This post contains affiliate links. Purchased with my own funds.
If you enjoy my reviews, please follow me on Instagram @kbeautyhobbit
I spent most of 2023 learning about and buying fragrance. I am not sure what created that hyperfixation, but it turned into a strange coping mechanism. I told myself that nothing new will be bought in 2024. Instead, I am focusing on using and reviewing what I already hoarded. You can find my other perfume reviews under the #Fragrance tag.
Clean Reserve Sparkling Sugar Eau de Parfum, available at Sephora, is crafted with sustainable ingredients such as ambrette harvested by farmers in El Salvador. The fragrance family is described as warm and spicy, but to me it’s a light, almost neutral scent that’s not spicy at all.
Top notes: cassis berries (blackcurrant), ambrette seeds
Middle notes: peach nectar, jasmine petals, pink sugar
Dry down: white musk, tonka bean, blond woods
My impressions
If I could own just one perfume, this would be a strong contender. I love the top blackcurrant note - so juicy and refreshing without being overwhelming. Clean Reserve Sparkling Sugar is a perfect all-occasion scent. I definitely notice it when I wear it, and so would anyone close enough for a hug, but it shouldn’t disturb your picky friends or asthmatic coworkers. It’s a private scent. It’s possible that more sprays = more sillage, but I only spritz 2-3 times and call it good.
Jasmine can easily be too strong, but it’s not in this formula. I probably couldn’t have told you that the fragrance had jasmine in it if I didn’t read about it in the description. No individual note stands out too much, instead they work together to create a lovely balance.
This is one of the very few scents I can wear to bed and not get a headache. It smells like clean, fresh skin with a touch of berries - the main heroines from fantasy novels probably smell this way naturally. I definitely don’t. I’m a self-rescuing princess that smells like coffee and lack of sleep. So I have to get my fancy scents from the store.
I don’t believe in bucketing makeup, fragrance or clothing into age categories, but even if I did - Clean Reserve Sparkling Sugar is truly an ageless scent. It’s fun and flirty but not childish and still has a note of sophistication suitable for any respectful lady who may have grown up kids or grandkids. It’s simply great and I highly recommend it. If you are understandably hesitant to commit to a full size right away, consider the travel spray or one of the several gift set options available at Sephora this time a year. But be careful, you may fall in love with even more scents in the process.
Want more content? Find me on YouTube, Instagram, and in my private Facebook group. Subscribe below to receive blog updates via email. Check out my favorite shops and discount codes plus my Amazon favorites.
Clean Reserve Sparkling Sugar Eau de Parfum ingredients: Alcohol Denat., Parfum/Fragrance*, Aqua/Water/Eau, Hydroxycitronellal, Citronellol, Coumarin *Fragrance Ingredients Greater Than 0.09%: Ethylene Brassylate, Triethyl Citrate, Tetramethyl Acetyloctahydronaphthalenes, Methyldihydrojasmonate, Dimethylcyclohexylethoxy Isobutylpropanoate, Isobutyl Methyl Tetrahydropyranol, 1,5,5,9-Tetramethyl-13- oxatricyclo(8.3.0.0(4,9))tridecane, Methylcyclopentadecenone, Ethyl Hydroxypyrone, Hexyl Acetate, Ethyl Hydroxypyrone, Hexyl Acetate