Commodity Fragrances: Review

The History & Concept

Commodity Fragrances originally launched in 2019 – via a Kickstarter campaign. They grew in popularity very quickly and I was seeing their bottles splashed all over social media with glowing reviews. My interest was piqued, but I was too slow.

As quickly as they rose to perfume stardom in #fragcomm, they just as quickly seemed to disappear.

However, in late 2020 they re-launched and by 2021 they seemed to be back on the path to solid ground.

Their offering had changed slightly, too. Each perfume in the line now came in three different variations:

• Personal – subtle and intimate, these sit closer to the skin and have a softer sillage.
• Expressive – a little more robust, will make a statement without being overpowering.
• Bold – designed to pack a punch and project for maximum impact.

The fragrances differ not only in strength, but also in composition with some changes to the notes. For example, Book Personal includes notes of black tea and skin musk, while Book Bold has added notes of velvet musk and smoke, when compared with Book Expressive.

The Fragrances

Having spent a little time with the samples now, I am happy to share my impressions. There are 18 fragrances in the sampler that the team at Commodity Fragrances sent to me so, I have condensed my thoughts into a more snappy format for this post!

Paper

• Personal: a warm, molecular musk.
• Expressive: clean, subtle woody molecular fragrance, this one most resembles “paper” of the three.
• Bold: more woody and leans a little green.

This one was squarely middle of the road for me, nothing that really grabbed me or repulsed me. Just a nice, clean green-woody molecular type fragrance. If you like Molecule 01 this is probably a very similar vein.

Moss

• Personal: bright and citrusy, resembling a cologne, still has the molecular “clean fragrance” vibe.
• Expressive: More green and floral (neroli perhaps?) dries down to a woody base.
• Bold: green, freshly cut grass, most masculine leaning of the three, leans dark and aromatic.

Overall the most aromatic of the bunch, I quite enjoyed the Expressive.

Book

• Personal: very musky but also dry, opens with more woods but tea notes emerge in the drydown.
• Expressive: green and slightly camphorous, zingy woods.
• Bold: darker, slightly smokey but also a little sweeter. Less dry than the other two.

Often compared to Santal 33 and I concur – the sandalwood is similar.

Milk

• Personal: familiar, sweet lactonic scent, like milk bottle candies laced with a hint of sugared spice.
• Expressive: more woods, amber tones have more body and slightly more powder.
• Bold: caramel up front, darker, burnt wood dry-down but also has a slight plastic/vinyl bent.

I enjoyed both the Personal and Expressive from this line. The sweetness blended with the lactonic musk really appealed to me. I understand why this one is popular.

Gold

• Personal: very light molecular vanilla, I get a lot of either Iso-E Super or perfumers alcohol from this.
• Expressive: As above but with the vanilla amped up, smells a little plastic-y to me.
• Bold: Spicy, and woody, peppery and dry. I don’t seem to get the amber, or much sweetness.

Gold is by far one of the most popular from the line, many people in the fragrance community speak to its virtues, but I legitimately can barely detect anything. I can only conclude that I am possibly a little anosmic to the Gold range.

Velvet

• Personal: vanilla flower is subtle at first, mostly musky and a little leathery. Not too sweet.
• Expressive: definitely get a smokey thread with this one, leather is bolder. Moderately sweet amber.
• Bold: spicy, leathery, dry and smokey. Leather becomes more pungent through dry down.

I rather enjoyed the Velvet range, although I think in the end the Personal and Expressive were my favourites (leaning towards Expressive). I did enjoy Bold but I often have to be in the mood for that kind of leather and I wouldn’t be able to reach for this every day.

Overall Thoughts…

If I had to pick a favourite it would probably be Milk Expressive, but Moss Expressive comes in at a very close second.

I think to really love these fragrances you need to be a lover of molecular-style perfumes. I am not in the least opposed to this style, though it typically isn’t my favourite type of perfume to wear.

Synthetic aroma chemicals have, in my opinion made perfumery more accessible, diverse and friendly to flora and fauna.

They certainly don’t deserve the bad wrap that they get (many people mistakenly assume they are more likely to suffer an adverse reaction to them, yet more often than not, it is the natural counterparts are more likely to cause flare-ups.)

I’m quite astounded at the variety that the perfumers managed to weave into these fragrances, given my previous personal experience with lines like Molecule and Juliette Has A Gun, which have generally left me wanting.

However, whilst some of the Bold fragrances in the range have a bit more guts than the more subtle Personal and Expressive versions, you may be disappointed if you prefer your perfume to be really robust and pack a punch.

I confess there was nothing here that had me exclaiming that I must immediately track down a full bottle. However, I like them. A lot. I can definitely see myself reaching for something like Milk or Moss on days when I want something less complex and airy.

Yet.

I do have an annoying habit of being cautiously critical to things when I first smell them, only to turn around months or years later and suddenly become obsessed.

I can say that the first time I smelled Milk I thought it was “ok” but the more I have worn it, the more I really enjoy it and the more I can picture how and when I would wear it.

And consistent with the aforementioned tendency, it is now my favourite from the range.

Commodity Fragrances sell discovery sets on their website (in Australia these start at $18).

Pleasingly, they sell their bottles in two sizes, a handy travel sized 10ml (AU$40), and 100ml (AU$210).

I do appreciate it when brands offer smaller formats.

I would like to thank the team at Commodity Fragrances for generously sending me these samples, with a no-strings-attached policy to give me full freedom to share my honest opinion.