ZOOLOGIST
TYRANNOSAURUS REX
2018
PERFUMER
Antonio Gardoni
bay leaf
black pepper
fir
nutmeg
bergamot
neroli
champaca
geranium
osmanthus
rose oxide
jasmine
ylang-ylang
juniper
resins
cedarwood
leather
patchouli
civet
frankincense
sandalwood
vanilla
T-Rex is not at all what I expected (and was slightly afraid of). Mainly this fragrance is much sweeter and easier to wear than I imagined, or at least, the facets in which it is challenging are limited.
T-Rex is quite a notorious beast in the fragrance world, but I’ve tried more fearsome fragrances for sure. That’s not to say that it’s not daring or that I would even enjoy wearing this frequently myself, but it’s not out of the realm of other fragrances that I’ve tried. I’d also find this easier to wear than Hyrax.
From the opening I get the florals a lot. I was expecting a very metallic rose given the blood-theme I heard about, but this is quite a dry, mix of florals, with the champaca pitching in. The whole thing, but especially the florals, remind me a lot of some of Areej Le Dore.
What this fragrance is more than anything, is smoky. There’s a crisper, greener, fresher tinge in the opening, I get something akin to bell pepper from it, which later reminds me more of green vines in a jungle. After a while the smoke totally dominates the composition.
The smoke is not as challenging as I was afraid of though. It feels quite lifelike, with a lot of woods and incense. It’s charred, but not as hard to pull off for me as the barbecued bacon vibes that I get from some others. Instead, there’s a green, almost vegetal bite to this and a ton of dry spices.
I easily get mostly a charred woody smoke with some different facts. It’s medicinal, a tad earthy and a bit harsh, with its potentially biggest challenging factor being its strength. I get some animalics for sure, but not to an extreme and I definitely get no actual blood scent in this at all.
I like fragrances like this to sample, but I wouldn’t wear something this smoky casually I think. For the style, I much prefer Hiram Green’s Hyde, which I think has a lot more of an interesting development and a more redeeming (for the less extreme people) sweeter drydown.
