ZOOLOGIST
COW

2022

PERFUMER
Nathalie Feisthauer

apple
sage

milk
heliotrope
violet
jasmine
lily-of-the-valley

cedarwood
musk
amber
vetiver
benzoin

Everything that I heard about Cow before trying it was correct. It is green, milky, sweet, fruity, clean… and surprisingly nice?

That’s no slight to the brand or the perfumer, but the premise of a fragrance centering around the living environment of a cow and the combination of notes were all but assurance of a great outcome.

However, this fragrance works. It feels a bit clashing in the opening minutes, because the combination of very lactonic texture and a fresh, almost soapy green scent, is an uncommon one.

I was afraid this would be a grassy fragrance, but I mostly get a crisp, bright green apple at first, followed by a green shampoo akin to the one in Der Duft Privilege (also by Nathalie Feisthauer).

Whereas Privilige leaned into the rhubarb and wasn’t my jam, Cow’s lactonic sweetness opening kept me intrigued. Good milky fragrances are hard to achieve, as most get overly sweet and/or smell like thick condensed milk within half an hour. In Cow it feels light and airy enough to keep its fresher side. This is aided by a dose of (white) musk. That lactonic note doesn’t seem to last long however.

The florals start playing a big part further along the wear. After about 1 to 2 hours in, I smell a subtle floral bouquet on white fresh linen. The milkiness has mostly faded at that point. In general, it felt like a quick drop-off into a skin scent on my first wearing.

Someone on Fragrantica described this by referencing Garnier Fructis and as someone who used their shampoos for years as a teenager, its a spot on comparison in my opinion. Yet, I’m surprised how much I liked Cow on first impression.