Anne Geddes Has Entered the Chat: Hummingbird by Zoologist
The other day my friend asked me if I knew any perfumes that have that “baby smell.” She meant that milk-breath, sweet skin, fresh cell turnover that makes babies smell so yummy and snuggly when you wake them up (still warm) from a nap. You know what she didn’t mean? A perfume that smells the way an Anne Geddes photo looks. You know what I found her? Geddes, baby!
Hummingbird by Zoologist smells like a well-lit photo of a facetuned baby that’s dressed up as a cabbage. No, this isn’t that powdery, strawberry shortcake babydoll smell à la Marissa Zappas. This is a fresh out the package, Downy dryer sheets, lily of the valley baby wipes, clean shampoo musk. But stay with me! It serves.
This is a sweet fruity floral that (to my nose) smells incredibly synthetic. I get a ton of lilac and honey but it’s airy, not wet or syrupy, and a fresh laundry accord dominates. It lasts FOREVER. This is a scent that reminds me of vacation, but not in the way you think. I refuse to plan ahead, so when I travel I always find myself en route to the airbnb without my toiletries, which means a stop at the local corner store in Mexico or Italy or Long Island to pick up a bottle of Garnier Fructis. Because these cheap bottles of shampoo are so full of detergent, they get your hair sudsy as hell and I leave the shower feeling like I just bathed in hospital-grade antiseptics. This is peak vacation for me: after reapplying sunscreen countless times and sweating through my clothes all day, I learn at 9pm that we’re already late for dinner and speed-wash the sand out of my hair in a shared standing shower while my bikini drips from the faucet. I never feel as clean as I do after drying off with a scratchy towel and putting on a dress designed for a 21 year old to show off my sunburn. Thank you Zoologist for bottling that feeling and allowing me to enjoy it year-round!
Here’s my question: why is it that people who work in hair salons always look and smell clinically clean? It’s the same aesthetic as people working the floor of the department store or the strip club: shiny legs, hairspray, and a fresh set of acrylics at all times. Hummingbird is a 54 year old hairdresser in Vegas who crushes two canned Starbucks double shots in the car on the way to work and spends her afternoons buzzing from shampoo bowl to shampoo bowl, radiating a kind of high-effort glamour that used to signal women as “professional.” The teal cami under her top matches her TJ Maxx sandals which showcase her french-tipped pedicure. The jeans? Ironed. The eyebrows? Waxed. The hair? Oh, it has highlights. Her house smells like tide pods, she freezer is full of lean cuisine, and you sometimes wish she were your mom.
This fragrance does an 80s hairspray thing that I am addicted to, and even if I’m in cargo pants on my way to Whole Foods, when I leave the house wearing this I feel like I’ve really done myself up. Hummingbird is a great example of why I’m obsessed with Zoologist. It’s not photorealistic because that’s not the point. Instead, they’ve captured a synesthetic fantasy that approximates the vibe of a hummingbird: great looking, posi, social, hyperactive, and dripping with charm. Virgo season is coming which means it’s time to start acting like a Girlboss. Spray this on and at least you’ll smell like one.