I’m back in the perfume game, and the latest line to catch my eye has been the new line of scents from Clean. Clean has been a perfume aisle mainstay with scents that smell like laundry detergent and freshness. There’s the original Clean scent which nailed smelling clean on the head, and then there were all sorts of introductions like rain and grass, but also other scents like cotton candy, mojito, etc.
Now, the line has something for those of us who like a little bit of dimension: Clean Reserve.
This new line of scents has more lux packaging than the original Clean bottles but the same focus on scents that are fresh, wearable, and can be layered. The bottles, I’ll add, are huge, with beautiful blonde wooden caps that cover the spray mechanism. The wood is a nod to the sustainable ingredients that the fragrances are made of, and the fact that the bottle is recyclable. They feel hefty in your hand and look beautiful.
The scents are:
Blonde Rose
Terra Woods
Skin
Velvet Flora
Amber Saffron
Sueded Oud
Warm Cotton
Smoked Vetiver
Rain
Of course, I’m a sucker for Rose scents, and a fresh rose scent really appealed for me, so that’s the one that I have.
It smells…. not like roses!
This is a fresh floral scent that’s very clean and musky, powdery and light, but definitely not a major rose scent. It’s not like your grandmother’s rose, and it’s not like your garden’s rose. It’s definitely slightly warm and very fresh, but it feels kind of airy and anonymous to me. It’s a unisex scent that’s easy to wear – it fades into the background pretty quickly, and doesn’t overpower the wearer which is always a good thing.
I found the lasting power to be lacking, but I think that the problem is also that it’s one of those scents that you kind of forget about after a while. It’s on my vanity, and I’m reaching for it daily – I like it well enough – but I’m also curious to see if there’s one I like better, such as Smoked Vetiver or Rain. Lately, I’m craving the herby scent of my old Marc Jacobs cucumber perfume that I gave away years and years ago, so I’m hoping one of these will bring back the grassy freshness of that.
You can check out the Clean Reserve line at Sephora stores now – there’s also a discovery set which might be for you if you like to try them all before buying a huge bottle or if you tend to go through perfume very quickly.
$125 each at Sephora. Terra Woods is exclusive to Sephora.ca.
