Camel (2017)
by Zoologist Perfumes

There's an entire genre now based on clones of Hermes' Ambre Narguile, with its fruity, ashy pipe tobacco over vanilla amber, and Camel is Zoologist's contribution.

The trick behind these is a mix of cedar, honey, and chamomile, which combine to create that pipe tobacco illusion. Camel mixes things up by really amplifying the cedar. It starts off as strong, hamster cage cedar topped with fruit and citrus and spiced with clove. Given time, the honey warms up and brings in the pipe tobacco vibe.

I'm a little torn. I'm honestly quite tired of these, but Camel does stand out in a pack of smellalikes, but it stands out because of the cedar, and I just don't like cedar that much. Anyway, I'm going to vote neutral and move on...

Zoologist are interesting and their USP seems to be a fleeting photorealistic animal from the title of the cologne materialise right in front of your eyes. Spray it and just for a split second you feel you are in blinding zero humidity sunshine with rolling sand dunes for miles around you and a fetid smelling camel appearing out of the haze. After the surprise but before you have a chance to wince its gone as if it was a mirage.
I had high hopes for this after all the reviews of rich resinous, incense, fruity etc.
Nope.
After the brief opening gimmick which let's face it is not pleasant -and you are not going to wow your girl friend with it unless it smells better than you do already, you are left with a mild spicy leathery smell, not too strong, not too interesting or pleasant but it lasts for hours.

Fragrance: 6.8/10
Projection: 8/10
Longevity: 8/10

Camel is really nice, the dried fruit is dark, sweet, and something I've never smelled anywhere else. They do a great job of matching the imagery they put forward. It does go a bit animalic at the beginning but that calms down within 30min. My only real complaint is the longevity, it's only a few hours but IMO it's still worth it. Definitely give it a sample.

Lots of balsamic dates and resin, powder and spices. Smells like Arabic sensuality, it's intoxicating. Like all Zoologist fragrances, it does a fine job invoking the image of the animal it is modeled after: hot and dry, steady and reliable. I say that with some reservation, as I find this to be the safest of the Zoologist I've smelled so far, and not necessarily in a good way. The drydown makes it a bit of a sweeter scent, tonka and vanilla rising to meet the top notes.

This is very unisex: I find it dry and woody enough to be considered masculine, while sweet and sensual enough to be feminine. The longevity is OK (5-6 hours, 2 hours as a skin scent) and the projection is just OK as well: below average for the line.

The bar is very high for Zoologist given their history, and I do believe this scent hits the mark: if you are expecting daring with this, however, you may be disappointed. The definition of a good "date night" scent, perfect for any occasion.

8.5/10

The opening on this one is really fantastic to me. It starts off with a blast of sweet fruits and smokey incense mixed with a little bit of rose and cinnamon, amazing. I can also detect some woods and amber as well, which makes for a really warm and complex scent. It is definitely one of the better openings that I've had the pleasure of smelling in some time.

However, about 30 minutes in all of that fades away to a pretty simple drydown of musk, vanilla, tonka bean and civet. This doesn't smell bad, but it does feel a bit muted despite providing a nice warm, fuzzy feel. This brings me to my next point, which is that, on me, this does not perform all that well.

The fantastic opening only lasted about 30 minutes. I got about an hour of average projection before the scent reached "skin scent" territory. Following that, the scent lasted on my skin for maybe 5-6 hours total.

Overall, I do definitely think that this is one that is worth testing out. I just wish that the complex opening lasted a little bit longer and that the performance in general was a little bit stronger. This is one that I definitely find intriguing and will continue to test.