Please, for the love of god, help me find this perfume

To get to the point, it's a men's perfume (but it might pass as unisex to some maybe?). It's very hard to describe, but do you know that sharp clean smell of a cotton t-shirt? Not the detergent or anything like that, the perfume I'm looking for is kinda just that sharp-ish clean cotton t-shirt smell you get when you dig your nose in the t-shirt, but concentrated. It's not sweet at all, again, I would call it kinda sharp actually, but I'm not an expert.

Unfortunately, I don't know if I can describe it better, it's already been like 10 years since I first smelled this perfume on someone and since then I've only smelled it again maybe like 4-5 times.

I also can't frame it to some specific category: it's not the cliche fresh scent a lot of men's perfume have, it's not sweet, it's not fruity or floral, might be something woody about it, but don't take me up on that. To me it seems like a very unique scent.

I don't really expect anyone to straight up name the perfume I'm looking for, but anything will help, maybe some top/middle/base notes I should be looking for, literally anything

Thanks so much

If you've smelled this multiple times on multiple people, I'm thinking that this is likely not a niche perfume but something mass market and enduring. It's also something that projects enough for you to notice it. My best guesses are:

Chanel Platinum Égoïste Eau de Toilette

Prada L'Homme

Prada Amber pour Homme Eau de Toilette

maybe Drakkar Noir Eau de Toilette

Versace's The Dreamer Eau de Toilette reminds some people of a linen smell, i am not sure i would describe it as sharp though. It is a more powdery, rounded smell, but i have seen people describe it as linen. There is no sweetness to it either. Maybe the tobacco leaf is the sharpness, i dunno.

I mean i have seen people say Boss Bottled Unlimited as a linen smell which it is not to me at all but i would say that is a more sharp smelling fragrance with the iced violet leaves and pineapple which is not sweet either btw and definitely has a woody smell from the sandal wood accord. It maybe has floral notes in it, but i would definitely not describe it as a typical floral fragrance.

Just some thoughts.

Dior Homme Cologne smells exactly like that to me. 

Sartorial

Grey Flannel Eau de Toilette and Alien Eau de Parfum both fit the description despite being very different.

"The smell of a shirt" isn't very informative though, can you think of any specific note, or at least which family the fragrance might have belonged to, like floral, soapy/aromatic fougere... ?

Calvin Klein CK Be  comes to mind. 

Also:

Nemat Amber.

Escentric Molecules Escentric 01.

I am thinking about a accord based of Neroli (or Bergamote)/Sandalwood (or Musk)/Vetiver with a top note of Lavander, and also "Fougère" as a main accord.

It also makes me think at :

Green Irish Tweed

Pour Un Homme de Caron (1934) Eau de Toilette

L'Homme Eau de Toilette

Pegasus

These 2 are the ones that in my mind would match your description best. Pegasus tending a bit metalic and vanilla-ish and L'Homme more dry linnen.

Hopefuly this helps.

Hi everyone, sorry for the late reply. So since I've posted this thread, I've tried a few of the suggested fragrances, other ones I've only researched, and none are what I'm looking for. Some were sweet, some were powdery, some were floral, some were that clique aqua fresh scent, which are not at all what I'm looking for.

BUT I think I have sort of a breakthrough - Dior Sauvage (I personally tried the "eau de toilette", I don't know if the "eau de parfum" or "parfum" smell the same, I'm assuming yes, but someone correct me if I'm wrong)

The dry-down of Dior Sauvage has that super sharp clean smell that I'm looking for, kinda (or entirely even) synthetic, if you ignore the "shower gel" smell of it.

So, as best as I can describe it today, I think I'm looking for a fragrance that's the synthetic, peppery, linen-ishy dry-down of Dior Sauvage, but without the "shower gel" smell that Dior Sauvage has. Just that sharp, clean-ish smell.
Any recommendations, please ?

Thanks so much

When you said clean t-shirt smell but not the smell of the laundry detergent, the first thing that comes to my mind is:

360° Red for Men

I have it. After it dries down, it reminds me of the smell of walking through a men's (or women's) clothing department in a store. You know - the racks of newly manufactured shirts and pants. On second thought, I don't know if that would smell the same as a newly manufactured and never washed cotton t-shirt.

Next time you smell it, don't be shy, ask them what they are wearing! You might feel weird, but at the end of the day, you'll know the name of the perfume. 😉

Another one to consider is Clean Musk . It opens with citrus but once it dries down it smells to me exactly like the smell of what ironing a shirt is like or ironing a cotton tablecloth. A very clean scent.

I'd give Et Voilà a try. It's a laundry musk / aldehyde combo without any sweetness at all. It's only been out for a couple of years so it's definitely not the fragrance you've smelled for a decade but I do believe it might scratch your itch, based on the descriptions you've provided.

Prada luna rossa carbon …… trust me

Kenzo pour Homme Eau de Toilette

Blanche Eau de Parfum

"Clean Reserve - Warm Cotton [Reserve Blend] | Clean"

French Lover

Lalique pour Homme Lion Eau de Parfum

Try Ode to Dullness. I think you're gonna like it. It's a new release, but it fits the description. Masculine, woody, clean t-shirt smell.