Spray-On Freshness: We Ranked 14 Clean Fragrances to Counteract Sweaty Summers

Audra: It makes sense that this floral reek is called Blanche because it smells an awful lot like an elderly Southern woman who would offend me. If you ask me, the only thing I’m getting from its scent description is a din of dissident notes, like when you’re standing at a fragrance counter at Dillard’s surrounded by those who’ve never been taught proper sampling etiquette. Score: 3

Rich: At first, I thought Blanche was too subtle, like it was throwing itself onto me from across the room. (How desperately Blanche of it!) It was cloudy, it was creamy. But then it developed into an olfactory pest, something almost aggressive given the supposedly pleasant nature of this fragrance subgenre. I got laundry booster crystals, I got clean linen spray, I got a Yankee candle of freshness. Pass! Score: 4

Emily: Blanche may have ventured to replicate the scent of “bodies slipping beneath fresh sheets,” but the only imagined association I could conjure was a serial killer dousing the floor in high-toxicity cleaning products to mask the scent of his crimes—bodies of another sort, if you will. While the scent mellowed out throughout the day, I never recovered from the initial stink and therefore am tossing out this $200+ offering. Score: 4

Average Score: 3.67/10