Scentzilla!

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.