Second skin

Personally, I'm not a fan of perfume.

Even as a teen, when my brothers were collecting Drakkar Noir, Kouros, Polo and Gray Flannel, I didn't have a bottle of perfume. I'd have some bottles of cologne, particularly the Spanish ones that Tita Evelyn would bring from Spain, but that was it.

I'm not a fan of strong scents - which perfumes usually are. The only scents that appeal to me are the scents of the body wash I use, which are simple, clean, soapy scents - think Ivory Soap or Dove. 

That's why in those few times that I'd buy perfume, the scents I'd gravitate towards were soapy and laundry-inspired scents. Yup, my idea of smelling good is smelling like I just came out from the washing machine and dryer. Thus, my liking for scents like Clean Fresh Laundry, Clean Warm Cotton and Clean T-Shirt.

Another scent profile I'm into are skin scents. These are scents that smell so natural, it smells like your skin after you took a bath. My favourite scent for this type is Clean Reserve Skin.

Since my bottle of that scent is almost empty, I dropped by Rustan's to buy another bottle. Alas, they didn't have any stock, and didn't know when their new stocks will come in. 

But, true to Rustan's superb customer service mantra, the sales clerk suggested another skin scent for me to try. That's Dipytique's Fleur de Peau.

Whoa! This. Is. So. Good!

"Fleur de Peau" literally means "Skin Flower." It really smells like you're not wearing any perfume at all. It's just like you bathed using a nice smelling body wash, nothing more, nothing less. And what you're left with is the scent of very clean skin. Because of that, I ended up buying a bottle of this pure, skin scent.

Of course, some people would find it odd that you'd spend almost P11,000 to smell like you're not wearing any scent at all. But for me, smelling like this is already second skin.

Shirt time

Clean Cotton T-shirt was one of my all-time fave scents. That’s why I was bummed when they discontinued it.

Recently, I discovered that Bath and Body Works launches this scent sometime this year:

They have a White T-shirt scent!

Why didn’t I see this when I ordered by Bath and Body Works stash from the US?

Gotta get my hands on this. Stat!

Skin is in (for now)

For the past year or so, I've been desperately trying to find a bottle of Clean Cotton T-Shirt perfume. 

The one that I got from Mona in 2012 is almost used up. Yes, I've been rationing it to ensure that I get the most out of the bottle. So, it's actually an achievement to have a 60ml bottle last for almost 3 years.

Not to say I haven't been trying to look for it. I've tried searching for the brand in Sephora in SG several times. I've tried searching for it in Japan. And of course, I've tried Rustan's since they officially carry Clean in the Philippines.

Alas, the search is for naught.

But during my last swing by Rustan's, the sales clerk suggested another Clean variant called Clean Skin. She said it was one of the latest additions to the line, and it has the same non-descript scent that Clean Cotton T-Shirt has.

After trying it, I must say that the scent is also quite nice. It's a very quiet scent which gives you that "fresh out of the shower" feeling that Clean is known for.

I might consider buying this variant while I'm holding out for Cotton T-shirt.

But I won't give up the search for that elusive perfume.

Cotton Pickings

There's a scent that I'm into a lot of these days. It's a scent that most people might find boring or ordinary, but it's a scent that I've always been drawn to, even as a kid.

It's the scent of cotton.

Nowadays, I get my fill of this fresh, cottony scent from 2 sources.

First, the Sea Island Cotton lotion from Bath and Body Works. I used this a lot before, but stopped when I ran out of stocks. My recent rediscovery of this variant was because of the small bottle that I won during our Christmas game. It was courtesy of Mona.

This lotion is usually paired with another scent that Mona gave me, the Cotton T-shirt variant of Clean.

Putting these two scents together gives of such a warm, comfortable feeling.

As I was telling Mona last Saturday, whenever I mix these two together, I feel like I just stepped out of a clothes dryer.

Oh sheets!

I know a lot of people who like the smell of "freshly laundered sheets." 

It's that crisp, clean smell that you get whenever you take a new set of bed sheets out of the linen closet and put it on the mattress. It usually goes up the list of favourite smells, along with "balikbayan box from the U.S." 

There's actually a perfume that mimics this nice, clean smell. And not surprisingly, it's called "Clean."

  "Clean Warm Cotton" to be exact. 

It's such a fresh scent, but it's a bit overpowering when you first spray it on. You have to wait for it to settle before the scent of fresh sheets become really pronounced. I remember choosing between "Clean Warm Cotton" and "Clean Men" when I needed a new scent. And "Clean Men" was the one that I eventually bought. 

Now that I'm almost finished with that bottle, maybe it's time to switch to a new variant. It would be nice to feel surrounded by freshly laundered sheets all the time.