In The Library (2005)
by CB I Hate Perfume

In The Library starts out with a faintly sweet pulpy accord, not unlike some of the better fig scents, but drier and lighter. This is soon joined by a "musty" note which slowly moves into the foreground. The heart takes on a profile I recognize, but cannot immediately place. Then it comes to me: it's the inside of a brown paper grocery bag! Vivid and accurate to the point of being spooky. I honestly feel as if I'm wearing a paper bag over my head, like I did sometimes as a kid. (Don't ask.)

In The Library doesn't really develop so much as it just fades away after a couple of hours. The overall effect is fascinating, but I can't imagine why or when I'd wear it.

23rd December, 2009.

I love the smell of libraries; not the smell of modern, suburban libraries where the oldest book to be found is twenty years old, but rather libraries with history and character filled with antiquarian books from the 19th century and before. Such libraries provide a unique, and for me quite satisfying, olfactory experience. There is a unique mustiness coupled with the smell of aging leathers that I just love. So I decided to try CB I Hate Perfumes offering, In The Library, in high hopes it would me a reasonable facsimile of the library smells I love. Alas, it was not. I get the shoe polish note, and a very sweet smell, perhaps slightly leathery, but to me it falls way short of anything I had hoped for. Libraries do not smell very sweet! I am not fond of this one at all.

1st August, 2009.

Sweet parchment paper. Being in a library is more than just the smell, it's the feeling of overwhelming information and finding a private corner to read in. The scent here doesn't envelope you as the atmosphere in a library would. This should be a much larger scent then it currently is.

22nd May, 2009.

Yes, you are in the library. With moldy books. Don't get me wrong--I actually wanted to be a librarian, but... I don't think I like this type of book smell. Not on me, following me. It's just a one-dimensional dusty library smell, if that's what you wanna smell like.

18th May, 2009.

I really enjoy how "In the Library" smells... I do get wafts of paper, leather, wood and furniture polish. I just don't think *I* want to smell like that. I'd definitely use this as a room spray when in a certain mood - though perhaps I'd need a fireplace, a pipe, or a tweed jacket.

26th March, 2009.

worn leather, worn cloth, wood polish”
This was weird. I don’t get any of those ingredients. I do get an odd, fruity/dessert chord. It is hard to identify. Peachy-pear, melon, pudding, bread pudding, custard… with a sharp note. I don’t care for this at all! Where are the old books, the wooden benches?

8th October, 2008.