Manogi

Thanks to the dear @Jolanda12 I was allowed to test this fragrance. She has praised him in the highest tones. And she has not promised too much.

It is not even a particularly complex fragrance. A scent progression I could not perceive practically. But the fragrance has character. He triggers feelings with me. That makes him special for me.

If I had to describe it, I would most likely say that it smells like old books. I can see myself in a library browsing through yellowed works. "Shooting Stars - Amber Star | XerJoff" has something sweetish about it, which I attribute mostly to the ylang-ylang and benzoin. But there is also something for which I have no words - except "old books". I have a hard time identifying the individual scents that make up this impression. It could be the myrrh, but also the gujak wood or the opoponax, which I actually don't like - or all of them together. I don't know Gurjan balsam. But that doesn't really matter here. The overall composition is fascinating. It strikes me as a tamed "Animalix | Aaron Terence Hughes". The scent is more pleasing, as it also has a certain sweetness, but radiates the same atmosphere for me.

Remarkable is the durability. The was loosely 24 hours. Sprayed on the hand I could smell him even after washing hands. The sillage is also neat.

Who likes fragrances that are somewhat out of the ordinary, but still very portable, I can very much to the heart "Shooting Stars - Amber Star | XerJoff" once to test. The price is horrendous though. It is apparently only available as a set with "Shooting Stars - Star Musk | XerJoff" for almost 700 €. The fragrance is great, but whether that is justified, I dare to doubt.

The dear @DieKoenigin has left me a huge bundle of samples and bottles. I probably need months to test it all. Thank you very much! Among them was also this fragrance.

Who knows me, knows that I find citrus fragrances usually boring. Here, however, it behaves completely different. Already at the first spray my nose meant "interesting!". There was something else resonating besides the lemon - which, by the way, is very well done and not at all synthetic to me. At first, I wasn't clear what until my nose called out "black tea!". So I looked at the scent notes, and lo and behold, Ceylon tea. I'll neglect the wood for now, because I can't really smell that out. But this combination of sweet and sour lemon and tea I find quite exciting. Sure, tea drinkers know that. But as a fragrance it is something special again. Ceylon tea is also said to have an aftertaste reminiscent of citrus fruits. In this respect, this would be the optimal "Marriage" of these two fragrances (Marriage refers in the jewelry trade a newly manufactured piece from two pieces of jewelry, which is coherent in itself as a single piece).

The sillage is, at least worn on clothes, ok, although not outstanding.

The last stop on my zoo visit is to see the pandas. The bears live here in an outdoor enclosure.

Right when I arrive, a fresh, sweet apple smell hits my nose. This indeed comes from a large pile of apples that has been spread out in the enclosure and over which the two are feasting with relish. In the wild, pandas eat mainly bamboo. But in captivity, they are also very fond of fruits like apples.

Besides the smell of apples, it smells like damp earth. I hardly notice the inherent odor of the animals against it. I watch them still a while eating and admire their cute faces. Then I make myself on the way home.

"Panda (2017) | Zoologist" is so far the most pleasing of the Zoologists I tested. It starts fruity-green with a dominant apple. It's not quite my cup of tea. Not that I don't like it. I find it rather unspectacular.

With time, the earthy notes then set in with, which give the whole yet a more interesting touch. This fragrance is missing, however, in contrast to the other Zoologists tested by me, entirely Animalik. Although civet is listed as a fragrance note, but it does not really noticeable.

If someone were to ask me for an entry-level fragrance from the Zoologist series, I would recommend "Panda (2017) | Zoologist" to him. Especially since the durability is good. The sillage could be a little better.

Now it was the turn of the rhinos during my visit to the zoo. They were in the indoor enclosure, which I immediately entered. Immediately a pungent smell crept into my nose. This place must have been cleaned recently. The alcoholic cleaning agent was still in the air. I felt a little woozy. But the closer I got to the animals, the more it was displaced by a leathery scent, with a faint aroma of manure mixed in. I assumed that the leathery impression came from the animals' skin. However, it was not as exciting here as it was with the macaques and the elephants, so I left quite soon.

With this fragrance I do myself difficult, which is why the review took quite a long time. Not because he would be bad. On the contrary. But the top note is somewhat out of the ordinary compared to the others. It is as it reads, very sharp and alcoholic.

After about half an hour, however, this largely settles. Then the leather in particular comes out, accompanied by a smoky note, I assume from the incense. Together, this gives the impression described in the story leathery rhino skin with some dung.

In the base note dominates for me my beloved Laotian oud, which really comes out very well and seems authentic.

Overall, I like the fragrance very much, and again it fits the animal very well. Again, it has managed to create a certain animalic without animalic notes. However, it is not as complex as, for example, "Macaque (2016) | Zoologist" or "Elephant | Zoologist". The longevity is good. The sillage could be a bit better. It remains quite close to the body.

During my visit to the zoo, where I also met the little "Elephant | Zoologist", I of course also looked at the apes, because I am also particularly fond of them. Today the rhesus monkeys were in the outdoor enclosure. When I approached them, it was feeding time. There were apples, the sour smell of which immediately got into my nose. This smell mixed with the wet earth, because it had rained. And of course the monkeys themselves were also emitting their typical animal scent. I watched the animals for a while as they squabbled over the food. But then something special happened. One monkey looked at me for quite a while. I looked back and wondered what was going on in the little guy's mind. Then suddenly he grabbed a piece of apple, jumped to the edge of the enclosure and held it out to me. Of course, because of the distance, it was impossible for me to accept the apple. I smiled and tried to convey to him with gestures that it was not possible. After a while he moved away, obviously disappointed. I was a little sad that this attempt at contact could not succeed, but knew it was best for me and the animal. So I moved on to the next enclosure.

Thanks to @Alexxander, I'm able to test some Zoologist fragrances I'm still unfamiliar with at the moment, including "Macaque (2016) | Zoologist". Normally I find fruity fragrances dead boring. They don't excite me at all. Here it is different.

"Macaque (2016) | Zoologist" is fruity, but not in the usual way. First of all, the apple that dominates everything here is very tart. Moreover, I have the feeling that it has been sitting for a while and is no longer quite dewy. On the contrary. He seems musty.

In this sense, this Zoologist, similar to the "Elephant | Zoologist", is also animalic without wanting to be. For none of the notes, which are somewhat submerged except for the mandarin next to the apple, speaks for animalic. But I can certainly imagine this fragrance in the scene described above, which is fictional, but based on similar experiences with other apes.

Longevity and sillage are good here, unlike "Elephant | Zoologist". I hope that the reformulation, which there will probably be, as I read here, will not change the character of the fragrance too much. Because again, it fits perfectly with the eponymous animal.