Moth

The opening of Moth strikes with the unmistakable scent of aged, medicinal dust - a sharp, sterile tang hanging in the air, as though a hospital ward had been abandoned for two centuries. The space feels ancient, its walls coated in layers of dust that have settled over forgotten medicines, decayed bandages, and long-forgotten cleaning products. This is no modern antiseptic scent. Instead, it evokes old-world remedies - bittersweet, herbal brews from times past, once promised to cure ailments both physical and spiritual. Clove emerges first, dominant and almost oppressive in its vintage character, conjuring the image of a janitor’s closet within this timeworn hospital. The scent clings to the wooden shelves, where old, medicinal bottles stand in dust-ridden disarray. A touch of lemon adds a faint, crisp sharpness, perhaps recalling neglected bottles of cleaners, now oxidized and crumbling in the damp air. Beneath this, a floral note lingers. I'm imagining an anthropomorphized flower lying broken and bandaged on a hospital bed. Its withered limbs are wrapped in gauze, a faint resinous drip feeding its frail, fading body. Chain-smoking clove cigarettes, it clings desperately to life, watching the resins drip through tubes into its veins, feeding on their semi-sweet sustenance as its vitality wanes. The fragrance is unsettling, yet its unfolding is captivating. As time passes, the experience becomes darker, shifting from bitter to smoky. The honey note does emerge, though never overtly. It offers only a subtle counterbalance to the smoke that grows stronger as the scent evolves. This honey is far from the lush sweetness found in Bee or Naxos - here, it whispers quietly, offering a brief, delicate relief amidst the darkening haze. I can picture a grief-stricken moth fluttering into the janitor’s storeroom, drawn by the tragic news of its floral lover. Arriving just in time, the moth watches helplessly as its beloved flower lies in its final moments. Despite the flower’s imminent death, the moth arrives carrying a final offering of nectar - only to witness the heartbreaking moment when it is unable to share it with its love. Shattered by the loss, the moth flutters toward the wood-lined hearth at the far end of the room. It hovers briefly, as if lingering on its final moments, before diving into the flames in an act of tragic surrender, carrying its sweet nectar with it as a last tribute. The flames consume both the moth and the flower, their bodies merging in a bittersweet end. Over time, the incense-like smoke begins to settle, slowly cleaning up as the oud flickers faintly in the background, barely perceptible. The final traces are delicate - semi-sweet, a quiet incense with the soft, lilac-like undertones of a dry rose petal. The scent fades, almost like a wisp, leaving behind only the faintest memory of loss and love.

On the wings of the dead. On my culture moths are told to carry back the dead souls, in a similiar way that anglosaxons speaks about the crows, for obvious influences from E.A. Poe and '90s pop cinema, and this perfume brings me back immediatly to that story. It is dark, haunting and at the same time irresistible. It opens with an overdose of warm spices, almost intoxicating, then a honey accord emerges from the base (a thick one, sticky, non gourmand, almost resinous) because after all, beside the narration and the suggestions this is a honey fragrance, mixed with powdery flowers that remind of the dust of moth's wings while a smoke, burned, note remains present till in the woody (a little bit of synthetic? oud here) earthy (cypriol, patchouli, vetiver) resinous and slightly animalic drydown. Wow, what a fragrance. It is so evocative, dark, intense and representative of the story of this moth looking for love but going nearer and nearer to the flame untill she burns and dies. I can't stop smelling this, I'm in love with every part of the evolution, it is so godly formulated to tell the story and yet remaining a stunning perfume in every phase. This is for me my first 10 out of 10 review ever, and it is fully deserved. Ok, I'll try to tone down my enthusiasm and give some practicalities: this a strong perfume, it takes the scene and can be even suffocating (and in this case they are all good qualities for me since I love it this much), so be carefull in close quarters situations (ie restaurant ecc...), it is totally narrative so totally unisex, maybe avoid 30+ temperature but beside this it is so good you can wear it four seasons; has a decent longevity (6+) in the heat and a good one in the cold times (8-10). Price is the usual zoologist and this time it is fully deserved. Not blind buy safe I must admit.

🕰️ I’ve wanted to test it for a long time (3 years), and I finally got my hands on it. I’m absolutely in love. Once I get rich, I’ll buy a full bottle. The scent is strange, but at the same time soft, warm, and comforting, very nostalgic. The longevity is insanely long, wow. It stays on my wrists for three days and for more than a week on my scarf. But after about 12 hours, the smell on my skin turns into moths pooped scent 😭 lol. Maybe it’s just my skin. Imagine you received a mysterious letter in a foreign language that says you've inherited a house from a distant relative, an old woman you didn't even know existed. Your curiosity gets the better of you, and you decide to take a look at it. It's a three-storey, beautiful gothic mansion that looks like it can no longer hold its own weight and might crumble at any moment. Cracks run along the stone walls from the ground all the way to the roof. Everything inside is antique but in terrible condition, destroyed by humidity and bugs. Dust and spiderwebs cling to every surface. You walk up the creaking stairs, hearing all kinds of noises around you. You realise the house itself is making those sounds-whistling drafts, expanding pipes, moulding peeling off the ceiling. It's dying. On the top floor, you find a big wooden chest. When you open it, an old, musty smell hits your face. Inside are personal belongings: old clothes, small items, colourless photographs of a beautiful woman. The house is unlivable. You get back into your car and decide you'll return to investigate this mysterious woman. But before you start the engine, the house lets out a roaring, screeching sound, and collapses in on itself.

Way back in 2021 I wrote a long impression about Zoologist's Moth (attached at the bottom). Now, almost 4 years later, after it has been "maturing" in my dark and cool closet, I can say that it gets way, way better with time. IMHO one the masterpieces from Zoologist. BIG love from me (and growing). >Josu01 09/25/21 10:26 >Moth by Zoologist is like a Symphony in 3 movements. >1st Movement: A blast of spices. Strong and in your face. I can detect honey and oud in the background, but the >spices take all the attention. This is a quick movement, and on me it lasts no more than 5 minutes. >2nd Movement: Suddenly the spices are gone and then you are in a floral garden. A clean floral garden. A soapy >floral garden. Flowers, flowers, flowers. All the flowers in the description are there and they make their presence be >noticed: heliotrope, mimosa, rose, iris, muguet, jasmine, all playing in unison to make a perfect floral accord. Then it >sort of feels like the flowers wilt before continuing to the third movement. This lasts on me some 20-30 minutes. >3rd and last movement: Honey, smoke, oud, resins. The dry down is very nice. This lasts, and lasts, and lasts (this >is after all a long lasting perfume). On me it lasts easily 10-12 h. After the 6th hour it's like a honeyed safe smoky >oud that clings and lingers on my skin. >This is a symphony of olfactory notes, where all the "instruments" (notes) make one irresistible music (perfume). >I love it. It is definitely not for everyone. This is one of the few perfumes where you can clearly notice its distinct >phases.

I originally ordered a tester of this because I dress gothic Victorian and had read this was a perfect fragrance for that style. I generally enjoy powdery scents and weirdly I love the smell of mothballs so I thought I’d give it a try. After spraying it on I immediately thought “Oh god this smells like a dusty hospital!” and straight away scrubbed it off because I have medical related trauma. This was a few years ago. Reading other people’s reviews on here had me digging through my drawers to find the old tester vial and thankfully I had kept it. I gave it a second chance today and allowed it to dry down and the hospital scent goes away. It’s an extremely powdery and dusty vintage floral-ish fragrance. I’m still not sure that I necessarily want to smell like this on a regular basis— I prefer sweeter powdery scents. This is also only suitable for cold weather, in my opinion. Now I no longer hate Moth or find it unwearable. I’m glad I gave it a second try because from my first attempt I was so thoroughly confused at how anyone could find this wearable at all. It’s certainly a very interesting fragrance. Edit: I keep coming back to the tester of this now and I’ve actually grown to really like it? I’m actually considering purchasing a full bottle which I never would have believed a couple years ago when I first tried it. I don’t know if I’m maturing or this fragrance has me in some kind of Stockholm syndrome type relationship. I still wish it had more of a mothball smell though, I don’t get mothballs from this at all.

Moth is one of the zoologist’s that I find utterly unwearable. T-Rex, moth, bee, and hyrax are the four perfumes from zoologist that I have to “prepare” myself to wear. That’s a bit exaggerated, but I’ll explain how moth reacts to me and on my skin. The main thing putting me off about Moth is the smell of burning moth balls. I don’t know if I get the mothball smell just because of the name of the perfume, or whether I’m really smelling that, but it’s the first thing that comes to my mind everytime. It smells mildewy and old, and it smells like it’s burning. However, it’s not your average burning wood scent which I love... it’s more of a burning plastic explosion. Moth reminds me of someone who is cleaning out their basement that was built in the 1930’s and just decided to burn everything because half of it wouldn’t be able to be thrown away in a trash. Extremely strong and fills my entire house everytime I wear it, and my mom came out of her room one time and legitimately asked what I was doing because she was concerned about the smell 😂. Final thoughts- Miraculously artistic and I love that this thing exists, and a lot of zoologist perfumes are some of my favorite perfumes in the entire world, but moth is not one of them. I love it, but it’s not for me. Edit; holy shit I don’t know what happened, but I wore it today and I randomly fell in love with it. Why is it incredible?? 😂😂

The opening was a blast of spices that punched me in the nose and then took a small step to the side to let the powdery florals introduce themselves. I got clear resin notes quite early on too. For me honey was a little guest act that came and went. After the initial 20-30 minutes is when the proper incense came in and transported me to dark and musty church naves with creaking wood, dust in the air and candlelight in the corner of your eye. It reminded me of my grandma's wardrobe after she died and how her clothes, although clean and ironed, had gathered this smell of disuse and age. At that stage Moth was for me primarily incense with spices, resins, oud and powdery florals and it felt like the most emo fragrance imaginable, and by that I mean the kind of emo that loves all things death and is fraught with angst. Unfortunately after another 1-2 hours the perfume lost the intense churchiness and took a turn towards something decidedly more musty and powdery. The late drydown was built around musk, smooth patch, a bit of oud and a bit of honey. It was okay but I felt that it did not live up to the intense drama of the initial 2-3 hours and I wished it had retained a bit more of that character somehow. Moth had ca 6h longevity on my skin so perhaps on the people who get closer to 12h wear time from it, the incense-y and spicy stage keeps for longer (if so, I am damn jealous).

When I first tested Moth on paper, I was honestly a little put off, it pulled incredibly cold and spicy, too much for me, and the lemon note really made my nose itch. I thought maybe it wouldn’t be for me. But last night I decided to wear this, and on skin? The transformation was astonishing. Moth blooms with texture. It doesn’t just smell like something old, it smells like something that used to smell like this in its own time. It’s not dusty in the usual “haunted house” sense (though I understand why others go there). To me this is more like ancient, ritual-worn fabric, or ceremonial cloth, embroidered vestments, the clothes that a vampire has been wearing for centuries. I don’t get much Victorian from it. To me, this belongs to the 1500s or 1600s, cathedrals, incense saturated robes, and noble decay. Like Nosferatu, but not as a spooky character, more as a centuries old being whose garments still carry the scent of candle wax, spice, and sorrow. This really smells tragic and mysterious to me. And, yes, also creepy, but not in a cheap or playful way. A burial ceremony, still echoing with the memory of the ritual, cloaked in silence. It’s gothic in the most literal, historical sense.

My grandma had an old leather luggage where she was storing delicate lace, silk, and satin dresses along with long evening gloves, fur boas and feather fans from 1930s. The war started, times changed, she grown old and all these beautiful things had no more use. Yet she could not part with them. Once a year, she would carefully clear the dust from the luggage, ensure they are still in pristine condition and then add some naphthalene tablets along with new sachet filled with dried up rose petals. Then she would hold her wrinkly hand for a minute over the last piece connecting her with careless youth filled with glamourous balls, opera nights and afternoon teas before closing it and placing back behind the couch. Moth for me is a long lost photography of those days. Bittersweet, nostalgic, covered with dust and untold secrets taken to other world. Yet it is also filled with comforting familiarity from honey and fleeting wisp of flowers. Drydown is smoky incense and resembles religious shrine scent. 10/10 for experience. It is wearable, but not in hot/humid conditions.

Moth was one of many fragrances I ordered samples of in my first purchase from Zoologist. I had to know why it was so polarizing. After spraying it, I understood. It is a very strong scent, not for the faint of heart. It it pungent and intoxicating to me. It absolutely does evoke the feeling of being in a haunted mansion. I imagine walking through the heavily carpeted rooms of a towering library, staring at dense velvet curtains drawn enough to allow the moonlight to shine through while a fireplace on the other side of the room illuminates bouquets of flowers that dried out decades ago. I'd imagine this sort of dusty feel comes from the powdery florals and the wood notes. Like a cedar lined closet stuffed with the memories of multiple generations. There is a sweetness from the honey and the notes of cinnamon that warm this fragrance up, especially after it dries down. I am in the crowd that adores Moth. It is a masterpiece.

a very complex, smoky dark elixir. the absolute perfect goth perfume. my skin makes all fragrances smell spicier so on me it smells like spicy moth, so those top notes really shine. but i really love the deep powdery floral honeyed rose as it develops. this smells like my grandpa's musty dusty basement combined with my dead grandma's potpourri-scented bathroom, but i'm all for it. it's not a wet musty scent though, it's very dry and "old" smelling. i think this pairs beautifully with a rose perfume if you want to smell like a goth old lady. this has long lasting staying power and stays on my skin all day. only con is that my bf hates it cuz it makes me smell like an "old lady". huh, the nerve! that's a shame bc i like smelling like a dusty old vampire. this is not a sexy perfume i guess, but more of an aesthetic character scent.

Imagine you are a moth living in the interminable twilight of a shuttered and decaying mansion. You spend your solitary existence feeding on antique bridal gowns and shuffling about in the damp dust until you go a bit mad. One night you find a flaming candle upon the attic window ledge, lit, perhaps, by a ghost. You've never seen anything so beautiful. As you circle the flames, closer and closer, your heart soars, and your wings begin to glow. This is Moth. It smells like a haunted house radiating with repressed emotions and frustrated love. It smells like a tango with fiery death. It smells like the jilted Miss Havisham catching fire in her decaying wedding dress. If you love Gothic novels, the darkly gorgeous Moth is the scent for you. Moth is Gothic perfection in a bottle.

I'm rediscovering my fragrance collection with my newly improved pregnancy nose, and surprisingly, some fragrances that I used to find a little overwhelming now I absolutely love. Moth is one of them. It's still churchy, dark and mysterious, and incense and spices are still the loudest, the overall impression is so much more airy and flowery now. A perfect winter and late autumn fragrance, but it mostly makes me think of winter and snow. It reminds me of my night walks among the traditional wood houses and churches in the snowy Tatra mountains. Moth has become like a drug to me, I can't stop sniffing my wrist. It's goth, but not the young, sleek and polished kind. It's dark and disintegrated, but in a beautiful way, like a forgotten church.

This is the absolute perfect gothic perfume. She is powdery and dusty in a way that gets so deeply in your nose it truly feels like you've entered a dark, dusty, haunted house. For me, the honey is incredibly strong out of the bottle, but mellows right out on the skin and you're left with an almost indescribable, peppery combination of musk, incense, and moody florals with a soft enveloping honey. I love the way it changes throughout the time you wear it, going through several phases before drying down into dusty powdery sweetness. It's truly so pretty, I could wear this every day. It's so distinct and I've never smelled anything like it. Imagine a moth flying close to a dusty lightbulb, that's what this smells like. MOTH SUPREMECY!!!!

I absolutely LOVE MOTH . In my top 3 of the brand, she's the feminine counterpart to the elegant woody Rhynocerous for me. This perfume is amazing and feminine and mysterious in a bright way. Citrusy and bright more than I expected and i love that contrast to the dusty, "darker" part. It does smell like a grandparent's home, there is a touchable feeling of emptyness and nostalgy in opening old wood cupboards with remains of moth balls, walking around rooms with framed photos, wood ornaments, lace table center pieces, dust and "void". Vintage home typical scent, but leaning feminine. Amazingly done, i would have wanted to add her immediately in full bottle but she's sold out. Joined a waiting list. Beautful creation 10/10 .

Was not expecting to fall in love with this one, strangely dark and sweet, I definitely get a gothic sort of vibe. There is a very dark animalic honey that stays throughout and gives the sweetness and lays on smoky incense and oud adding to the darkness, a wilting pot of florals adds a strange brightness and I think powder. There’s a dampness and dustiness thats hard to describe that paints a picture of a long abandoned home, succumbing to nature and breaking down becoming a home for moths i guess on some silent hill stuff. Overall, Moth is a very dark honey fragrance that somehow portrays the image of a moth well and is absolutely going to be on my fb list, one of the most out there and memorable Zoologists so far.

a vintage powdery goth fragrance; it opens as a flower powder bomb, like the mixture of a grandmother's house and an antique shop. there's always a slightly smoky undertone from the incense, a reminder of the flames moths are attracted to. after a few hours, that spicy smoke emerges from behind the powdery floral opening into a beautiful blend of spice and 'old' it also somewhat reminds me of the smell of bug spray - not in an inherently unpleasant way, but i think everything about this fragrance just screams moth and i really like it! it's funky, but still perfectly wearable. stays on the skin all day for me, but it isn't a very strong offensive smell and often needs a few extra sprays to project out in my opinion

Alright, sexy goths!!! Line on up for your signature scent! You must be a particular character for this little number but if you fit the bill, you'll be delighted. It boasts sensual, gothy, vampy, queen energy. On the opening I got rose, patchouli, smoke, dust, black pepper. This strangely could be interpreted as an oud - it has that almost rubbery note - like a hint of that particular DS & DURGA Notorious Oud variety. Dry down: Warmed up to bring out more resin, still dusty, slightly sweeter, sexier. Like a haunted vintage pin-up doll poster brought to life. This isn't wearable for me unless it was Halloween, but I adore it as a conceptual piece and I just know this was made for some individuals.

As you arrive at the lone mansion tucked away in your quiet town, you begin to have second thoughts. Was it wise to accept an invitation from a mysterious woman who never leaves the house before sunset? Still, you couldn’t resist the neatly tied letter, sealed with cherry-red wax, promising a night to be remembered. You are new to the town and know no one except your two little dogs.The driveway gate seems to open on its own as you approach, and the same happens with the massive front doors. As you step inside, the scent of another time layered with old secrets and long-forgotten stories fills the air. You look up, and a statuesque figure emerges to greet you. This is Moth by Zoologist.

I love this. It smells like a very old, haunted mansion that's been abandoned for years or an abandoned gothic library. It feels like you're walking into an old bedroom and there are cobwebs hanging from the ceiling with an old closet that has vintage and loved clothing stored in it. The rooms and furniture are decaying away. It's very melancholic and quite nostalgic in my opinion. It's also currently my longest lasting perfume as I can smell it on my skin the next day. Its also quite strong so I only need one spray. To be honest, if you don't like things that feel 'old' or powdery then do not get this. But for me, this is a yes!