some Zoologist samples a year ago. It is interesting that some of them share this milky, ozonic and earthy quality, like a humid mossy wood. Elephant is one of them and the others are Dragonfly, which is a bit sweeter and Panda, one of my favourites. The green in Zoologist perfumes is soft, rounded and I like that a lot.
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Hi Neva 🙂
I am very fond of the earthy element, found some of that in Moth as well. I do like the greens in the line very much, I feel like a lot of thought has been put into them which sounds odd because of course thought is put into any perfume.. but there’s a lot of subtleties in Zoologist.
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I haven’t fallen in love with any of the Zoologists yet, but I’m hoping Bee will be it, as I love honey. My holy grail honey scent right now is Slowdive by Hiram Green. Not expecting Bee to dethrone it, but Slowdive is more of a cool weather scent for me, and I’m hoping Bee will be the summer version.
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I’ve sniffed Slow Dive but haven’t yet sampled it. Honey is a tricky one, I feel like it’s somewhat unexplored territory in perfume compared to other notes.
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I also do not want a perfume to smell of baked goods. I love coconut though and it sounds like Elephant is worth a try. Thanks. To answer your question, the note is roses. I have found some great rose perfumes, but have not yet found the one. I’m sure it’s there somewhere. It will probably surprise me when I do find it, just like I accidentally and recently found my holy grail iris scent, SL Iris Silver Mist.
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I have a lot of rose perfumes that I deeply love but I would still say I am extremely picky about rose. I hope you find your holy grail some day, it’s an amazing thing when you do. Iris Silver Mist is lovely.
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Hi Narth, I have a sample of Elephant that I’m rather attracted to – i find it quite ‘green’ and earthy and maybe its the tea that’s interesting. Cant say i get the coconut but its really intriguing and quite a change from my usual scents. I think in the heat Elephant would be lovely. I do adore Camel, and keen to give Beaver another serious trial. I find of the Zoologist scents I’ve tried they have many layers – like Moth.
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