Hyrax 2018

Hyrax by Zoologist
Bottle Design:
Jules Dinand, Pierre Dinand
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6.6 / 10 228 Ratings
A perfume by Zoologist for women and men, released in 2018. The scent is animal-spicy. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is still in production.
Pronunciation
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Main accords

Animal
Spicy
Resinous
Earthy
Leathery

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
Elemi resinElemi resin Pink pepperPink pepper SaffronSaffron Turkish roseTurkish rose
Heart Notes Heart Notes
HyraceumHyraceum StyraxStyrax HyacinthHyacinth WhiskyWhisky
Base Notes Base Notes
CastoreumCastoreum AmberAmber CivetCivet SandalwoodSandalwood BenzoinBenzoin PatchouliPatchouli Tonka beanTonka bean

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
6.6228 Ratings
Longevity
8.7188 Ratings
Sillage
8.2189 Ratings
Bottle
8.6181 Ratings
Value for money
6.895 Ratings
Submitted by Franfan20, last update on 08/19/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Leather Oud by Dior
Leather Oud
Oud Mood Elixir by Lattafa / لطافة
Oud Mood Elixir
Imperial Oud by Al Haramain / الحرمين
Imperial Oud
L'Oudh by Tauer Perfumes
L'Oudh
On The Road by Timothy Han Edition Perfumes
On The Road
I-II Montecristo by Masque
I-II Montecristo

Reviews

11 in-depth fragrance descriptions
10
Pricing
10
Bottle
9
Sillage
10
Longevity
10
Scent
Nestorov

1 Review
Nestorov
Nestorov
Helpful Review 4  
How it should be
HYRAX
by Sven Pritzkoleit
This beauty of a fragrance carries the name of the primal animal called Hyrax. There are speculation that the closest relatives of this tiny mammal are the elephants, but no proof was found. Or rather, I didn't stumble upon any proof. There are several different kinds of Hyraxes but the focus of this fragrance is on the species known as Stone/ Rock Hyraxes. These simple creatures rely on the blazing sun for body temperature regulation, and that behavior plays an important role in the story described told by the fragrance, aka sun-bathing. But the most important thing here is that Hyraxes produce minerals know as Afrikan Stone or Hyraceum which is used here as an ingredient giving the perfume a distinct smell. And also, they're adorable !
I don't know what's going on with the modern perfumery, but there's a great misunderstanding where people are calling this perfume unbearable, difficult, heavy, daring. Sure, it's not an aquatic, it's not a "picking flower in the garden" type of scent. But, when we look into the history a bit, a lot of men's, and women's, wear had heavy, dirty, musky notes like civet and castoreum. So what happened? And this is important because this scent carries the legacy of the old, for me manly, scent of the past days where people had more balls to carry what they wanted.
Broad category of the scent profile:
Spicy, ambery, musky, animalic
Top notes: elemi, pink pepper, saffron, Turkish rose
Hearth notes: Hyraceum, Wiskey, hyacinth
Base notes: Civet, Castoreum, tonka bean, patchouli, amber, benzoin, styrax, sandalwood.
The fragrance starts off rather sharp, dirty, hiding nothing. It presents it self in the full light under the hot and blazing sun. The sharpness is from the elemi and pink pepper where they give of a green and sparkly edge to the fragrance. The saffron, rose and musk create this beautiful leathery, dirty animalic bed on which other notes will take shifts in presenting them selves.
Once the fresh and spicy opening settles, the saffron and rose step back, giving the fragrance texture joined by the powdery hyacinth giving off the impression of a dusty, dry, mineraly stones on which we lay and sun bathe with the little fellas. The musks are present all the way, from the start to the end of the fragrances lifecycle. During the mid of the scent, they step back a bit and introduce that boozy ambery hay like experience where you could quite imagine the picture of you and the little mammals. So comforting, so realistic. I'm most in love with this side of the and lucky for me, it lingers for quite a while.
When it comes to the drydown, the fragrance becomes quite daring again, the musks of Civet, Castoreum and Hyrax pop out again joined by rezony touches of benzoin, styrax and sandalwood giving of that sharp, cloudy, creamy, ambery paradise vibe. It smells so sexy, so inviting and yet repellent in the same time. You never know what you're getting into. So mysterious. So gorgeous!
When it comes to the time of the year when I would suggest you to wear it, I just have to say "Whenever you want". I wore it in the cold days, I wear it now in the hot days. It's perfect no matter the temperature.
The performance is beyond average, easily lasts over 12h on my skin. And projection is as it should be. And that's the most important aspect of this fragrance! Sven did such an amazing job creating such an animalic and daring fragrance but offending no one in your surroundings. Everything is just perfectly balanced. But if someone really is eager to approach you, they're in for a treat! (Haha)
0 Comments
5
Pricing
6
Sillage
9
Longevity
4.5
Scent
Smirky

455 Reviews
Smirky
Smirky
5  
Definitely Unique
Well that sure was unique. The opening is a bit rough - for me it was a harsh, synthetic mix of smells but not bad in the sense of me getting nauseous or wanting to scrub it off. It didn't take long (maybe about 20 minutes) for Hyrax to settle down to the scent that remained for the rest of the day. I didn't get a poo or pissy smell at any time. In fact, I was surprised at how not-challenging Hyrax is based upon its reputation. Is it wearable? Certainly, for a confident man. Really can't see a woman pulling this one off.

However, I'd never reach for Hyrax and most certainly will not be getting a bottle because of the way it smells. Not because it's offensive. To me, it smells like a feeble, artificial and synthetic attempt at a weak leather fragrance. It smells like a synthetic combination of leather and old, cracked vinyl. That is, vinyl in the sense of the flexible plastic material, not vinyl like new phonograph records. To put it another way, I'd reach for Hyrax on a day I wanted a leather scent, but there are just too many better leather scents than this. I guess this weak leather smell is actually the animalic smell. There would be some use for layering, I suppose.

Longevity is quite good with moderate sillage. Needless to say, sample before buying a FB.
0 Comments
7
Sillage
7
Longevity
4
Scent
Kurai

388 Reviews
Kurai
Kurai
3  
Not Pierre
His name is Pierre, from Africa. He has quite a reputation. Today I finally met him, after hearing all these legendary stories. For a moment I thought we were going to be buddies. But after a while of close interaction, he got on my nerves. I mean he got all rubbery on me and I hate that. Plus he got saffron, he is full of it. Turns out he is not quite the guy I thought he was. Not my Pierre.
0 Comments
6
Scent
PMRP12

37 Reviews
PMRP12
PMRP12
Helpful Review 1  
Funky rose tonka
I was most nervous (yet also excited) to try this one. The opening greeted me with that medicinal bandage vibe of Tauer L’Oudh, with a slight nod towards my arch nemesis, Slow Explosions (rose + saffron)—but thankfully without the immediate repulsion. Instead, I found myself surprised by how much I tolerated (and even began to like) the intensifying baked fecal and urine notes. I think the secret to its success was pairing that animalic funk with the warming and nutty sweetness of tonka and benzoin. Not something I’d ever wear out, but glad I got to challenge my nose with it.
0 Comments
Nose2nose

50 Reviews
Nose2nose
Nose2nose
2  
Musky, woody, leathery and surprisingly friendly!
Hyrax starts off a bit herbaceous and animalic. I mainly get the spicy, almost leathery saffron and something I can only describe as ‘sweaty hay’ from the opening. It quickly turns into a nice dry 'leather and wood' scent that worked particularly well on the men that have tested it with me, more than on my own skin. It's woodier than I was expecting based off the notes.

After about 20-30 minutes, I get warm, almost boozy amber, soft florals and sweet Tonka bean - all very nicely blended with the steady undertone of soothing musky notes.

To me Hyrax is a pleasant, well balanced scent. Not a scent profile I get super excited about for myself (compared to some of the other Zoologist fragrances) but I think it works well on the male members of the animal kingdom.

For more scent thoughts (and glimpses of my daily life with my dog), find me on Instagram @melanie.buist
0 Comments
More reviews

Statements

14 short views on the fragrance
TheDunkPapaTheDunkPapa 5 months ago
9
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
9.5
Scent
OBVIOUSLY the poorly rated animalic fragrance is a winner! Stinky musk and leather, spicy, boozy amber - VERY elegant! Cuoium, but "pretty".
2 Comments
EliseooEliseoo 7 months ago
9
Bottle
9
Sillage
10
Scent
this is good shit.
0 Comments
BoBoChampBoBoChamp 5 years ago
9
Bottle
9
Sillage
9
Longevity
7.5
Scent
A rather boozy spicy-resinous AND challenging animalic (dusty) leathery Winter fragrance, balanced by warm earthy-woody base. Beast mode!
0 Comments
WusubiWusubi 2 months ago
10
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
9
Scent
Lives up to its name. Bitter, warm musk. Waxy rose, rubbery saffron shift into a parched base of boozy, medicinal amber and smoky leather.
2 Comments
SamasamaaSamasamaa 6 months ago
Awawa… awawa.
1 Comment
LgsoltekLgsoltek 5 years ago
7
Bottle
0
Scent
Up close it smells transparently peppery, like something’s hollowed out. From a distance it just feels like an aura of shit around you.
0 Comments
ChrysopteraChrysoptera 3 months ago
6
Bottle
6
Sillage
6
Longevity
4
Scent
Sweet plastic and gerbil piss...
0 Comments
AntroAntro 5 months ago
9
Bottle
8
Sillage
9
Longevity
8
Scent
Boozy and animalic with spicy hints. I like it
0 Comments
VsakegaVsakega 2 years ago
Leathery, dusty animalic. Smells like a desert animal. Definitely expected something more poopy but it's just a normal strong animalic frag.
0 Comments
Syzygy73Syzygy73 5 years ago
This reminds me of fart spray from a joke shop. Sweet fecal notes combine with stringent animalic notes. Interesting but not for me.
0 Comments
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Images

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