Zoologist Civet Eau de Parfum is the latest unique fragrance launch from our friends at Zoologist. Civet launched late last month and was an unexpected surprise after not one but two new launches from Zoologist that happened in November including one of my new favorites, Nightingale.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Civet and the note and name alone scared me a little. Basically the fragrance captures a synthetic civet note (Zoologist does not use animal products in their fragrance). If the idea of civet makes you cringe or raise a brow keep in mind it does make an appearance in many popular and cult favorite scents from Chanel, Guerlian, and more. If you’re unfamiliar with the note, allow me to briefly explain.

Ah yeah, ahem, well civet cats release a pungent secretion that marks their territories. Apparently when diluted with other notes, particularly florals and given time to age it actually adds warmth and body to fragrances. I won’t go into where exactly this “musk” is secreted from. The note has actually been replicated though in a synthetic form so, the idea is a little less gross than you might be thinking.

Let’s take a look at my thoughts and review of Zoologist Civet Eau de Parfum.

Shelley Waddington and Zoologist founder, Victor Wong are the noses behind the the stunning Zoologist Civet creation. You may recognize Shelley’s name for a few reasons. One being she has her own find niche fragrance house called En Voyage and the second reason is you might recall me mentioning my other favorite fragrance scent from Zoologist, Hummingbird, in my introduction of the brand as Shelley is also responsible for this fragrance as well.

I admit, I heard Shelley’s name and I had no reservations about purchasing Civet considering my love of her own house brands as well as my intense passion for Hummingbird. I knew it was bound to be special and it is.

Civet isn’t for the faint of heart as he’s a refined gentleman with a vintage air and a certain cloying warmth that travels with you throughout the day. If I close my eyes I can easily imagine Lord Alfred Douglas misting this on before a meeting with Oscar Wilde. It’s very much a fragrance that’s elegant, vintage, and truly glamorous.

I think the way Zoologist describes the scent can be a little intimidating with a promise of “raw, alluring, animalistic musks”. For me this opens up with a spicy floral element with a burst of black pepper, bergamot, and a spiciness that my nose is too novice to define. As it settles down a beautiful layer of floral notes emerge and if you concentrate hard enough you can pick some of them out particularly the spicy warm of carnation and tuberose. As it dries down further a slight incense-y warmth embraces you and the floral notes become even more complex courtesy clean vanilla, woodsiness, musks, oak, and coffee. Dare I say at this point the scent even reveals a slight sweetness. The fragrance is so well blended that you’ll never really capture the element of the civet note here but you will feel it’s presence as it enriches the perfume and gives it warmth and sensuality.

I can tell you all of these things but you might never full visualize or understand Civet until you smell it for yourself. For me it smells like an old worldly perfume. It’s a vintage scent that’s wrapped in a flare of notes that will bring you back to centuries past but with an edge that can only be described as modern sexy. It deserves mentioning that this is created with 25% concentrated perfume oil so the scent is strong with an incredible linger and throw. It’s a conversation piece that will have people leaning into you and asking, “What is that beautiful smell?”

Zoologist Civet Eau de Parfum does not disappoint and is another fine offering from this incredible niche fragrance house.

Well done, Zoologist! You’ve done it again.

A most perfect, vintage scent that with a complex and unique formula that’s sure to please indie and niche fragrance fans far and wide.

Muse Approved.

Try a sample of Zoologist Civet for $6 which can be purchased at etsy.com and from zoologistperfumes.com.

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Nightingale is one of two new fragrances that Zoologist Perfumes launched for Fall 2016. I purchased a sample recently of Zoologist Nightingale Eau de Parfum and I regret the purchase as I really should have picked up a full-size of this beautiful scent. But no worries, I can always place another order right?

Let’s take a look at Nightingale.

A few months ago I did an introduction post to Zoologist and I do urge you to read it as it is a great way to familiarize yourself with this wonderful indie perfume house before reading this review.

I really felt compelled to blind buy a large bottle of Zoologist Nightingale because I was taken in by the beautiful artwork gracing the bottle, the gorgeous pink hued juice inside it, and the the plum blossom chypre notes. I ended up playing it safe and purchased it along with a sample of the other new fragrance called Macaque, which I’ll tell you more about soon!

Nighingale might be better suited to a Spring release rather than a Fall one with her gorgeously complex floral notes but I’m not complaining and I’m just happy to have tried her and look forward to adding a full bottle to my collection. For me, Nightingale is a fragrance in the vein of Lush Ginger, Dianne Brill Eau de Parfume, Replica Lipstick On, and Frédéric Malle Lipstick Rose. She’s a complex old Hollywood glamour fragrance that makes you think of bright red lipstick and face powder housed in cut crystal jars. She’s every naughty pin-up girl from Bettie Page to Dita Von Teese and every elegant celebrity from Fay Wray to Greta Garbo. She’d be right at home sitting atop a mirrored vanity tray among vintage gold cased lipsticks and fluffy powder puffs.

I personally love fragrances like this as they have a very vintage feel and scent. But, be warned, not everyone will like how powdery this scent is and it might just be a bit too mature for some and quite powdery. But if you’re seeking unique, complex, and vintage you’ll adore this!

The fragrance’s inspiration doesn’t quite fit what it smells like to me. As I said above I get old world Hollywood from it but the creator, Japanese perfumer Tomoo Inaba, was inspired by Spring, flowering plum trees, and the songs of nightingales. The composition of this fragrance is unique and complex. This is a perfect presentation of everything I love about indie fragrance houses. Zoologist captures the spirit of something truly unique here.

One of the things that will capture your eye first about the fragrance is the beautiful blushing pink juice but what will keep your attention are the incredible notes. Nightingale misleads with fruity top notes such as apple, cherry, and citrus but the dominate floral notes prevail. The scent opens with a bold burst of violet which happens to linger well through the dry down. This note will instantly remind high-end makeup lovers of their most beloved Guerlain Meteorites. As it settles, muguet plays gently in the background with hints of plum and rose. My nose never quite catches the fruit notes here nor the warmer notes of amber and oud. Within 3 to 4 minutes a huge wave of powder takes over the scent. This will instantly remind you of some fancy vintage bath powder or a rice face powder but essentially, as a makeup lover, your nose and mind will likely make you think of lipstick. The chypre gives the scent a masculine edge but the violet leaf dominates and makes this a fancy, red carpet fragrance. It reminds me of standing in front of a mirror, uncapping my favorite Guerlain lipstick, and applying it to my lips. The scent of violet clings not only to my lips but also to the air around me and this is exactly where Nightingale brings me to.

When you want to feel a little fancy and a lot glam I’d highly suggest grabbing a bottle of Zoologist Nightingale Eau de Parfum. This is a keeper fragrance that will remind them of days of old.

Zoologist Nightingale Eau de Parfum is available from the Zoologist Etsy store at etsy.com or at www.zoologistperfumes.com. I highly suggest picking up Hummingbird as well! It’s a favorite of mine and very much worth grabbing up.

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How adorbs are these Kiko Blush Cocoa Shock Palettes? Available in four shade selections each palette holds two shades each. Kiko promises they have a lightweight, easy to blend powder formula that gives your cheeks a natural, fresh blushing look!

Best part? They smell like sweet vanilla! How cool is that? Hopefully the scent is stronger than the Too Faced Grande Hotel Cafe Set though!

By the way, new Zoologist Perfumes launched today! More info below!

As you can see these come housed in a cute chocolate bar compact with each containing two complimentary baked blushes. The price is $18 bit promo code TAKE20 gets you 20% off your total order at kikocosmetics.com today only!

I really need these in my life!

How about you?

By the way, off the topic of makeup and onto the topic of perfume…Today, Zoologist Perfumes launched two new fragrances on their site! I was very tempted to order both full sizes but I ended up playing it safe and ordering samples. The first one is called Macaque and it contains notes opening notes of Cedar, Green Apple, and Red Mandarin with a middle note of Frankincense, Galbanum, Honey, Rosewood, Ylang Ylang, and Jasmine Tea. The base and dry down is Cedarmoss, Green Tea, White Oud, and Musk. Guess who the perfumer is for this one? Sarah McCartney! Very cool as I happen to be a huge Lush fan and most important a 4160 Tuesday fan girl!

The second fragrance is called Plum Blossom Chypre. The blushing pink juice is what drew me to this one. This contains opening notes of bergamot, Lemon, and Saffron with middle notes of Japanese Plum Blossom, Red Rose, and Violet. the dry down notes are Oud, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Moss, Frankincense, White Musk, Labdanum, and Ambergris.

Both are available in full size or sample sizes at www.zoologistperfumes.com.

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Ready to dig deeper into niche fragrances? I thought I’d do an introduction to Zoologist Perfumes today because it happens to include two of my favorite niche fragrances (Hummingbird and Bat). I also wanted to tell you how you could easily try all the fragrances in the Zoologist Perfume Collection without breaking the bank!

Let’s take a look!

I’m not fragrance expert but I know what I like! And I’ve wanted to share many of my fragrance likes on Musings of a Muse for a while now but I also didn’t want to bore anyone. I made a little New Year’s Resolution to myself that I would start sharing more of my fragrance choices on the blog in the hopes that it might help each of you to discover something new, unique, and different in the world of perfume.

Zoologist Perfume is high on my like list. This Canadian company has a slight fascination with animals and that comes through in their gorgeous perfumes which capture the behaviors of animals and transforms them into truly beautiful and unusual fragrances.

The Zoologist Fragrance Collection is made up five “animal” scents (don’t worry, no animals were harmed in the making of these perfumes) which are Beaver, Hummingbird (my fav!), Bat, Rhinoceros, and Panda. Each fragrance has a variety of notes with a nod to the animal they were inspired by.

I found many of the fragrance earthy and primal with the exception of Hummingbird which also happens to be my favorite blend from this fragrance house.

The interesting thing about Zoologist Fragrances is the fact they take you on a sensory journey. They are very complex perfumes which morph, change, and rearrange from the initial mist to the dry down and hours into the wear. They are a fragrance formula that you’ll be able to smell the top, middle, and base notes of. It’s not a quick mist of jumbled notes here. This is truly a sensory experience where the wearer is taken on an ever changing journey. So just when you think you’ve taken one path and you know the way home, suddenly there’s a twist in the road that brings you to a new adventure. The fragrances are complex enough that they are every changing! For example, I hated Bat with a passion when I first tried it. It instantly transported me to a cold, damp cave where hundreds of bats peacefully rested. There’s a damp, just turned dirt note that completely turned me off. But you can’t judge a book by their cover as they say because this morphs as it dries down and banana comes out to play in the background. Hours into the wear tropical fruits, sandalwood, and a soothing warmth envelopes me. Honestly, the initial mist made me think this one was a scrubber (scrubber: the act of misting yourself with a perfume, hating it, and running to the washroom to scrub it off). It surprisingly won me over with time and a little bit of patience.

This is how it is with all of the Zoologist Fragrances! Just when you think you’ve pegged them out they suddenly change and rearrange and becoming something else.

Now, as I said, many of these fragrances are very earthy and not at all to my liking, however, Hummingbird and Bat are two of my favorites and complete keepers. But you’re not going to want to blindly purchase either of those at $125 a pop without trying them first.

No problem! Zoologist offers all five of their fragrances for $25 in a sample set that includes 5 x 0.08 oz mist sprays so you can get down to seeing which of these are keepers.

If you are niche fragrance connoisseur already Zoologist might just be a brand you haven’t yet ventured into. Or if you’re just starting out into the world of niche perfumes, Zoologist is a great way to introduce yourself to something a little more unique and complex. It’s a brand that will definitely broaden your fragrance horizons.

Grab the sample set I mentioned within this post or any full sizes Zoologist Perfumes at www.zoologistperfumes.com.

Tried Zoologist already?

Share your favorites from the brand!

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