Scentzilla!

A number of sites have already covered holiday gift ideas, and covered them well, but usually the hardest things to shop for are stocking stuffers. Well, I mean it’s easy to find tons of little stuff, but not necessarily the little stuff that folks might actually appreciate. Here’s my fragrant list of ideas, with online shopping links when available. I’ve roughly organized them from lowest to highest in price, though I’ve tried to focus mostly on items $15 or less:

Pre de Provence Guest Soaps, starting at $0.89 each in my neck of the woods. I especially recommend the Linden. Available at so many places now, including Wild Oats groceries. I see they’re also online at Bon Savon or in cute little gift sets sold at Joan of Arte, including 5 packs of these little bars for $6.00, which are just the right long shape for fitting well in stockings.

Bee & Flower Sandalwood soap, usually around $1-$2. Sold all sorts of places, including many health/natural food stores.

Bath Fizzies, from Ulta, only $2, and adorablely shaped like cupcakes. I’m generally well-pleased with Ulta’s house brand of bath and body products, which are nicely made but not hard on the wallet.

Paddywax travel tin candles, $4. The Paddywax brand is available in the Portland area at Cielo Home, and online through Paddywax.com.

Perfumeria Gal Lip Balm in Violet, around $5 on average. Available at some Urban Outfitters stores, and online at American Discount Beauty Supply. Also online at Adore Beauty in Austrailia for AU $11.95.

Handmade soaps from Maryam’s Soap Nook, $5. These are all so gorgeous looking, and I’d especially like to point out the Pomegranate and Wildberries soap to everyone because of its rich fragrance.

For the kids: Pluto Cologne, $5.99 at Imagination Perfumery. It smells a little like CK One, admittedly, but c’mon! It’s friggin’ Pluto!

Oregon Cabernet Wine Truffles, starting from $6.50 at Euphoria Chocolate. Seriously, they’re scary delicious. The Double Chocolate ones are awfully good, too, but I don’t see a smaller stocking size box at the online site… which is as good an excuse as anything to make a trip to Eugene, I guess. Hint, hint, Mr. Katie, *ahem*.

Fragrance decants from eBay seller dragonfly00, prices vary. I’ve yet to have anything other than a pleasant shopping experience with her. I wouldn’t necessarily give these decants as regular gifts, but for stocking stuffers they are perfect, and the labels she makes for her decants always look simply lovely.

Coffee Cup Air Freshener, $6.95, and T-bone Air Fresheners, $3.95 for a set of 3, at Archie McPhee.

Perfume mini bottles are fantastic last minute items to pick up when all else fails. I’ve found them at Fred Meyer and Target, both of which have the best selection and best prices, though K-mart, Wal-Mart (if you’re so inclined), and Walgreen’s, sometimes stock them as well. Prices can vary wildly, but generally expect to see most priced between $7-$15.

Sephora Fragrance Atomizers, $9-$15. Perfect for throwing into a purse or bag, and if you buy it in the brick and mortar store and you’re lucky, they’ll even fill it with a favorite fragrance for you! Also sold empty online at Sephora.com, in the 3″ Atomizer and Bullet Atomizer for the recipient to fill from their own collection.

Travel size Eau de Toilettes from L’Occitane, starting at $9. Consider their Verbena or Eau de Iparie for either men or women. If you have a L’Occitane boutique near you, be sure to check out their trial size product section, which is just brimming with ideas for stocking stuffers, including the small tubes of their fantastic hand cream.

Stella McCartney, Stella Eau de Parfum Roll-On, $10. Admittedly not a favorite fragrance of mine, but it sure is ideal for friends and family who love it. Sold at Sephora.

Fresh To Go trial size items, prices vary. The Pomegranate Hair Rinse and the Sugar Blossom Body Treatment are items that might be the most welcome discoveries for recipients who’ve never tried the line before.

The biggest (and smallest in size) hit from last Christmas was Philosophy’s Cinnamon Buns Lip Shine, $10. I make my own ribbon bows, and I used these little tubes in the center of the bows, but they’re ideal for stocking goodies.

Benefit “Touch me and then try to leave” Cream, $12 for a 1.3 oz travel size, or $28 for a full size 4.75 oz tub. Sold at Benefit counters, and at benefitcosmetics.com, which I can’t link to because their site is not working properly at the moment.

Fruits & Passion Hot Dog Puppy Shampoo for Puppies and Sensitive Skin, $16, at Drugstore.com. What? Don’t look at me like that. Yes, I put up a stocking every year for my dog, but it’s not like I’m the only one who suffers from this particular form of mental illness. This is becoming my new favorite winter shampoo for Fred - his skin gets so dry during the cold months, and thus far it has yet to irritate his skin or make it flakey, it lathers up easily, and is only scented very lightly with citrus and fig. Fred smells divine these days.

Also for the dog, The Laundress Fabric Fresh spray in Cedar, $12, is awesome for spritzing the dog bed from time to time. Okay, so the dog might strenuously object to you removing his stank, but you know, one does have to draw the line somewhere when catering to the little kings and queens of the household.

Demeter Home Fragrance Sprays in general, and their Laundromat and Bamboo in specific, prices vary depending on seller and locale. The best place to buy Demeter anything is in a brick and mortar store, since buying blind from this line can be a crapshoot. However, if you’re shopping online, I feel the best place to purchase Demeter is through eBay seller, awhumer. Great turn around time on shipping, and the shipping charges are quite reasonable.

Body Butter Trio, $24, or a full-size tub of the Buttercream Frosting Body Butter, $22, by Jaqua. The Buttercream feels rich, and smells scrummy with no off notes. Love this stuff. Jaqua helpfully provides an extensive list of brick and mortar shops, as well as a local store finder, to locate where their products are sold right on their site.

Agraria Cologne sprays, $36, at Fragrances & More, in your choice of four different scents. It’s Balsam that has caught my attention.

Esteban Paris’ Note Marine 2 potpourri from Aedes, $38. I keep meaning to write a review, but then other stuff comes up. It’s a very subtle fragrance, with just a touch of saltiness and cucumber, along with those melony notes we usually associate with marine fragrances, and light florals. It’s a wonderful way to make the house smell of spring at the beach during the doldrums of winter. There’s also something very tactilely addictive about it, and I dare you not to occasionally pick up the odd piece now and again to smooth your fingers over.

Slatkin & Co. Blaine Trump Candles, $50 - $65. Proceeds of sales through the following hyperlink will benefit God’s Love We Deliver, a charity which serves those living with HIV/AIDS and other illnesses by preparing and delivering “nutritious, high-quality meals to people who, because of their illness, are unable to provide or prepare meals for themselves.” (Hat tip to Jack & Hill for making me aware of this charity and the site.)

I hope this list is helpful, and please feel free to comment with your own good ideas for fragragrant stocking stuffers!!

Following up on an earlier post from last week, both of the following Perfume in Art parodies were sent in by the Fragrant Funster of the Spoofume blog:

Rubens’ Adam and Eve:

Dali does Chanel:

Great work! Thanks so much!

If you are inspired or just plain bored at work, I’ll continue to take submissions for a little while. Email to katie at scentzilla dot com, with the subject line in Perfume in Art.

In the past two days, we’ve had a pipe burst; which led to flooding in the master bedroom and its bathroom; a light that we knew need replacing but hadn’t gotten around to burned its light bulbs to a crisp, and it is now shorting out the fuses that handle both our living room and the kitchen; a fence post along one side of our backyard decided to sag and dip down to the ground; which led to a whole section of the fence falling down because we were too harried with the bursting and the flooding to deal with a fence post. GAH! GAH! GAAAAAH! Will write a post after this weekend when we are done with damage control and I stop my uncontrollable swearing/sobbing.

I was waiting for a stroke of inspiration to hit me for a Thanksgiving-themed post this week, but it hasn’t come yet. The trouble with inspiration seems to be that it usually occurs in the middle of the night, when there’s sleeping to be done, and then I wake up to discover I’ve forgotten the allegedly brilliant thing that I was totally going to remember in the morning because it was so brilliant. So I stuck a pen and notebook on the dresser next to the bed, thinking I’d quick write it down before I’d fall back asleep. Then there’d be fresh, pretty ideas waiting for me to start the day with!

Here’s what I jotted down… In your head, try to imagine this written in line scrawl, with checkmarks before each word, and a single exclamation mark to the right that was five times the size of the words themselves. Underneath this lurked what was I believe was supposed to be a little round smiley face, but I can’t be sure, because it’s actually kind of egg shaped with some chicken scratch lines in the middle:

• brown
• jellybeans
• vintage

Ah. Yes. Apparently my big idea was to dig under the couch cushions to find remnants of old rotting candy hidden back last Easter, which not only addresses the wrong holiday, but is also pretty gross. Where the hell was I going with that? Well, there’s one lesson learned: there are no good ideas in the sleeping darkness, only crazy ones.

I am themeless. Here, in no particular order, are random things I’ve been thinking about…

1.) Balla Powder, Scented Scrotum Talc for Men.

This is a product?

I mean, a real one?

Not some item you see sitting between the remote control fart machine and the “How do you like your boobies” shirt at Spencer’s Gifts? (Both of which, by the way, we are reminded are “hilarious” by Spencer’s. We can all feel grateful they’re explicitly informing us of this fact, since it would have remained otherwise unnoticed.)

I am sure there’s a joke to be found about Balla Powder somewhere, and I’m pretty sure the punchline goes, “Tom Ford.” But I haven’t the steel stomach to go looking for it.

2.) Dolce & Gabanna Light Blue. So perfect. So chic. So popular. It’s the pretty cheerleader that everyone likes! But alas, there’s always that crowd that secretly hates the pretty cheerleader, and even moreso when people keep insisting “she’s so nice.” I am with that crowd. Light Blue is a mix of lemon, bergamot, cedar and white musk, with a green apple twist. Doesn’t that sound so nice? While I’m not sure any perfume can convey irony, Light Blue smells of veiled sarcasm to me. It’s shiny-happy on the surface, but then! Out of nowhere! A sharp metal knife driven into your back, or really, straight at your nostrils, just as soon as you let your guard down. And this, after you’ve already felt a small blast of Lysol up your nose, too.

People keep telling me to “give it another chance, just stick with it, and eventually it’ll work for you, too.” That sounds suspiciously like perfume appeasement, and Neville Chamberlaining with a perfume that insists on antagonizing you is a terrible plan. I shall fight at the counters, I shall fight at the display racks, I shall fight in the aisles and in the streets, I shall fight at Sephora; I shall never surrender.

I shall also remember that taking Benadryl for my allergies makes me very, very loopy. Seriously. It’s like being drunk, but without the fun, the beery deliciousness, or the comparative coherence of thought.

Anyhow, I hereby declare that I am done trying to come around to Light Blue. It’s a remarkably bad fit, and we are just never going to get along. If you and Light Blue are good buddies, congrats. You’re one of the lucky ones. It sure ain’t for me, though.

3.) Madonna’s NBC concert special is set to air this Thanksgiving Eve. Because nothing beats spending the holidays with Grandma. (I’ve no idea where that bit o’ vitriol came from, and no, I don’t really think she’s old. I’ve got nothing against her in particular, I swear. Just a vague annoyance that we’re supposed to find her antics lately at all compelling.)

4.) I finally cracked open a sealed bottle of a vintage fragrance I’ve been sitting on for months now. I’d wanted it for forever, but hadn’t worked up the nerve to unseal it right away. Oh man. I believe I found my Holy Grail perfume. More on that in a coming post, but I want to give another go ’round before I write about it.

5.) The Philosophy Lemonade 3-in-1 shampoo is proving to be a big hit with the menfolk in my house. It’s not really my kind of scent, but it’s quite good. Not too tart, not too sweet, a little pulpy, maybe a wee touch of woodiness. All in all, a really good representation of lemonade. My picky husband swears to me that it works equally as well on hair and on body - I’m taking his word on that and passing it along. My boys have been loving it for their bubble baths, and I must say, it foams up nicely.

6.) While I’m at it I am going to also recommend their Double Rich Hot Cocoa 3-in-1. I bought last winter, too, and it is the best fudgey-chocolately shower gel I’ve ever come across. Sometimes chocolate scented bath/body stuff hits me with a vague whiff of vinyl doggie chew toys, but this one’s fragrance is blessedly plastic-free. I don’t use it for shampoo, so I can’t say one way or the other how that works out. However, it does serve up a rich bubble bath, in addition to feeding a fine dessert to the ol’ shower poof. Hot Cocoa might just be my favorite 3-in-1 from Philosophy.

7.) Has anyone tried their Sugar Plum Fairy one? I should know better, but the name and bottle are so cute and utterly twee that I totally want to try it. Is it any good? Does it smell of plums, or what?

Image of Balla Powder from MenEssentials.com. Images of Philosophy 3-in-1s from Beauty.com. Image of Light Blue from Sephora.

I spend a lot of time talking about the art of perfumery, but a recent Pixel Challenge (photoshopping contest) at Television Without Pity to insert favorite characters from TV into works of art got me thinking… why not have some fun putting perfume in art?

(more…)

1869 comes from a company that only recently caught my notice, Acca Kappa. Acca Kappa produces a full line of grooming products in addition to fragrance, which includes some nice vegetarian-friendly hair brushes. (Well this vegetarian is happy with hers, anyhow.) The 1869 men’s line ranges from an eau de cologne to a broad selection of men’s shaving and shower items, but I will only be talking about the eau here.

Leather is the theme, and 1869 addresses it in a very smooth, nearly unfettered style. Any other notes in the fragrance, including geranium, cardamom, violet leaf, and musk, seem to be stiched into the predominating leathery tones. There is a velvety feel to it, softened rather than sweetened by vanilla in the base. But truly, it’s all about the leather here.

Say, remember when Top Gun came out, and the trendy item for a while there was leather bomber jackets as a consequence of the flick’s popularity? (Hell, remember when Tom Cruise was cool? Not just cool, either. The coolest.) 1869 totally reminds me of the way a 1987 department store rack full of brown bomber jackets smelled. I wonder what ever happened to all those jackets people bought? It’s not like leather disintegrates quickly. I bet there’s, like, an army of mid-80s bomber jackets hidden in the closets of America eagerly waiting for their retro rehabilitation back into fashion. And all those jackets are probably bitter about the knit ponchos from the 70s that made a comeback during the ill-advised Great Poncho Rush of ‘01… why not them, too?

Etro Shaal Nur takes a bumpier route to acheive its fragrant aims than 1869. While leathery incense is intoned heavily, this somber reference gets used as a loudspeaker to broadcast other notes. A citrusy top of bergamot, lemon, and grapefruit score some airtime, then a segueway of rose and kitchen herbs lead into an extended mix of vetiver and dry, rather musky woods. Shaal Nur smells as if it were both as dark and as weightless as shadows. This eau de toilette attracts fans of both genders, and with its distinctive devolopment, it’s plain to see why. It’s not necessarily an easily worn or categorized fragrance, however. I find it too masculine to wear very often, since the musky and vetiver-dominated drydown linger most on me; My husband finds it too “girly” because the citrus and floral notes stick hard to his skin. Those who love it, really love it, so it is worth sampling, but I would recommend against buying a bottle unsniffed.

Completely Random and Pointless Gossip!

A friend of mine used to work in the airline industry in Miami, but she just moved back up to Portland recently. When we were chatting the other day, we wound up on the topic of all the celebrities she met during the course of that job. The person she had the nicest things to say about was Susan Lucci, who she described as the warmest, friendliest celeb she’s ever met, having a sort of old-school Southern-lady style graciousness. She’s apparently also very wee: so tiny you could lose her between the cracks of your couch cushions with your keys and loose change.

But Susan Lucci isn’t why I’m feeling compelled to share. She also mentioned a TV judge from one of those afternoon court shows. This judge was so rude, so diva’ed out in behavior, that the flight attendants christened their passenger with the portmanteau “First Classhole.” Hee! I’d say who it is, but it’s more fun to leave it open as a blind item guessing game. Plus? It’s new to me, so I really just HAD to share the bit o’ slang “First Classhole” before I exploded while waiting to find an excuse to use it.

Image of 1869 cologne from MenEssentials.com, where you can find a wide variety of choices from the Acca Kappa brand. 1869 is also available through First-in-Fragrance, and FiF does offer a sampling program. Second image from Top Gun’s wikipedia entry. Image of Shaal Nur from Beauty.com, which also sells the matching body wash and the body milk.

I put about exactly as much stock in the gossip rags as they deserve, but I thought this blip from Page Six was pretty funny:

From We Hear:

“November 14, 2006 –

THAT Tom Ford specifically asked executives at Estée Lauder to have his new Black Orchid fragrance smell ‘like a man’s crotch’ . . .”

My first reaction can be summed up as:?!

My second reaction?

I think the phrase “black orchid” may have just entered the cultural lexicon as a dirty euphemism. Thanks, Mr. Ford!

Links via one of today’s Gawker comments, but you may also wish to read this earlier post

Some fragrances I like, some I loathe, and some I simply admire. But Benefit’s Maybe Baby is one I’ll have to ‘fess up to loving past all rationality.

Its petalled aroma comes across as effervescent and sweet, like apricots infused with champagne instead of juice. Maybe Baby features floral notes that include cyclamen and Himalayan poppy; fruity notes of lychee, apricot, and peach; base notes of extremely subtle musk and wood; and a delightful touch of ginger across the body which gives the fragrance such a sparkling quality. In fact, while writing this, I realize I’ve worn Maybe Baby as my New Year’s Eve fragrance since it came out a few years ago. Something about it compliments well those frequent long-stemmed toasts to everyone and everything.

The eau de toilette has rather fleeting staying power on me, lasting only a couple hours. However, it is the perfect accompaniment to

THE. GREATEST. LOTION. EVER. MADE.

EVER!!!

While Maybe Baby is offered as an ancillary sparkly body lotion (see below), the one to really plunk down the cash for comes from their similarly scented Bathina line: the “Touch me then try to leave…” Cream. I’ve gone through so many tubs of it since it was first introduced that I’ve lost all count how many times I’ve repurchased. The texture is divine. I love dipping my fingertips into that little tub. The fragrance from it lasts much longer than that of the Maybe Baby edt, and in fact, works just fine as a stand-alone product in place of the perfume. In addtion to having the same mouthwater fragrance as the edt, divine texture, and good aromatic staying power, it actually works; With its generous amounts of glycerine, it efficiently helps the skin retain moisture. My mom also adores it, and she has such dry sensitive skin that most scented lotions irritate her skin or worse, break her out in a rash. The “Touch me” cream rings up at $28 a pop, but it’s so rich and thick that it should last you a while. Hmmm…. “thick” is not quite the right word… it’s got a fullness a little like the way meringue will begin to fill up and form stiff peaks as you whip. Yeah, that’s it… no, it’s not. That’s a terrible description. Sigh. Anyhow, my dream is to one day come into possession of a Costco-sized vat of the stuff. Which I will then guard obsessively and refer to as “my precioussssss…” Until that day happens, I shall have to make due with what’s available, and hope ferverently the cream is never discontinued during the course of my lifetime.

The Gettin’ Steamy body wash made an excellent addition to the line, and is a huge improvement over the old powdered form of bubble bath they used to sell, which only produced the weakest of bubbles. Gettin’ Steamy smells just as lovely as the edt, and I think works awesomely for both shower gel and bubble bath. I like to give it out as a gift for birthdays and holidays, because other folks seem to enjoy using it just as much as I do.

Sandal Scandal is an exfoliating foot cream packaged with cute leetle bootie socks. If you have feet much larger than mine, women’s 7 US, do not count on being able to wear them. That said, the lotion itself is what you’d be after anyhow. Sandal Scandal is not the best exfoliating foot cream out there, but it sure beats rubbing on yet another mint- or eucalyptus- scented one. God, am I ever sick of those. Sandal Scandal incorporates the Maybe Baby/Bathina fragrance, but it does smell noticeably different. The aroma strikes me as sort of chemically in comparison to the edt or the other Bathina body products. It’s not an exceptional product, yet it’s certainly not a bad one. I’ve bought it a few times, but I don’t think it’s a must-have item particularly.

The Body So Fine balm… oh lordy! It smells vaguely of roses to me in the tin, however, once applied it begins to resemble Maybe Baby again. To my mind, it feels like a terribly luxurious and indulgent product. The balm is applied using a velvety pad to smooth thin layers across the skin. Do watch out when applying to in-between-shaves stubble legs, since the velvet can catch on the stiff hairs and cause little black lint balls to stick into the balm. (It works best on unprickled skin.) I use the balm mostly in the evening before bed, since I find applying it weirdly soothing; It’s a nice way to end the day before clambering into bed with a book or falling asleep with the TV blasting Law & Order: Insert Spin-Off Title Here.

The Maybe Baby body lotion acts as a medium-weight lotion with wee micro-sparkles that give off a luminescent shimmer on the skin. I guess it’s nice, and it’s soft texture is enjoyable, but to me it pales in comparison with THE. GREATEST. LOTION. EVER. MADE. Its fragrance is sort of, I dunno… a little pasty compared to the “Touch me” cream, as well. Not to say that it smells unpleasant, mind you, it’s very pretty… just that in contrast it doesn’t quite hold up to the excellence of the “Touch me” cream. But if you like shimmer, this would be the lotion for you.

In additon to being sold as an edt, Benefit also makes Maybe Baby as a small solid powder compact. The price certainly bites less than even the small bottle of edt, but I really recommend against buying the powder compact in lieu of the edt. The compact does provide for a pleasant pick-me-up and/or a convenient way to refresh your initial edt application. However, it’s not strong enough to carry on its own for more than a half hour. I rarely use mine, it being relegated to sitting neglected in a drawer.

Maybe Baby, and its ancillary products under both the Maybe Baby and Bathina lines, would appear on the face of it to sound more like spring/summer fragrance choices. Yet it’s actually these colder months when I crave that fragrance most. It conveys drops of sunshine on dreary winter days in the Pacific Northwest. It works fine in warms months, too, only it seems that spakling freshness is needed most when the world is grey and soggy.

Some of the above items are available for purchase in smaller travel sizes, and I really recommend them for stocking stuffers or to make up gift baskets with. They are small, but the price is quite reasonable for what you get.

Images all from BenefitCosmetics.com, and all items can be found both online there and at Benefit counters, as well as at Sephora.

Perhaps it’s a personal failing, but I’ve always felt slightly suspicious of the excessively hygenic. Not to say I don’t prefer things tidy, but I cotton better to folks whose hair is worn just a little mussed, or whose desks appear to be hurricane-triggered.

Unsurprisingly, I’ve always been a bit fickle when it comes to fragrances that fall within the “clean” genre. Some strike me as pointless, while others come across as either too soapy or vaguely metallic (weirdly enough.)

But when Tyler of Fragrances and More (full disclosure: Fragrances and More is also my advertiser for the month) kindly sent me samples from the Clean line by DLish, I figured I may as well revisit the original Clean eau de parfum, and try out the new-ish Fresh Laundry version he sent a vial of. I will also review the Clean Men variation, since it’s a fave.

All three Clean fragrances make extensive use of musks to acheive their fragrant aims. This is not the heavy musk we associate with animalic fragrances. Rather, this is the sort of musk we notice when we’re scooping out detergent.

Clean, the original, bears a disconcerting resemblence to a milkless bowl of Fruity Pebbles on me. Seeing as I’m still getting Fruity Pebbles upon a revisitation, I turned to my sister, whose skin makes magic with perfumes that my own chemistry rejects. On her it does remain fruity, but that connotation becomes fresh, like she’d just rinsed off in the bath from a citrus-berry shower gel lather. The lemonic note seems to stand out more than it did on me. It’s not a fave fragrance for me, admittedly, not even within the clean genre. However, I can see the appeal for some folks, specifically those who wear fruity musk scents happily and well, while desiring something a bit more refined than plopping open a virtual can of fruit cocktail to spray onto their wrists.

Fresh Laundry, on the other hand, I can totally do. Its soft mimicry of the aroma wafting off fresh linens, gently pressed, seems nearly uncanny. I sense a bit of mint in it, though I must mention I do not see that listed amongst the official notes. It’s NOT minty in any way, I should point out, however it has that fresh herbal lilt to it at the very break of the top notes on me. The listed notes include white florals, most noticably jasmine and rose, as well as lime. But, again, the fragrance smells more like sprayed and ironed linen than a bouquet. This is the sort of scent that wears so closely to the skin that other folks will unconsciously think you smell good without realizing it’s all in your perfume. The subtlety of it sublimates the very notion that you may even be wearing anything at all. I am surprised by my enjoyment of it.

My favorite of the line, and indeed, the only one I’ve committed to not only buying, but buying multiple bottles of since it came out, is Clean Men. It smells the way softened tap water tastes and feels. Pellegrino-like, perhaps. What I like best about it is its lingering top note of grapefruit, because it is one of those random grapefruit scents that do not turn sour on me. The whispered intonation of oilbanum (sort of incensey in a way, but not the smell of actual incense) is especially pleasing to me as it mixes in with the musk. While I feel in some ways it is less subtle than other offerings in the line, that suits me just fine for everyday use. Okay… so Clean Men does proclaim itself “masculine,” however I find nothing in the composition that evokes stereotypes of gender-exclusive wear. Mostly, I just really like it because I like it, heh…

None of these are “making a grand entrance” perfumes. All three develop only minimally, meaning they have a linear construction: The notes you smell in the first few minutes are for the most part the ones you will likely still smell later. But for quiet, pleasant personal fragrance choices, they work. The Clean fragrances make nice options for those who enjoy the ritual of perfume wear but do not wish for the people around them to know that. Heresy! Nah, just kidding.

The Clean line is available extensively through Fragrances and More, including all three of these: Clean (eau de parfum), Fresh Laundry, Clean Men.

Images: Spongebob is from Nickelodeon, vintage Tide clip art from old fifties ad, ALF from ClassicKidsTV, which has additional ALF links.

The NPR show All Things Considered will be broadcasting a story today about the Osmotheque… Susan Stone interviews Jean Kerleo, and they chat about the perfumes the Osmotheque recreates and preserves. You may check your local listings for a broadcast schedule through the website, or else wait for the audio to be posted later this evening online.