I approached Moss by Commodity thinking I was in for another bland green chemical "niche" perfume. The ideas of vegan, sustainable, converse-wearing, granola-eating, pearl-clutching, minimalist perfume was iffy to me. I sprayed it on paper, took a sniff, and smelled nothing. Took another sniff, and still smelled nothing. Took a third sniff, and the paper smelled as it did five minutes earlier, except not as good. I shook my head in disgust, and looked at the bottle. You're really going to make me do this, aren't you? I'm going in totally blind. Not even a vague clue on a blotter. Ok, here goes nothing.
First spray hit skin, and still nothing. I ducked back in a few seconds later, my interest nearly entirely gone, and froze. My god. My. God. The juiciest bergamot, mixed with a little sweet lemon. Exhilarating petitgrain, like making out with an orange tree. A camphorous edge, not medicinal, but elevating, clarifying, brilliant. The pairing of real citrus notes with the zesty nuance of elemi resin, so bright and cheerful, a song for the senses, all appearing on skin like a divine apparition. The most gorgeous top accord I've smelled since first encountering Original Vetiver in 2010, and Green Valley in 2011. Just as green, in fact. What is this stuff? I looked at the bottle again, and then sprayed it like a madman all over myself. I took my shirt off and draped it on a chair so I could spray it with perfectly-aimed shots. Spritz, spritz, spritz, spritz, spritz. It's green. It's clean. It's grassy. It's orangey. It's fizzy. It's natural smelling. I don't care what people say about it online. I don't care what its mission statement is. It smells amazing. I must have more.
The beauty continued for a few hours thereafter, a quasi-cologne citrus-vetiver ensemble that was clearly taken from Original Vetiver, Mugler Cologne, Malizia Uomo Vetyver, with bits of Neroli Woods and even 4711 in the mix. The vetiver mingles with a light cedar note in the transparent (i.e., modern) base, and with the petitgrain and orange blossom essences enduring, it adopts a bit of a Terre d'Hermès vibe, though Moss is significantly greener. As for the moss itself, there isn't much, aside from a smidgen of synthetic oak moss blended in with the woods. But this particular Commodity fragrance is so well presented, so elegantly poised in its simple arrangement of fresh-woody greens, that I'm after a bottle. Anything this directly related to Original Vetiver belongs in my collection.