With the holidays rolling in as quick as approaching storm clouds, there are some key signifiers that always attach themselves to the season. For example, can you see the first snowfall and not think of new boots and scarves and gloves to update the coat you will not be updating this year? Then, can you not see the leaves falling rapidly from the trees in a cacaphony of rich warm colors and not think of the apple confections, pumpkin pastries and Thanksgiving trimmings as colorful and earthen as the landscape they came from? And speaking of desserts, do the smells of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and cardamom not conjure up images of tinsel, tree-trimming, crowded stores and flights home? For me, the bloodhound capabilities of my olfactory appendage is my number one go-to for taking me away from my often daily doldrums to my anticipations of relaxation. Scents remind, transplant, inform and entice us all at once. However, it's not just the typical scents that take us up and away. They can be very personal things from our initial interactions with something special, key moments from our childhood and even special moments experiencing nature that we know we can never get back.
This is the intriguing aesthetic behind the fine body and home fragrance company Commodity. The way in which they aim to capture that which inspires us to reminisce, long for and connect with the memorable experiences and interactions in our lives is key to their movement in creating exquisitely-crafted products utilizing nature's finest commodities by expert artisans. For example, their scent named Book was created by perfumer Ketrin Leka's memories of the smell of the dry pages of old books mingling with the fresh open air from her first visit to the New York Public Library. With key notes of sandalwood, bergamot and cypress, Book has an earthy weight to it that left me with the musky and manly remembrances of my dad's cologne together with the definite piney and woodiness of old tomes and the spicy hints of bindings that hold them together.
Commodity appeals to the emotions that those scents, textures and objects that inspire you happen to awaken. Scents like Wool, created by perfumer Donna Ramanauskas pull out her memories of being wrapped in the textile on a cold Winter's night beside a crackling fire. What was evident to me is how wool traps scents from our bodies and environments, so next to the contrast of a soothing fire and its fragrant burning wood, the contrast of soft wool has an almost sweet, herbal and masculine essence created by body and surrounding heat. The key notes of amber, Haitian vetiver, bourbon vanilla are manly and elemental yet sensitive and relaxing. Similarly, Rodrigo Flores-Roux connects with natural essences for his candle offering called Leather with its key notes of black leather, labdanum and akigalawood. When the match burn floats away you're left with a sensuous earthy scent that is both spicy and sweet and I must say quite calming and light. Flores-Roux has a very personal connection with leather as he wears it everyday and it too can conform to our bodies as well as acquire our scents which accounts for our tactile connectivity to interacting with it and our fascination with its smooth shiny strength.
What also makes Commodity a rare and beautiful unisex brand is that it is a clean and cruelty-free brand (their Leather candle has an essence of black leather without actually using black leather and is derived from soy and plant oils) that also participates in fair-trade that supports the local communities from where an ingredient is sourced (e.g. - their sustainable use of Haitian vetiver). It's a delight to smell good and feel good doing so while being transported back to that summer by the shore, that time when you built your first log fire, those times when you hugged grandma after she made her infamous dessert or sat in dad's chair and smelled his old pipe lingering. For more info on Commodity and all of their wonderful collections of fragrances, candles and skincare items go to CommodityGoods.com. The sensory overload via scents will ensue.
