topic Re: Goodbye, Commodity in Fragrance Fans

Goodbye, Commodity

elisssabeth — Fri, 03 May 2019 20:48:57 GMT

I was surprised to see the Commodity products on sale/sold out and decided to do some digging. In March, Ash Huzenlaub did an interview with Conde Nast regarding the company's expansion into the Middle East including a line of local fragrances that would only be available in that market. With names like Commodity Oud, Nomad, and Blaze, a succulent jasmine, I was instantly smitten. They also have a pending trademark on Commodity Blonde. I found an article published yesterday with Beauty Independent that states the company has closed overnight and the only available product will be what is remaining across retailers like Sephora, Space NK, and Nordstrom. The company's Instagram page is still up but notes that their product is no longer available and their website has been down for some time now. I fell in love with the company in 2016 and am very sorry and surprised to see them go. It's hard to pick a favorite: in the Platinum Collection, my favorite is Orris, which is soft, feminine, and chic. In Black, I love Book and Moss equally. I also enjoy Whiskey and affectionately named a cocktail The Study (combining Book + Whiskey). In White, my absolute favorite is Gold and Mimosa is a close second as a lovely, gilded citrus. I was fortunate enough to be part of the Commodity Ambassador program last year and received a number of compilentary items. I would love to hear your thoughts on the company, your favorites, and any suggestions for a new clean, indie fragrance house to try. *Please excuse any factual errors as I am unaware of any requirements for posting news items versus opinion items.*

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

missjeanie — Fri, 03 May 2019 20:57:40 GMT

I loved Commodity fragrances, and still do. I picked up quite a few maybe two/three years ago now (Tea, Rain, Gold, Whiskey and Moss were favourites). I managed to snag another travel spray last week and was glad to grab one when I could. The staff member I was speaking with at Sephora told me they were no longer carrying the brand, but I hadn't heard that the company was no more. I've been loving Clean fragrances for a while now. Solar Bloom is my new main squeeze this month @elisssabeth . Though it should be noted I'm no expert with fragrances. I just like what I like.

Jeanie, thank you for sharing. I've tried Clean Skin and...

elisssabeth — Fri, 03 May 2019 21:25:16 GMT

Jeanie, thank you for sharing. I've tried Clean Skin and some kind of Reserve Blond Rose (?). Both were fine but I would like to find a favorite in the line.

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

loveyall — Sat, 04 May 2019 15:17:07 GMT

Oh, no!!! I am so sad. Gold is my favorite. I heard the line was one of the cleaner ones among fragrances so also fell in love a couple years ago. Gold was like a cleaner version of Dolce Gabana the One. I wonder why they shutdown and if they will come back. Thanks for sharing. I was just about to post the question about why they are on sale.

Re: Jeanie, thank you for sharing. I've tried Clean Skin and...

loveyall — Sat, 04 May 2019 15:18:02 GMT

I can't find anything in the Clean line that I like:(

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

itscarin — Sat, 04 May 2019 16:10:10 GMT

@elisssabeth I liked the original Book but the second version of book is way too cucumber for me.

Re: Jeanie, thank you for sharing. I've tried Clean Skin and...

missjeanie — Sat, 04 May 2019 16:19:43 GMT

@elisssabeth I’ve tried both of those and they were just ok for me. The aqua neroli has been a go to, and solar bloom is my new favourite. But I also really like citron fig.

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

ParrotTulips — Sat, 04 May 2019 16:25:13 GMT

Yes I was wondering why a bigger deal wasn’t made about the end of this line. A lot of people seemed to really love their fragrances. I just bought my first Commodity perfume, Nectar, during their sale, without realizing it was a “going out of business” thing. And I really like Nectar too

Re: Jeanie, thank you for sharing. I've tried Clean Skin and...

treestar86 — Sun, 05 May 2019 03:55:21 GMT

I got their rollerball trio from Ulta for like $10 (when I think it was more and then sold out here) and liked rain, smells so fresh and clean. skin didn't really smell like much at first, but it's nice also, and the cotton one, of course smells like laundry, which is nice and fresh. so I would try ulta - in fact I just checked and they have a rollerball set of 5 that is half off, for $10! (now it'll probably sell out, lol)

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

treestar86 — Sun, 05 May 2019 03:32:31 GMT

I was going to post this also, after seeing them in the sale section, and thinking "oh yay!", then going to their page and seeing they were ALL on sale, and thinking "more yay!" but also, "hmmm...", then also looking around but not seeing much, then found their instagram that just had that brief message about final stock. :'( their last post was over a month ago and didn't say anything about closing (I tried to post a comment about them closing, but I guess they must have disabled comments), and seemed to be posting regularly up until then, with giveaways (too bad I didn't find them earlier, haha), and even their latest fragrance 'bois' which came out just last fall I believe, and was nominated for an award (and which I just ordered). so it seems weird that they would suddenly close, and with no explanation or announcement. you would think they at least owe their fans/customers that much. and they seemed fairly new but popular, which makes it even more sad.

I got the velvet sample a while ago, and loved it. then when they had the gold as a free sample I placed a few orders so I could get a few of them, although I didn't like it as much as velvet. now I just ordered 'wool' and 'tonka', and the travel of 'book' (as that's all they had). then after keep looking at their page to see if they got any more in stock, I finally just ordered 'bois', after seeing that it got such great reviews, and that it was nominated for an award. those are pretty much all they had, except for 'leather', which seemed interesting (and glad to know they didn't use actual leather), but got mixed reviews saying it smelled like incense (which I like, but could just carry that around for $2 vs. $80. lol.) they had the nectar travel which I was going to order, but then it sold out. :'( but it's a great deal, especially with the 15% off now, which makes them like half off! so that's a pretty good deal, especially for the size of 3.4 oz. although it's kind of dissapointing since if I like any of them, I won't be able to get them again. :'( but at that size they should last a while. hopefully they will or can reopen sometime, or at least keep the recipes and maybe sell them to someone else to make?

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

treestar86 — Sun, 05 May 2019 04:01:59 GMT

gorgeous pic btw - did you get all those for free!?!? how lucky! I wish I knew about it or could do it, lol.

re: other perfumes. I would try Ellis Brooklyn - they're clean (which commodity wasn't, or at least labeled), and more expensive, but they have some samplers that are pretty cheap and a great deal. my fave is fawn, then rose and sci-fi (which I like to mix together.)

and nest. I got their new rollerball trio for only $22 and LOVE cocoa woods. I've tried a couple other ones (verde and black tulip) and that's my fave of theirs.

also atelier cologne is nice (I got a sample of the vanilla one) but sooo expensive. they had a cafe one which sounded nice, but as theyre so expensive I can't afford to but anything unless they have a sampler thingy, or go out of business also. lol. 😕 (and there's no store around so I can't smell first.)

oh and I got a sample of aerin "'honeysuckle' and it smeels DIVINE (I love honeysuckle), but also too expensive to buy I believe.

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

loveyall — Sun, 05 May 2019 06:05:41 GMT

Apparently, there is an Insta story on the founder's page titled "Thank You." I dont have insta so cant see it or if it tells us anything.

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

treestar86 — Sun, 05 May 2019 04:39:48 GMT

I didn't see anything (but I'm not very insta savvy either), but the last post about the brand that I could find had a pic of a new bottle of 'nectar', and mentioned that they were going to be rebranding this month and that all the new bottles would come with a travel size also.

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

creasedshadow — Sun, 05 May 2019 05:57:34 GMT

What do you mean by "Commodity wasn't clean"? In perfume, "clean" scents usually mean things that smell a little soapy, or like fresh laundry.

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

treestar86 — Sun, 05 May 2019 06:25:52 GMT

I mean it wasn't a 'clean' brand, as far as I know (or wasn't labeled as such). 'Clean' also refers to the ingredients being more natural, etc., and there are sections on the site for 'clean' skincare, perfume, etc., of which products are marked with a green leaf (the 'clean' seal). I thought that's what she was referring to, as there was mention of the CLEAN brand of perfume (which is marked as a "clean" brand, and commodity is not.)

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

loveyall — Sun, 05 May 2019 15:27:13 GMT

Yes-- clean regarding ingredients not necc the scent family.

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

pocketvenus — Sun, 05 May 2019 17:09:09 GMT

"I was fortunate enough to be part of the Commodity Ambassador program last year and received a number of compilentary items."

I'm so glad this has finally been openly stated. My thoughts on Commodity? I was extremely displeased to see a Commodity Ambassador post positive content about Commodity to BIC, including replies to posts made by the Commodity brand, without making any such disclosure. I did not have any strong feelings about Commodity until I saw these posts being slipped into BIC. After this, I developed an active distaste for the brand and have avoided it ever since.

Thank you for your honest feedback and sincere concern fo...

elisssabeth — Mon, 06 May 2019 22:34:23 GMT

Thank you for your honest feedback and sincere concern for the BIC community. I am happy to tell you that, starting in 2016, I purchased my own Commodity products over a two-year span. Over those two years, I purchased all but four of the scents in the entire collection and developed quite a feel for the brand. I was drawn to the marketing style and the unisex vibe. In June of last year, as part of a short-lived Ambassadorship, I received two travel sprays and one full-size fragrance (none of which are pictured in my photo). The month after I completed the Ambassador program, Sephora sent me a box of gratis which included four rollerballs based on my "love of fragrance," one of which was a Commodity travel spray. I feel that my experience with every fragrance in the now-defunct range gave me quite an insight and an opinion that I chose to express here among fellow fragrance connoisseurs. Please note that I never posted in the community while I was an Ambassador. Thank you for understanding.

Re: Goodbye, Commodity

playingdressup — Tue, 07 May 2019 00:04:27 GMT

This may be harsh, but I am glad to see them go. Nor am I surprised something like this has happened. I have never dealt with such revolting customer service from any other company (including utilities!). Multiple employees tried to gaslight me so they wouldn’t have to honor an offer that they emailed to customers who had purchased a fitting kit from their website. They also accessed my credit card without my permission. It was really nasty and flagrant behavior, so I doubt I’m the only one. I was shocked that Sephora would promote a company with such low integrity.

I fell in love with the Moss scent in 2015. Thankfully, after running through a travel spray really quickly, I discovered that Moss is a short-lasting version of Diptyque’s Eau de Lierre (which has been around since 2006). I’ve been happily purchasing Diptyque fragrances since then. Commodity revolts me, I’ve never felt traumatized by customer service before.

Re: Thank you for your honest feedback and sincere concern fo...

pocketvenus — Tue, 07 May 2019 01:25:11 GMT

Thank you for your response, @elisssabeth. I didn't know what "Commodity Ambassador" or "Sephora Fragrance Influencer" (the title in your IG profile) meant and appreciate the clarification.

Having said that, I hope you can understand my perspective. In July 2018 and onward, you posted a series of positive content about Commodity to the Perfume Posse group, while the Ambassador title was in your profile. Even if you forgot to edit your profile, this is too close for comfort. If the Ambassador program took place in June 2018, it only took a mere 2 weeks for you to respond positively to a post by Commodity promoting its new Nectar and Rain releases. No acknowledgement of your very recent tie to the brand, which involved receiving free products, was made by either party. This happened again less than a week later in a post started by Commodity promoting Bergamot - you replied but no acknowledgement of your recent Ambassador status was made. This may be acceptable by corporate policy standards, but to me, the ground is too murky.

Posting positive content about Commodity in the Perfume Posse Group following new releases by the brand, not posting here for months, and then returning when the brand needs to move its final inventory makes it seem like the motivation is more about the brand than about BIC. It's possible the timing is coincidental and you are just that keen on Commodity but I'm sure you can see why this would still make a BIC member like me very uncomfortable. There is a lot of unregulated/unenforced grey area when it comes to paid promotions, authenticity, and so on online. I err on the side of greater transparency than less. I hope you can understand where I am coming from. Again, thank you for your response.