Panda

#82 of My Fragrance Journey - Zoologist Panda: Something Green, Slightly Unresolved This one surprised me. I expected soft bamboo, calm forest energy. Something gentle. Instead, the opening is sharp, wet, almost electric. Bamboo, green tea, and shiso hit first - very green, slightly bitter, like crushed leaves on wet stone. There’s cucumber too, giving it that cool garden snap. For a moment, it feels tense. Alive. Then it loosens. The sharp green softens, and a cleaner, almost mineral freshness moves in. Little flashes of citrus light. Suddenly it breathes. About twenty minutes later, the florals bloom - osmanthus first for me, warm and slightly apricot-like, then lily and mimosa. This is where Panda really shines. The scent lifts, becomes radiant and airy, green but softly glowing. The drydown turns calmer. Musk and sandalwood bring creamy warmth. It’s comfortable, smooth... though I wish the base had more depth. Cedar, moss, vetiver - they’re either there, but very quiet, or not there at all. Still, the journey is beautiful: sharp green - luminous florals - soft woods. And I kept coming back to my wrist, trying to catch the moment it changed. Vibe: wet bamboo, cool stone, soft osmanthus light Performance: good longevity, airy but noticeable Best for: spring days and fresh air Honest thought: the base could be deeper, but the heart of this fragrance is genuinely lovely. More scent stories and visuals on Instagram - @lavendercloudsjd

PAUL KILER of PK Perfumes was the nose behind this original (and I think far superior) iteration of ZOOLOGIST Panda The other way, besides sniffing them, to tell these apart are the concentrations: 2014=EDP; while the 2017 "lesser Panda" is Extrait de Parfum. Chris Carbonnel did, in fact, create Panda Extrait '17. And my epithet "Lesser" is more taxonomical and less judgemental. It is a solid perfume but Panda EDP was not only one of my Top Five ZOOLOGIST fragrances but also one of my most loved bamboo centric floriorientals...period! Animals evolve perfumes can too but reformulations that are nothing like the original make for cloudy confusing waters ie: Miss Dior Cherie is now Miss Dior and the grand 'ole gal now lqb labelled "Originale". Since I bought the last original travel spray on the market last winter (18-19) only Panda extrait remains. I appreciate the 2017 extrait but love and adore 2014 Panda EDP. It's larger than life fluffiness framed just perfectly with notes from the gentle giants' environment and reflect a playful yet fierce disposition was what gave this perfume it's individuality and create fragrant magic and olfactory charm around one for hours. smell swell & be well, GP xox

So this is my fourth Zoologist Fragrance having tried Koala, Moth, and Camel before this one. Once again, this is a luckyscent sample so I am using it dabbed. Wow. This is how to get me into wearing a floral. The opening is lemony cedar and sandalwood. The fragrance is just sweet wood for the first minute or so. Slowly and slowly the greens and the bamboo start to arise to meet the orange and lemon alongside the wood. Along the edges you get the waxy powdery sharpness of the Lily and mimosa, but it stays very faint. Once the smoky incense joins in at around the 15-30minute mark, this already becomes by favorite Zoologist fragrance yet. It keeps kind of that same scent until the scent more or less falls into musk at the 10 hour mark. This is the very next full bottle I intend to buy. What an amazing year round woody scent. I honestly can’t think of anything to improve and this is one of zoologists lowest rated scents on Fragrantica. I do not understand why this has such a low score here. Amazing parfum. 4.75/5

This is an absolutely gorgeous fragrance!! I especially love how it evolves slowly, allowing you to thoroughly experience and enjoy the journey of this fragrance. This scent is like a daydream of visiting a far off exotic land, filled with beautiful & interesting smells. On me, the opening is a very green and watery accord. I get a mingling of the bamboo and green tea notes. Then a beautiful floral accord begins to bloom, and then engulfs the scent. While I'm sure I am smelling a mixture of the floral notes, it strongly smells of orange blossoms. It reminds me that the promise of Spring is ever present. This middle lasts for a good 45 minutes on me, before the wood notes start to develop. Gorgeous sandlewood and ceder start to peek through the florals, creating a warm incensey feel. It is just beautiful. This is my favorite scent of Victor's amazing collection.

Have you ever been in a bamboo forest? I have, and it smelled like the opening of Panda. Delicious, big green is immediate, then damp loam, then some tiny white flowers. Sour-sweet wafting upward. An hour or so later the wood and moss and other foresty things appear. The sourness has softened by then (and I miss it a little!). The overall impression is of a wild garden in softly blowing mist. A coastal atmosphere and definitely not a tea party kind of garden. I'm thinking of when I was five years old and spent hours crawling in rabbit trails on hands and knees through branches and brambles behind my grandmother's house. In Panda, the emphasis throughout, for me, is the dirt, the leaves and the bamboo, so not a flower-heavy garden. Panda seems to bring out the love-it-or-hate-it, judging by comments so far. Well, I love it, it's completely beautiful.