Hyrax

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 really 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)

Okay, the opening is strong and pleasing. Animalic, but other than the civet, these generally are not notes I'm used to. It's as strong as Kouros but not more shocking. (Kouros, mind you, is one of the most popular and identifiable fragrances in the world.) I infer that the hyraceum is playing a major role, and I can read online that hyraceum literally refers to fossilized hyrax poop and that it conveys a leathery and fecal note. I hate to say it like this, but there is indeed something about the opening here that connotes sweet, rosy, dry dog poop "in a good way." I infer from the Zoologist website that this is a rare situation where a real animal product is being used and not a synthetic substitute, since hyraceum can be harvested without harming the animal. I am always fascinated by real ingredients with long histories in perfumery like ambergris, oud, etc., and now I'll add this to the list. In the first 20 minutes, it's an interesting funk and wearable. I don't think anyone is going to think rat turds or gerbil cage; it's just going to read as a smoky, leathery musk. None of the initial notes are sharp. In the Zoologist line, I think Moth, Sacred Scarab, and Squid have much more challenging openings. Personally, I am quite pleased so far because this doesn't smell like 100 other fragrances I've smelled before. There's not a white flower, herb, or stick of incense in sight. My guard is up a bit because I read the review below that says this dries down to halitosis with a bit of ham. So far though, it would be a winner for a date night and wearable at the opera. Oh, did I mention that this is masculine? I know I smelled fragrances like this when I was growing up, on older men, and I am at an age now myself where this kind of scent makes sense to me. Projection is not crazy; this is not a stink bomb. I'll also note that — now at around the 30 minute mark — this is a very cohesive scent; it doesn't have the kinds of violent collisions that make Moth or Secretions Magnifique seem *wrong* or T Rex or Squid seem bold and playful. The whiskey note is coming through in a pleasing way. More castoreum is coming through. This one is definitely sumptuous and well-made. An hour in, I'm ready to call this one a favorite. It captures the oil and salt of an unwashed male body without the acid or bacteria... intertwined with some old school masculine fragrances that typically disguise or cover body odor: patchouli, whiskey, amber, etc. The hint of rose is sophisticated. This isn't a stunt, and it isn't showy. It seems very classic to me. If this fragrance were called Manimal, and not Obscure Rodent, I think it would be popular and potentially even be a trend-setter. Two hours in, it's quite quiet, presumably because hyraceum doesn't last forever. Four hours in, it's like a quiet residue of Kouros without any sweetness—i.e., unwashed neck, not "ham and bad breath" though I laughed for days over that one description. I really thought based on the reviews that this one would be a horror and a quick scrubber for me, but I am giving it an A+. Not an everyday scent but an impressive bit of craftsmanship. A tiny bit would go a long way. I read this Fragrantica article after writing the above and found it interesting: https://www.fragrantica.com/news/Zoologist-Launches-Hyrax-For-The-Lovers-of-Animal-Smells-10960.html

Animalic rose, saffron and peppery spice, woods, resins and...hyacinth? This fragrance is internally contradictory. There is beauty here, with the beasts. Somehow, it all coexists in this fragrance and it is wonderful. Obviously, since I love Hyrax, I enjoy animalic scents. The African stone in this fragrance is noticable. It provides rough leathery notes that smell different from synthetic versions of animal scents. When the castoreum and civet notes join with the hyraceum, this stuff packs quite a punch. But then, from the depths beneath the animal notes, a delightful waft of sweet hyacinth peeps out. This floral note harkens back to the opening rose, which is also a bit sweet, and the fragrance progression concludes with the animal scents gradually fading and the slightly floral resins enduring more or less eternally. It all reminds me of how much I miss the pre-IFRA era. Of course, this fragrance is highly polarizing. But folks I know who like it are every bit as much in love with it as those who loathe it are hateful of it. Two final points about Hyrax: first, if you want to try this fragrance, the 10 ML bottles Zoologist offers make it easy to get to know Hyrax. For whatever reason, this fragrance shows its true nature better when sprayed with the good quality atomizer found on the "real" bottles, including the 10 ML. Second, there is no better way to experience hyraceum than by smelling Hyrax. African stone/hyraceum is one of the key animalic inclusions in modern perfumery, along with castoreum, civet, musk and ambergris. At some point on the journey of every fragrance lover, there comes a time when smelling and experiencing the nuances of "core" fragrance components like those on display in Hyrax becomes necessary if the enthusiast is to reach a truly deep appreciation of fragrances. Zoologist has been reformulating some of its more difficult fragrances (looking at you, Bat) to make them more accessible (and, I am sure, saleable). I suspect that Hyrax may be next. So get a sample, at the very least, before this fragrance is "improved" lest the powerful and divisive African stone component gets dulled down. I like to wear Hyrax in two situations: at home for my own quiet enjoyment (particularly in cold weather); and to annoy a select group of olfactory "snowflakes" of my acquaintance who complain any time I am around them wearing something other than a faint, aquatic "freshie". What can I say, I'm just that kind of guy. If they are going to be around, I am going to wear Hyrax, but not too much. A little of this stuff goes a long way. If you are a fan of animalic scents, I am sure you'll find occasions to wear this unique and challenging gem too.

Ok, so Zoologist Perfumes Hyrax... yeah, first off I must say that I love it. Most people here don’t, apparently, but I really do. I’ve had a sample for almost a year and have given it a try now and then. It gets better and better, each time. Some rough aspects of the animalic notes have been keenly covered below, which is quite amusing, but I think that it’s mostly a matter of how you apply it. More on that topic below. To summarize the overall impression - it strikes me as sweet (honey), very warm (sun warm skin), like soft suede with subtle booziness, smokiness and also featuring a very prominent and bright floral accord. The floral brightness must stem from the hyacinth, a note that I’m usually quite sensitive too, it can get too dominant sometimes, but not here. The resins and woody notes come along late in the drydown. The patchouli I do not get at all. I find the scent profile to be distinctly masculine. Performance is excellent. Longevity is extreme but it never gets too loud nor too close to the skin. I have even gotten random compliments for it, which is unusual. The most important thing IMO is how to apply it. You should not go full on, blasting away at point blank range. That way it will lean too animalic. What I do is to give it one generous spray high up in the air and then let it gently dissipate, fall down and settle on my skin, usually on the back of my hand and arm (where there is some hair). It makes the warmth and the balsamic qualities really shine. I will get a bottle to enjoy this fall and winter. Edit: I received a full bottle a few days ago which is noticeably fresher, compared to my one year old sample. The floral notes especially are brighter and more pronounced throughout. Such a beautiful scent, profound in a way most other fragrances can only dream of.

Best blind-buy ever! 😎 This is not as challenging as people claim it is! Yes it is a very bold animalic fragrance with a ton of leathery nuances from the animalics, saffron & the resins, but so are most niche leather fragrances! 😌 It opens with a very sharp kick of spices from the pink pepper, elemi and the saffron (the king of spices), and then immediately you get hit with the booziness coming from the whiskey accord! Very boozy & sharp! 🥃♨️ As it settles on your skin, the trio of animalics comes to life and take the center stage. It's hard to say what hyraceum (hyrax note) smells like as it is rarely used in fragrances and this is the first fragrance I try with it, but the castoreum and the civet shine beautifully here; with the civet giving it that dusty muskiness, and the castoreum giving those multi-faceted leathery nuances.🦫 Absolutely well-made formulation! It can also be classified as an animalic leather fragrance as the combination of saffron, elemi, styrax, benzoin, civet & castoreum makes a nice leather accord! (A leather accord is a fantasy accord because you can't extract anything from leather, so perfumers re-create what they think smells like leather using base notes like animalic notes, resins etc.). 💼 🐂 🦫🪵 🤎 🖤 Performance & longevity is average for an extrait de parfum though. 📉Was expecting it to be a beast since animalic notes are one of the strongest performers! This is definitely a statement fragrance that will get you noticed whenever you wear it, so wear it proudly! 💪🏻 😎 A video review is also available on my YT ▶️