Review: Warm Cotton by CLEAN

I love the smell of laundromats. There is something really comfortable and cosy about the scent of freshly laundered fabrics and you don't need the most expensive of floral essences to feel that way. A clever combination of cheap synthetic musks is enough for you to feel good. My first laudromat inspired fragrance was Synthetic Series Six Dry Clean by Comme des Garcons and while it did provide the olfactory image of 'dry-cleaning', it was too sharp and 'plasticky' and definitely not a comfort smell.

CLEAN by Randi Shinder was inspired by soap and is supposed to make you smell like you've just stepped out from the shower. I found it a little hard to position this brand since they don't exactly fit into the mould of a niche perfumery but yet what they produce is rather niche and at the same time functional. 'Functional niche perfumery' might describe them best.

Warm Cotton by CLEAN

This is the first of the CLEAN range I tried and I picked this first because it is supposed to smell like and capture the feeling of a warm fluffy towel just out from the dryer. It opened with strong hesperidic notes and the immediate impression was lemon scented detergent. It was not as synthetic smelling as I thought it would be and you'd be able to catch whiffs of 'natural' notes such as lemon verbena and lilac. The combination of citruses provided a solar effect that did not last very long as the scent progressed to its salty marine white floral heart. The base is musky (of course) and ambery.  

This review was done on a blotter and the result was a rather disappointing one since I was really looking forward to the snuggly feeling of warm cotton but instead, it smelled more like wet laundry. What happened the next day saved this review. I wore Warm Cotton out and the effect was totally different on skin. The warmth of skin radiated the fragrance and as it diffused through my shirt, it enveloped me in soft cotton-y love. I met a friend half an hour later and she complimented on how fresh and nice I smell. This perfume works great at freshening up your bed too. The sillage and longevity is enormous so go gentle with the spritzing. 

Rating: ****

CLEAN can be found in Singapore at Sephora and Takashimaya.