Bee not only earns its place as a finalist of the Art and Olfaction Awards (2020), but is also Zoologist’s most popular fragrance. It is easy to see why Bee is the people’s choice, with its gorgeous hyperrealistic honey note that works the entire body of this fragrance, this sticky fluid capturing a vast span of floral, woody, resinous, and smoky notes. It is a singular complexity, vibrant and buzzing. Civet, on the other hand, is bona fide complexity, surprising with its treatment of the civet note: exalting its vintage feel, its sultry richness, and its structural sophistication. It recapitulates the lessons of perfumery beautifully whilst producing a new scent entirely. Its note list is long, ranging potent spices, florals, resins, and amber notes, and the way it balances it all is deservedly worth praise.
Elephant similarly explores the range of creative potential afforded by its name. It is a staid yet powerful work that begins with an accord made up of 26 parts in order to replicate the aroma of rare Mysore sandalwood. Its creaminess is contrasted with a dry woody core, and this duality is the basis of this fragrance. A tropical rainforest both moist and dry, it is an image of elephants stampeding through tree leaves, coconuts, earth, and the occasional white petalled flower. A leafy green mixed with woods, Elephant is an unusual fragrance, but it is a resounding triumph.
Hummingbird makes Fragrantica’s list for the Best Indie Perfumes of the Last Decade, praised for its quirky creative appeal and its wearability. Hummingbird is high vibration, abundant and gorgeous, the bird gorging on florals and fruits. The notes in this fragrance are lustrous, enriched, yet natural: bursting notes of apple, cherry, lilac, plum, rose, and peony - to name a few - settle on a serious base of oakmoss flecked with vanilla, amber, and cream. Hummingbird is beguiling and dizzyingly joyous. Further, Koala is praised for its soapy qualities, placing on Fragrantica’s Best in Show list. It is a cross of botanical lavender soap with the cooling hit of a honey-eucalyptus menthol drop. This display dries down to a musk, that for many Australians, altogether evokes some of our greatest outdoor memories.
Finally, Squid’s perfumer Celine Barel takes the prize in The Fragrance Foundation Awards 2020 (Perfume Extraordinaire of the Year). Squid demonstrates exceptional competency and imagination. It is an evocative and brilliant ambery aquatic that never loses sight of its animal - creating its marine effects with a mix of incense, salicylates, and powerful ink and salt accords. Squid twists a conventional category, producing interesting effects. It is one of Zoologist’s most popular scents, and for good reason.
