Zoologist
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
Mandarin and apple explode across the skin with that distinctive ozone crispness, all bright acidity and almost metallic freshness, whilst osmanthus adds a delicate floral sweetness that feels constantly at war with the fruit's aggressiveness. The tea note weaves through like smoke, immediately hinting that this won't be a straightforward citrus experience.
The bamboo emerges as the cooling agent—earthy, slightly woody, with an almost herbal quality that pushes the fragrance away from fruity gourmand territory into something more contemplative and green. Patchouli and iris create shadowy undertones beneath the jasmine, which refuses to bloom prettily but instead sits husky and somewhat aloof, whilst amber begins providing a warm, almost dusty backdrop.
The civet and musk create a skin-hugging base that leans surprisingly animalic and intimate, whilst sandalwood adds a creamy, almost cosmetic quality. Vanilla emerges last, softening what came before into a gentle, slightly woody-sweet finish that feels faintly nostalgic—as though you're smelling the memory of a forest rather than the forest itself.
Zoologist Panda arrives as a peculiar paradox: a fragrance that insists on gentleness whilst teetering on the edge of chaos. Christian Carbonnel has crafted something genuinely difficult to categorise—not quite a gourmand, not quite a fresh floral, but rather a disorienting collision between a pristine bamboo forest and a fruit bowl left in afternoon sunlight.
The opening assault of mandarin and apple against ozone creates an almost aggressive brightness, as though the perfumer wanted to replicate that crackling moment when you bite into fruit, but the osmanthus and magnolia arrive like a velvet glove thrown over a fist. There's something unmistakably green about this fragrance—not the green of crushed foliage or petrichor, but the verdant, almost plastic-tinged green of fresh shoots and young leaves, courtesy of that bamboo heart.
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3.4/5 (97)