Zoologist Perfumes draws its inspirations from animals. With the copy and the name, I expected for Camel to have a Middle Eastern or Horn of Africa influence. This influence is seen throughout perfumery with the use of resins, woods and fruits from the regions and “desert imagery”. It does seem like if your brand is inspired by animals and if you want to do a “spice route” sort of perfume, then a camel as your mascot seems like a good idea.
The opening of Camel is like dried fruits (prunes and dates) and a raspberry-rose. As it dries down, it’s an amber musk. Camel is one of those perfumes that has a lot going on so you’ll notice different things. The first few wears, it reminded me of a spiced amber. I wore it during our first snow and it smelled like a fruity rose and skanky, indolic jasmine and orange blossom with all those amber-y notes that I’ve always loved. There’s a bitterness that runs through Camel but I don’t find it unpleasant. It’s like the tartness of unripe fruit. The dry-down of Camel is musky, animalic, dirty but covered in amber incense powder and dried white floral petals. To me, it doesn’t seem very dirty but your mileage may vary.
I’ve tried most of the Zoologist perfumes. Camel is my new favorite (tied with Civet). Camel seems familiar (woodsy amber) but it’s unlike anything else that I’ve worn from this genre. It manages to be dense but airy. It’s sweet but sour. It’s fresh but dirty. I guess, Camel never bores me, so I love wearing it. Just when I think I understand Camel, I wear it again and realize I don’t understand it all.
Notes listed include dates, dried fruit, rose, olibanum, amber, jasmine, myrrh, orange blossom, incense, cedar, cinnamon, musk, oud, sandalwood, tonka bean, vanilla, vetiver and civet. Launched in 2017. PERFUMER – Christian Carbonnel
Give Camel a try if you like amber perfumes. Or perfumes like Ormonde Jayne Ta’if, Art de Parfum Sensual Oud, Serge Lutens Arabie, Parfum d’Empire Aziyade and/or Jovoy L’Enfant Terrible.
Projection and longevity are average.
The 2 oz bottle retails for $135 at Zoologist. Samples are also available for purchase.
Victoria’s Final EauPINION – Bittersweet amber and florals. It’s a great addition to the Zoologist line.
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*Disclaimer – Sample provided by the brand. I am not financially compensated for my reviews. My opinions are my own. Product pic from the brand. Kathleen Burke and camel pic from
I haven’t tried anything from this brand, but have read so much. I’m trying like crazy to use up my samples before ordering any more. Doing houses starting with A’s and B’s this month. But I may just have to cave and get a set of samples. They really seem to be doing some good stuff. This one sounds good. I like the Serge. And I like the PdE one except that for me it becomes just cumin overload. I smell like a curry waiting to happen. Much cumin in this one?
Look at you being so organized 🙂 I’m jealous.
The perfumes from Zoologist are really hit or miss on my skin. However, I think it’s a brand worth exploring because the ones that work, really work. On my skin, there is absolutely no cumin with Camel. Since you are familiar with Aziyade, I’ll use it as a reference. Camel is like if all the cumin was stripped out of Aziyade and you were left with all the delicious dried fruits, incense/woods and musk. It’s bittersweet. I appreciate Aziyade but I’ve been told to not wear it in the house, lol. It’s a cumin bomb on me too.