Book +

So I tried the + sample set of the 6 in the range. I would say Book is the second most masculine after Moss. I see a lot of people have complained about the lack of tea in this but it comes through quite a lot on me. Its like a musky tea, almost smells slightly peppery and green like celery even though its not listed as a note here. Commodity website says 'herbaceous dry smoky woody incense' and I would largely agree with that. Longevity and sillage I found pretty average. lasts a good 6-7 hours on my skin but minimal sillage after the first hour. I enjoyed this and honestly enjoyed the whole + set. Cant say I'd bother with the '-' and 'expressive' because I want to get my moneys worth from frags so would ALWAYS pick the strongest available lol, having said that I would bet they smell great too.

I adore this. Book+ is so comforting to me. I unscrew the cap and instead of using the atomizer I apply this beloved juice directly to my wrist, inhaling the concentrated dab as needed for a mood boost. Something about it instantly centers me and lowers my blood pressure. I get the same pacifying effect from Santal 33, which smells so similar -- only Santal doesn't have the slight mentholated feel of the eucalyptus. As an HSP I find that sometimes a more complex fragrance can feel too busy, and it might give me anxiety and/or induce a headache, it honestly just depends on my mood/where I'm at in my cycle. Book+ or Santal 33 could NEVER induce a headache. They're more aromatherapy than "perfume" for me. 🖤👽

This one is certainly not for everyone. I am an absolute sucker for "library" fragrances, and this one definitely hits the mark for me. Moderate longevity and strong sillage(in my opinion) mean that you need to be careful with this one, especially considering the pickle smell that some people get from the sandalwood. That said, I don't get the pickle comparison at all, so I can't speak to that. This is high on my list of fragrances to reach to on a cold winter day. It warms the senses and brings the feeling of sitting in a large leather chair in the corner of an old bookstore. Can't go wrong with that! Definitely leans "male", but I could see a more feminine person wearing this to great success.

This is one my favorite unisex fragrances. It's quite complex, yet familiar. The notes here are way different. This to me has a strong Eucalyptus and violet opening which is green, but with sweet Musk. powdery, and comforting but has that kick/spice that elevates it to a whole new level. It is the fresh out of the shower scent, but not a basic soapy scent. This is easily signature scent worthy, wouldn't say that it is a compliment getter or mass pleasing because it gives the illusion that this how you naturally smell! Not a skin scent by any means so your presence will be known lightly;) I am a sweet gourmand floral girl but this fragrance makes me question my entire collection.

Tried this from the Bold sample pack and this is my favorite of the bunch. Smells like a paperback book burning in a cedar fire in a cozy cabin. Initial blast of eucalyptus dries down quick leaving the smokey sweetness. Must love wood and smoke. Photorealistic sandalwood incense burning too. This one also lasted the longest of the samples I tried. If you want to smell like a sweet campfire this is it! 10/10

I actually prefer this over Le labos' Santal 33, even though I am a fan of the house. Book+ is the superior Santal fragrance because of it's longevity and development during the day. It's not headache inducing but it's very much present and melts into you. You will catch yourself smelling something nice as you move throughout the day into the night, it's a creamy and comforting version of the scent.

I got it in a sample set & it smells like a softly haunted library. Immediately bought a full size bottle. It’s like Autumn Vibes, minus the moldy leaf smell.

I came across the house Commodity via Fragrantica and ordered the Paper and Book exploration kits. And so glad I did, because this really seems to be my type of fragrance house, as I generally like musky/woodsy skin fragrances and these are all that. There is something that I really like about the Book scents, and there is also something I don’t like (the green smell that is referred to as dill here). Luckily, in all 3 versions of Book, that strong dill fades after a while. And then Book+ reveals the nice woody, smokey and black tea notes. I think I like Book+ best as this version has the strongest black tea + smoke notes, which combined smells like leather to me. Reminds me of Tom Ford Ombré leather, but then a softer and friendlier version. I also get the comparison to the leather and hay notes in Santal33, but I think in Book it’s softer, better. When applied on my skin, Book+ also has some sweetness to it after the dill has faded, almost a bit vanilla-like. Which I don’t smell on clothes. Where Book- and Book are very close to skin, Book+ is slightly more projecting but still light (which is good for me, because I am not into heavy and strong sillage perfumes). I get whiffs of it during the day, but mostly need to sniff my sweater to smell it. Longevity is short on my skin, but much better on clothes. Although I like this scent a lot (áfter dill has faded) I find it rather masculine scent, and a bit to masculine to make this my new everyday scent. I think therefore I like the Paper series better, although the Book serie is more special and unusual.

I really like this. I haven't tried the Personal or Expressive formulations of Book yet, so I can't compare them. I don't tend to like extremely loud perfumes, so I wasn't sure this would work for me, but the projection of Book+ is well within my comfort zone. It's interesting that the reviewer below me didn't get the tea--with my chemistry I'm perceiving mostly black tea and sandalwood, and a bit of tang from the cedar. It smells more like a shiny fashion magazine to me than a book--I get the glossy paper, the ink, and a hint of musky perfume sample strips folded inside. The more it dries down the more I get the sandalwood--I do understand the Santal 33 comparison, but the black tea seems distinct. I'm excited to try the other two versions from the discovery set to see how they differ.

Woody, musky with a slight hint of rose. It’s interesting the Book + and Book - are created by the same perfumer, because these two are a lot more similar to one another than the original Book. I’m not picking up as strong of a pickle vibe in this version. Book + is bolder. There’s more wood than the other two, and also a smoke accord that is only in this version. This version also has a velvet musk (and while I’m not sure if that’s referring to a component of the Velvet perfume in their line), there is a bit of rosiness in it like Velvet. Out of the three, I prefer this version!

this is a lot like Book expressive, and so i think there are a few notes missing from the fragrantica profile. if Book is like walking through a eucalypt/cassinia forest, Book+ is like crawling on your hands and knees through the forest, nose buried in the leaf litter. cedar is initially much stronger than eucalyptus, though over time the honey-sweet eucalyptus pokes out and is the main note after about an hour. this is particularly pungent and i think it may suit a candle better. for wearing on my skin, i would prefer Book- or Book.

Very woody, but a nice pine forest woodiness. Cedar provides warmth and sandalwood adds creaminess. But a book? Yes, books are made of paper which is made from wood, but books don’t usually retain the smell of trees or wood. The only way this scent is possibly reminiscent of the scent of books is if your library is located in a freshly built log cabin in the forest.

The first spray and several minutes after (when sampling at sephora) had a really interesting combo of smells... I can't quite remember and I'm writing this down an hour later... but it has dried down to just a typical smooth musky sandalwood. Not bad at all! Just nothing special.

try layering this with "things we never shared" by toskovat' the sandalwood from this fragrance really compliments the plum from toskovat. You get like a woody, fruity, slightly sweet aroma and you also get the eucalyptus floating above everything else.

On my skin, it’s super woody, musky and herbal with a leather note. The tea isn’t as prominent as it is in the personal version but it’s still beautiful. This one is definitely cold weather coded. Perfect cozy fall fragrance.

Still not picking up any tea. The cucumbers that were in Personal and Expressive have disappeared. Mostly woods, with some slight smoke at the beginning.

Smells sort of like a cucumber flavoured tea drink but more woody. Very fresh scent rounded out by the sandalwood.

Mmm soothing woody It’ll be terrific if it’s bit less synthetic.

Given how Commodity is doing the whole personal (-), expressive, and bold (+) thing, it makes sense to compare them side by side and provide one review for all three. While I prefer to test blind it's hard not to notice the names, but I haven't looked up the suggested notes or read any of their literature. With BOOK I'm expecting something dusty, leathery, and well-aged. What I get is something more friendly and approachable with little crumbs of incense, leather, and spice, but the overall body in the opening has a bit of a watery plant freshness that slowly dries down to a more familiar book of light and warm fuzzy comfort. For me (and I could be way off) that familiar book is HB The Scent, and it's only in contrast to it do I get a bit more dusty feeling side by side. The intimate is low key, barely there, while the expressive is very similar, but kicks up the plot with a little bit of brighter top notes (it is hard to distinguish) and the hint of incense is more ashy. The plus is a different chapter with the base having more prominent woods and introduces a bit more of the dusty feeling I was expecting. Looking at the notes, the black tea and eucalyptus explain the wet plant vibe in the opening, the bergamot as the brightness at the top of the expressive, and the sandalwood adding to the light incense feel. The Amber and velvet don't really correlate well in the expression and I don't find them present. Overall the character development shows some promise, but the whole book has a thin plot compared to the other books in the series.

Breakdown of notes if different on the brand's website so will go with what is there not here. Inspiration for the oryginal fragrance (Book Expressive) was a memory of "turning pages and breathing in the smell of dry paper mingling in with the open fresh air." In the Bold version, eucalyptus and cedar notes were amplified with violet and vetiver root. Don't get these in the Bold version much. On a tester strip, I got eucalyptus leave (but not as prominent as in the Expressive) and earthy note, a smell of wet earth. Then it became more heavy on an eucalyptus leave note. This green note reminds me a smell or a papyrus paper and this is where this scent stays on a tester strip. Bold version is not as long lasting as Expressive. I'd switch them around. It lasted around 4 hours on my skin, Expressive version was a beast-mode, with 8+ hours longevity on my skin (more details under Expressive review). Worth mentioning that Bold and Personal versions were created by a different perfumer, Jerome Epinette. Oryginal Book was done by Ketrin Leka.

I’m not clear on why this isn’t rated more highly. It does smell similar to Santal 33, but not as sharp. I always get some dill pickle in Santal, and I get a touch of it here, but it doesn’t stay long. This is such a good scent. I have the Book Scent Space kit and I like all three “flavors”. I put on whatever’s nearby. The only problem is performance with all three. I get that the minus version isn’t supposed to project much, but none of them really do. They turn to skin scents relatively quickly. I’ve been wearing this scent after work to calm down because it’s so comforting. A little sweet, a little spicy, a little fresh. Very nice round cedar and sandalwood in this one as well. I even put some on before bed for the comfort.

It is very close to Book expressive except that there is a slight difference in one note of the scent. There is a new smoke smell that accompanies this one at the end. It really smells quite good but the difference between expressive and this bold is very very subtle. Like Book expressive it has a strong woody scent that is softened by musk. The tea scent comes out very much still and makes it still smell pretty calm. The slight smoke makes me feel like a book that was read by the bonfire for a little time. It is still quite a lovely scent but I wish the bold was a bit more different than expressive and took up more space in a room.

This fragrance smells almost exactly like Le Labo Santal 33 to me except it's a little smokier. On my skin, they smell pretty identical. This isn't my personal scent preference, but for those who do like the Le Labo scent, I think this is a good alternative (though I'm not sure of the price differences between the two). They are also similar enough to me, that I don't see any reason to have both in your fragrance collection, unless you are just insanely in love with this type of scent.

Book+ is pretty much identical to the original, "Expressive" Book, just with hopped up woodiness. I don't get any tea notes, just a heaping pile of woods. If you liked the original Book, save yourself the extra $20 and just buy the original "Expressive" one. I didn't notice any difference in the longevity or sillage either. The "Scent Space" idea is creative, and I think in the cases of some of the other fragrances, it works quite well. I'm not noticing much of a significance for Book.

In comparison to Paper this one is definitely more woody, cedar is strong. But to me Paper is the musky one while this is super powdery in the dry down and sweeter. It is a cozy scent, black tea is very subtle. I tried the Bold version and found it very skin-scenty. I don’t get any projection and have to sniff my arm any time I use it. I love Commodity scents and it is a pitty they are short-lived on my skin.

This is Book with added smokiness, but still somehow a skin scent. I don't know if it's my skin chemistry but Book, Paper, and Gold all have horrible performance for me, even in the Bold series. I love a good tea note but sadly for me the tea in this is imaginary. Overall pretty underwhelming, I'll stick to Bois de Balincourt for a dependable sandalwood fragrance.

So it does not smell like a book, but it kind of smells like shaving cream / the shower and a bunch of wood, like wood floors, wood walls, wood everything. Like imagine a man stepping out of the shower (or maybe don't) and into this log cabin in the middle of the woods on a crisp but not snowy winter day. I'm not really smelling any books in that cabin though.

A very strange scent overall. It evolves a lot on the skin. Masculine leaning but generally hard to place. The constant scents throughout are spice and delicate musk. When I first sprayed it I loved it, 5 minutes later I was disgusted, and now I’m not sure what to think but would not pick this over any other scent.

very grassy and woody scent that gets stronger with time. the black tea is a bit stronger than the cedar and sandalwood but i like the idea of creating a scent to represent an old book or an old library. very unisex as well. it’s not bad but i don't see myself reaching for this scent.

Unfortunately I am one of those people that picks up a heavy dill scent from this. It fades slightly on the dry down, but maintains that vegetal wetness. I like the woody, musky, smoky accords of this fragrance, I'm just not sure if I can get past the dillyness.

There's a brief window where this is a late summer's day in the woods, surrounded by violets, oak, and heat. If only this window didn't appear after harsh burning and fade to the cold feeling of the sun dipping behind the clouds.

The same woody creaminess as Book Expressive, but with less eucalyptus and more of an underlying smokiness. My least favourite of the Book variants; it’s just a little too dank/damp smelling for me.

Clearly heavily influenced by Le labo Santal 33 It's woody, dry and in the opening it has that signature blue dna which I find a bit boring. Santal 33 is still the best Sandalwood fragrance imo.

I get what people are describing as pickle juice but it's whatever is trying to act as the tea note. The most wearable of the Book trio. But still nowhere reminiscent of a book or library.

hm. especially at the start this smelt strangely like cucumbers to me. it still has a pleasant, warm aroma to it, but the vegetal notes are maybe a little divisive.

Like others have said, theirs a weird dill pickle like smell to this for me in the opening, other then that it’s a woody musk smell, not really that exciting.

Something about the over powering cedar in this thing is reading to my nose like date syrup. Very dense and treacle-y.

very woody wood, smoking eucalyptus log kind of deal it does kind of smell like pickles if you think about it though

This is a bit redundant for me because I have a holy-grail-of sandalwood scent. Nothing beats Tam Dao.

anyone down to dust some shelves because oh boy, this is dusty as hell

On Paper tester: Book + Smelt to me like a hotel lobby initially, I can't put my finger on why but that was what I was getting upon initial spray, then it turns to the smell of a glossy fashion magazine, not unpleasant but not really what I was expecting I guess. The dry down... jeez, I had a throwback to those ''Smelly old History - Tudor Odours'' books from the 90's it was a scratch-and-sniff book which wasn't pleasant, that is EXACTLY what this smelled like to me. On the skin it was pretty much the same though I was getting a bit of a medicinal scent that seems to come back in all of the variations of this, and the ''scratch and sniff book'' smell was less prominent, mercifully. I wasn't getting any of the sweet and creaminess other people are experiencing, it was a musky nightmare to my nose. Id give this a 4/10, I didn't like this on any level, though it luckily didn't last long on the skin, Definitely not a safe blind buy, but I do appreciate scents that are a little different than the 'norm'.

the opening blasts me with eucalyptus, which was an unpleasant surprise as I hate that note on myself. I'm not getting pickle the way some people do but I do think I'm getting some dill, which I'm not a fan of either. This reads as very masculine to me. I think it would be great on someone else who likes non-sweet woody/green scents--just not my cup of tea!

I don't get anything but ISO E Super...and Im so disappointed. Opening of eucalyptus is gone in minutes and it morphs into an ISO E Super bomb. Already have Molecule 01 so extremely redundant. Lucky all I'm on the hook for is a sample.

I bought the Commodity discovery kit and this smells like dill pickles. A colleague of mine loves this and every time she wears it I will ask what smells like pickles. Not for me.

i feel like i'm groundhog day stuck at that shawarma place in canada where the guy asks you if you want pickles and you say no and he gives you the pickles anyway

I’m rather fed up with sandalwood fragrances smelling like dill pickles. What is this? How can you smell this and say “yep, that’s a book!”

peculiar indeed i get wet sludgy soil and i get steamed broccoli. i don’t know what to tell ya man, it’s what im smelling and its gross.

Smoke wood and pickle juice. Heavier, darker and odder. Very herbal, almost like incense. Strong, in a not cute way.

This one was an immediate no for me!! It opens with an intensely herbal and minty smell that instantly reminded me of Radox bubble bath and Lush's Lord of Misrule shower gel, but the biggest thing I notice is the intense smell of leather... THE LEATHER IS SO STRONG. Unfortunately, that's a note my nose just doesn't get along with, and it immediately makes me want to scrub the fragrance off everywhere it touched. As it developed, I kept catching strong, cloying wafts every time I moved an inch, but rather than becoming warmer or softer, it just became more overpowering. Book+'s intense minty, earthy leather accord just slaps you round the face and never really chills out. The herbal notes stay firmly at the front, whilst that leather stink never gave my nose, and my head a break. I really wanted to like this because I absolutely love the concept behind it, and I can appreciate that it's trying to capture the feeling of old books: like an old leather-bound copy of a long out-of-print novel sitting on some fancy antique wooden shelves. Unfortunately, that's not what I get at all. To me it smells much more like someone has spilled herbal bath soak onto a cheap leather armchair. I'm also not sure where the herbal mintiness fits into the concept. It doesn't scream "book" to me at all, and I think that was my biggest disappointment. Instead of evoking paper and cosy reading, my brain immediately went to cheap plasticky magazines, bathroom products and overpowering leather. On my skin it feels loud, medicinal and way too intense (although, in fairness, I did choose the + range, which is intentionally the boldest and most intense version). Definitely one I'd rather catch a brief whiff of in the air than actually wear myself! Be intrigued to smell this in its less intense forms.

Sweet and creamy smell with a woody undertone. I really, *really* love the creamy notes of the musk, the sandalwood, and the cedar---I find that cedar smells strangely sweet on me/to me and has been a common thread through all of my favorite "creamy" perfumes. This is, however, the first fragrance with which I've smelled the pickle-y smell of sandalwood that people always talk about. The pickle-y smell does fade significantly on the dry down, but when I first put it on my skin, I couldn't help but gag a little bit (I unfortunately hate pickles). The black tea note is also a plus, very subtle, but develops over time. This scent works well with bitter citrusy notes, is are present in the form of bergamot in the Book original scent. I love to layer those two to create a sweeter yet not quite gourmand effect. This fragrance, however, does not smell like a book, as some may have hoped based on its name. In all, I love this fragrance. I find myself spraying either this version or Book- on myself after a warm shower before bed, and in the morning I can still smell it subtly.