Book

Commodity is an interesting line of fragrances. It's not like Demeter in that it does not attempt to create a photorealistic imitation of common scents. Instead, it captures the basic essence and air of the item being portrayed. Everyone knows books don't smell like cucumber, vetiver, sandalwood, for example, but this fragrance nonetheless captures the impression of woodsy paper, and the freshness of opening new books. This is a fresh fragrance with no citrus, which is refreshing, as I feel that a lot of fragrances overuse citrus and thus I have been trying to steer away from that genre. Instead, the freshness comes from the blast of cucumber, and the herbal notes likes lavender and eucalyptus. Some people say this smells like pickles. I completely disagree. Pickles have a vinegar smell, whereas this one has very little tanginess, and any tanginess I detect smells nothing like vinegar, only cucumbers. After all, cucumbers are a fruit, and they can be sour tasting, especially in the juicy, seedy center. Overall, I love this scent. It makes me feel clean and happy and sophisticated. Cold and fresh, but with enough warming herbs and amber to make you feel at home. It's like a modern library with big windows, and just enough comfortable furniture and Tiffany lamps to make you feel at home.

This is a great office fragrance! It's nice and light and inoffensive. Not only that, but I can't imagine this scent not pairing well with almost ANYTHING in my collection (if by chance I wore something strong the night before). The strength is perfect for an office scent, but don't make the mistake of over spraying. In the first hour, it's strong cucumber freshness, great for after a shower. The second through 4th hours are strong vetiver, dying down as the scent starts to dissipate. Unfortunately the total life of this fragrance for me today was only about 6 hours, but I did go a little light on the trigger. I really love the cucumber in the opening. The dry down really does resemble old books, but without all the allergens :) The vetiver is really quite nice!!! This is like Encre Noire's optimistic brother. Encre Noire is strong, moody, emotional. Not necessarily grumpy, but not in the mood for games. Commodity Book is similar in regards to the vetiver, but much more cheery. What is it about vetiver that smells so confident? There's something about it that makes it perfect for office wear.

God I adore this product! At first whiff the cucumber, sandalwood, and bergamot are what hit you hardest. Many people say it doesn't smell much like books but if you took an old paperback from a hidden shelf and maximized the scents each characteristic, I feel like it would be incredibly close. I bet if this was toned down and mixed with wool it would be spot on. It's fresh, clean, and comforting and warm at it's center. My favorite thing about this scent is that as it dries down throughout the day it becomes sweeter and warmer. The amber becomes more and more apparent as it becomes less peppery. It makes me feel like reading myself to sleep and those last moments before I close my eyes and dream of the story. It's unobtrusive definitely, but still strong enough to wear a good six to eight hours, and by then it's an all new scent completely consisting mostly of cucumber, vevitiveir, and a soft whisper of lavender, eucalyptus, and amber at its end.

I bought the sample pack of Commodity colognes when they ran their Kickstarter campaign. Out of all of their original 10 in the "Black"/masculine line, Book was in my top 3 (Whiskey is still my #1 though). For me, this is very cool upon application. Cucumber is the strongest. It almost teases a sweet aquatic, but then it moves pretty quickly to warm woodsy notes. Balsam/vetiver/etc. There's a slight chemical smell to it. Either way, I find this incredibly versatile, and although it's a little more on the masc side, I find the cucumber really evens it out for a smart unisex scent. It's a rather oblique interpretation of "book" (I would expect heavier binding glue/paper notes), but at the same time I could imagine myself in some type of fresh-smelling magical library out of a fantasy novel. If you check out any three of Commodity (Black), make Book one of them, alongside Whiskey and Gin.

Just picked up a Ten 10ML travel spray when visiting New York. From Sephora. As soon as I got my nose to the sprayer I was extremely intrigued. The Sandalwood I could smell. Which can give off an interesting sweet and milky vibe too it. Almost in the tone of fig. I wore it during my whole trip here in New York. Let me tell you the experience. At first spray. I smelled the cucumber and bergamont. But in the opening in the background I got this sweetness coming in slowly developing. The sweetness reminded me of the same opening of CH Men with the grassy sugary texture but much lighter. I can say this is unique yet inoffensive. And received many compliments at a party that was held at Atlantic Records. Does it remind me of LE LABO santal 33 this is a 90 percent equivalent at a cheaper yet not cheap smelling. Scent : 9/10 Longevitiy 7/10 Sillage : 8/10

Definitely a unisex fragrance. My favorite out of the inoffensive American perfumes category. An Arabian nose palette is different from an American one and this I've come to account for. Americans love clean scents. I love my scents woodsy and animalistic with hints of sweetness. But you can't get away with wearing those sort of scents in a temperate zone in America. Everyone freaks. And almost everything is "too cloying." You'd think it's a nation of undiagnosed allergy sufferers but they gave you pecan pie, carrot cakes, and Melissa Mcarthy so you shut up about it. Oh, yes! This fragrance is wonderfully clean with a hint of nerditude and nostalgia.

Aquatic incense--like dill pickles, spiced, with a bit of wood in the base that makes this smell great and not strange. Leans masculine, but totally wearable if you're a woman who loves scents like Stash SJP. Fresh, soothing scent, very aromatic. Has somewhat of a menthol quality in the top notes, smells a bit like lavender or eucalyptus. Don't get this if you want something that smells exactly like an old book, though. It smells more woodsy, earthy, and as someone else said, outdoorsy. It evokes the 'feel' of old books and libraries and not necessarily the smell.

First whif is like a musty attick, not entirey unpesant, but more nostalgic. I dont really get much cucumber but a sweet eucalypt medicinal herbal comes in imediatly. This quickly setteles into a very subtle warm damp ceder wood, like being in a sauna. I have the Commodity 15 sample story book and I rate this one in the middle because the top and base notes are very different and I dont quite get it I guess. Also too subtle.. Yet I am intrigued by it. I like Begamot, Orris and Tea the most from the Commodity line, and Gold, Mimosa and Magnolia the least. ⛤⛤⛤

This is an incredible Cologne. I use it when I am in the office and both Women and Men have commented on it. I read about it in GQ magazine and bought a sample pack. To me it smells like the fresh clean pages of a new book with kind of a resinous warm amber base. One of the Guys in my office said I smelled like a cool cedar forest when I walked in the room. One of the admins told me I smelled like Delicious. Any way this has become my new favorite scent. It is made out of high quality ingredients and has more impact then you realize. LOVE IT!!!!

What a wonderful scent! In my mind I was hoping it would smell more like a book, but it didn't. That's okay though because it smells great. On first application I do get plenty of cucumber and the bergamont but both seem to fade but never disappear. I also get alot of spices, especially something peppery. I get the scent of CDG Black but a light fresh version. I also get something in here that reminds me of fahrenheit. The woods in here make a beautiful symphony, I honestly can't stop smelling my wrist. A full bottle is on order. 9/10

This is marketed as a man's fragrance but it's definitely unisex. Upon first application I get a blast of cucumber (smells like the cucumber vodka I adore). As it dries down, there are more musky and woody notes that come into play and the cucumber takes a seat in the back. It really does remind me of being in a large, old, antique library. It has a warmness to it but I think this scent is good for any season. It's homey and comfortable, and something I can see myself wearing very frequently.

Compared to Santal 33, this is much damper and more sour (though not unpleasant), possibly because it doesn't have the violet or iris to lift it up. Longevity is really weak--this lasts an hour, maybe an hour and a half on me, even if I douse myself in it. It lasts much longer on clothes, though. Edit: I will say, on clothes it smells really really similar to Santal 33, you get the same effect. Most people don't notice.

This is Santal 33. I had a lady walk past me the other day wearing Santal and Book immediately crossed my thoughts. I don't wear this, but my husband loves it. The cucumber is what makes this so different from everything else.

Just to add, I've found a matching body wash for this. It's made by Dove. It's the new mens care line, the scent is called clay and charcoal. Perfect match for this fragrance.

I was cleaning out a box of junk about a month ago when I found an old 2ml tester of Book dated from 2013 (empty). I looked it up and learned that it had been reformulated and wanted to remember what the old version smelled like. I tried my best but after many futile attempts at huffing the dusty fumes of a12 year old sample, I could not detect the faintest of scent. I did what any logical fraghead would do and tracked down an older bottle, and pulled the trigger on a risky blind buy. I justified the purchase by telling myself I didn't have too many fougere scents in my collection and push comes to shove, it's probably close enough to the new version to use as my clean/fresh go-to. Upon initial spray, I was stunned. I at first agreed with many of the reviews beneath mine that this was much more herbal than the current formulation. The combination of eucalyptus, lavender, and artemisia was extremely astringent, borderline medicinal with no signs of smoothing out. I was very disappointed with my purchase and put my bottle up for sale for someone that could love it. After a few weeks there hadn't been much traction on it so I decided to test it again and see if I could make it work in my collection. I'm SO glad I did. I get much more of the cozy, soft and semi-sweet woods that I had hoped for. As to where the newer Book leans more towards the greener/pickle-y (to some, not me) side, the addition of guaiac wood and Haitian vetiver in the base notes in the OG warms up on the skin and adds a clean sweetness that evens out the heavy herbaceous opening. I can only hope that the longevity will improve with time; that is my only complaint. I have layered this with Vanilla 28/Milk/Espiritu and the combination of sweet, smoky, fresh woods is just what I have been looking for.

Very smooth, rather cool, but nicely-finished synth sandalwood. Very near indeed to a weaker, more restrained Santal 33 but even closer yet to Zara Tiveden, right down to the unexpected swerves into the cucumber patch. The vetiver, lime and eucalyptus definitely throw it onto the more herbal, cold-water, outdoorsy facet of sandalwood, not the rich warm indoor spicy kind. Wearable, unisex, inoffensive, good for layering ... yet not complex or rich enough to be a real winner on its own IMHO. One to try for the sandalwood completists. Despite being synthy it does have very recognisable notes of forest and woods.

This is an interesting unisex fragrance that leans masculine. It's very woodsy. It's not oriental to me because I don't smell any spice in this. The note pyramid looks pretty accurate, except, like many reviewers, I'm not smelling the lavender either. Sillage is moderate. Longevity is long. I could smell this at arms' length for 3-5 hours. It lasted on my fragrance-eating skin for 10 hours. The closest relation that I can find between this fragrance and its name is that it kind of resembles a freshly-washed, just-in-from-the-mountain-air hipster opening up some new books and magazines in a bookstore.

Fab! Fab! Fab! No one in their right mind could hate this. Is it a book? No. This is no book I have smelled in my entire life. This does not smell of paper, or glue, or sweet decay. Snappy cucumber, oak moss, and sandalwood make .... Scotch? Is it really you, Glenfidditch? You and your friend, cucumber martini? I've been trying to be good, and I missed you. I'm so happy to have you back in my life without the threat of a killer hangover. I can wear the best bar in the world on my person, smelling fresh to death, instead of just dead.

this is an odd one for me; it switches between a green almost herbal and woodsy blend then morphs to a warm woolly aroma. I get primarily a celery/cucumber and musky/amber out of it. It's not bad but to me, this doesn't quite fit the name of "Book", I would get it if the name was "garden" or something indicating more greenery and warmth.

Oh, this is nice! Definitely unisex. A cucumber-woody composition. A very cool fragrance, I get the feeling of sitting in the shadow under a green tree and opening a fresh newprinted book. A very breezy feeling, indeed. Hence, best for spring/summer season. A safe buy for anyone who likes Clean scents.