Whiskey and Gin colognes launched

A fledgling online fragrance company funded by Kickstarter has launched a range of 20 scents including “whiskey” and “gin” cologne and “Pinot” perfume.

Old fashioned? You can now smell like your favourite Bourbon

Commodity, founded by Yo Santosa and Owen Gee, aims to make consumers rethink their approach to scent by giving them the opportunity try samples of scents matched to their personal tastes at home before they commit to buying a larger bottle.

The company’s ethos is that perfumes and colognes should work with a person’s natural scent rather than overpowering it.

“The fragrance market is saturated with shirtless male models and lofty slogans. We wanted to create something modern and accessible,” Santosa told design website Co.Design.

“The choices are overwhelming and the in-store experience is confusing. After trying a few fragrances our nose gets tired and can no longer distinguish what we’re smelling, it’s a guessing game,’ he added.

The US-based online company gets customers to fill in a scent profile and uses the answers to send five samples in the range best suited to their tastes.

Customers then choose their favourite of the five, and a 100ml bottle of eau de parfum or three pocket-sized 30ml roller-ball bottles are mailed to them.

Commodity’s female range includes “Pinot” perfume

The 20-strong ranges features 10 colognes for men and 10 perfumes for women.

Based on “comforting scents people associate with enjoyable moments in their daily lives”, the male fragrances include whiskey, gin, oak, book and moss while the female fragrances include Pinot, tea, paper, wool and dew.

Commodity raised its Kickstarter funding goal on 4 April, rounding up 740 backers who between them raised $56,602 to help get the start up off the ground.

The company teamed up with a Parisian perfume house to develop the scents, which are made in US.

“The biggest challenge is that you can’t smell what you see online,” Santosa admitted.

A 30ml bottle of fragrance costs US$50.