Chameleon

Upon first applying, I was surprised how powdery it smelled, but also with a somewhat uplifting floral. It smells at least right now like a powdery violet with ylang-ylang. It did feel a bit 'vintage' almost, which I wasn't expecting, and I was a little worried. After a couple minutes, I smell some mango come through, but it isn't a super sweet fruitiness. It's just like a normal, almost green, mango scent. I can smell this strongly within about 3" of my skin, but it's much lighter past there on me. 5 minutes later and it starts to smell salty, sandy, and like cashmere. This smells now 'beachy' but lush and I imagine a little hidden tropical cove. There's a breeze carrying a scent of tropical plants and fruits. This certainly is like a chameleon's environment and wish I could just relax in that scenery I imagine. It's by no means a heavy sunscreen-y coconut, but an unsweetened coconut starts to come through as well. 10 minutes later, the saffron and clove I believe give it a bit of an earthiness too, completing the picture of the environment here. Overall though, if I pull myself back, it does have an encompassing powdery tropical fruity floral-ness to it still. It's also sitting very close to the skin. Perhaps it'd expand more in higher heat and humidity. 30 minutes later and it's a really nice, fresh, warm woody scent, but again, tropical. I still imagine being on a small beach you might have found on the edge of an island somewhere, recumbent and relaxed. It's very smooth and "easy" to wear. There is a slight undertone of vanilla, as well. It's also become more of a softer skin scent. 45 minutes later and it's a lot more sweet, resinous, woody, yet still lighter and fresher. When I move around, I also get whiffs of this popping up as well, so a decent sillage. I'll see how long this lasts. I didn't see this as terrible masculine or feminine leaning. There were moments I felt it ticked more towards the masculine side, and moments I felt it ticked more towards the feminine side, so I would have to I guess say this really is pretty unisex for a tropical scent. So far I've enjoyed this fragrance, and as just about all Zoologist fragrances have done, has taken me on an interesting, and in this case delightful, journey. 3 hours later and it's still going decently strong on my skin. It doesn't project though randomly as much as it did before, but it does sometimes here and there. It's a lot more sweet now, perhaps from the vanilla, and maybe some slight fruitiness, and a touch of woodiness. 5 hours later and on one arm, I can't smell this anymore really, but on the other one, which I applied slightly more on, it's a light woody vanilla skin scent. 6 hours later and it's basically gone.

‘Chameleon’ is a fruity and floral scent in an almost syrup-y way. The first time I wore this I knew it reminded me of something, but I couldn’t say what, but now I know; Lovehearts candy! For me, the ylang-ylang is very prominent, and so is the lemon and violet leaf that makes that loveheart powder shine through. What I do not get is the aquatic note, or if I do, I only get that kind of sea breeze in tropical climate. I do understand the reviews that claim this to be cloying, but... I like that about this one? Tropical weather is often a bit cloying, isn’t it? Even though this one is very fruity and sweet, it is not juvenile in any way. It is exiting and very well blended! My first wear was in the middle of December, and second wear was in late April, and it surprisingly worked well in both temperatures. I can imagine that this during summer would be magical. And now, whilst wearing this in early July I can confirm; It is still amazing. All the notes are very well blended, and it is difficult to pick them apart, but they all just work in unison to create this unique sweet tropical candy. And that candy effect continues on in the drydown. The powdery aspect disappears in time for a creamy woody sandalwood, and it gets slightly musky in a clean way. A lot of the citrus from the top has disappeared as well, but the ylang-ylang is still there. Though, the ylang-ylang has gone from a cloying one to a sophisticated one. The scent itself is laying very comfortable and feminine on my skin, and it is actually one I will consider buying a full bottle of.

Chameleon is one of my most-worn fragrances this summer. This is an abundant ylang scent that takes me on an imaginary journey to Madagascar. The complex and vibrant opening captures the environment beautiful chameleons live in. I’m greeted with the freshness of citruses, sharp greenness from violet leaves, a whiff of spicy pink pepper, and some yummy star fruits and mangos. I can also smell the sea breeze, adding in some saltiness and an oceanic touch. As the artwork on the label shows, ylang-ylang is the star of the show here. To me, the smell of ylang is already multi-faceted like a chameleon. It’s sweet, creamy, fruity, and narcotic, but also a bit medicinal and animalic. Here, accompanied by frangipani and jasmine, the ylang is tamed, welcoming, and rather clean, but still stays true to itself. The Chameleon here is a vegetarian, and it’s having a feast of star-fruits, mangos, and coconuts. I enjoy the tropical exotic fruity-floral scent at this stage, which smells like a glass of semi-sweet yummy fruit milkshake. As the chameleon finishes the meal, the scent shifts from a fruity floral to woody vanilla. The muskiness and earthiness of cashmeran and the sweet base of vanilla sandalwood become more prominent. The unique creature then changes color and blends into nature again. Chameleon is one of the more wearable Zoologist perfumes, and I appreciate them putting out such a beautiful ylang fragrance. It’s perfect to wear on hot and humid summer days, and it boosts my mood nearly every time I wear it!

Managed to get my hands on a sample recently! I was immediately excited to see a combination of florals, tropical notes, together with sea salt, woodsy notes and even opoponax (love the opoponax in Interlude Man). What a gorgeous scent! It's floral, it's tropical without straying into the cloying sweetness of tropical fruits. It's dry (not aquatic despite the sea notes). The florals are definetly unisex and yet still profound. There is ylang ylang here, and it's noticeable (and amazing, but I know not everyone loves that). The note of coconut as listed is perhaps not as much a clean coconut, but more of an idea of coconuttyness- if that makes sence. I think that is good because it stops the scent from smelling like a sun lotion. The creator Daniel Pescio also succeeded to imitate the smell of salty, sun-kissed skin, and I think that in some part comes from the cashmeran. It creates this warmness to the scent that while intended to be tropical and summery conceptually, it still totally works for the other three seasons. The performance is good, I would say average - maybe 7-8 hours until it fades. The top notes does not last super long unfortunately, but the essence and spirit of Zoologist (the soul of the house, noticeable in the super long lasting musky base notes) is still almost as strong as for instance Bat. I'm still on the fence if I enjoy those notes but hey, the first 7-8 hours are fantastic.

This one makes me smile. Reminds me SO MUCH of walking off the plane into a tropical country and being slapped in the face with that thick wall of humidity; palm trees, bananas, sun screen, baking tarmac, the distant promise of salty shores all mingling in the air. Maybe this isn't very relatable to people already in warmer climates, but being from the drizzly & dull UK... this ignites such pleasant scent memories! Especially as I haven't been able to afford to go abroad for quite a long time now. Plus, the name 'Chameleon' is truly fitting. Looking through these reviews people are giving such wildly different interpretations! I barely get the salty/marine notes at all, yet it's at the forefront for many. Personally I get a HUGE blast of banana and the ylang ylang, frangipani, coconut and jasmine mingling in the background. I guess maybe the violet leaf and/or star fruit too? Something is giving this a strong "green" vibe. Fruity, tropical, creamy with lots of luscious green foliage. I'm a big fan, I just don't know how often I'd reach for this -- I'm only ever in the mood to apply this on hot days and uh... we don't get a lot of that here LOL. I know for sure if I decide to commit it'll be to the travel size and not a full bottle. (Edit: I did indeed spring for the travel size in the end!)