The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Zoologist Perfumes is a Toronto house founded in 2013 by a former video game designer who saw no reason animals should not wear perfume. Each release is a collaboration with an independent perfumer, built around a creature’s behavior rather than a market brief. For Squid, the house enlisted perfumer Céline Barel to translate the squid’s defense into scent. The result captures the moment a squid, pursued by a larger predator, releases a cloud of dark ink to disorient, a desperate yet elegant strategy that becomes the perfume’s conceptual anchor.
The note palette deliberately pairs marine and resinous elements to translate the squid’s dual nature of vulnerability and defense. The incense and pink pepper in the opening suggest a fleeting glow, while the ink and sea salt anchor the fragrance in a realistic aquatic environment. Myrrh adds a dry, slightly bitter resin that hints at the squid’s ink’s chemical complexity. The dry down uses ambergris, benzoin, and musk to create a smooth, lasting base that feels almost like a second skin, allowing the wearer to carry the squid’s protective aura without overwhelming the surroundings. Each layer is chosen to evoke the creature’s natural habits: a burst of light, an ink-filled retreat, and a final tranquil calm.
The evolution
The fragrance begins with a sharp smoky incense note instantly brightened by a flash of pink pepper and the faint sweet floral hint of amyl salicylate, much like a fleeting bioluminescent flash before the squid dives deeper. Within minutes the scent moves into its heart, where an ink accord blends seamlessly with the crisp mineral quality of sea salt and the warm resinous depth of myrrh, recalling the squid’s ink cloud swirling in cold water. This middle phase feels oceanic and slightly animalic, a reminder of the squid’s living, breathing presence. Over the next few hours the composition settles into its dry down phase, where the salty, slightly sweet undercurrent of ambergris combines with the soothing balsamic tone of benzoin and the clean skin-like embrace of musk. The overall arc mirrors the squid’s path from surface light to deep, guarded darkness, ending with a lingering, protective warmth on the skin.
Cultural impact
Squid's ink-sea salt combination was genuinely unusual at launch. Marine fragrances in 2019 tended toward either fresh-aquatic clarity or dark, animalic leather territory. Squid occupied the space between: smoky, briny, sweet, and animalic without being aggressive. The 2020 Fragrance Foundation award brought wider attention, but the fragrance's appeal has always been specific, wearers who love it tend to find it unlike anything else in their collection.
