John Newton wrote the words to Amazing Grace in Olney, Buckinghamshire, in late 1772, and it was probably sung for the first time at a prayer meeting on New Year's Day, 1773. He was a former slave ship captain, and the hymn is about being found after being lost. It was printed in Olney Hymns in 1779 and has not left the language since. Say the two words and people hear a tune, or feel something settle.

Cristina Carlino borrowed that feeling for a bottle. Philosophy launched in 1996 at a party in the Rainbow Room in New York, with a facial cleanser called purity made simple as its first product. The same year came the Amazing Grace fragrance, which the Perfume Society describes as a light floral of bergamot, lily of the valley and skin-like musk. It was made because Carlino was sensitive to fragrance, and I love that: a scent designed by someone who found most scents too much. Coty bought the brand in 2010, and fans have been vocal about the reformulation since, which tells you how personal a clean smell can get.

That is why a philosophy body wash is not a simple thing to pick. The shower gel is where most people first meet the brand, and the line is really a wardrobe of moods. The first grid is the core of it. Amazing Grace comes as the Hydrating Bath & Shower Gel and the Intense version, and Pure Grace and Radiant Grace are its sibling scents. Fresh Cream has a plain version and a Warm Cashmere one for colder months. Then two you reach for when you want food in the shower: Lemon Custard, and Salted Citrus for mornings.

Picking one scent. I would start with Amazing Grace if you want clean, because philosophy lists its shower gel notes as bergamot, lily and musk. Choose Fresh Cream if you want warm and sweet, with tonka bean, whipped cream and vanilla bean. Radiant Grace sits further toward the evening end, with black cherry, jasmine and caramelized sandalwood.

 

Matching the lotion to the wash. Keep the family the same and the two layer instead of competing. On this page the Amazing Grace gel sits next to the Amazing Grace whipped body creme, and Radiant Grace has its own whipped creme and firming emulsion. Use the shower gel first, then the creme on damp skin.

 

What Pure Grace smells like. Pure Grace Hydrating Shower Gel is built on lily, leafy greens and musk, so it reads green and soft rather than sweet. It comes in a 16 ounce bottle and a 32 ounce one. I would pick it over Amazing Grace if you find the original a little powdery.

 

The scents on the shelf. The grace family is Amazing Grace, Amazing Grace Intense, Pure Grace and Radiant Grace, with Lavender, Jasmine and Bergamot as further Amazing Grace scents. The creamy ones are Fresh Cream, Fresh Cream Warm Cashmere and Fresh Cream and Mint. The fruity and dessert ones run from Coconut Splash, White Pear and Wild Passionfruit to Raspberry Sorbet, Mixed Berry Tart and Vanilla Birthday Cake.

Start by opening the cap of every bottle you own and asking which one you would wear out of the house. That is the scent you should buy again. Body wash lasts a few minutes on skin, so the smell has to earn its place in the shower and follow you a little after.

The fruity philosophy shower gels are the playful end of the shelf. Coconut Splash and Wild Passionfruit suit a summer weekend, and White Pear is the calmer, more grown-up choice. Iced Mint Lemonade is the wake-up one, and I would keep it for the shower before a long day. Melon Daiquiri and Senorita Margarita are the drinks-menu pair, best for the person who likes a silly name on the bathroom shelf.

The spa scents are a different mood. Revitalizing Apricot Dew and Revitalizing Eucalyptus Breeze both come in the big 16 ounce bottle, which is what you want for a shared shower. Eucalyptus does its best work when the water is hot and the room fills with steam, and it is the one I would hang next to a sprig of the real thing.

A pairing I like: Eucalyptus Breeze in the shower, then the plain, unscented body lotion of your choice. Two competing perfumes on your skin is how you end up with a headache.

What I would skip: the dessert and cocktail scents right before a meeting where you want to smell like nothing at all.

One rule for matching wash to lotion: keep the family the same, or keep one of them plain. Wash and cream in the same scent layer up instead of clashing, and that is the whole reason the line is sold in sets.

The Amazing Grace whipped body crème comes in the original and the Intense, and it is a light, airy texture, easy in warm weather. Radiant Grace has its own whipped crème and a Firming Body Emulsion, and the Amazing Grace Intense Firming Body Emulsion is the same idea in the richer scent. I would use an emulsion straight after a shower, while skin is still damp, and save the whipped crème for evening.

The Fresh Cream body lotion and the Warm Cashmere lotion, both 7 ounce, are the everyday pair. They are the ones I would keep on the edge of the sink for hands, elbows and shins. The Amazing Grace Luminous Body Oil is the finishing touch, a few drops on the shoulders and collarbones for shine.

A pairing I like: Fresh Cream shower gel from the first grid with the Warm Cashmere lotion. It smells like a clean sweater.

What I would skip: the body oil on days you are getting dressed in a hurry. It needs a minute to settle before it meets a silk shirt.

Here is a habit worth borrowing from perfume people: switch your body wash by season the way you switch a scent. Keep philosophy for the days you want clean and soft, and reach for something moodier when you want the shower to feel like a place.

Nécessaire's The Body Wash comes in Olibanum and Santal, two scents named for resin and sandalwood, in a plain, minimal bottle. Byredo's Mojave Ghost and Bal d'Afrique body washes take the house's perfumes into the shower, which is a good way to test whether you would really wear the fragrance. Sol de Janeiro's Beija Flor Renewing Body Wash is the one for a shower that should feel like a small holiday.

OUAI's Melrose Place Gentle Body Wash is the gentle one, and Sephora Collection's Peony + Ginger Softening Body Wash is the easy floral. L'Occitane's Almond Shower Oil is the sweet almond one, and the closest in spirit to the Fresh Cream gel.

A pairing I like: a woody wash on weeknights and Amazing Grace on the weekend, so neither scent wears out its welcome.

What I would skip: a strong perfume-house body wash on a day you plan to wear a different fragrance.

I think the best philosophy shower gel is the one you would happily smell on your own skin at midnight, and for most people that is still Amazing Grace. It is clean without being sterile, and it comes from a founder who wanted fragrance that did not shout.

Buy one shower gel and its matching lotion, try them for a fortnight, and only then add a fruity one for fun. Newton wrote a hymn about being found. A good body wash does something smaller, and no less welcome: it makes you feel like you have arrived back in your own skin.

If you want a body wash that does a job beyond smelling good, I went through every Naturium body wash formula.

If a scent caught you here, these are its closest cousins.

The Boozy Gourmand

Tom Ford Perfume Dupe

Strawberry Perfume Is Mostly a Lab Trick, and I Love It Anyway

Smoky Perfumes for Sweater Weather

Flowerbomb Perfume and the Diamond Grenade That Made Florals Loud

Mugler Alien Goddess, Angel and the Vanilla and Jasmine Perfumes Around Them

Vanilla Bourbon Perfume for Cold Nights and Low Lighting

YSL Perfume