What fragrances do you prefer?

[everywhere and nowhere]

As in the title. Do you often use nice aromas for a pleasant atmosphere? In what situations do you use them? (open question)

 

My own response first, since I am creating this topic. I rarely use perfume. As an androgynous woman which doesn't care about being "feminine" and doesn't want to be attractive to men, I am fine with using both "male" and "female" smells. My favourite is probably men's Fahrenheit eau de cologne. But I also have a soft spot for Dior's Sweet Sun perfume, I once asked my mom to buy it for me as a Christmas gift. It is indeed a sweet and happy smell. But, as I said - I use perfume really rarely. It probably isn't even too healthy for me, given my allergy, it probably can irritate my skin a little.

At home, I use first of all aromatic oils and incense - incense sticks, more convenient (but probably with a slightly shorter burn time, though I never measured it) incense cones, also traditional ritual incense such as white sage or palo santo. I strongly prefer four types of aromas: herbal (sage, eucalyptus, India herbs, also lavender...), forest (I found fir aromatic oil absolutely amazing, the strongest of all available forest aromas), spicy (cloves, cinnamon, ginger etc.) and traditional incense fragrances - for example, I greatly enjoy myrrh incense cones. I usually don't really like floral and fruity fragrances because they are too "unspiritual" for me.

I often use incense oils and incense when I'm just writing something in my diary. However, I consider it important first of all for spiritual purposes: attempts at meditation and, of course, psychedelic experiences. This is why I so strongly associate pleasant fragrances not really with creating a cozy mood, but rather with an atmosphere of mental concentration and spiritual preparation.

[Homer]

Cheap deodorants from the dollar store do the trick.

[A User]

I like the smell of lavender and other stuff that has herbs or flowers in it, only if its genuine

[Gloomy]

I like vanilla or fruity scents, sometimes musky scents, or also that cocoa butter lotion that makes me smell like a chocolate bar. I use scented candles, oil melts, incense, scented lotion, and sometimes perfume.

[everywhere and nowhere]

5 hours ago, A User said:

I like the smell of lavender and other stuff that has herbs or flowers in it, only if its genuine

When I burn a lavender incense stick or cone, I usually say: "lavender the lesbian flower!".

[Morays]

5 minutes ago, Nowhere Girl said:

When I burn a lavender incense stick or cone, I usually say: "lavender the lesbian flower!".

My given name, Violet, is a flower that was traditionally associated with lesbians in the late 19th and early 20th century (partly due to the fact that Sappho often referenced violets in her erotic poetry.) I've always liked that part of my name's history. 💜

 

To steer this back on topic, the only scented product I regularly use is shampoo -- I use unscented lotion and mild, generically "fresh" deodorant. My favorite scents are floral -- lavender and honeysuckle in particular. I don't understand fruity scents as much, as I'm not interested in smelling edible.

[everywhere and nowhere]

2 hours ago, SocialMorays said:

My given name, Violet, is a flower that was traditionally associated with lesbians in the late 19th and early 20th century (partly due to the fact that Sappho often referenced violets in her erotic poetry.) I've always liked that part of my name's history. 💜

I've read that in Germany in the 1920s, a hallmark of lesbians was a little bunch of violets pinned to their clothes.

[daveb]

A couple of my favorite scents are vanilla and peach (probably not together though?). I have some "milk and honey" shampoo that I like the smell of, too.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Homer said:

Cheap deodorants from the dollar store do the trick.

Just plain soap for me. I need to shower so often that deodorant is redundant.

 

I'd instantly recognize the smell of mid-80s Ford interior vinyl. I don't use electronic devices old enough to have selenium rectifiers, so I don't have to be concerned about one of those blowing and stinking out the place. One can sub them with a diode/resistor combo if needed; can't imagine the need will arise in my case though. Pipe tobacco smells pretty nice to me.

[AceMissBehaving]

I like some floral or woody perfumes, but am incredibly picky. I can’t tolerate anything overly sweet smelling, or with aldehydes or vetiver which is in a lot of scents.

 

I have a few from Caron that I feel suit me and are pleasant to have around. They are rather expensive so not something I have a lot of, but I find the right scent helps me control my sensory environment.

 

One of my favorites is Secret Oud which is a unisex scent of roses and oud wood. It’s not too complicated, not sweet, overpowering or feminine.

[everywhere and nowhere]

7 hours ago, Autumn Twilight said:

Pipe tobacco smells pretty nice to me.

Nice? Ugh. For me... I have smelled some unburnt pipe tobacco (probably) once and it smelled like prunes, and I hate prunes. And when burnt... I hate tobacco with all my heart, cigarette smoke immediately makes me cough and induces an allergic reaction in me (now I simply avoid it, I don't visit anyone who smokes, but at time when smoking in clubs, for example, was allowed, there were pretty much no smoke-free rock concerts). But pipe or cigar smoke makes me want to vomit.

7 hours ago, AceMissBehaving said:

I can’t tolerate anything overly sweet smelling, or with aldehydes or vetiver which is in a lot of scents.

I rather like the smell of vetiver, but it turns out that I'm probably allergic to it.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Nowhere Girl said:

Nice? Ugh. For me... I have smelled some unburnt pipe tobacco (probably) once and it smelled like prunes, and I hate prunes. And when burnt... I hate tobacco with all my heart, cigarette smoke immediately makes me cough and induces an allergic reaction in me (now I simply avoid it, I don't visit anyone who smokes, but at time when smoking in clubs, for example, was allowed, there were pretty much no smoke-free rock concerts). But pipe or cigar smoke makes me want to vomit.

I suppose it depends on what kind of pipe tobacco it is; even my mom says she likes the smell. The smell of cigars is a tad too strong for me, and cigarette smoke I just can’t handle for very long at all. I picked up a very old laptop computer from a smoker’s house, and he had one going when I arrived. The bag reeked of smoke; it might have gone away eventually but it was really worn so I just tossed it. The documentation was in the bag and stunk of smoke so badly I had to hold it well away from myself when reading it. I stood the books on edge to air them out, hoping the smell would disappear; actually I haven’t checked them since. The laptop itself is still in a dozen or so pieces as I haven’t yet figured out how I want to install a replacement CMOS battery for easier access.

[Cosmic Latte]

Looove perfume, hate cologne

 

my favorite scent profiles are the fruity, sweet, floral, and fresh

 

something about cologne just rubs me the wrong way, even a "sophisticated" (stronger antique kinda floral scent) perfume smells better to me than any kind of cologne 

 

I've also got a bunch of incense and some candles, but I'm mostly a perfume gal :3

[Steel13]

I've always found people's preferences in smells very interesting. As a person who lost their sense of smell as a small child, I have trouble understanding what makes something smell good vs bad. I thought it had something to do with if it tastes good, but lots of flowers smell good without tasting good and lots of vegetables are delicious but I have been told smell bad. I was also told that every person smells different, which blows my mind.

[fooledbysecrecy]

oooh i love perfumes and fragrances! floral fruity and fresh.  not a huge fan of musky/spicy things.

[everywhere and nowhere]

16 hours ago, Steel13 said:

I've always found people's preferences in smells very interesting. As a person who lost their sense of smell as a small child, I have trouble understanding what makes something smell good vs bad. I thought it had something to do with if it tastes good, but lots of flowers smell good without tasting good and lots of vegetables are delicious but I have been told smell bad. I was also told that evert person smells different, which blows my mind.

My father lost his sense of smell too. It was due to a sinus surgery and until the end of his life he felt no smells.

[Morays]

16 hours ago, Steel13 said:

I've always found people's preferences in smells very interesting. As a person who lost their sense of smell as a small child, I have trouble understanding what makes something smell good vs bad. I thought it had something to do with if it tastes good, but lots of flowers smell good without tasting good and lots of vegetables are delicious but I have been told smell bad. I was also told that evert person smells different, which blows my mind.

 

4 minutes ago, Nowhere Girl said:

My father lost his sense of smell too. It was due to a sinus surgery and until the end of his life he felt no smells.

My father lost his too in his late teens from working at a factory. He was only there for two summers, but the caustic chemicals were enough to burn away almost all of his sense of smell. To this day, he can only smell something if it's pressed right up against his nose, and even then not very well.

[everywhere and nowhere]

6 minutes ago, SocialMorays said:

 

My father lost his too in his late teens from working at a factory. He was only there for two summers, but the caustic chemicals were enough to burn away almost all of his sense of smell. To this day, he can only smell something if it's pressed right up against his nose, and even then not very well.

My father at least used to joke that "he felt the same in a toilet and in a perfumerie".

[Morays]

Just now, Nowhere Girl said:

My father at least used to joke that "he felt the same in a toilet and in a perfumerie".

It's both a blessing and a curse, for sure!

[Rat Lady]

I've often felt like my sense of smell is more trouble than it's worth: I find that I'm far more likely to have a negative reaction to any kind of strong odor than a positive one, with a few exceptions (mostly food related - coffee, spices, etc, though I do for some reason like the smell of cigarette smoke even though I don't smoke).

[Morays]

2 minutes ago, Epic Tetus said:

(mostly food related - coffee, spices, etc, though I do for some reason like the smell of cigarette smoke even though I don't smoke).

Oh man, me too. In my case, it's probably because my sister smoked when I was very young, and I idolized her.

 

I replied to this thread earlier specifically thinking in the context of scented care products. But honestly, if somebody made an air freshener identical to the way my sister's room smelled -- cigarettes, coffee, old leather jackets, library books, crushed velvet, and musty attics -- I'd buy it.

[kenny.]

i like the smell of coffee, peppermint, and cigarette smoke. 

[Skycaptain]

Fruit, herbs, spice, forest

 

Perfume etc 

[Jelle]

Vanilla is my favourite scent. Otherwise, I like fruity or floral scents, too.

[everywhere and nowhere]

5 minutes ago, Jelle van der Lee said:

Vanilla is my favourite scent.

A friend once told me that his mother used to make natural homemade vanilla sugar by putting vanilla pods in a jar and pouring sugar all over them. He said that he would sometimes open the jar just to get a hit.

[HonoraryJedi]

Honestly I don't really know. But just reading the list is making me want to try things like incense x) As for perfumes, I find the idea of choosing a scent for myself quite appealing, but I don't know where to start with them.

 

On the other hand, I know that scents easily get overpowering for me. To the point I can't use my moms shampoos because she likes ones that are too overpoweringly perfumed. (Also, I am hypersensitive to tobacco, to the point that if you go out to smoke outside, and then come in to breathe in the same room that I am in, I notice. It is interesting to me that for some, that scent is pleasant.)

 

I just find myself wanting to ask a lot of questions to figure out what scents I want.

What is the specific difference between 'herbal' and 'forest'? What does scents are tied to 'fresh'? I don't even know what the one bottle of perfume I have counts as, since I don't have others to compare it to

[everywhere and nowhere]

2 hours ago, HonoraryJedi said:

What is the specific difference between 'herbal' and 'forest'? What does scents are tied to 'fresh'?

I associate "herbal" with aromas such as... rosemary, basil, mint, chamomile, I would also say that eucalyptus has a rather herbal than "woody" smell... "Forest" smells are pine, fir, spruce, incense sticks or aromatic oils labelled just as "Forest"... For me "herbal" smells somehow feel "warmer" than "forest" smells. And "fresh"... well, there are a lot of air fresheners, oils, maybe pot-pourri, which are supposed to create a fresh smell... sometimes they have a bit poetic names such as "Morning Rain" (by the way, there was a song with that title by the German psychedelic rock band Liquid Visions...). Fresh smells are very common in cleaning products, I would say.

[HonoraryJedi]

I think what I should do is get some incense sticks for my new apartment, to try out x) Experiment with them.

[everywhere and nowhere]

6 hours ago, HonoraryJedi said:

I think what I should do is get some incense sticks for my new apartment, to try out x) Experiment with them.

Good luck. I recently found Hem incense very cheaply and I bought three kinds: ginger, blue sage (wonderful 🤩) and eucalyptus. Given my teamania, I just wanted so much to drink some mint and eucalyptus tea while burning some eucalyptus incense and soaking my feet in water with eucalyptus foot salt...

[iff]

@everywhere and nowhere

 

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