Fragrances You Love and Hate...

[1QuirkyKiwi]

Originally Posted by Guy

I love the smells of gasoline and tar.

They remind me growing up living near a Marina in Jersey, and popping tar bubbles in the street. heh

I love the smell of creosote and WD40, lol!

[1QuirkyKiwi]

Originally Posted by JAGG

I like camomile and cinnamon ,also cucumber. I love the smell of wet cedar and burning hickory. I don't like rose scented things or too floral smelling things. Don't like the smell of curry cooking.

I've known a few people hate the smell of curry cooking - I'm not too keen on the smell of and Idian curry, but love the smell of Chinese ad Japanese curries.

[1QuirkyKiwi]

Originally Posted by Incubus

I was born anosmic...means I have no sense of smell at all.

Every day someone, somewhere will say "here, smell this".

There are so many things I would love to smell

A girl
Food cooking
Baking bread
Grass
Girls
Tar
Woodland
Gas
Fire
Did I say girls already?
The Beach
Myself
The countryside after rain
Girls
My family
My house now that I've stopped smoking
My cat
Gunpowder
Friends
et al


It's odd...it's hard to explain a smell. Remember that scene in Mask where the guy explains how something feels to a blind girl to explain a sight? Well it's even harder to explain a smell.

Smell is our most primal sense... it's linked to the amygdula, which is our reptilian brain. (I'm sure someone will correct me on this and I would love to know more...where does this anosmia come from??)


I so envy y'all yer sense of smell.

Anosmia can be caused by numerous things - a Zince deficiency, Nasal Polyps, damage to Olfactory Receptor Neurons. There are said to be treatments available, but, not sure how affective they/it is.

Thank you for sharing.

[Inuus]

I know I'm odd but I like the smell of cow dung....it reminds me of visiting the local dairy with my Father when I was kid. Also reminds me of working on a dairy farm in Maine. I have chickens and ummm not that fond of their smells lol

[1QuirkyKiwi]

Originally Posted by Inuus

I am very sensitive to smells good and bad.

That being said there are many fragrances that really get to me the #1 being Patchouli. I can smell patchouli at 50 paces and it instantly gives me a migraine and makes me feel nauseous...uugghh. Just thinking about it bothers me!

I very rarely wear cologne but if I do its Cool Waters. I prefer clean non overpowering perfumes on femmes. The flowery really strong scents give me migraines.

I would like to add I believe many people dont really know how to wear perfumes/colognes. I like just a faint scent which catches my attention and makes me want to get closer I dont like so overpowering that I can smell you 3 aisles over in WalMart lol

I was always told, that if you could smell a perfume/cologne more than 3ft from the person, it's too much.

I have a HUGE problem with people who's personal hygiene is utter pants! I've an OCD about hygiene - the hot temperatures I'm forgiving IF it's a fresh sweat, if that makes sense? Otherwise my elegantly blunt nature will say something, lol! *Blushes*

[JAGG]

I love the smell of new carpeting and new eletronics.
I wear Gio by Armani. I like a cripy clean soapy smell for me.
I never described this before but reading some posts I think this is a good description, I like a femmes perfume to be clean smelling with a fruity and very subtle powdery mix to it. Does that make sense?
I love the way Clubman talc powder and after shave smell I use them alot.
I don't like skin so soft, I don't like charlie, jontue, any heavy loud old lady smelling perfume.
I don't like the smell of febreeze.

[Gráinne]

Non-perfumes I love the smell of:

Office supply stores
The air after a thunderstorm
Oranges
Fresh apple pie
Cut grass
Baking bread
Maple syrup (I mean the real deal, not Mrs. Butterworth's)
Fresh paint
Clean baby
Curry
The ocean

Perfume/cologne:

It's really individual, what I like on a date. Every chemistry is different. Having said that, mega extra points to anyone who can wear Ralph Lauren Polo.

On me:
Cool Water for work
Armani She
CKOne
Paris Amour from B&BW
Vanilla Fields
Eternity
Elizabeth Taylor's Passion and White Diamonds

And I guess I'm an old lady . I love L'Air du Temps, Shalimar, Charlie, Chanel #5, White Shoulders.

[starryeyes]

For some reason when I was a kid, I loved the smell of the vacuum in the vacuum closet and I used to close myself in there and I couldn't get enough of the vacuum smell... haha. Every time I smell something similar I love it!! Weird!!

[BugsAndKisses]

Don't laugh but I love walking down the dog food isle at the super market...just love that smell

[Gemme]

Likes/loves:

Provocative Woman by Elizabeth Arden (self-explanatory)
cucumber melon (it's crisp and clean and summery)
honeysuckle and orange blossoms, together or separate (smells like home)
magnolias and magnolia scents (smells like home)
jasmine (home again)
citrus scents (smells like FL)
an infant's sweet milky smell
my fresh washed hair
laundry in the dryer and the scent wafting from the outside vents
chili in the pot during winter
fresh mud, best for pies

Dislikes/hates:

body odor of the stank variety aka funk, not to be confused with funk music or funky fresh beats
sweaty sheets
skunk
poo from anyone or anything
first pee of the day
gas
obnoxious burps
pretty much all mandatory bodily functions, but not sneezes. I just sneezed and didn't smell a thing. My nose tingles though.
sicky sweet scents
old-fashioned scents
stagnant water

[Alurra]

Thanks 1QuirkyKiwi for the thread. It's interesting how people love or hate certain things.

I don't wear perfume per se but I still have a bottle of Poison from decades ago (the perfume, not the toxic chemical, although some might say they are one and the same). Somehow it reminds me of grape Kool-aid. It's way to heavy for me to wear now but I like the smell in the bottle.

My favorite smell is summer rain on hot blacktop. Reminds of being a kid and lying face-up in the cul-de-sac when it rained cause the pavement was warm and the rain was so cool and refreshing. I still love rain on my face.

And fresh picked tomatoes are right up there.

[Kätzchen]

I wear nothing but Escential Oil cocktail potions:

I like the scent of Dragon's Blood
and Jasmine w/ Y'Lang Y'Lang.

I even like the scent of "Forest Rain" -
which I buy once in a great while.

I love bonfires - the smokey scent of burning wood.

I'm also fond of the scent of mint - there used to be
fields upon fields of mint, where I grew up and I loved
how dense the air smells when the mint is ready for harvest.

I also love the smell of fresh cut hay
and the delightful scent of the Pacific ocean air.

[macele]

i don't wear mens cologne or deodorant.
but i like the smell. i do wash my hair in mens shampoo.
Axe is a favorite. the back of an Axe bottle says,
GET GIRL APPROVED HAIR ... Directions: Wash, Attract, Repeat. that's cute lol.
when your gf tells you she washed the pillow cases in Axe, you know it has to be smellin' right!

my fave perfume is Happy. i like the smell of Beautiful on someone else.
like say she just left the room and i walk in ... i know shes been here. love that.

sun dried clothes
High Maintenance liquid detergent ...
you don't have to wear perfume or cologne when using this.

when you first cut a watermelon, mmmm

the smell of a mechanic. not any mechanic. just those special ones.

[always2late]

Smells I love:
The ocean
Freshly cut grass
A clean barn (hay and horses especially)
Apples
Wood smoke
Puppies
Freshly laundered sheets
Eucalyptus and spearmint bath salts

I'm sure I have more...just can't think of them right now.

As far as perfume or cologne, I separate odors into what I consider "cool" and "warm" smells....I like the "cool" ones, the fresh, clean scents. I can't stand anything flowery or heavy or "warm".

[Diva]

My scent is Champs E'lyses and I wear nothing else....

Other scents I adore:

~Coconut
~Cucumber/Melon (like Gemmie)...it smells clean!
~Bleach
~Anything citrus
~Cinnamon
~Vanilla
~I just bought a LOT of Spice Cake candles from Pier I.....YUMM!
~Lavender
~Peppermint
~Baby lotion (Johnson & Johnson)

I'm sure there are more....

I cannot stand the smell of pachouli for some reason....or exhaust from a car. BLECH.
And I do not like to smell someone before I SEE them....in other words, if one bathes in their cologne, they have used too much, imho. I feel as though I can almost taste it. And it makes me gag.

[Bootsandheels]

I love a good thread and this is always a great topic. I won't give away what I wear just cuz...but I get that wonderful comment from BOTH men and women...
"What IS that? It's just amazing!!!"...gotta love that right? Although I have a few favorites, "Miracle" for men will positively make me break out in stilettos and negligee

[Nat]

I totally lost my sense of smell a year and a half ago. Since then, a tiny bit of it has come back. It's sort of like - if the ability to smell were like the ability to hear, I can only detect a few notes. There is a sweet note that I can smell in pretty much every perfume and incense stick. It's the same note - I can't differentiate. And there's the dead smell that chicken and eggs have - the smell that's hidden by the delicious smells when a person has a full sense of smell. Similarly, my hair conditioner smells like chemicals, but I can't smell the scent they cover over the chemicals with. If I could find a good conditioner for my hair that was all happy and organic, I would switch.

Back when I could smell, I loved so many smells. I wish my brain could call up the memory of a smell the way it could a voice or a person's face. It's very rare for me to remember a smell.

I loved incense. Frustratingly I am finally with a person who also enjoys the smell, and I can't enjoy it anymore! Such is life, right? But sandalwood, nag champa, patchouli - those were my favorites.

For perfume, I never was drawn much to the fruity scents. I liked strong, dark scents. Opium was my favorite for years, though the last time I remember smelling it, it just reminded me of the pain of my early adulthood. I enjoyed Obsession and Obsession for Men, Drakkar Noir for Men.

I loved the smell of Chanel No. 19 because it smelled like nostalgia and the pages of a long-unopened book. And I wore Chanel Coco for about a year and loved it. I discovered Paloma Picasso in an antique store and found it intoxicating. I bought a fresh batch and still loved it, though some days it appealed to me more than others. A date told me once I smelled like icecream when I wore it.

I also loved to wear Arabian Musk or White Musk oils from time to time, because I found them lovely. But I came to understand others didn't agree - so I only indulged on occasion.

The last smell I remember smelling was a pink mimosa flower. They have a very pretty scent - light and sweet. It's one of those smells that's been with me since childhood. I'm glad I took the time to smell it. I loved the smell of honeysuckle, hay, freshly-cut grass, roses, desert sage. Heck, I miss the smell of dirt. Dirt had a good smell to it.

[Scrappy L'il Southpaw]

Someone wearing Lagerfeld melts my butter. I don't have to see you. I don't have to know you. I just smell it and I am instantly turned on! Mercy!
:

[1QuirkyKiwi]

*Alurra, You’re welcome! I’m fascinated by people’s love and hate of fragrances – I’m very sensitive to smells and have been known to refuse a date purely because I didn’t like the smell of the woman, only later finding out that the person wasn’t that nice. I confess to liking to meet up before a ‘real’ date so I can smell her/hym without cologne.

To me, the Poison perfume is a toxic chemical – One of my Maori Grandmother’s friends always used to wear it. *Twitches*

*Inuus, Ummm……yes! Your odd, but, the I’ve been told I’m odd for some of the smells I like……leather for one. *Blushes*

*Jagg, Funny you should say about Febreeze, many people I know can’t stand that smell, me included.

*Guihong, Lavender is in there with ‘Grannies’ Dressing Table smell of fragrances as you described, lol!

I love the smell of oranges, but, sadly, I’m allergic to them – even just the smell will start an allergic reaction.

*Katzchen, I use essential oils a lot – in my homemade shampoos, etc.

Mint is another one of those that make me feel nauseous, yet, for many, it’s a brilliant digestive aid.

*Nat, I hope your sense of smell returns. Thank you for sharing the fragrances you remember and can smell now.

*……Ahem! Southpaw, would you like me to hand you a towel? LOL!

My apologies for not replying to you all personally, I’m about to head out the door to Henley-on-Thames for the weekend.

Can I ask you, all? What is the ONE fragrance you would take with you to a dessert Island?

Mine is Jasmine......(and Manuka if I could sneak it in - for it's medicinal properties of course, lol!) Manuka is a fragrance I love - it's my childhood memories of playing and falling over, getting grazed and being soothed by it's fragrance and healing my 'war wounds', lol!

[dixie]

I'm very sensitive to smell, so most colognes and perfumes give me migraines. I've found a few that are subtle though, which is good. My favorite for me, and the only kind I usually wear, is Givenchy Very Irresistible.



For any other fragrances I like things that are scented with vanilla or a vanilla base. Peppermint and coconut are my favorite scents for body spritz, or even candles.