Panda Edition 2017

I like the opening of Panda. On me it's a modern fruity-floral that's complex and well-blended. The apple is there but doesn't dominate, it mixes well with the florals. The ozone/water seems to bring out the ripeness of the fruit and the more heady qualities of the florals. As the opening progresses, there's a hint of something underneath that starts out almost spicy, but then evolves into an animalic/earthy edge. As Panda progresses the excellent amber heartnotes begin to emerge, and I get a slight soapiness. There's something familiar about this amber accord, perhaps I've encountered it in a Guerlain? I enjoy the progression of this fragrance, it gives me plenty to think about. After a few hours I start getting a mossy edge to this, and my favorite point in this perfume is when the amber fades and the oakmoss comes forward so there's a balance of the two. I agree with the reviewer who said this is more a chypre than an oriental, a modern, fruity-floral chypre without the powdery notes that often make chypres seem so vintage. Eventually the moss is what lingers through to the next day. Something about my skin amplifies oakmoss, and here I find it addictive. I spritz Panda before bed just so I can wake up to a mossy dreamland. The base accords of this perfume are among the most enjoyable in my collection. I got the full set of Zoologist samples, and Victor included a handwritten note plus a bonus sample of the newest release, the lovely tuberose-marine Seahorse. The set worked well for me - some of the options that I thought were going to be great didn't work at all, and others that I never would have gravitated to have become favorites. My favorites in the line are Panda and Sloth. Both are wearable yet unique, modern and truly evocative of the story that goes with them. Honorable mentions go to Beaver (leather jacket left at the Lake House), Bat (dark and fruity), Rhinoceros (gorgeous room-filling tobacco), and Nightingale (delicate Japanese chypre).

My Spring 2024 mainstay for sure. I'm revisiting most Zoologist perfumes because over 3 years, my nose has involved after exploring, collecting and wearing so many perfumes. I remember Panda being one of the ones I liked back then but it was that, a "like", not love. Fast-forward 3 years, this is fantastic. Bright, green, floral and uplifting. Perfect for Spring and I'm sure it'll do great in cooler Summer days and the first warmer days of Fall. Surprising, this has a lot of staying power. I get a good 4-5 hours where I catch frequent whiffs of it when I move and then it sticks closer to skin a good 8+ hours. I've seen some describe this as "wet", I can kind of understand that. I'd say Panda isn't so "wet" to me (Dragonfly is, and Bat too but for different reasons). Panda is rather very green. The tea note is very present here. The opening is very fresh and while there's the sweetness of apple here that might remind of YSL Y, the tea and flowers give it a fizzy brightness that might be a bit off-putting to some guys. I personally love that about it. The tea and magnolia is beautiful. The tea note sticks around and turns greener with bamboo as it dries down. Towards the end, it gets slightly smoky and woodier but although civet is listed in the notes, it never sticks out and plays more of a support role here. I'm very fond of this one. You won't offend many people with this, it's very clean and fresh. There's a minority of people (including my own mother, haha) that might get fixed on the earthy side and find it "weird" and "black soil"-like (to paraphrase her) but in general, people tend to enjoy this one around me.

It’s so much harder to do a review of a perfume I love than ones I’m either meh about or dislike because I’m challenged to actually pick apart why I love it. Usually I just put it in because I know I love it and rock it on a day where I don’t want to think about what I’m wearing. So I love Panda (new formulation - found the old one less complex with lots of bamboo and more green). I’m wearing it today on the first day of spring when the weather actually feels like spring. Immediate it is green, with some white flowers peaking in and a creamy animalic base. It’s super well blended so I have to go in eyes closed for another sniff to get the resinous tree sap and wet earth that’s reminiscent of Bat from this house. To me it’s fresh without having any citrus or aquatic notes in it, which is how most fresh perfumes achieve that. The freshness might come from the apple and tea, but I can’t pick up those notes on their own. This lasts all day on me! It’s an extrait de parfum which is the more concentrated than eau de parfum. Even strong rose/Oud perfumes often disappear on me so I appreciate a fresh scent that I don’t have to reapply. It’s by far my favourite Zoologist because not only is it interesting, but it’s actually very wearable. I don’t recommend perfumes in my reviews because it’s such a personal item and your skin chemistry makes a huge difference. So while I love this, it doesn’t mean you will too, but I can’t resist saying if you want a fresh green earthy perfume with a zing, pick up a tester!

If you want to get a feel of what this smells like at a fraction of the price, try Zara's Cool Heighs, since they both share that strong intensive apple note in their composition, that stays throughout their longevity. However, this one right here uses that accord to its most elegant capabilities, giving you a comforting sweet smell, without being nauseating at all, something which Zara's one could end up being. Sillage in this is pretty good, and I can still smell this on me a couple of hours with no effort from my side. It is more feminine than masculine, and a perfect blend of sweet and green. Overall performance is fantastic (+8 hours). For some reason I did not like it that much at first, and the reason may be that I smelled a lot of Zoologist perfumes at once and did not really leave room for this to stand out on his own, but I'm glad I did, since this is just magnificent. It's one of the few Zoologist perfumes, maybe along with Macaque, that doesn't have a strong resemblance to the chosen animal. This is the last thing I picture when I think of how panda's habitat may smell like. To me this smells like the wardrobe of a really famous celebrity from the 50s. 7/10.

I liked the original Panda, but this reformulation is also brilliant. This may well be the most tenacious scent that I have ever worn: I sprayed this on at 8:30am and, 15 hours later, it’s still there - faint, but noticeable. I don’t know why Panda is classified as ‘Oriental Floral’ because, to my nose, it’s predominantly green-musky. It’s completely unisex: the opening still contains that earthy-civet scent that smelled like panda’s poop in the original version, but it quickly subsides and the rest of the exposition is dominated by the sour green apple (fortunately it smells nothing like DKNY!) This is followed by an interplay of green, woody and fruity notes: aside from apple, soil and civet I can also smell dirty patchouli, something leafy, some powdery florals, mostly osmanthus, with a fresh-ozonic overlay. If you love this type of green-musky unisex fragrances, do invest in this beauty, because it is incredibly long lasting and leaves a beautiful trail.

I love Panda 2017, I just wish it wasn't so expensive ! £165 for 60ml bottle! If it was closer to £100 for 60ml bottle then I would be happy wearing this everyday. I get some earthy green, fruits mixed in with a tropical vibe, just lifts up my mood. The bottle is so cool looking with the amazing panda artwork, I just need to find a replacement bottle at a reasonable price. Picture a world with no pollution or humans damaging the planet, pandas just sitting in a jungle surrounding by bamboo and fruits . EDIT UPDATE Price here in the UK has increased to £175 for 60ml bottle, yes its a nice pleasant scent but its way overpriced . Let me do the calculations :- 175÷60 = £2.91 per ml so a standard 100ml bottle of this stuff would be a mind blowing £291 . I would say its fair market value is half this price at £145 for 100ml . For this reason, I can't possibly recommend buying this fragrance.

If I could handle the first 10 minutes this would be one of my favourite perfumes... An oriental apple, so rich, fresh and beautiful. Unlike anything I have tryed before. I adore it. Not the usual green fruit mix... Unfortunately it opens up with quite a bit of soil wich on my skin is so prominent that simply puts me off. It's the first note that hits my nose before the rest starts playing. More testing required. Maybe in warmer weather it could work on me. If you like earth, soil and a bit of greenish dampness than you could love it from the start. In any case it is something worth exploring. Great projection for the first couple of hours, than becomes subtler, but still demands attention. Moderate longevity. Definitely unisex. I imagine this works easier on man thou. Tested from an original samole bought directly from Zoologist.

First blast of sweet light fresh wet greens, like springtime in a bottle. I imagine a cool foggy morning in a bamboo forest in China. There is a darker ticklish earthy element that keeps the crisp airy green from floating away. To my nose, the sweetness comes from a strange fruity floral combination.. it's hard to define exactly which fruit and flower. An all-around sweetness I suppose but this is the far from generic. Lovely! The projection isn't too far from skin level; hopefully the performance isn't as ethereal as it smells. Unisex but leans feminine and best for spring and warmer weather. 6+ hours later: On my skin, this scent did not stick at all and hopefully it's just bc my skin was dry. The sweet green is very faintly there and was mostly gone by the 3rd hour.

Panda opens with a juicy green apple and crushed leaves (though I don't get tea, which is listed), with pretty osmanthus and white flowers a few minutes later. That little civet fellow starts to come out and I've grown to like him since I started sampling Zoologist. Earth! I love the earth, and so does the roly-poly panda. Sandalwood and musk add depth, softness and warmth. I don't pick up much patchouli, amber or vanilla, but maybe I don't need to! I honestly expected bamboo, even though it's not a listed note, and I see in a couple of reviews that the first version did have it. Wonder why it was taken out. Well, no need to be so literal. Panda is pure nature and that's a good thing! Panda is long lasting and sillage is moderate.

Panda 2017 is amazing! A wonderful, powerful and long-lasting green, tart, fresh, floral & slightly earthy fragrance. The opening is very green and tart, and contains a wet soil note which never disappears (and is never very prominent either, it is perfectly blended). As it develops, the tartness is toned down a bit, and the florals come alive in the middle of the green, wet and soily notes. It is pretty unique: the only perfume I have smelt with some similarities, at least in the opening, is Nishane's Hacivat (although that one doesn't have the soil note). It lasts quite long and projects substantially for at least a couple of hours. Second only to Camel in my Zoologist list, and among my top 20 ever, for sure.

I love my Mr. Panda! Surprised with the negative reviews. It opens with typical soil/earthy/overriped-fruit Zoologist notes but very quickly develops into something similar to Chanel Chance/Coco MDMSL. Coco stage takes about 3-4 hours; it's more complex and 3D than Chanel's one. Then the apple and fresh notes come in and stay on top of Chance notes making this scent very enjoyable. It's clean yet sexy and vibey. I admit that initial spray could be a bit dump but it fades away quickly and leaves you with a very elegant fresh juice. Bonus - it has a subtle chypre aspect in it and it's magnificent. Also longevity is astonishing for a fresh frag.

A delight to wear with each pump of the atomizer. Fresh green apples, wood and earthy notes with a strong a prominent musk. The musk is so good and carries the green apple very nicely., I get almost zero Civet in this, but I can smell something that hints at it. This was a sample which turned to a travel size and then a full bottle. I'm so glad to finally own it. Longevity 10 Projection 8 Quality vs Price 10 Uniqueness 10 (It absolutely does not remind me of any perfume) edit: it borrows the musk accord used in Erba Pura, Le Capital, but it's very muted. I couldnt notice it until I had both perfumes beside each other.

Wet dirt and fresh bamboo, or a garden that has just gotten some rain, but there's also an underlying sweetness - almost smells more pond-esque than Dragonfly does, like actual pond water or algae without waterlily (wonder if they would layer nicely). Updated: That green bamboo and apple really pair so nicely with the dirt, and as it dries down - hours later, it sweetens up to the base, cutting through some of the sharpness but never losing its essence or completely changing from that wet bamboo apple orchard scent. Love it, definitely need a full bottle. Easily my perfect signature scent in hot weather.

This fragrance is so unusual to me. The apple, from the listed notes, is the strongest to me. There's this strange tartness that reminds me of something that I found in most Amouage scents. Am I crazy? Is it an alcohol thing? BUT! My GOSH, I love this so much! It lasts longer than any scent I've ever worn, even through a shower. Despite what people say, I do detect something similar to bamboo. I've not tried the original, but that doesn't mean I'm without right to an opinion about the beauty of this. Don't understand the hatred for this.

I like a lot of perfumes from this house, but this one, while by no means unpleasant, doesn’t work for me. Starts off with a blast of tart, fairly realistic apple, after a few minutes this mingles with a fresh green tea note. There’s a vague greenness underneath - I get the earthiness only a little, there’s a bit of minty-ness possibly from patchouli, but mostly it stays a watery fruity tea perfume. Reminds me more of a shampoo marketed for teenagers than of a tangible place in nature, like the better zoologist perfumes manage to evoke.

Despite the removal of the bamboo, I like this reformulated one. I agree it's a little more wearable than the other Panda, although I liked that one too. I have a sample vial still that I'm using sparingly. I like the fruity/earthy/animalic combo of Panda. Most fruity fragrances and I don't get along very well, but the Zoologist ones seem to work for me. I agree with Casamir that this is sort of reminiscent of Bat, but they don't smell the same. It's much lighter and fresher, like a summer weather version of Bat, if you will. I dig it.

Wow, i love Panda 2017, for me basically its like wearing apple jasmine osmanthus tea. The earthy note keeps the scent vegetal. And it's totally green and refreshing. I've never tried the original formulation of Panda though, so i cannot compare them, but Zoologist is a clever niche brand, they never smell generic at all, Panda included. Though for me its a tea scent, but its nothing like its predecessors. Panda has stellar longevity with medium silage. A compliment getter for sure. It's a love at the first smell for me.

'Panda (2017)' was a love at first sniff for me. It has that artistic touch, but also manages to be very appealing. It's got a great combination of fruity green apple with earthy notes and tea. The earthy notes in this aren't a dry earth; there's a sense of moisture, almost as if the soil has been freshly watered. I never got a chance to smell the original formulation, so I can't compare the two, but this is a great release. For a fresh green fragrance, the performance is outstanding.

Panda 2----2017 Tested from spray sample. This is a "complex" one, IMO. First spritz is strong...then the notes develop on the skin.... I call this "semi-fruity green" type scent...??? I get the apple/tea/floral....and underneath there is earthiness... This goes thru changes on my skin....in a good way.... I actually do whiff a tad of Coco Mad in this.....weirdly...lol....but just for seconds.... I am enjoying this so far !! Unique,,,IMHO. Good...good performance/sillage too.

Panda is a perfume that adapts very well to the Summer heat. It opens with a fruity, green and earthy scent. Very fresh, pleasant and easy to wear. Amazing longevity on my skin, good sillage for the first couple of hours. The projection of the perfume is not beast mode, but it is noticed in bursts that come and go. I like the sweet-earthy combination. Panda is very unisex and ideal from spring to autumn.