Gina Litherland Scholar of the Dark Armchair 2008
“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” ~ Cicero
Gina Litherland Conversation with a Cat©
100% of Meisters (by blood, marriage or choice) concur heartily with Cicero; we are unanimous in this (thank you, Mrs. Slocum from Britcom “Are You Being Served?”). I dare you to cross the threshold of any of our domiciles and NOT be bombarded – or brained – by any number of tomes and volumes organized, piled high or scattered throughout its environs. One of my deepest sorrows two years ago, when they sold our building on M. Street after 35 years – was the necessity of culling a lifetime of amassed books because there would never be enough room for them all. We venerate both the spoken and written word: you can observe us cracking open the spine of a book with greedy anticipation and holding it up to our noses to breathe it in. Each of us; all of us.
photo by Sebastian©
Commodity Fragrances was purchased by U.S. distributor of niche perfumes Vicken Arslanian of Europerfumes/ Eden Square nearly one year ago. The demand for Commodity Fragrances had exceeded the original company’s ability to keep up. They may not be available in brick-and-mortar stores, but one may currently purchase them online. It’s a way of maintaining artistic integrity as well as the brand’s reputation; while they are no longer on Sephora’s shelves (where most folk, including myself – became familiar with them), you can continue to enjoy any favorites you may already have, or explore them if you haven’t yet done so.
Gina Litherland’s oil on wood painting Book Garden, 2000
It’s not uncommon that my sense of a perfume sometimes differs from its written copy. Commodity Fragrances Book doesn’t conjure images of either Hemingway or Fitzgerald for me, or the New York Public Library where a good chunk of my childhood was spent with my favorite Tante Sylvia. For me, it is a conceptual fragrance – one which refers to fresh wood pulp, sylvan settings rather than a library. I find it to be a perfect scent commensurate with autumnal contemplation: at first brilliant with bergamot and eucalyptus nestled against the gentle dry amber-tinged leatheriness of Virginia cedar and heavenly rosewood (one of my favorite woods). Alaskan cypress goes by many other names (Alaskan yellow cedar, yellow cypress, Nootka cypress), but when I smelt it, it screamed ‘nootka!’ to me – a very tonic, bracing herbal/terpenic aroma, drily spicy and woody. This tree flourishes in the Pacific Northwest where it is harvested. It’s also known for a pungent grapefruit-like tone which is bright and astringent, making it a fine companion to the varieties of woody components inherent in Book. Amyris, aka West Indian Sandalwood (no relation to actual sandalwood, grown in Haiti and the Dominican Republic) – contributes a sweet balsamic note which fades to a more subtle vanillic woodiness; it pairs well with authentic sandalwood and lends tenacity as a fixative. Along with amber and musk, the perfume lingers indefinitely upon the flesh, even though it tends to wear more intimately with the progression of time. Amber utilized here is more of an arid ligneous sort, not sweetly resinous; the recreation of velvet might possibly include Cashmeran, Iso E Super and/or any of the gentler aromachemical musks. Book‘s drydown reveals a sylvan murmur amidst a pile of drying multi-hued leaves. Artist friend Gina Litherland depicts the mood precisely in her oil painting Book Garden: I want to be that faunal creature conversing with my fox in the forest, where books bloom atop hardy stalks surrounded by an aromatic carpet of autumn leaves – festooned with a foliage crown and an opossum for additional company.
Notes: Virginia cedarwood, bois de rose, eucalyptus, bergamot, Alaskan cypress, amyris, amber, musk, sandalwood, velvet
Commodity Fragrances Book Tester generously provided by Europerfumes/Eden Square – many thanks! My nose is my own…
~ Ida Meister, Senior Editor and Natural Perfumery Editor
Commodity Fragrances Book image via Commodity Fragrances website and Unsplash /digital efffects Michelyn
Thanks to Europerfumes, the new owner of Commodity Fragrances, we have a 100 ml bottle tester of Book EDP for a registered ÇafleureBon reader in the USA ONLY (if you are not sure if you are registered click here (you must register on our site or your entry will be invalid) To be eligible please leave a comment regarding what you enjoyed about Ida’s review of Commodity Fragrances Book. Do you have a Commodity Fragrances favorite? Draw closes 10/23/2020
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