I was surfing some of my favorite perfume blogs when I came across a review of a new Donna Karan scent, DKNY Pur, on the Now Smell This blog. The scent was described as “water with a drop of vanilla.” That description got me thinking about two recent trends in perfume: vanilla-based scents and clean soap and water scents. One trend I love…the other I never understood. So I decided it was time to explore some new “clean” options (the trend I fully embraced) and open my mind to the idea of vanilla, the trend I never understood (who wants to smell like a cupcake)? Because it’s summer and more than 90 degrees outside as I am writing this, I started with the “clean” category.

The clean scent trend probably started in the mid-1990s with Calvin Klein’s CK One. Or at least that is the first one I remember. At the time clean, sleek minimalism had thankfully taken over from grunge as the clothing trend of the day (I love Pearl Jam and Nirvana but not their contributions to fashion), and CK One ft that profile. I first bought it because I loved the simple, frosted glass bottle, but I ended up loving the scent and for a time wore it almost every day. Ever since, I have been drawn to light, clean scents and search for a fresh, out of the shower feeling and the elusive, fleeting smell of freshly laundered cotton sheets.

Before I started looking for something new, I revisited some old favorites. I have been married for a long time, and in that time I only remember my husband spontaneously saying “You smell good” twice. Once, it was when I was wearing Bobbi Brown Bath, the second time I was wearing a Marc Jacobs seasonal splash called Cotton. Bobbi Brown Bath smells like it sounds – like soap. Like Ivory soap to be more precise. The description on the company’s website begins with “imagine that fresh out of the shower feeling,” which really does sum it up. I love to wear it on the weekends, after I’ve showered and am hanging around the house reading and listening to music.

Marc Jacobs Cotton was introduced in 2007 as one of a group of seasonal splashes. I have seen it described as “the perfect cotton t-shirt” and reminiscent of “summer linens.” It is a light floral, with some hints of bergamot, and reminds me of a glass of iced tea. My husband is a Southerner who grew up drinking iced tea with every meal, so maybe that’s why it struck a cord with him. Although it was a limited edition, you can still find it online.

I am also fond of one of the scents from a line called Clean, which launched in 2003, and is very popular. Like Bobbi Brown, the creator of Clean wanted to bottle the “just out of the shower” smell. I am not a fan of the original Clean, but do like the Fresh Laundry scent, which smells like fabric softener, althouth officially the notes are Brazilian orange, rose otto, night blooming white Jasmine, cotton blossom and Mexican lime (www.cleanperfume.com). Fresh Laundry is very reasonably priced and also comes in a body lotion and a shower gel. Which I guess means you can wash with soap that smells like soap.

Now, on to the new. I started at the LuckyScent Scent Bar, a shop in Los Angeles that also has a wonderful website www.luckyscent.com. The helpful sales associate first pointed me to Serge Lutens L’Eau Serge Lutens. Lutens has been a cult favorite among perfume fans for many years thanks to his often baroque and sometimes weird perfumes. They are complicated, always rich and not for the shy. Lutens shocked his fans when he issued this scent, which has been billed as an “anti-perfume.” The Lucky Scent site quotes Lutens on what he did not put into L’Eau de Lutens: no flowers, no spices, no animal notes…just the smell of a “crisp, freshly-laundered white shirt” and of “the most expensive soap in the world.” That sounded perfect to me, but the scent itself did not smell much different than Bobbi Brown Bath. And at $150 it certainly was the most expensive soap in the world.

I was also drawn to the website’s descriptions of two other scents. Blanc des Cotons by Sinfonia di Note sounded like the holy grail of clean scents: “pure white cotton sheets line-dried in a meadow and then ironed to a satisfying crispness.” It was somewhat reminiscent of laundry detergent and I liked it. But again, at $150 bottle that seemed steep. Lostmarch Aod was described as a summer day at the shore and smells more like light suntan lotion than soap with hints of orange blossom, coconut and gardenia. Since I was feeling summery, I decided to treat myself.

From Lucky Scent I headed to my local Sephora. I saw that Clean had a new seasonal option - Clean Summer Linen. I tried it but it seemed too sweet. I liked Clean Outdoor Shower better. It had a nice hint of crisp green to it. I also tried several scents from the popular Fresh Sugar line, which Sephora’s interactive in-store Scentsa device pointed me too. I thought they were too sweet, although the Lychee scent works well as a body lotion. The Scentsa also led me to rediscover Aqua di Parma, which smells like an Italian version of CK One, as if you were wearing it driving the Amalfi Coast in your Alfa Romeo, and Bulgari Green Tea, which has a bracing iced tea feel that makes you feel better in the heat. But not all of the scents the Scentsa recommended were available in the store. I really wanted to try Aqua Allegoria Pamplelune, which was described as an icy citrus, but I will have to find it elsewhere.

Do you have a favorite “clean” scent?

Related topics: Bobbi Brown Bath, CK One, Clean Scent Perfumes, L'Eau Serge Lutens, LuckyScent Scent Bar, Marc Jabobs Cotton, Perfume