Have you ever had a perfume note that was never center stage enough for you? A supporting note that warms, cools or brightens the star of the fragrance. You talk about how much you love the inclusion of that note, how wonderfully it is used! But the more you wear it the more you think: why can’t this note be the star? Always the bridesmaid, never the bride! In Zoologist Bee the main player is honey sodden beeswax, and all the floral attributes serve only to praise and fete the delightful waxiness.
I’ve found beeswax to be an elusive note in fragrance, I can remember only a few times being absolutely delighted by its presence. BPAL and Arcana perfume oils have scents with a beeswax note, but even while smearing on a generous amount of oil, I’ve always wanted it to be more intense. Penhalgion’s Sartorial has a waxy note designed to evoke the wax blocks used with thread by tailors, and I’ve huffed my arm trying to focus on those waxy, wonderful moments. I’ve found many honey perfumes are just sweetness without the wax, which doesn’t work for me. If you eat really excellent cold pressed honey, that wax note will be there.
When I was a child, my Dad would often bring home honeycomb, and I’d sit at the table spooning up great gobs of it, chewing away at the wax until only a tiny bit was left. Sometimes there was even a bee in the honeycomb! It was a far cry from squeezy bottles shaped like bears full of sugar syrup. Zoologist Bee is truly all about the bee and his creations. The floral notes capture that mouthwatering moment you try some fresh from the hive honey and marvel at how many flavours you can taste in it. Orange blossom, pollen, a resinous goodness, honey is a work of art. I’m honestly astonished to find all these beautiful tastes so vividly portrayed in this scent.
Zoologist Bee (Cristiano Canali, 2019)
Top Notes: Orange, Ginger Syrup, Royal Jelly Accord
Middle Notes: Broom, Heliotrope, Mimosa, Orange Flower
Base Notes: Benzoin, Labdanum, Musks, Sandalwood, Tonka, Vanilla
Bee is quite linear. Potency gradually softening is the extent of the journey. And potent it is, no delicate wafting breeze here. This is a wonderful thing when beeswax is often only a bit player in a vanillic drydown. Is it too sweet? Is excellent honey too sweet? There’s your answer. It’s too sweet because it’s supposed to be. The only thing holding me back from acquiring a bottle is that I have yet to try Hiram Green‘s Slow Dive, another true beeswax and honey scent according to reviews. I’ve sniffed it once, and I suspect it is richer, while Bee is simpler. Both are very appealing, but I probably do not need two intensive honey and beeswax scents. I’m looking forward to our lockdown being over, someday, and being able to take myself off to the perfume shop and have a Slow Dive sniff.
And here’s an odd tidbit about Zoologist Bee. I have accidentally eaten some of this fragrance, and it tastes just like it smells! I honestly think you could make this into a liqueur or a gelato flavouring. This is not the first time I’ve accidentally eaten perfume, and usually it is a vile experience, so I was quite surprised.
Image: my own
Undina's Looking Glass 
Hi Narth,
I’m not a fan of Zoologist really. I tried some fragrances released earlier but none really wowed me so I lost interest. Now I think the brand is expanding too quickly with 2-3 new perfumes a year.
Still your review makes Bee interesting so I’ll remember to smell it if I have a chance.
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I’m with you on Zoologist :)
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I love the original Bat. I’ve tried about 5 or 6 of them, many are nicely done but I haven’t felt moved to buy any bottles (and even though I love Bat I have yet to use up my 10ml decant). They get 10/10 for sucking me in with those animals haha
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Thanks for the review. Honey to me is nothing I would put on my skin and perfumes with a prominent honey note are really not my style. Strangely, I had the chance to try Bee as well as Slowdive. Bee to me is mostly a sugary mimosa and Slowdive smells resinous and thick.
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Years ago I disliked a honey note as I detected it in some designer frags, but it seems the closer to real beeswax the better !
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I haven’t smelled any Zoologist perfumes ,or Slowdrive. Honey is not a note I go for.Mayve a sniff of these will change my mind.
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It’s worth sniffing just for being interesting :)
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Have not tried any Zoologist. Does not appeal in any way whatsoever.
Favourite honey is in the Vero Profumo Rozys. I love Slowdive too. And there is a golden honey running through Chanel’s 1957. Gorgeous. 🐝
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Hanging out for the Slowdive..
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I haven’t tried Bee – only a few Zoologist (T Rex was in lucasai’s traveling box of perfume and I thought it was repellent!) I have sampled Slowdive and also found it very thick. I do have a small bottle of Sonoma Scent Studio’s Bee’s Bliss to fill my beeswax needs!
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Ah I think Bee will fill a different role, you wouldn’t really call it thick. I have yet to try the (infamous?) TRex.
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narthscent, T Rex is truly a monster. It’s well done with quality ingredients, but it’s a massive overwhelming type of scent. A little goes a LONG way. I liked the artistry of it, but it’s too funky animalic for me. I think the right man could handle it well.
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I’ve tried Bee and Slowdive and much prefer Slowdive. Love that thick chewy honey.
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I adore Zoologist Bee as well. I, too, have childhood memories of getting quart jars of honey with giant honeycombs in them and chewing that waxy goodness. Zoologist Bee brings all that to the fore for me. It’s honey and the beehive too– the busy bees and the babies, honey with a bit of the skank that goes along with all living things on earth. I love to spray myself liberally with Z Bee. True bliss for me.
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Yes the liberal spraying is what I see in my future..
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I love Bee! I got a partial bottle and that is almost gone. What’s a girl to do? Buy a Full Bottle! I will probably split off half. I think broom is the underappreciated note here – I smelled it in the wilds while hiking around the Amalfi Coast.
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OH BROOM you are so right. I just kind of glazed over that note but yes, it’s there and it does contribute that real wildflower element.
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It also brings a sweet, non-gourmand vanilla to the composition.
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Many years ago I tried some perfumes from the brand, didn’t like them – and since I don’t like the idea of the names and not a fan of the pictures on bottles, I stopped trying anything else from them.
Regardless, honey is a very difficult note for me, I rarely enjoy it in perfumes (though, sometimes it kind of works). But i love… no, LOVE to eat honey, and, as a child, used to do the same with honeycomb as you described :).
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Tonight I’m wearing a sample of Lutens Miel De Bois, generously sent to me. It’s a beautiful, BEAUTIFUL honey. It has a lot in common with Bee, the wildflowers, the wax. Bee is like a on steroids version.
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I need to revisit Miel de Bois. It’s been awhile since I sniffed it. But I think Bee is going to be the ne plus ultra of honey scents.
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I remember hating that one :) It’s amazing how different we perceive the same perfumes/notes.
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