Exploring New Scents #16 | Zoologist: Orchid Mantis
She is here--Orchid Mantis!
I have a soft spot for Zoologist floral fragrances. I am the proud owner of Hummingbird and Nightingale and love them both dearly. I was curious to see how Orchid Mantis would line up with these other two beauties!
This one is big on florals if you read the notes, so imagine my surprise when I was hit by a really strong basil note--it's strong! I wasn't sure how I was going to explain this to my seat mate on the way into the city. The basil really comes in strong with a slight whiff of pear. Come on florals, come on!
After about 15 minutes, my wish came true. The basil took a backseat allowing the rose, ylang ylang and Queen of the Night to step forward. To be honest, at first, I was confused by what appeared to be a sweet honeyed, white flower. This one was new to me, but after much research, it was indeed Queen of the Night which some describe as a cross between gardenia and magnolia. This is a perfect description of what I was smelling. Once this comes through, it's heavenly.
This one is really floral forward, but there always is a slight hint of basil lurking in the background to ground it. The basil never fully goes away so if you don't care for basil, this may be a deal breaker. After an hour, the musk starts to come forward on my chemistry, but my skin loves musk so this may not be an issue for you. It's not too much of an issue, but it does "dirty" up the scent a bit.
The longevity wasn't the longest for me, especially on the skin. It tended to last 3.5 hours, but on clothing it did last long 4-5 hours but very light. The basil, Queen of the Night with a mix of green being the main star.
To be honest, on the dry down, this one reminded me slightly of Hummingbird for some reason. After researching it, I think the Queen of the night mixed with the rose and ylang ylang created a similar dry down. Especially as Queen of the night has a slight sweet honeyed scent. I adore Hummingbird, so I wasn't upset about it, but as I prefer Hummingbird, it made me long for it a bit as I prefer the sweet floral without the basil.
I really do enjoy Orchid Mantis, but I don't know if it's so unique that you would need Hummingbird and this one. Hummingbird is floaty and sweeter, while Orchid Mantis is more grounded due to the basil. I really would suggest getting a sample of both to see which one works best for you.