I’m full of sugar so sweet gourmand perfumes are not for me. Anything sweet just gets sweeter and I can’t take it.

Many years ago, I was at a perfume event, and we all passed around the same bottle of perfume and sprayed it on ourselves. The lady I was sitting next to asked if she could smell it on me and compared it to what she was smelling on herself. Sure enough, the perfume on my arm had distinct caramel notes, while hers didn’t.

I was wooed by a little sample of Zoologist Bee, which wore so differently than the spray that I have here. When I dabbed the sample on the back of my hand, I got the florals (orange blossom, mimosa), and beeswax, rich and interesting. But when I sprayed this on myself, I got an overdose of sweet honey that seemed to get more and more cloying on my skin as it heated up. I’m not a gourmand-lover at the best of times, and this is a very sweet perfume.

People have told me that the dry down is what kept them coming back… the ginger and vanilla, tonka and benzoin… but they’re all sweet and create a final effect that’s just so sweet that it makes the back of my throat dry and itchy, makes me crave water and a shower.

But, if you’re into sweet perfumes, this one is for you, and Zoologist continues to make interesting perfumes.