Seahorse
Zoologist (2021)

Julien Rasquinet and I rarely see eye-to-eye. Call it a misalignment of style preferences, if you will, but I have yet to truly like one his compositions except for The Moon for Frederic Malle. As I usually do, I don’t read anything about a perfume if it can be helped before trying it, and I was able to do so while trying Seahorse – therefore, I’m glad I can eliminate the possibility of a bias here. I wanted to like Seahorse, but I found too much of it to be a misfire. The bottle imagery, the neon blue juice, the image in my mind of a seahorse dancing in crystal clear blue-green ocean waters amongst the bright coral and seaweed… I didn’t get that with the perfume. I certainly got sunlight thanks to the coolly-spiced opening that pumped full of ambrette seed. There is a palpable, bent-light sheen to Seahorse that is fun and interesting, but that’s generally where “the fun” and “the interesting” stops….

The herbal green and floral heart is not. It is a nondescript mélange of things vaguely green, vaguely herbal, and vaguely floral that are almost completely dominated by what I’ll describe as a driftwood accord. Woody, salty, and seawater-y, it’s some of the top notes and some of the base notes reaching into this layer that confuses proceedings. This accord could be interesting, but it is completely deadpan and lumpen like… well… a piece of driftwood. There isn’t a moving ocean or ocean life here, it’s flat, lifeless, and colorless. The base and the final skin scent, which arrived in about 3 hours, does strike my nose as an algae/seaweed accord but not really ambergris. There is a salty element but that is more convincingly tied to what is identifiable as seaweed, not the ambergris, and the musks are not particularly animalic nor is there a gray amber quality. However, it does smell like my skin would had I spent the previous day in the ocean and didn’t shower afterwards. I don’t know if you’d want to smell like that, nor am I sure either, but it is an accurate depiction. The final skin scent is a simple and plain woody vetiver.

Seahorse takes a different direction compared to those in the marine genre, which is commendable for sure, but it is not particularly well done and its durability is disappointing for the price and the materials used. I don’t find myself compelled by it nor particularly liking it, but I am far from being able to say it’s no good; it’s a “fine”, “ok”, “eh” perfume. For big fans of the brand’s aesthetic and of marine perfumes, this will likely be a winner.

While Squid is a bit sweeter and more amber-forward, this fragrance leans more towards floral notes and comes across as clean. The listed algae note blends nicely with the base of ambergris and vetiver. However, upon further review readings, I've noticed a woodiness that is reminiscent of some designer scents, which may be due to the salty ambergris note or another accord. Despite this, it's still worth sampling for those who enjoy marine fragrances.

This is close to Squid for me, but it has an additional harsh wood note and some nutty nuances. It's an odd mix of warm, watery and woody, but that burnt rubber harsh wood note gets stronger as it dries. Whatever that aromachemical is, I hate it with a passion. Here, it has ruined another fragrance for me, but most people can't smell it, so for most people, this will dry down as a pleasant, gentle dark soft wood. I will hold onto my Squid and let the shouty seahorse dance on by.

This one smells of something you shouldn’t be sniffing. But that’s cool, right? It really kinda is to me.

It’s just the most unusual smell. So very unlike anything else. I’m all over the map with this one:

Do I love it? Yes!
Do I hate it? Yes!

Yes, it’s quite possibly the strangest of the Zoologists. And I don’t say that lightly.

But it’s almost too much. I cannot recommend it, but I can appreciate it.

Starts out a bit salty and briny and oceanic, with a hint of sweetness.

Turns herbal, with floral hints in the background.

Algae note pervades throughout. Mellows over time with an amber-like tinge. It's sweeter than Squid, to me.
Very nice!

Awful. Reminds me of an overcrowded beach in the '70s, complete with trash, screaming kids, and people frying in the sun trying to achieve that George Hamilton glow.

Powdery, plasticy, and sweetly oily. Not for my skin.