Well I'm a little surprised not to see cloves in the notes, if not even as a cursory mention. I have a got of a problem with this fragrance though because vast swathes of it I don't enjoy. I don't hate cloves and actually I can Identify that this isn't quite a clove note it's a bit clovey but worse.... I don't know if that makes sense? The opening is a thumbs up, nice feel, fresh, musky, spicy and the notes don't give any clues as to what could be bothering me. It's just a concoction I'm not enjoying. This is the masculine counterpart to the Fem one, which let me just give you a spoiler...is FANTASTIC!!! I will try again and update, maybe it was my nose?

Is the name really so ironic? Herba London were gracious enough to send me the samples of the entire line so I can't be too harsh...haha...but they strike me as the kind of brand for Nathan Barley types. Even down to the branding which is a clever mixture of LeLabo, Byredo, Heeley and even newer still...Byron. I'm being careful not to sound too cynical because, whether they are aware of these brands or not.... clean, modern, sterility actually appeals to lots of people me included. So I hoped this perfume wouldn't be a disappointment and it isn't! Very competent and resembles something I would normally enjoy, smokey a little moody perhaps? Urban hipster opens with a biting pepper note and instant smokey vetiver. It's a dry, incense/woody perfume with all the dirtier side of sandalwood, a curiously modern tobacco which was only apparent when it had settled right down eventually drying down to a familiar warm resinous smell of old book amber and vetiver. Is this what imagine a hipster to smell of? Yes. Brief met as far as I'm concerned, but will real actual hipsters wear it? Either being so postmodern they can poke fun at their own social pigeonhole, which would actually be the kind of self aware, twatty thing that a hipster would do. Sorry...do you see how biased I am against them? I suppose it's just fashion and the way they groom themselves and should be judged on the content of their character. (To paraphrase Dr King ;) I'm sure there's loads of lovely ones :) ...but I wouldn't know because I'm too busy laughing at the beardy wankers to approach them and find out! Loads to enjoy here, especially if you like tobacco fragrances, things like Man 2 or GPH1 or dry spicy stuff in general, maybe Andy Tauer fans or amber lovers? Like I said loads to like. I've only tried on my wrist so I will update if anything changes after wearing but I think I got the measure of this one. Thumbs up from me!

First of the Herba London line and I'm excited to see what they're all about. I've only sprayed this on my hand briefly and don't usually conduct a review after such an insufficient wear. However I did diligently pay attention to how this fragrance progressed and judging it as I did when I read the name...there can't be a lot to it. There isn't really. However there's some nice surprises in here. The bergamot note is clearly from some high quality naturals because the smell is divine, constantly switching between lime, lemon and petit grain and is up there with some of the finest bergamot/citrus fragrances I revere such as Aqva viva. Bags of depth and a real pungency for the first few minutes, projecting wildly. As it settles though it goes in a direction I wasn't expecting, a very soapy accord develops and it's not the waxy, white floral, neroli I was expecting. This is more of a nondescript cleanness, almost powdery but muting the citrus quite substantially, then this subsides and the neroli starts to kick, becoming more what I'd suspected it might. So what is bergamot then? It's a very competent and nicely presented citrus, which has a lush, memorable opening and a good heart and base, lasting fairly well. I will be wearing it properly soon but they're off to a good start.

This was a completely new fragrance experience for me when I first tried it and should be praised for capturing some of the jungle and fruity essences which perfectly evoke the Macaque. I wasn't at all surprised when I saw who the perfumer was because Sarah has a habit of making these concept heavy fragrances with her own brand. I was a little cynical at first thinking they were novel for the sake of it, but you have to embrace someone who is willing to move things forward and not just produce another chypre, oriental etc... (not that there's anything wrong with that either) challenging our noses with strange combinations and progressive fragrances. All this being said....I hate Macaque! haha...nah only kidding, but I don't like it particularly, it's just plain odd. Many of the Zoologist line are this way, rendering them unwearable for me. The green top notes and almost transparency of this fragrance are very nice but coupled with a feeling of under-ripe fruits and dry tea and a animal musk doesn't make for a pleasant wearing experience. Alhtough I will wear again to be absolutely sure. I'm glad this exists, that Sarah is putting these Ideas together and that some people are loving & wearing it. Scents like this truly does make me happy, because these are art-house films being showed in high street cinema chains. I say that because Zoologist isn't some underground indy line, it's a mainstream reviewer, hypetrain especially recent releases. I don't know if this is psychosomatic coz of the monkey link but I get a slight banana smell, it's just odd and not for me.

Let me just start by saying.... Wow!!! This fragrance is an absolute wet dream for me, a perfect storm of notes character and power. I will also start by saying that the notes listed here don’t accurately portray what I smell so I’ll tell you what they are shall I? A show stopping saffron note, brutal, raw and unforgiving if you don’t dig saffron, but thankfully it’s one of my favourite notes and frankly as potent and prominent as it is comes off, this is more oriental and amber like. It Does have the rough,earthy, sharpeness obviously but it’s not nearly as saffrony as MFK Oud or even that Aramis saffron one that’s not to say I don’t think this has equal merit to those two excellent fragrances because it does. The saffron is joined by a really, curried spice of cumin/caraway but even more complex than that, it dances to and fro almost animal in nature. The drydown is curious because then it develops an intensely resinous, woody smell with a subdued note of rose reminiscent of an oud/rose perfume. It’s quite stunning, projects massively almost intrusively so when first applied but persian saffron is intriguing, unique, spicy and deep I love it! Do I like it enough to shell out £120? Yeah I think I do!

So...I get a slightly peculiar effect from this perfume, but I think it's pretty good on the whole. Hyacinths are something I have grown up with and my mum always has them in the porch as you enter her house. Sometimes (in fact most of the time) the smell is overwhelming, very 'wet floral' I like to call it and pretty unique, instantly recognisable in perfumes I find. My dear friend at the Mugler counter challenged me to guess what the floral component of this perfume was, possibly thinking it was hard to guess and was pretty astonished when I got it right. It's clearly there, especially in the opening but frankly it's not the most hyacinth heavy fragrance I've ever smelled by a long chalk and I'm glad to be honest. The balance of this fragrance is great because the base comes through right from the start, making supra floral, less floral in eventuality. Now although oud is a broad church and there seems to be an obsession with calling out fragrances for not having oud in them when stated in the notes etc...when in actualy fact it manifests quite differently depending on the many factors. I thought this has the dry smokey vetiver, earthy patchouli and licorice quality sometimes I associate with oud. I had no idea what the notes were before trying or wearing but noted that it smells quite a bit like the blackcurrant/licorice combo I get from Versace Man, Versace Oud Noir and CdG Wonderoud. Without an overt resinous or 'barnyard' oud I have to make assumptions from the associated perfumes that there is indeed oud in this. I get the peppery spice and clearly the colour purple is evoked by this fragrance which perfectly matches the long lasting and quite pleasurable floral offering of hyacinth, which mellows throughout. It's a good perfume, well thought out, a little hair raising at first thinking I smelled what I associate with being feminine, but that soon subsides and supra floral become more woody.

So It's pretty crazy that the first of this line came out nearly 5 years ago and I'm only just sampling them now. The idea of an exclusive line is fine but don't make them so exclusive no one gets to sniff the bloody things. The exclusive period for Harrods (I think it was?) in the UK was insane and I've only just got to try them now. Woodisime is an extremely likeable fragrance with the sweet, fruity opening completely appealing to my sweettooth but countered enough with a decent base to make it not cloy or annoy. The body as it settles is probably the soft fruity osmanthus blossom and then into a peppery wood, slightly resinous which if you tell me is oud, then I believe you. The main effect and base is one of a soft, creamy, slightly powdered, sandalwood. It's nice...the quality is clearly there I thought it wouldn't last and although slight, Woodisime has lasted all day, lightly projecting. Good start to the line for me.

I remember sampling this in a Lush store a few Christmas's ago and not taking much note, however trying a fragrance in a Lush store is pretty futile as you get a massive headache within the first minute of being in there, like a bathbomb to the cranium! My friend was wearing this last night though and boy does it smell good on him! A real tonal mixture of dirty, spiced vanilla and patchouli, cementing my feeling that Lush do indeed have some fantastic fragrances, this is one of them.

The opening smells exactly like malt whisky and I’m not just talking about the initial blast before it settles. Even after that it has a sharp boozy warmth and definitely evokes the resinous qualities of oud. It’s sharp to the point of nose tingling and even unpleasantly cutting, however when it dries down becomes very much like a leathery, peppered wood and resin, maybe even a bit oaky. I liked it. No idea what it cost but didn’t have enough impact for me, I’m more of a bourbon man that single malt and really didn’t like Atelier cologne’s gold leather at first, but then grew to absolutely love it and there’s something of that to this fragrance. So maybe I could this too in time.

Nox is one I tried ages ago but have revisited because it’s taken time to make my mind up about. It opens with a ozonic blast of bitter, herbal notes and a hint of minty, eucalyptus which I attribute to the combination of hinoki, cedar and wormwood. As it settles the salty sea breeze accord comes into full effect, almost but not quite rendering Nox a washout, Nox isn’t short for noxious as many of the salty sea accords can be. There was the softer sweeter surprise of vanilla in the drydown. This was surprisingly subdued and short lived considering the evident quality. I thought it was okay, bracing start made me think...granted mainly think ‘this isn’t my cup of tea’ salty sea vibes are tonally correct for the composition, with other nice stuff peeking through but not enough to excite me I’m afraid.