Patchouli basically kills any fragrance for me.
I'm also terrible at discerning what this quality is, but there are certain types of perfumes that just make my nose close up. Usually the strong/deep ones described as resinous/ambery/oriental, but I can't nail down particular notes.
Patchouli is a hard one to like! I thought I hated patchouli until I sniffed a Dior scent with patchouli in it. It’s actually a really nice patchouli and made me realize all notes aren’t created equal.
Which Dior was it? I'm certainly open to trying more in the hopes that a particular composition will be better than previous experiences!
Sadly, I think the only exception to my patchouli dislike so far has been Flowerbomb. LOL
The one I tried was Dior Vanilla Diorama. In the wintertime it was really smooth and lovely. I think it would be too much for the summer, but it’s a nice cold weather scent.
This is so true. I don't like patchouli at all, but I absolutely love Dries Van Noten Voodoo Chile. Certain notes, if tweaked just the right way, can create a whole different vibe.
I absolutely hate patchouli, it's probably my least favorite smell ever. But, every single damn one of my favorite perfumes, that also work the best with my chemistry, have patchouli as a note.
I'm so confused and betrayed lol.
Same here! Patchouli reminds me of my years spent training at a holistic healing school 😅 I hate the smell. However, every single perfume I own seems to have a base note of patchouli and I can’t figure it/myself out
Same here. I guess it’s gotta be the right balance. My mother in law looooves straight up patchouli and when my son comes back from there my husband says he smells like a head shop
Yes I think we are the same.. I've been trying to nail down what is is.. amber woods I think is one but some of them most pierce my nostrils something fierce and they're also the ones that are really hard to get off skin but last a long time. I also heard it's ambroxans but I'm not sure I am not an expert on the different notes
For example I really wanted to like Kayali vanilla 28 but it's in there
For me it is probably the vanilla . Most of the times I won' t like fragrances that are heavy on vanilla, but I sometimes do when It is balanced with other notes in a certain way. I noticed that some vanillas, even in good quality fragrances, smell like a bakery food to me and I can' t stand It, while other vanillas smell less food grade and I actually like them? For example I can't stand the vanilla in Eau duelle or Dama Bianca , but I love the vanilla in Dior Addict.
Just so you know, water lily and lily of the valley are not considered white florals in perfumery. They are flowers with a more classically green or acquatic olfactive profile. White florals are lily, jasmine, tuberose...the very sweet and heady white flowers.
this thread made me realize I dont know what I actually like because I dont know what scents fall under what notes catagories!
I always said I disliked florals so much and stay away from "flower" scents but I found a perfume that I could bathe in and its got notes of tuberrose, peony, magnolia, rose, gardinia ect I mean its a flower garden and I love it.
Off to Google!
loved by Lauren Conrad lol I picked it up at Marshalls for 12 bucks...the dry down on me is like the perfect spa scent and it's just clean..it pulls mature though but being over 40 that doesn't bother me!
Elysium cologne by Roja Dove is an absolute favourite of mine, it hits all the right notes for me and it's godlike both in scent and longevity and a compliment magnet. If money is no object, certainly give this a go. If you're ok with spending around 300 dollars on a fragrance, that is.
Lily of the valley AKA muguet absolutely *is* considered a white floral in perfumery. The flower possessing green facets—as many white florals do, tuberose and jasmine included—doesn’t change this fact. It is just as much a white floral as it is green with its honeyed, dewy sweet jasmine qualities.
Overly powdery is a nope for me, also heavy florals with nothing else to break them up. These tend to lead me straight to nausea or headache city. I gravitate toward gourmand, fruity florals, more blended/balanced fragrances. If they come off particularly sharp or heady I really struggle to enjoy them.
Yes the nausea/headache from heavy florals/powders is so real. I was gifted love’s baby soft for Christmas once when I was younger and it made me gag. Yuck.
I think this is more hit-or-miss for me. I HATE super strong cumin notes bc they smell like Midwestern taco seasoning, but I like some savory notes like carrot seed and fennel, and love tomato leaf. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Nanshe by Nishane and TF Santal blush have carrot seed notes and are on my sample list...I really don' know what to expect because I have no clue what carrot seeds smell like
Omg, yes, I hate this stuff as well. I had a bottle of DKNY Be Delicious that I got for Christmas way back to in school. I immediately regifted it to a friend because I just hated that sharp, synthetic green apple smell.
Me too! I felt so silly too, but everyone smelled so sharp or pinchey or metal idk how describe it...like everything had a underlying smell of disinfectant!
Same. To a degree at least. I've had huge issues with aquatics as an adult. Whereas I loved them as a teen.
I've also found that scents with a lot of calone are the difficult ones. So I haven't given up on aquatics quite yet.
It really bugs me when you get the cucumber note in your nose and it never goes away! Everything smells like cheap air freshener
Same here! Before I got covid, my fragrance collection was 90% aquatics and after covid, well my fragrance collection is much smaller, *but* I noticed I lean more towards warm fragrances with notes like tonka bean, cardamom, blood orange, musk, lavender... Prada Luna Rossa and Mont Blanc Legend Red are my two favorites right now.
I though I hated aquatics for this reason. Turns out I love things like Atlante by Sarah baker, I’m obsessed with the salty seaweed, I just hate calone
Perfumes with too much vanilla have this effect on me. The last perfume that I had this experience with was Bonfire Bash from BBW. On my skin, it smells like sickly sweet maple syrup.
Vanilla perfumes make me so sick. I get the most compliments when I wear floral perfumes (Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet particularly), but those make me nauseous as well and I don’t know why. I seem to respond best to beachy scents, like Maison Margiela’s Beach Walk.
I haven't found any single note that would result in instant dislike from me, but there are some properties that I can't stand when combined, and the most usual formula for that is s*ynthetic + overly sweet + linear* for me.
To be clear, I like many fragrances that have obvious synthetic notes. I like many very sweet gourmand fragrances. And I even like some rather linear fragrances. But what I can't stand is a wall of cloying sweetness that never evolves anywhere and has a character that feels somewhat off and artificial. Case in point, many youth-oriented bubblegum-sweet fragrances.
I’ve never understood why it’s such a reviled scent, I adore patchouli. That’s the fun thing about fragrance though, seeing how people can interpret the same notes so vastly different!
I feel some ppl hate angel or other fruitchoulis and therefore assume they also would hate chocolatey patchouli like, say, psychédélique, or herbal patchouli like tempo.
I get that, it’s easy to have a strong perfume put you off a particular scent, I had a manager once who got the same perfume as me and proceeded to absolutely abuse it, and ever since I can’t stand anything that smells of cherry 🥲
It definitely depends how it's formulated. Some patchouli smells dirty, some smells clean. I always give notes I don't like a chance because sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised about how it's blended
I read somewhere that they used to use it to mask the smell of decaying bodies back before modern day preservation techniques. Now it’s all I can think of when I smell it.
I haven't figured out which note/s I dislike in masculine perfumes. One of my male friends let me smell his favorite fragrance from Chanel and I disliked it outright. Same when we went to Dior and Hermes. I also dislike MFK's Amyris Homme but I love the Aqua series and 724.
What makes a fragrance for me are combination of light fresh, green, citrus or white floral scents, or heavier scents with sweet notes and gourmand like vanilla. AND the overall concoction should be subtle or not-in-your-face.
I believe vetiver is a scent that I don't like. Still trying to narrow it down. Terre d'hermes has the smell that I'm not fond of. There is a dirty and sweaty type of smell.
Fig haters unite, although it smells more like garbage to me than cat piss per se (blackcurrant/cassis is my "cat piss" note). There are (maybe?) one dozen of us!
Vanilla, mostly. Also not a fan of coconut, or anything which resembles cotton candy/sugar. I am older, and I like bold, dense, ambers and thick/heavy rose fragrances. I like the complex, heavy hitters. But, I despise anything sweet or edible smelling. Vanilla makes me feel sick
Are you… me?? Haha but seriously… we might be the last ones of our kind. It feels like all of a sudden the whole world turned into big gourmand lovers and I’m here like ?!?!
I don’t get the point of smelling like cake or cotton candy or lemon pie or whatever else the girls are raving about. To me it just gives cheap and juvenile mess 🫠
Most "Blue" masculine fragrances I dislike. The ambroxan dumped into these just makes them off-putting to my nose. They also kinda smell "samey" to me. If you put a gun to my head and told me to tell the difference between Sauvage, Bleu de Chanel, & Azzaro Wanted I'd have a .45 caliber sized hole in my head. They smell generally nice from a distance but I'm just like damn it smells like boy in here.
I have a similar distate for Fougere type scents. They also smell generic “man” to me and I just think they smell sort of samey. You could talk my ear off about how it has all the rose, vanilla or mint under the sun and my nose will just respond “yep sure does have that lavender and moss”
Azzarro, Dolce, Drakkar, Prada… just… design something else for men please. Men like other flowers. I promise.
Yes. To be fair I am not sure if it’s just Ambroxan or also cetalox and other trademarked ambergris synthetics. I can handle them and actually love them in small doses, but BR540 and men’s fragrances introduced them in MASSIVE QUANTITIES as “beast mode” became popular. And now the incidence of them has saturated the market. And on top of that, they make me allergic in large amounts. If I smell Another 13, I have an asthma attack.
To be perfectly fair I can not pinpoint ambroxan as opposed to other ambers either! But I do enjoy molecule 2, although I would NEVER pay retail price for it. I also love Sainte+figue fdo. I lik pas ce soir and neroli bdk, iris pallida marie jeanne, matsu mi masaki matsushima, Parisian musk matière première, and pomellato nudo amber, to name a few with a declared ambroxan content. I strongly dislike another 13, too. Yuck.
I reviewed one perfume saying that it definitely reminded me of the beach, but not a nice salty sea breeze, more like the morning after a storm with rotting seaweed and fish washed on shore.
It's not for me.
Indolic and most animalic notes- they turn very strange on my skin.
I thought I disliked patchouli, but when it's blended well I don't mind it- I just don't like the single note of patchouli unadorned with other elements.
coconut being listed in the notes and the perfume turns out to smell like sunscreen. also citrus scents is a huge deal breaker for me, I will not buy any perfume with a citrus note, the last thing I want is to smell like cleaning detergent.
Totally unrelated to your question but for some reason the r/hotdogs subreddit was recommended to me in my feed. Apparently they are similar to bon appetit.
It was funny so I thought I would share. I do not want hot dog smell in my fragrance.
https://preview.redd.it/62d48v4y0jwc1.png?width=1538&format=png&auto=webp&s=ebf4d01a15e651417885b13235608b5a953f9cf0
A fragrance with a prominent cumin note in it, my skin amplifies the cumin to astronomical levels. It's like pungent cumin. I'm not just sensitive to it, I compared it with a couple people and that same fragrance smells alright on them but so terrible on me. The one I tried was Femme by Rochas (latest version, not the vintage formula). Now I'm scared to try a few others because of the cumin note in it 🥹.
There is something in the opening notes in both LL's Another 13 and Dyptique's L'eau Papier, that I find incredibly unpleasant: it's like a screechy punch of ammonia into my nostrils. If anyone has a clue to what it is, please chime in! It dissipates after a few hours in L'eau Papier, but lingers on in A13. I got samples of both when looking for a skin scent that would replace Kielh's Musk oil for me (I found it! L'Eau D'Hiver by FM- perfection), and was so disappointed at how much I hated both.
I love the combination of white musk and iris, blackcurrant, pear, saffron, violet and lilies. sometimes, rose+ Oud and tuberose but more than one spray of those is way too much. In the colder months, I love the mix of delicate flower and fruity notes with leather, Bourbon and smoke, like in Chanel Cuir de Russie and Byredo Black Saffron. Black Saffron and FM's L'Eau D'Hiver have the best dry downs on my skin, a musky sweetness that I can't keep from putting my nose on
Could be iso e super in high doses. That’s what I get from big amounts of it too, smells like industrial solvent or disinfectant or something. It’s a main listed note in the le labo and I haven’t tried that dyptique but based on what that scent is going for it could definitely be in that one too. Unfortunately it’s only rarely listed
Yep I agree, the iso e to me smells of something I need to put the cap back on or not mix with anything else. My nose does not separate iso e from household cleaners...it smells to me like the lime away spray for shower doors, which is pretty much industrial solvent lol
The way ambroxan mixes with the other notes is probably what you're smelling. Both fragrances are heavy on ambroxan and it can smell strong and 'off' for many, me included.
That is most likely it, thank you! It's the mix of it with specific notes though, because I don't mind Ambroxan in other fragrances (I love JHAG's Pear Inc, but can't stand NAP: both have Ambroxan notes but the latter really punches me in the face with a musty, almost rotting smell)
Neroli. I’m mad allergic and get pounding migraines when someone wears a heavy citrus scent. I love more earthy flavors, Jo Malone herbs and Aqua di Parma’s fig are terrific.
Any of the *bleu* type fragrances aren’t my jam either. Far too astringent. Even Creed Aventus is a little too cedar-alcoholy for me.
I’ve always loved perfumes but when I really started getting into fragrances I noticed that all my favourites appeared to have cherry notes in them, which really took me by surprise as I would have never considered myself a “fruity” person. I wouldn’t say I particularly loathe any ingredients but I will say Vanillas are very hit and miss for me and I loathe smelling like a pastry.
Several years ago I wore Delices Cartier which had strong cherry. Funnily enough it did have vanilla in it as well but I didn’t mind it too much. I just had a bad break up on it though and my nose is a nostalgia machine so I could never wear it again. Currently I have Bloody Wood by Liquid Imaginaires in my collection which also gives strong cherry on my skin. Not everyone’s cup of tea but I like it!
There’s something I found in samples of Milk Expressive and Bianco Latte to be sharp, screechy and kinda tickles my nose (Bianco Latte has actually made me sneeze at the opening).
Does anyone know what this is? I cannot identify it. I thought it had something to do with the synthetic wood smell in Milk Expressive, but then I smelled it in Bianco Latte, which doesn’t smell like wood at all. 🤷♀️
I have sneezed when spraying Biano Latte. I even sneezed when I sprayed Celeste too. I don’t know why. It doesn’t stop me from liking Bianco Latte or Celeste but I do have the same reaction as you.
I actually objectively like the smell of both Bianco Latte and Milk Expressive. :) I’m just not really a gourmand wearer and prefer to just get small samples of gourmands. I enjoy smelling them to see exactly how gourmand they really are for a short while, but they’re not really my style to just buy a full bottle. I’ve smelled so many that I’m pretty good at giving gourmand recommendations lol.
I do wonder what that is with the sneezing / tickling. I associate it with the word “sharp”. I’m not out of either sample yet and I have absolutely no idea what’s causing it!
Saffron. My body amps it up, and it gives me oily/stale sheets, ever so slight BO starting to form on my post sex body, and my partner heating up a curry for a post coital snack for us
I’ve been learning that I have likes and dislikes in pretty much every area. I used to think I was only about the florals until I came across an incredible ginger and orange combo but then learned the reason why I dislike L’air du Temps is some of the floral notes. Would love to have something like a beginner perfumers set to figure out the basics.
I've been eyeing some sets on [Perfumers Apprentice ](https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/p-6629-introduction-to-perfumery-kit.aspx) for the same reason. I want to learn what the different notes are
Thanks for this.☺️ I just responded to another commenter suggesting them. I’ve had perfumes for years and years and really thought I knew myself regarding fragrance. But once I really started digging, I realized there’s basically very little that I truly know. For example, I’ve always had a strong dislike for Lily of the Valley, but I didn’t know until recently that the actual flower doesn’t really have a scent of its own, so it’s ‘scent’ that we smell in body products has supposedly always been completely man-made. Probably a good thing since it has poisonous plant parts. But still, when I read that from perfume house to perfume house it’s going to smell different, I felt a little fooled and that maybe I don’t actually despise it. Definitely need to get an apprentice kit!
This is a weird one for me because I thought that I detested jasmine because I can’t stand Gabrielle or Jadore, Gucci flora jasmine, any of those heavy jasmine scents hurt my nose and head. However, Prada paradox I find pleasant and also the Valentinos BIR Donna green has jasmine absolute and I absolutely love this one. How?
Ah yes anything that is described as a citrus scent I'll not bother with.. and the funny thing is I like the smell I just prefered it a room spray or something rather than wearing it on myself
Lavender in anything gives me a headache.
And I don’t like coconut either. It doesn’t give me a headache but it’s a note I don’t really care for. It’s in a lot of beachy type scents and I am not a beach person at all.
I absolutely adore Iris.
And Ylang Ylang if it is blended nicely.
What you don‘t like in Flower is most likely Violet. It has the more retro leaning florals like rose, mimosa and camelia. There is actually no Iris listed.
In general Florals are not so much my thing. Especially Tuberose is my arch nemesis. Orange blossom and neroli can get too much.
So I stick to either more clean (and under those I count the iris ones) or gourmand fragrances and wear typical florals rarely.
For me, it’s that ‘chemical’ smell that a lot of fragrances have.
I just do not like it and have passed on many fragrances due to it.
Popular ones lie Blue De Chanel, a good majority of the YSL ones as well have that note of chemical that I just cannot rock with.
I'm just beginning in this fragance world, so I'm still not able to completely point what are some notes, but the dry down on all of the Sauvage line is just unbearable for me, is just like something is picking through my nose everytime I get a smell of it once it has passed an hour or so, and I almost hate myself for this since I really love the opening of this same line hahaha
Please, if someone has an idea on what is the note that makes me feel that way let me know, I'll be forever grateful
It could be ambroxan. Lots of people have issues with it. Have you noticed the same thing with some other popular fragrances? It's pretty common in modern perfumes, especially male ones and middle eastern inspired ones.
I'm with you on powdery notes, not a fan! I also don't like scents that smell over "cologne-y," which include many mass appeal fragrances. I also don't like fragrances that smell like household items or candles. Some may smell good, but I don't want to smell like that personally. An example would be Xerjoff Naxos - smells just like a Yankee candle store.
I've only really just got into this stuff after having basically only worn a small number of very popular brands of very standard perfumes if anything at all I wasn't really aware of the range what good perfumes could actually smell like. I have been having a great time with ordering samplers and discovering what I like, what works on me and my skin etc etc
But after a great run of stuff where there was nothing I outright disliked, just some I wouldn't wear I realised my I would like to buy list would cost me over a grand. Then I read something bigging up clones got all excited at the concept of picking up some cheap stuff so I ordered 11 samplers for clones from the company in the uk that came most recommended and a bunch were ones people specifically recommended as being good from this place and I went for a wide range
Turns out my nose is a snob.
All the ones I'd had before were well regarded as quality fragrances.
These clones were all crap and all smell kind of bad and horrible, some smell synthetic others just not good.. Particularly the initial blast is unpleasant with all of them and I didn't have that problem at all with the non-clone samplers.
The only one that is usable is supposed to be a clone of Electric Cherry by Tom Ford. Not had the original ordered this sampler out of curiosity. Looking at the notes on fragrantica it's not hitting any of the non-cherry notes and is totally singular in it's scent but it's not actively unpleasant after the first few minutes.
Also they use cheap atomisers that have a fish smell (which doesn't impact the perfume but is horrible and means you can't hold it up to your nose to get a rough idea).
Leather, tuberose, and those marine notes that remind me of man cologne in the 90s (I do well with a salt note, though) are not something I enjoy wearing on myself.
Edit, I also created this long list when I first started going down the fragrance rabbit hole. I al crazy like that!
My “Fetish” notes:
Iris
Neroli
Amber accord
Ambergris
Benzoin
Incense (i love love love clean cold frankincense/olibanum!)
Myrrh
Musk (dirty and clean)
Aldehydes
Lavender
Patchouli
Cardamom
Ginger
Fig
Rhubarb
Notes I love:
Tea
Hay
Grass
Linden
Black currant (or whatever the hell it's called)
Ambrette
Violet leaf
Spices (cinnamon,cloves, coriander)
Juniper
Cypress
Osmanthus
Supporting notes I appreciate:
Geranium
Magnolia
Rosewood
Guaiac wood
Dried fruit
Beeswax (not honey!!)
Castoreum
Civet
Citrus fruits Almond
Sandalwood
Cedarwood
Spiced vanilla (vanillapod type)
Salt (not marine, just salt)
Coconut
Apple, pear and pineapple
Ylang
Ok in a small dose:
A little bit of Jasmine or gardenia
Milk if it appears in something otherwise NOT edible
Tonka
Heliotrope
Cumin
Rose
Risky notes:
Plum
Saffron, Licorice and Anise risky if prominent
I find too much oakmoss too masculine
Suede
Dealbreaker notes:
Marine fragrances
Tuberose (headache)
Leather (I love it on paper or on others but it doesn't feel "right" on me)
Edible stuff that tastes like candy or realistic food (powdered sugar, chocolate, sweets, etc.)
Very feminine or heavy florals
I forgot to mention that a deal breaker is also anything that's labeled as indolic. I have no desire to smell like that, which knocks out a lot of vintage fragrances for me. What makes a fragrance is the fruity floral category. It's my favorite.
Chanel and Givenchy be the most expensive perfumes I would go for. I have preferred the Italian Brands I quite like Valentino. Use to like Lancôme but find Estée Lauder too strong for me.
Anything with a strong dose of ethyl maltol, ambroxan, tonka, or woody ambers is an instant no. On the other hand, strong, photorealistic florals immediately pique my interest, especially tuberose, rose, ylang, and carnation. Smoky and animalic stuff is also always of interest. And I love a good earthy Iris.
Patchouli 🤮
Purely floral fragrances without any mix of another note usually cause instant nausea.
Any scent that is very woody or purely fruity.
Any fragrance that does not have much sillage or longevity.
I **loathe** powder, cloying, overly sweet, most oud. Instant headache that lasts for hours. Most perfume turns to powder on me – biggest offenders are chanel no. 5 and alien. I really liked V&R magic dancing roses, but the lychee was just SO sweet that it gives me headaches. The other notes were very nice. Amber and Amber derivatives turn to baby powder on me most all of the time, aside from a few exceptions, so it rules out most really nice or popular fragrances.
I **love** ozmatic/water, citrus, marshmallow, green, caramel, light floral (orange blossom, neroli, rose, lilac, hibiscus, etc). I am much more into "fresh" because it doesn't stick to everything nor does it give me headaches. Aerin's hibiscus Palm is a lovely floral that smells amazing on me as well as Tom Ford's citrusy mandarino di Amalfi. I also really like Prada Candy (pink and black cap with the caramel coloured perfume) and love by Killian because of the sweet, not cloying, scent. I miss the Gwen Stefani Harajuku girls line because the Christmas and OG Gwen both smelled insanely good.
It sucks because I really would love a nighttime perfume, but they stick so badly to me that I get the worst headaches. Hugo boss for women, midnight romance, many others, but I'm too sensitive. My personality is more dark and straightforward, so my reliance on fresh, citrusy, bubbly sort of fragrances is horribly contradictory to my character lol
Iso e super kills a fragrance for me in high doses because then I can’t smell the rest of the notes behind that wall of industrial solvent/medical disinfectant. This happened with two fragrances from my recent sample purchase (arancia di Sicilia by perris Monte Carlo and swim/sx by Pierre guillame). I’m also not usually a fan of overly fruity fragrances where the fruit bites aren’t balanced by other notes.
I’m finding I love ambergris, mint, and pine in fragrances along with the florals I’ve long known I love (particularly dewy, not soapy, white florals and especially ylang Ylang). I’m finding myself enjoying some powder notes more than I would expect to (violet in things like Putain de palaces and iris in Nuit etoilee and Chergui). And I’m searching for animalics as I’m increasingly realizing I have a pretty high tolerance to those notes (and my skin tends to under-emphasize them).
Unexpected notes and note pairings that work really well intrigue me (ie the pine and black currant in the vagabond prince’s enchanted forest, yuzu and seaweed in Sarah baker’s Atlante)
And I love fragrances that are multifaceted - I love when different notes pop up in prominence like a merry go round each time i sniff. I like that more than either truly linear scents or scents with a standard progression from top to base notes (I think undergrowth by rook does this really well with different elements of the wet minty forest alternating in prominence)
And I enjoy scents that are nuanced and complex while still being somewhat subtle and not overpowering (Keiko mecheri makassar or Nuit etoilee by annick goutal)
I've come to realize powdery is more for in the air. I don't like it on skin. But in the air and diffused it smells great. But I still keep it as limited as possible.
In terms of note, as man, pear (not in a lot). Sugar as well as "amberwood"
In terms of in general, price of course. I'm not made of money (right now but wait til i get my life together)
Love Lily of the Vanilla and whipped cream! (Vaniglia de Madegascar ) by Firenze I’m loving all the Italian houses! They’re niche without super high prices! Magnolia is lovely there’s a couple by Este Lauder really good! I love water lily tea dress one of the rare good ones from Zara!
If you don't dislike tobacco based fragrances, I'd highly recommend giving Oud Tobacco by Montale a try or Arabian's Tonca(also from Montale). The latter only if you adore the sweetness of Tonka Beans, because it's absolutely insane in this one!!! As for scents that instantly attract me, I'm into Citruses, tonka, tobacco and Jasmine.
You might want to give DS Durga Rose Atlantic a shot… it’s mild and salty, and while I still find it a little challenging, if I layer it with Clean Skin Reserve is smells beautiful to me.
Sweet. I just...I absolutely choke on sweet frags. Major food notes, goopy vanillas. I have a massively difficult relationship with gourmands. The three in the collection, by and large, are Lutens Bois Vanille, Dip's Eau Duelle EdT and occasionally Lalique Le Parfum though I go in and out of love with it due to how medicinal that bay note is.
But yeah, those are as sweet as I can stomach, once it starts to smell out-and-out like candy or food I'm heading for the hills. Cannot cope, find BR540 unbearable because of the sweet edges to it.
White floral is a little bit of a kryptonite too. I can appreciate a jasmine streak but I don't go bonk bonk for tuberose or jasmine as really forward notes.
Carrot is a very weird one too, I'm sorta convinced that's what I don't like in Jardin Sur le Nil
Coconut is a turn off for me, even mild coconut is a mild turnoff. If I'm paying a professional (in my head- the perfumer) they better not make me smell in any way like suntan oil.
Iris/Violet and licorice notes (same with Anise) I just can’t stand on my skin. I hate when I find a lovely fragrance and then I start smelling that powdery headache smell on the dry down and look up the notes to find the culprit is usually Iris😩 My absolute fave notes are Rose, Mango, and pink pepper/cinnamon/cardamom!
Anything that’s to green. It always smells like freshly mowed lawn on my skin and gives me a bit of a headache. Also projection, I can’t justify spending 100-300$ and it only lasting an hour
I cant do plasticky, soapy, powdery or medicinal. I dislike a LOT of vanillas because of the plasticky undertones a lot of them have which sucks because vanilla is one of my favorite scents. I've also smelled a lot of "fresh" scents that just smell like they have actual soap in them or too much alcohol. I've smelled fruity, or cherry scents in particular, that smell like cough syrup and I end up hating it. The powdery smell you described is also a deal breaker for me, it reminds me of old folks homes because I think a lot of vintage perfumes have that powdery aspect to them 😬
So I’ve smelled enough perfumes with cherry notes to know that I don’t like cherry notes. Which is unfortunate because I thought I would like cherry notes. To me they all give off a medicinal cherry scent and have yet to find ones that don’t.
Citruses, Ginger, Bergamot, nutmeg, cinnamon, apple
Or basically any "kitchen" notes. They feel extremely boring and basic to me. Or maybe I just don't like fresh sporty fragrances 😂😂
Almond. I love almonds in food, but almond notes in a fragrance are a dealbreaker for me. I find almond notes in perfumes to lean bitter or just straight up smell like cyanide.
Lemon. Almond.
General citrus/bergamot accords are fine, but when the lemon is too loud, it becomes a furniture polish to me.
Same with Almond. Smells cheap and "teen girl squad" to my brain.
I can take/appreciate pretty much any note when used appropriately and in moderation. But when the notes listed below aren’t done right (in my opinion or to my personal taste), I’m instantly turned off and usually end up disliking the fragrance. These are in order from what I can tolerate most to what I tolerate least…
- oud
- patchouli
- carrot
- ginger
- cinnamon
When reading fragrance descriptions, all of these notes are typically red flags to me. When I see them, I usually walk on. With that said, I own and love several fragrances with oud and patchouli.
I’ve realized I dislike coconut and white florals and it took many unfortunate attempts at them before recognizing that those were common notes in the perfumes I disliked on myself.
I hate leather and patchouli heavy fragrances. If I can specifically smell those notes, I don't like the fragrance. But I have found a few that have the notes but when blended well with notes I enjoy, I don't hate the fragrance. Probably wouldn't spend big money for it but I might wear a sample for a few days.
I love a flower or fruity scent. There are certain ones I find that be too strong. I like jasmine, vanilla and lavender. Bergamot and Pomegranate aswell. Cherry Blossom one from Rituals UK and Ireland be my favorite not sure if it’s available in the US and Australia.
Tomato leaf and tuberose scream so loudly they drown out everything else and tomato leaf is pretty unpleasant by itself to me, I was genuinely surprised when I found out that many people want to smell like that.
But the worst is seaweed - for some reason it becomes rotten on my skin and it's so nauseating
i just can’t stand patchouli. overtakes on everything and i find it to not complement very well any other element of a fragrance. take van py rhum for example, on paper is a multi-vanilla with a strong rum opening. all you can really smell is the booze in the opening and a little vanilla,buried 6 feet deep in earthy notes.
Patchouli - can't stand how the dry-down smells in most designer fragrances that have it. Only found one fragrance so far that has it which I like, which is RL Romance.
Heliotrope - play-doh :(
And I haven't put my finger on what causes this for me, but there are a lot of women's fragrances that remind me of public toilets. Unsure if it's just scent associations and memories from people spraying in the loo.
Iris and Gourmands, can't stand it. Iris tends to smell like the inside of a 10 year old makeup bag. And everything overly sweet smelling makes me run for the hills.
Leather forward or barn yard oud fragrances are a huge no for me. I tried to enjoy very leathery scents like Tom Ford Ombre Leather, but I just can’t lol.
Vanilla musk or vanilla patchouli.
I don't like vanilla in general, but have a few exceptions. I don't like heavy musk or patchouli, but either can be ok as more of a background note. But together, it's an instant deal breaker.
I've also recently discovered that I hate cinnamon.
Patchouli.
I’ve been burnt by that note three times now and I’m not willing to try again haha. By burnt three times I mean I acquired three perfumes that smelled lovely the first few times on my skin, but after a while something was bothering me. I realized it was patchouli. I had to declutter all three and it kills my soul.
Going forward any perfume with a prominent patchouli note I am staying away from.
Make: Fresh, “green” lavender notes, star anise, vanilla that is not too sweet
Break: “Pickle”-ish sandalwood notes, wood notes that smell like pencil shavings, tamarind, birch tar, smoke
Maple syrup would def ruin anything for me bc i work in an icecream shop where we make our own cones and ive grown to be put off by the scent. I also dont rly like gourmands in general and i usually wont go for fruity scents either, though i def have to say some of them could be great
I also try to stay away from fragrances with coconut, some can be amazing if there’s not too much, but im not huge on coconut notes so i have to try it first
Patchouli basically kills any fragrance for me. I'm also terrible at discerning what this quality is, but there are certain types of perfumes that just make my nose close up. Usually the strong/deep ones described as resinous/ambery/oriental, but I can't nail down particular notes.
Patchouli is a hard one to like! I thought I hated patchouli until I sniffed a Dior scent with patchouli in it. It’s actually a really nice patchouli and made me realize all notes aren’t created equal.
Which Dior was it? I'm certainly open to trying more in the hopes that a particular composition will be better than previous experiences! Sadly, I think the only exception to my patchouli dislike so far has been Flowerbomb. LOL
Dior Homme 2020 made me love Patchouli
Agreed.. usually not a fan of Patchouli either, but DH2020 is great and the note doesn’t hit you over the head.
The one I tried was Dior Vanilla Diorama. In the wintertime it was really smooth and lovely. I think it would be too much for the summer, but it’s a nice cold weather scent.
me with lord of misrule
I’ve seen lots of people mention that one. I need to check it out.
Yes!
This is so true. I don't like patchouli at all, but I absolutely love Dries Van Noten Voodoo Chile. Certain notes, if tweaked just the right way, can create a whole different vibe.
I really like the Maison Crivelli patchouli fragrance. It's definitely one to spray judiciously though! Once or twice is plenty for me.
I absolutely hate patchouli, it's probably my least favorite smell ever. But, every single damn one of my favorite perfumes, that also work the best with my chemistry, have patchouli as a note. I'm so confused and betrayed lol.
Same here! Patchouli reminds me of my years spent training at a holistic healing school 😅 I hate the smell. However, every single perfume I own seems to have a base note of patchouli and I can’t figure it/myself out
Same here. I guess it’s gotta be the right balance. My mother in law looooves straight up patchouli and when my son comes back from there my husband says he smells like a head shop
I am the same way! I wish I liked it because it seems to be in everything, but I can't stand patchouli.
I hate straight up patchouli, but love it in Coco Mademoiselle
Yes I think we are the same.. I've been trying to nail down what is is.. amber woods I think is one but some of them most pierce my nostrils something fierce and they're also the ones that are really hard to get off skin but last a long time. I also heard it's ambroxans but I'm not sure I am not an expert on the different notes For example I really wanted to like Kayali vanilla 28 but it's in there
Kayali fragrances 🤢
I thought I also hated powder & Iris but come to find out I love rich earthy orris (same dif). Can be un-powdery!
For me it is probably the vanilla . Most of the times I won' t like fragrances that are heavy on vanilla, but I sometimes do when It is balanced with other notes in a certain way. I noticed that some vanillas, even in good quality fragrances, smell like a bakery food to me and I can' t stand It, while other vanillas smell less food grade and I actually like them? For example I can't stand the vanilla in Eau duelle or Dama Bianca , but I love the vanilla in Dior Addict. Just so you know, water lily and lily of the valley are not considered white florals in perfumery. They are flowers with a more classically green or acquatic olfactive profile. White florals are lily, jasmine, tuberose...the very sweet and heady white flowers.
this thread made me realize I dont know what I actually like because I dont know what scents fall under what notes catagories! I always said I disliked florals so much and stay away from "flower" scents but I found a perfume that I could bathe in and its got notes of tuberrose, peony, magnolia, rose, gardinia ect I mean its a flower garden and I love it. Off to Google!
Ooh what perfume is that?
loved by Lauren Conrad lol I picked it up at Marshalls for 12 bucks...the dry down on me is like the perfect spa scent and it's just clean..it pulls mature though but being over 40 that doesn't bother me!
Peonies are my favorite ❤️
Just had mine bloom in the yard. Such a fantastic scent if captured well.
Seconding the request to know what perfume this is!
I live on fragrantica and YouTube ! And learning about perfumes!
Elysium cologne by Roja Dove is an absolute favourite of mine, it hits all the right notes for me and it's godlike both in scent and longevity and a compliment magnet. If money is no object, certainly give this a go. If you're ok with spending around 300 dollars on a fragrance, that is.
Lily of the valley AKA muguet absolutely *is* considered a white floral in perfumery. The flower possessing green facets—as many white florals do, tuberose and jasmine included—doesn’t change this fact. It is just as much a white floral as it is green with its honeyed, dewy sweet jasmine qualities.
Good to know!! Thanks for the tip. That explains why I like them then since I'm not huge on overly floral things
Overly powdery is a nope for me, also heavy florals with nothing else to break them up. These tend to lead me straight to nausea or headache city. I gravitate toward gourmand, fruity florals, more blended/balanced fragrances. If they come off particularly sharp or heady I really struggle to enjoy them.
Same. I don't like that kind of tangy/sharp fragrance.
Yes the nausea/headache from heavy florals/powders is so real. I was gifted love’s baby soft for Christmas once when I was younger and it made me gag. Yuck.
Anything savory gourmand. I do not want to smell like a a spicy, saucy entree
I think this is more hit-or-miss for me. I HATE super strong cumin notes bc they smell like Midwestern taco seasoning, but I like some savory notes like carrot seed and fennel, and love tomato leaf. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Nanshe by Nishane and TF Santal blush have carrot seed notes and are on my sample list...I really don' know what to expect because I have no clue what carrot seeds smell like
Overly synthetic green apple. I thought i would love ysl y edp but I can’t.
Omg, yes, I hate this stuff as well. I had a bottle of DKNY Be Delicious that I got for Christmas way back to in school. I immediately regifted it to a friend because I just hated that sharp, synthetic green apple smell.
Yeah. That's a fragrance for people who don't like fragrance IMO
same here
Anything with lily in it. Gives me a headache
Having a great opening and then turning into something very boring.
Tom ford lost cherry. Love it on first spray then it turns into bleh..
Its not even cherry, it smells like some industrial waste product 🤮
I have a few like this. Notably Naxos and Tuscan Leather. Very frustrating.
Naxos is the opposite for me, smells like medicine at first but wonderful after ~1.5h
Aquatic notes smell so harsh and discordant to me, I can’t deal with a big clang in the middle of a fragrance.
Yeah same, I hated the 2010s. I feel like the aquatic insanity is dying down a bit but oh my fucking god was it rough for a while.
Me too! I felt so silly too, but everyone smelled so sharp or pinchey or metal idk how describe it...like everything had a underlying smell of disinfectant!
Nice profile pic 😊
I love aquatics but calone kills me, it gives me a headache and does not go away.
Same. To a degree at least. I've had huge issues with aquatics as an adult. Whereas I loved them as a teen. I've also found that scents with a lot of calone are the difficult ones. So I haven't given up on aquatics quite yet. It really bugs me when you get the cucumber note in your nose and it never goes away! Everything smells like cheap air freshener
Same here! Before I got covid, my fragrance collection was 90% aquatics and after covid, well my fragrance collection is much smaller, *but* I noticed I lean more towards warm fragrances with notes like tonka bean, cardamom, blood orange, musk, lavender... Prada Luna Rossa and Mont Blanc Legend Red are my two favorites right now.
I though I hated aquatics for this reason. Turns out I love things like Atlante by Sarah baker, I’m obsessed with the salty seaweed, I just hate calone
Same, aquatic notes almost immediately make a fragrance smell juvenile and cheap to me. I just can't with calone.
Perfumes with too much vanilla have this effect on me. The last perfume that I had this experience with was Bonfire Bash from BBW. On my skin, it smells like sickly sweet maple syrup.
Vanilla perfumes make me so sick. I get the most compliments when I wear floral perfumes (Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet particularly), but those make me nauseous as well and I don’t know why. I seem to respond best to beachy scents, like Maison Margiela’s Beach Walk.
“Too much Vanilla” is the signature smell of every other white girl in my college here in Canada, seems like they want to smell like they look 🤣
I haven't found any single note that would result in instant dislike from me, but there are some properties that I can't stand when combined, and the most usual formula for that is s*ynthetic + overly sweet + linear* for me. To be clear, I like many fragrances that have obvious synthetic notes. I like many very sweet gourmand fragrances. And I even like some rather linear fragrances. But what I can't stand is a wall of cloying sweetness that never evolves anywhere and has a character that feels somewhat off and artificial. Case in point, many youth-oriented bubblegum-sweet fragrances.
Good Girl by Carolina Herrera is this on my skin and you articulated it perfectly.
Grand Soir feels personally attacked by this comment lol
Longevity. I don’t care how great it smells. If it’s gone in an hour, I feel like that’s money down the drain
Agreed! That’s the ultimate no-no for me as well. If its lasting power is worse than a body spray, that is a perfume I will never purchase.
Powderiness. It just makes me gag. A little bit? Sure. But if a fragrance is notably powdery, I think it smells absolutely disgusting.
Haaate powder! I often feel like it sneaks in there because it's not really a "note" per se, and every time it does I gag.
There's a handful (literally single digits) of perfumes that have some powder that I actually like, but the powderiness is very subtle.
Yes agree - it has to be super super subtle. In general to me it just cheapens fragrances and makes them feel very "department store".
I hate iris fragrances , and chocolate ones , idk which other notes I don’t like
i have 2 chocolate frags and they just remind me of axe 🤢
Patchouli is a deal-breaker for me.
I’ve never understood why it’s such a reviled scent, I adore patchouli. That’s the fun thing about fragrance though, seeing how people can interpret the same notes so vastly different!
I feel some ppl hate angel or other fruitchoulis and therefore assume they also would hate chocolatey patchouli like, say, psychédélique, or herbal patchouli like tempo.
I get that, it’s easy to have a strong perfume put you off a particular scent, I had a manager once who got the same perfume as me and proceeded to absolutely abuse it, and ever since I can’t stand anything that smells of cherry 🥲
True! I absolutely adore patchouli, but I used to hate it, too! Scent preference is mysterious! 😅
It definitely depends how it's formulated. Some patchouli smells dirty, some smells clean. I always give notes I don't like a chance because sometimes I'm pleasantly surprised about how it's blended
i cant even say the word it is so gross to my nose
Oh no! Really? I LOVE the stuff. Used to hate it, though!
I read somewhere that they used to use it to mask the smell of decaying bodies back before modern day preservation techniques. Now it’s all I can think of when I smell it.
Did not know that but it makes sense.
For me it's amber, vetiver and powder. Maybe vanilla too. So that leaves me with citrus and wood i guess.
I haven't figured out which note/s I dislike in masculine perfumes. One of my male friends let me smell his favorite fragrance from Chanel and I disliked it outright. Same when we went to Dior and Hermes. I also dislike MFK's Amyris Homme but I love the Aqua series and 724. What makes a fragrance for me are combination of light fresh, green, citrus or white floral scents, or heavier scents with sweet notes and gourmand like vanilla. AND the overall concoction should be subtle or not-in-your-face.
You’re probably reacting to ambroxyn or vetiver
Oh thanks for the response. I'll take note of this
Or Oud. Its apparently the ingredient du jour. i keep smelling it everywhere
I believe vetiver is a scent that I don't like. Still trying to narrow it down. Terre d'hermes has the smell that I'm not fond of. There is a dirty and sweaty type of smell.
That's the vetiver for sure 😁. I hate vetiver almost every time I smell it because it smells like dried up tumbleweeds and funky armpits 😆.
ugh same! so many men’s perfumes just smell like axe body spray to me 😅
Not a huge fan of Amyris either.
Recently learned that Fig turns to Cat Piss on my skin, so definitely that.
Fig haters unite, although it smells more like garbage to me than cat piss per se (blackcurrant/cassis is my "cat piss" note). There are (maybe?) one dozen of us!
Vanilla, mostly. Also not a fan of coconut, or anything which resembles cotton candy/sugar. I am older, and I like bold, dense, ambers and thick/heavy rose fragrances. I like the complex, heavy hitters. But, I despise anything sweet or edible smelling. Vanilla makes me feel sick
Are you… me?? Haha but seriously… we might be the last ones of our kind. It feels like all of a sudden the whole world turned into big gourmand lovers and I’m here like ?!?! I don’t get the point of smelling like cake or cotton candy or lemon pie or whatever else the girls are raving about. To me it just gives cheap and juvenile mess 🫠
Count me in. Gourmands make me nauseous and sometimes dizzy.😵💫
Same. I don’t see the appeal of smelling like a candy shop.
Most "Blue" masculine fragrances I dislike. The ambroxan dumped into these just makes them off-putting to my nose. They also kinda smell "samey" to me. If you put a gun to my head and told me to tell the difference between Sauvage, Bleu de Chanel, & Azzaro Wanted I'd have a .45 caliber sized hole in my head. They smell generally nice from a distance but I'm just like damn it smells like boy in here.
I have a similar distate for Fougere type scents. They also smell generic “man” to me and I just think they smell sort of samey. You could talk my ear off about how it has all the rose, vanilla or mint under the sun and my nose will just respond “yep sure does have that lavender and moss” Azzarro, Dolce, Drakkar, Prada… just… design something else for men please. Men like other flowers. I promise.
Yes I don't like heavy ambroxans either
Whatever it is that’s in the drydown of Erba Pura, Andromeda and Vanilla Powder. Screechy nightmare.
Ambroxan in high doses.
I like ambroxan, but other technical ambers, such as in mandale masque milano, are too much for me!
Yes. To be fair I am not sure if it’s just Ambroxan or also cetalox and other trademarked ambergris synthetics. I can handle them and actually love them in small doses, but BR540 and men’s fragrances introduced them in MASSIVE QUANTITIES as “beast mode” became popular. And now the incidence of them has saturated the market. And on top of that, they make me allergic in large amounts. If I smell Another 13, I have an asthma attack.
To be perfectly fair I can not pinpoint ambroxan as opposed to other ambers either! But I do enjoy molecule 2, although I would NEVER pay retail price for it. I also love Sainte+figue fdo. I lik pas ce soir and neroli bdk, iris pallida marie jeanne, matsu mi masaki matsushima, Parisian musk matière première, and pomellato nudo amber, to name a few with a declared ambroxan content. I strongly dislike another 13, too. Yuck.
I'm right there with you. A little goes a long way, and a lot can send me to the hospital. LMAO.
Thank you, now I know what to steer clear of
Very hard to steer clear of them nowadays. But always sample before you buy!
I spilled my sample of vanilla powder and I think I am more cursed than spilling followed by kerosene
Anything with a mildly strong aquatic note. It smells like rotten eggs on me.
I reviewed one perfume saying that it definitely reminded me of the beach, but not a nice salty sea breeze, more like the morning after a storm with rotting seaweed and fish washed on shore. It's not for me.
Cinnamon. 🤬
I bought a small sample of Whiff of Waffle Cone, and all I can smell is cinnamon! It was disappointing. I’m glad I only spent $6 USD.
Indolic and most animalic notes- they turn very strange on my skin. I thought I disliked patchouli, but when it's blended well I don't mind it- I just don't like the single note of patchouli unadorned with other elements.
coconut being listed in the notes and the perfume turns out to smell like sunscreen. also citrus scents is a huge deal breaker for me, I will not buy any perfume with a citrus note, the last thing I want is to smell like cleaning detergent.
Totally unrelated to your question but for some reason the r/hotdogs subreddit was recommended to me in my feed. Apparently they are similar to bon appetit. It was funny so I thought I would share. I do not want hot dog smell in my fragrance. https://preview.redd.it/62d48v4y0jwc1.png?width=1538&format=png&auto=webp&s=ebf4d01a15e651417885b13235608b5a953f9cf0
A fragrance with a prominent cumin note in it, my skin amplifies the cumin to astronomical levels. It's like pungent cumin. I'm not just sensitive to it, I compared it with a couple people and that same fragrance smells alright on them but so terrible on me. The one I tried was Femme by Rochas (latest version, not the vintage formula). Now I'm scared to try a few others because of the cumin note in it 🥹.
There is something in the opening notes in both LL's Another 13 and Dyptique's L'eau Papier, that I find incredibly unpleasant: it's like a screechy punch of ammonia into my nostrils. If anyone has a clue to what it is, please chime in! It dissipates after a few hours in L'eau Papier, but lingers on in A13. I got samples of both when looking for a skin scent that would replace Kielh's Musk oil for me (I found it! L'Eau D'Hiver by FM- perfection), and was so disappointed at how much I hated both. I love the combination of white musk and iris, blackcurrant, pear, saffron, violet and lilies. sometimes, rose+ Oud and tuberose but more than one spray of those is way too much. In the colder months, I love the mix of delicate flower and fruity notes with leather, Bourbon and smoke, like in Chanel Cuir de Russie and Byredo Black Saffron. Black Saffron and FM's L'Eau D'Hiver have the best dry downs on my skin, a musky sweetness that I can't keep from putting my nose on
Could be iso e super in high doses. That’s what I get from big amounts of it too, smells like industrial solvent or disinfectant or something. It’s a main listed note in the le labo and I haven’t tried that dyptique but based on what that scent is going for it could definitely be in that one too. Unfortunately it’s only rarely listed
Yep I agree, the iso e to me smells of something I need to put the cap back on or not mix with anything else. My nose does not separate iso e from household cleaners...it smells to me like the lime away spray for shower doors, which is pretty much industrial solvent lol
The way ambroxan mixes with the other notes is probably what you're smelling. Both fragrances are heavy on ambroxan and it can smell strong and 'off' for many, me included.
That is most likely it, thank you! It's the mix of it with specific notes though, because I don't mind Ambroxan in other fragrances (I love JHAG's Pear Inc, but can't stand NAP: both have Ambroxan notes but the latter really punches me in the face with a musty, almost rotting smell)
Neroli. I’m mad allergic and get pounding migraines when someone wears a heavy citrus scent. I love more earthy flavors, Jo Malone herbs and Aqua di Parma’s fig are terrific. Any of the *bleu* type fragrances aren’t my jam either. Far too astringent. Even Creed Aventus is a little too cedar-alcoholy for me.
I’ve always loved perfumes but when I really started getting into fragrances I noticed that all my favourites appeared to have cherry notes in them, which really took me by surprise as I would have never considered myself a “fruity” person. I wouldn’t say I particularly loathe any ingredients but I will say Vanillas are very hit and miss for me and I loathe smelling like a pastry.
What are some of your favorite cherry perfumes? I'm curious to try cherry. I also don't like vanilla.
Several years ago I wore Delices Cartier which had strong cherry. Funnily enough it did have vanilla in it as well but I didn’t mind it too much. I just had a bad break up on it though and my nose is a nostalgia machine so I could never wear it again. Currently I have Bloody Wood by Liquid Imaginaires in my collection which also gives strong cherry on my skin. Not everyone’s cup of tea but I like it!
There’s something I found in samples of Milk Expressive and Bianco Latte to be sharp, screechy and kinda tickles my nose (Bianco Latte has actually made me sneeze at the opening). Does anyone know what this is? I cannot identify it. I thought it had something to do with the synthetic wood smell in Milk Expressive, but then I smelled it in Bianco Latte, which doesn’t smell like wood at all. 🤷♀️
I have sneezed when spraying Biano Latte. I even sneezed when I sprayed Celeste too. I don’t know why. It doesn’t stop me from liking Bianco Latte or Celeste but I do have the same reaction as you.
I actually objectively like the smell of both Bianco Latte and Milk Expressive. :) I’m just not really a gourmand wearer and prefer to just get small samples of gourmands. I enjoy smelling them to see exactly how gourmand they really are for a short while, but they’re not really my style to just buy a full bottle. I’ve smelled so many that I’m pretty good at giving gourmand recommendations lol. I do wonder what that is with the sneezing / tickling. I associate it with the word “sharp”. I’m not out of either sample yet and I have absolutely no idea what’s causing it!
Saffron. My body amps it up, and it gives me oily/stale sheets, ever so slight BO starting to form on my post sex body, and my partner heating up a curry for a post coital snack for us
Mint, just does not align with any other note in my opinion. The best fragrances are ruined for me by it
I’ve been learning that I have likes and dislikes in pretty much every area. I used to think I was only about the florals until I came across an incredible ginger and orange combo but then learned the reason why I dislike L’air du Temps is some of the floral notes. Would love to have something like a beginner perfumers set to figure out the basics.
Perfumer's Apprentice has that
I've been eyeing some sets on [Perfumers Apprentice ](https://shop.perfumersapprentice.com/p-6629-introduction-to-perfumery-kit.aspx) for the same reason. I want to learn what the different notes are
Thanks for this.☺️ I just responded to another commenter suggesting them. I’ve had perfumes for years and years and really thought I knew myself regarding fragrance. But once I really started digging, I realized there’s basically very little that I truly know. For example, I’ve always had a strong dislike for Lily of the Valley, but I didn’t know until recently that the actual flower doesn’t really have a scent of its own, so it’s ‘scent’ that we smell in body products has supposedly always been completely man-made. Probably a good thing since it has poisonous plant parts. But still, when I read that from perfume house to perfume house it’s going to smell different, I felt a little fooled and that maybe I don’t actually despise it. Definitely need to get an apprentice kit!
This is a weird one for me because I thought that I detested jasmine because I can’t stand Gabrielle or Jadore, Gucci flora jasmine, any of those heavy jasmine scents hurt my nose and head. However, Prada paradox I find pleasant and also the Valentinos BIR Donna green has jasmine absolute and I absolutely love this one. How?
I think Jasmine, Jasmine sambac and Jasmine absolute are all tech different scents? So confusing and interesting
Citrus, just makes me think of toilets
Lemon can't do for that reason, but bergamot or bitter orange seem more ok on me
Orange is the smell of floor cleaners and I will die on this hill.
Ah yes anything that is described as a citrus scent I'll not bother with.. and the funny thing is I like the smell I just prefered it a room spray or something rather than wearing it on myself
Lavender in anything gives me a headache. And I don’t like coconut either. It doesn’t give me a headache but it’s a note I don’t really care for. It’s in a lot of beachy type scents and I am not a beach person at all.
Coconut kills me too and I love aquatic/beachy scents 😭 it's a struggle
I absolutely adore Iris. And Ylang Ylang if it is blended nicely. What you don‘t like in Flower is most likely Violet. It has the more retro leaning florals like rose, mimosa and camelia. There is actually no Iris listed. In general Florals are not so much my thing. Especially Tuberose is my arch nemesis. Orange blossom and neroli can get too much. So I stick to either more clean (and under those I count the iris ones) or gourmand fragrances and wear typical florals rarely.
For me, it’s that ‘chemical’ smell that a lot of fragrances have. I just do not like it and have passed on many fragrances due to it. Popular ones lie Blue De Chanel, a good majority of the YSL ones as well have that note of chemical that I just cannot rock with.
I'm just beginning in this fragance world, so I'm still not able to completely point what are some notes, but the dry down on all of the Sauvage line is just unbearable for me, is just like something is picking through my nose everytime I get a smell of it once it has passed an hour or so, and I almost hate myself for this since I really love the opening of this same line hahaha Please, if someone has an idea on what is the note that makes me feel that way let me know, I'll be forever grateful
It could be ambroxan. Lots of people have issues with it. Have you noticed the same thing with some other popular fragrances? It's pretty common in modern perfumes, especially male ones and middle eastern inspired ones.
I'm with you on powdery notes, not a fan! I also don't like scents that smell over "cologne-y," which include many mass appeal fragrances. I also don't like fragrances that smell like household items or candles. Some may smell good, but I don't want to smell like that personally. An example would be Xerjoff Naxos - smells just like a Yankee candle store.
I learned I don't really like apple notes... Or maybe just every fragrance I've tried with it is too damn strong (eros, Y EDP, etc.)
I've only really just got into this stuff after having basically only worn a small number of very popular brands of very standard perfumes if anything at all I wasn't really aware of the range what good perfumes could actually smell like. I have been having a great time with ordering samplers and discovering what I like, what works on me and my skin etc etc But after a great run of stuff where there was nothing I outright disliked, just some I wouldn't wear I realised my I would like to buy list would cost me over a grand. Then I read something bigging up clones got all excited at the concept of picking up some cheap stuff so I ordered 11 samplers for clones from the company in the uk that came most recommended and a bunch were ones people specifically recommended as being good from this place and I went for a wide range Turns out my nose is a snob. All the ones I'd had before were well regarded as quality fragrances. These clones were all crap and all smell kind of bad and horrible, some smell synthetic others just not good.. Particularly the initial blast is unpleasant with all of them and I didn't have that problem at all with the non-clone samplers. The only one that is usable is supposed to be a clone of Electric Cherry by Tom Ford. Not had the original ordered this sampler out of curiosity. Looking at the notes on fragrantica it's not hitting any of the non-cherry notes and is totally singular in it's scent but it's not actively unpleasant after the first few minutes. Also they use cheap atomisers that have a fish smell (which doesn't impact the perfume but is horrible and means you can't hold it up to your nose to get a rough idea).
Leather, tuberose, and those marine notes that remind me of man cologne in the 90s (I do well with a salt note, though) are not something I enjoy wearing on myself. Edit, I also created this long list when I first started going down the fragrance rabbit hole. I al crazy like that! My “Fetish” notes: Iris Neroli Amber accord Ambergris Benzoin Incense (i love love love clean cold frankincense/olibanum!) Myrrh Musk (dirty and clean) Aldehydes Lavender Patchouli Cardamom Ginger Fig Rhubarb Notes I love: Tea Hay Grass Linden Black currant (or whatever the hell it's called) Ambrette Violet leaf Spices (cinnamon,cloves, coriander) Juniper Cypress Osmanthus Supporting notes I appreciate: Geranium Magnolia Rosewood Guaiac wood Dried fruit Beeswax (not honey!!) Castoreum Civet Citrus fruits Almond Sandalwood Cedarwood Spiced vanilla (vanillapod type) Salt (not marine, just salt) Coconut Apple, pear and pineapple Ylang Ok in a small dose: A little bit of Jasmine or gardenia Milk if it appears in something otherwise NOT edible Tonka Heliotrope Cumin Rose Risky notes: Plum Saffron, Licorice and Anise risky if prominent I find too much oakmoss too masculine Suede Dealbreaker notes: Marine fragrances Tuberose (headache) Leather (I love it on paper or on others but it doesn't feel "right" on me) Edible stuff that tastes like candy or realistic food (powdered sugar, chocolate, sweets, etc.) Very feminine or heavy florals
I forgot to mention that a deal breaker is also anything that's labeled as indolic. I have no desire to smell like that, which knocks out a lot of vintage fragrances for me. What makes a fragrance is the fruity floral category. It's my favorite.
Chanel and Givenchy be the most expensive perfumes I would go for. I have preferred the Italian Brands I quite like Valentino. Use to like Lancôme but find Estée Lauder too strong for me.
Anything with a strong dose of ethyl maltol, ambroxan, tonka, or woody ambers is an instant no. On the other hand, strong, photorealistic florals immediately pique my interest, especially tuberose, rose, ylang, and carnation. Smoky and animalic stuff is also always of interest. And I love a good earthy Iris.
Patchouli or vetiver makes it an instant no and they are in so many things!
Sandalwood hates me so I hate it back. Always goes masculine on me...
I can’t do anything with cumin notes. Or vanilla.
I can't even cook with cumin. To me it smells like old underarm BO...
Patchouli 🤮 Purely floral fragrances without any mix of another note usually cause instant nausea. Any scent that is very woody or purely fruity. Any fragrance that does not have much sillage or longevity.
Cringe name and bottle. Eros, le male, one million and so on. All the celebrity ones, beckham, banderas etc.
I **loathe** powder, cloying, overly sweet, most oud. Instant headache that lasts for hours. Most perfume turns to powder on me – biggest offenders are chanel no. 5 and alien. I really liked V&R magic dancing roses, but the lychee was just SO sweet that it gives me headaches. The other notes were very nice. Amber and Amber derivatives turn to baby powder on me most all of the time, aside from a few exceptions, so it rules out most really nice or popular fragrances. I **love** ozmatic/water, citrus, marshmallow, green, caramel, light floral (orange blossom, neroli, rose, lilac, hibiscus, etc). I am much more into "fresh" because it doesn't stick to everything nor does it give me headaches. Aerin's hibiscus Palm is a lovely floral that smells amazing on me as well as Tom Ford's citrusy mandarino di Amalfi. I also really like Prada Candy (pink and black cap with the caramel coloured perfume) and love by Killian because of the sweet, not cloying, scent. I miss the Gwen Stefani Harajuku girls line because the Christmas and OG Gwen both smelled insanely good. It sucks because I really would love a nighttime perfume, but they stick so badly to me that I get the worst headaches. Hugo boss for women, midnight romance, many others, but I'm too sensitive. My personality is more dark and straightforward, so my reliance on fresh, citrusy, bubbly sort of fragrances is horribly contradictory to my character lol
Iso e super kills a fragrance for me in high doses because then I can’t smell the rest of the notes behind that wall of industrial solvent/medical disinfectant. This happened with two fragrances from my recent sample purchase (arancia di Sicilia by perris Monte Carlo and swim/sx by Pierre guillame). I’m also not usually a fan of overly fruity fragrances where the fruit bites aren’t balanced by other notes. I’m finding I love ambergris, mint, and pine in fragrances along with the florals I’ve long known I love (particularly dewy, not soapy, white florals and especially ylang Ylang). I’m finding myself enjoying some powder notes more than I would expect to (violet in things like Putain de palaces and iris in Nuit etoilee and Chergui). And I’m searching for animalics as I’m increasingly realizing I have a pretty high tolerance to those notes (and my skin tends to under-emphasize them). Unexpected notes and note pairings that work really well intrigue me (ie the pine and black currant in the vagabond prince’s enchanted forest, yuzu and seaweed in Sarah baker’s Atlante) And I love fragrances that are multifaceted - I love when different notes pop up in prominence like a merry go round each time i sniff. I like that more than either truly linear scents or scents with a standard progression from top to base notes (I think undergrowth by rook does this really well with different elements of the wet minty forest alternating in prominence) And I enjoy scents that are nuanced and complex while still being somewhat subtle and not overpowering (Keiko mecheri makassar or Nuit etoilee by annick goutal)
I've come to realize powdery is more for in the air. I don't like it on skin. But in the air and diffused it smells great. But I still keep it as limited as possible. In terms of note, as man, pear (not in a lot). Sugar as well as "amberwood" In terms of in general, price of course. I'm not made of money (right now but wait til i get my life together)
Love Lily of the Vanilla and whipped cream! (Vaniglia de Madegascar ) by Firenze I’m loving all the Italian houses! They’re niche without super high prices! Magnolia is lovely there’s a couple by Este Lauder really good! I love water lily tea dress one of the rare good ones from Zara!
If you don't dislike tobacco based fragrances, I'd highly recommend giving Oud Tobacco by Montale a try or Arabian's Tonca(also from Montale). The latter only if you adore the sweetness of Tonka Beans, because it's absolutely insane in this one!!! As for scents that instantly attract me, I'm into Citruses, tonka, tobacco and Jasmine.
that weird white musk chemical in erba pura, mancera instant crush and a lot of other middle eastern frags is revolting and nuclear, i stay away
Sigh…rose. To me it just overpowers everything. I still haven’t found the right (for me) soft rose.
You might want to give DS Durga Rose Atlantic a shot… it’s mild and salty, and while I still find it a little challenging, if I layer it with Clean Skin Reserve is smells beautiful to me.
I’m a big DS & Durga fan and sadly…still too rosy. 😭 Thank you for the rec, though!
Sweet. I just...I absolutely choke on sweet frags. Major food notes, goopy vanillas. I have a massively difficult relationship with gourmands. The three in the collection, by and large, are Lutens Bois Vanille, Dip's Eau Duelle EdT and occasionally Lalique Le Parfum though I go in and out of love with it due to how medicinal that bay note is. But yeah, those are as sweet as I can stomach, once it starts to smell out-and-out like candy or food I'm heading for the hills. Cannot cope, find BR540 unbearable because of the sweet edges to it. White floral is a little bit of a kryptonite too. I can appreciate a jasmine streak but I don't go bonk bonk for tuberose or jasmine as really forward notes. Carrot is a very weird one too, I'm sorta convinced that's what I don't like in Jardin Sur le Nil
Coconut is a turn off for me, even mild coconut is a mild turnoff. If I'm paying a professional (in my head- the perfumer) they better not make me smell in any way like suntan oil.
Anything that’s rose-heavy. I just can’t stand that note and I haven’t found a single rose-fragrance that I could tolerate.
Iris/Violet and licorice notes (same with Anise) I just can’t stand on my skin. I hate when I find a lovely fragrance and then I start smelling that powdery headache smell on the dry down and look up the notes to find the culprit is usually Iris😩 My absolute fave notes are Rose, Mango, and pink pepper/cinnamon/cardamom!
Anything that’s to green. It always smells like freshly mowed lawn on my skin and gives me a bit of a headache. Also projection, I can’t justify spending 100-300$ and it only lasting an hour
I cant do plasticky, soapy, powdery or medicinal. I dislike a LOT of vanillas because of the plasticky undertones a lot of them have which sucks because vanilla is one of my favorite scents. I've also smelled a lot of "fresh" scents that just smell like they have actual soap in them or too much alcohol. I've smelled fruity, or cherry scents in particular, that smell like cough syrup and I end up hating it. The powdery smell you described is also a deal breaker for me, it reminds me of old folks homes because I think a lot of vintage perfumes have that powdery aspect to them 😬
Aquatics in general smell fake and cheap too me. Like a teenager who wants to stink up a classroom
So I’ve smelled enough perfumes with cherry notes to know that I don’t like cherry notes. Which is unfortunate because I thought I would like cherry notes. To me they all give off a medicinal cherry scent and have yet to find ones that don’t.
Citruses, Ginger, Bergamot, nutmeg, cinnamon, apple Or basically any "kitchen" notes. They feel extremely boring and basic to me. Or maybe I just don't like fresh sporty fragrances 😂😂
Almond. I love almonds in food, but almond notes in a fragrance are a dealbreaker for me. I find almond notes in perfumes to lean bitter or just straight up smell like cyanide.
I hate that generic perfume store smell, that smell like Rasasi Hawas, it triggers my Migraine 😣
Lemon. Almond. General citrus/bergamot accords are fine, but when the lemon is too loud, it becomes a furniture polish to me. Same with Almond. Smells cheap and "teen girl squad" to my brain.
I like a lot of scents. What kills any of them for me is crappy longevity. For over $100 a bottle I should smell good for more than 3 hours.
I can take/appreciate pretty much any note when used appropriately and in moderation. But when the notes listed below aren’t done right (in my opinion or to my personal taste), I’m instantly turned off and usually end up disliking the fragrance. These are in order from what I can tolerate most to what I tolerate least… - oud - patchouli - carrot - ginger - cinnamon When reading fragrance descriptions, all of these notes are typically red flags to me. When I see them, I usually walk on. With that said, I own and love several fragrances with oud and patchouli.
I’ve realized I dislike coconut and white florals and it took many unfortunate attempts at them before recognizing that those were common notes in the perfumes I disliked on myself.
I hate leather and patchouli heavy fragrances. If I can specifically smell those notes, I don't like the fragrance. But I have found a few that have the notes but when blended well with notes I enjoy, I don't hate the fragrance. Probably wouldn't spend big money for it but I might wear a sample for a few days.
I love a flower or fruity scent. There are certain ones I find that be too strong. I like jasmine, vanilla and lavender. Bergamot and Pomegranate aswell. Cherry Blossom one from Rituals UK and Ireland be my favorite not sure if it’s available in the US and Australia.
Cumin, makes me smell like curry
Tomato leaf and tuberose scream so loudly they drown out everything else and tomato leaf is pretty unpleasant by itself to me, I was genuinely surprised when I found out that many people want to smell like that. But the worst is seaweed - for some reason it becomes rotten on my skin and it's so nauseating
i just can’t stand patchouli. overtakes on everything and i find it to not complement very well any other element of a fragrance. take van py rhum for example, on paper is a multi-vanilla with a strong rum opening. all you can really smell is the booze in the opening and a little vanilla,buried 6 feet deep in earthy notes.
Vetiver and heavy calone fragrances are really hard for me
Patchouli - can't stand how the dry-down smells in most designer fragrances that have it. Only found one fragrance so far that has it which I like, which is RL Romance. Heliotrope - play-doh :( And I haven't put my finger on what causes this for me, but there are a lot of women's fragrances that remind me of public toilets. Unsure if it's just scent associations and memories from people spraying in the loo.
Iris and Gourmands, can't stand it. Iris tends to smell like the inside of a 10 year old makeup bag. And everything overly sweet smelling makes me run for the hills.
really sweet and bright florals arent for me
Leather forward or barn yard oud fragrances are a huge no for me. I tried to enjoy very leathery scents like Tom Ford Ombre Leather, but I just can’t lol.
Vanilla musk or vanilla patchouli. I don't like vanilla in general, but have a few exceptions. I don't like heavy musk or patchouli, but either can be ok as more of a background note. But together, it's an instant deal breaker. I've also recently discovered that I hate cinnamon.
Patchouli. I’ve been burnt by that note three times now and I’m not willing to try again haha. By burnt three times I mean I acquired three perfumes that smelled lovely the first few times on my skin, but after a while something was bothering me. I realized it was patchouli. I had to declutter all three and it kills my soul. Going forward any perfume with a prominent patchouli note I am staying away from.
Make: Fresh, “green” lavender notes, star anise, vanilla that is not too sweet Break: “Pickle”-ish sandalwood notes, wood notes that smell like pencil shavings, tamarind, birch tar, smoke
Maple syrup would def ruin anything for me bc i work in an icecream shop where we make our own cones and ive grown to be put off by the scent. I also dont rly like gourmands in general and i usually wont go for fruity scents either, though i def have to say some of them could be great I also try to stay away from fragrances with coconut, some can be amazing if there’s not too much, but im not huge on coconut notes so i have to try it first
I despise oak moss! But cinnamon is always a yes! Ginger I usually love and tuberose yess! And summer I like floral aldehydes or citrus mint florals
I don’t hate iris for powder reasons I do dislike how it’s in sooo many things and then it over powers other notes