Nightingale Zoologist 2016

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7.5 / 10 167 Ratings

A popular perfume by Zoologist for women and men, released in 2016. The scent is floral-fruity. The longevity is above-average. It is still in production.
Pronunciation

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Main accords

Floral

Fruity

Chypre

Spicy

Powdery

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Bergamot

Lemon

Saffron

Heart Notes

Red rose

Ume blossom

Violet

Base Notes

White musk

Moss

Ambergris

Labdanum

Oud

Patchouli

Sandalwood

Frankincense

Perfumer

Inaba Tomoo / 稲葉智夫

Ratings

Scent

7.5167 Ratings

Longevity

8.3136 Ratings

Sillage

7.7138 Ratings

Bottle

8.9128 Ratings

Value for money

7.042 Ratings

Submitted by OPomone, last update on 27.12.2023.

Interesting Facts

The scent was originally labeled as Eau de Parfum. In 2017, it was reclassified to Extrait de Parfum in accordance with the actual perfume oil concentration of 20%.

Reviews

7 in-depth fragrance descriptions

12/09/2020

9
Bottle 6
Sillage 7
Longevity 7.5
Scent

Leimbacher
421 Reviews

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Leimbacher

Very helpful Review 13

Facial hair

Under "Nightingale" you could expect a flyweight and a butter-soft, feather-light scent - but this zoologist also weighs his (this time soapy!) pounds...

This nightingale is not fat and flightless, not at all. But a little more air and plumage you might have expected. But that doesn't change the scent or the quality of this one - and it is without question (as with everything from zoologists) very high. "Nightingale" is a floral musk scent with heavy, soapy undertones. Winged hand soap of the highest class, an Oriental that has taken a thousand and one baths - one after the other. And such a soapy and actually rather feminine scent with heavy animal undertones is rare. Labdanum in particular pays homage to the fragrance throughout and dips everything in a tangy green shell. When ladies' bathroom and men's shaving meet...

Flacon: zootastic
Sillage: rather light
Durability: rather one of the shorter zoologists - 5-7 times 60 minutes

Conclusion: a soapy tightrope walker - "Nightingale" is certainly not as light and fluffy as you might think, but it has enough soapy qualities to pass. Most likely a signature of strong character for Fougere fans

10/11/2016

10
Bottle 10
Sillage 10
Longevity 10
Scent

Rickbr
190 Reviews

Rickbr

Top Review

A Beautiful History

At this point of the game, I see Zoologist Perfumes amongst the best of what the independent perfumery can offer. To me, the brand creator’s curator work resembles Frederic Malle’s. The difference is that Victor Wong brings into his brand the best of the indie perfumers that today are in the forefront of what fragrance has to provide in terms of quality and creativity. In addition, Victor and the perfumers also focus on bringing back the charm of a good story that a perfume can tell, something that today has been pushed aside to give focus to the storytelling (partly true) of the quality and nobility of the materials from which certain perfumes are made.

Nightingale is the debut of the Japanese perfumer Tomoo Inaba. On the website of the brand, you can understand a little more about Tomoo's background, a self-taught perfumer, a merchant of perfumery materials and a person that is passionate about writing on perfumes and the charms of the fragrances from the past. Tomoo Inaba says that Nightingale is inspired by the arrival of spring, the flowering plum trees and the songs of nightingales. It's also dedicated to a poem composed by one of the sisters of the Empress Fujiwara in Kenshi after she renounced her royal life to become a Buddhist nun. His sister gave her as a gift a rosary made of agarwood in a box decorated with plum blossom. Initially one of the creations made for his personal use only, Tomoo worked with Victor to launch it within the Zoologist line.

The first thing I realize as I apply Nightingale on the skin is that in fact this is a special and poetic perfume. A complex and remarkable composition, where its history is not just a mere excuse to fill a bottle with an empty aroma. Nightingale announces in fact the spring, but not as many perfumes do in an apathetic fashion. It represents for me the blossoming of life that spring seems to bring, with aromas connecting with the soul. And that is brought to the combination of the sacred and noble sides of oud wood, which does not steal the scene and is within the context of a mysterious classic chypre.

I do not know how Tomoo Inaba was inspired, but its creation immediately brings me to one of the most iconic perfumes of the history of perfumery, Shiseido’s Nombre Noire. The elegance and contrast of a sober and dry chypre base versus the beauty of the rose are revived here in a complex floral context that emulates the saturated air of spring. I find beautiful that the plums portrayed here have a white colored floral while there is a juiciness and a semisweet touch, which match the contrast of the aroma and taste of a plum.

And what about the base? Sober, dense, but with a kind of harmony and comfort that only years of practice allow you to reach. The combinatoin of moss with agarwood, sandalwood and even iris and musk undertones creates the feeling of a sacred wood, a beauty that seems to bring with it an aura of peace. It is a fantastic way to end a scent that is full of life. It's the kind of creation that simply inspires me to write. It's hard for me to control the words, because there is something special that deserves to be highlighted and honored. Certainly a masterpiece.

06/05/2018

10
Bottle 8
Sillage 8
Longevity 5.5
Scent

Yharnam79
63 Reviews

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Yharnam79

Helpful Review 6

This nightingale traps once quite loudly...

...you can quickly pull your head back at the first sniffer.
Even after the obligatory waiting minutes, "Nightingale" is unfortunately not my kind of scent at all and for the very first time in my career as a zoologist, I cannot make any connection to the animal embodied with the scent.
Much too steamhammer-like, the pale pink liquid suddenly bangs an unexpected flood of bitter soap, smoke and bitter-sour flowers around your ears. Then there's this candy smell - a mixture of ahoy shower and these colourful chains with the edible pearls on them...
The flowers here are, as already indicated, neither flowery in the original sense nor do they give Nightingale something more delicate and fiiligrane. The flowers are so rolled in (Weih-)Rauch and Oud (?) that they smell sharp, almost like spices. Overall, the prelude is smoky and sharp.
Once the scent has settled down, I leave only this soap note with something citric (which will probably be the lemon) behind. And even that doesn't really knock me out.
Altogether this nightingale is much too loud and massive for me. The fragrance is certainly refined and, as Zoologist is accustomed to, it is a fragrance experience. I just don't like him. I find the soapy part too dominant and partly already unpleasant. The smoky and tart notes create a contrast, but I don't want it to fit into the whole picture. It seems as if these two parts "lie on top of each other". Each for himself.
I don't know, maybe my expectation was too high or just wrong. I had imagined a rather delicate, airy scent under Nightingale. But for my smelling senses, he's not that at all. But also apart from the missing connection to the nightingale, also as scent of another line with another name I could get something from it here only very limited.
Also the attempt to give the sample to a friend ended with the sentence confirming my opinion: "That's how 20 Pfennig soaps smelled in the GDR at that time".

10/22/2021

7.5
Scent

Notausgang
9 Reviews

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Notausgang

Helpful Review 6

In the plum tree branches

At the end of a branch, gently shaken by the wind, a bud opens in slow motion, unfolding its silky soft petals one by one with an inviting gesture. They are a pale pink color and the morning mist immediately settles on the fresh bloom.
Their fragrance is deeper than one would expect: delicate citrus notes, the impression of warm magenta, a powdery violet framed by the woody and earthy notes of the garden in which this flowering tree stands.

At first, I was put off by the impression of a "generic" mainstream scent that seemed to consist only of a standard spritz of intermingled florals backed by citrus. After a few minutes, however, it evolves into something more profound and reveals its chypre heart.
Still, it leaves me cold - intellectually, I can confirm its kinship with Mitsouko, but it doesn't evoke feelings in me like Mitsouko Eau de Parfum or even Civet.
Pretty, but somehow hollow like the bones of this little bird.

01/27/2021

7
Sillage 8
Longevity 9.5
Scent

Manogi
83 Reviews

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Manogi

Honey sweet nightingale

"Nightingale" is the eighth Zoologist I've tested. Thanks to @Julia142 for the bottling. It is one of the best from this house for me. And yet, it irritated me at first.

Because at the beginning I smell very strongly a note that is not listed at all, namely honey, mixed with some beeswax.

Also, the creamy-soapy, which some describe here, I can somehow not comprehend. Instead, sets for me relatively soon a neat Animalik, which reminds me strongly of very authentic amber.

The fragrance is not spectacular or particularly refined, but he meets so exactly my taste.

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