# Fragrances/aromas/smells: Yea or Nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 10, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151 "2006-08-10T14:12:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/21 "2006-08-11T05:36:18Z")
Does anyone else instantly sniff the newly opened packs of Post-its? No? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/22 "2006-08-11T06:34:28Z")
What, no joke posts of loving the smell of farts and hot garbage? I’m waiting… ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/23 "2006-08-11T06:59:22Z")
Smells are kinda context dependent for me. Volatile chemical smells (electronics, Perkins’ Paste, etc) are fun when at work. But it’s then that I HATE food smells from the inconsiderate swine whipping up garlic curry in the office microwave. But… when cooking, I adore the smell of cardamom pods and fennel. And one I don’t think mentioned so far - cigar boxes. The smell of really good tobacco and cedar together is a wicked vice. Even if you don’t smoke it (and I am repulsed by smoking). ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/24 "2006-08-11T08:32:33Z")
Asphalt (when it’s new and hot). ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/25 "2006-08-11T09:48:58Z")
Patchouli- Yea Popcorn- Yea Jasmine- Yea Bacon- Yea Magnolia- Nay, I have never been a fan, it makes my eyes water New car- Yea White Shoulders- Nay, smells like grandma. Not my grandma, who smells of [4711](http://secure.rose-apothecary.co.uk/4711_Cologne.html) but generic grandma. Cinnamon Rolls- Yea Sandalwood- Yea New electronics- Nay, can’t say I’ve ever noticed they have a smell. New jeans- Yea Coffee- Yea Just mowed grass- Yea Christmas tree- Yea Campfire- Yea Old Spice- Yea, smells like daddy, even though he usually wears Eau Sauvage, when we were little we’d buy him a bottle for father’s day, so he’s smell of Old Spice for a month or two every year. Charcoal grilled burgers- Yea The ocean- Yea A bakery or a bread plant- Yea Roses- Yea My top 20 would probably be: Cardamon Chocolate Jasmine Bergamot Leather Coffee Cinnamon Ginger The Sea Bacon Freshly cut grass Forest after a heavy rain Christmas tree Pears Soap Baby hair [Eau Sauvage](http://www.basenotes.net/ID26120547.html) (smells like my dad) 4711 (smells like my grandma) [Helmut Lang Cuiron](http://www.basenotes.net/cgi-bin/fragpro.cgi?a14=26122253) (my husband’s aftershave) [Jean Paul Gaultier](http://www.epinions.com/Fragrances-Jean_Paul_Gaultier_Jean_Paul_Gaultier_3_4_oz_EDT_Splash/display_~reviews) (my mum’s perfume) And finally, one of my favourite smells is the smell of the Guinness Brewery at St James’s Gate wafting over Dublin on a summer afternoon- hops and barley in hot weather smell sleepy and comforting. My favourite smells are more about evoking a special memory than just about being “nice smells”. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/26 "2006-08-11T10:16:53Z")
[QUOTE=irishgirl] My favourite smells are more about evoking a special memory than just about being “nice smells”. [/QUOTE] Ain’t it the truth! I find that the quickest and strongest recollection of “lost memories” comes with a smell or a combination of them. Old songs and music can evoke an entire setting or mood with associated things, faces and places. But a smell of just the right thing can bring back even more. It’s always tantalizing to wonder about the why of such phenomena and I suppose one explanation might be from our primitive instincts when we relied more heavily on our other senses. Being able to have an instant recall of a pleasant (or more likely an _unpleasant_) experience associated with some smell might be a life saver, or at least serve as a strong warning. Any other guesses why smells have such memory-evoking power? ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/27 "2006-08-11T12:37:23Z")
[QUOTE=LunaV] Does anyone else instantly sniff the newly opened packs of Post-its? [/QUOTE] I just tried it, does nothing for me. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/28 "2006-08-11T15:30:24Z")
[QUOTE=Grossbottom] I just tried it, does nothing for me. ☹ [/QUOTE] But did you fan the stack close to your nose and \*truly \* inhale? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/29 "2006-08-11T16:16:14Z")
These would be my top ten: Coffee Bacon cooking Breakfast sausage cooking Lilac Onions and garlic sauteing Heaven Sent perfume (I think it was Avon) Love’s Baby Soft perfume Christmas tree Flex Balsam and Protein Shampoo Gojo ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/30 "2006-08-11T16:20:04Z")
[QUOTE=Scarlett67] Fresh clean puppy. [/QUOTE] Puppy breath! I love that smell-- it’s sort of like a combination of coffee and peanut butter. > [@Licentious Ectomorph](#): > > Old books! Oh yeah . . . there’s nothing like that smell. It’s intoxicating. At work, I find excuses to go over to our research library. Shelves of thousands of old books . . . yummy. (I once had the chance to sniff a copy of the _Decameron._ The research librarian saw me standing there, holding the book in my gloved hands inhaling the smell like it was a line of coke. She just smiled and nodded.) I also love the smell of eucalyptus. My mother made me a bouquet of eucalyptus to hang on my wall. My bedroom smelled heavenly for a while. (Wish there was some way to make the scent come back to it now that it’s dry.) > [@Auntbeast](#): > > Why oh why can’t they come up with a bacon flavored cologne? > > BACON!!! That smell actually sickens me. I hate the smell of any type of pork. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/31 "2006-08-11T17:11:30Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Puppy breath! I love that smell-- it’s sort of like a combination of coffee and peanut butter. [/QUOTE] See, puppy breath has always smelled like spoiled milk to me. But I can’t resist a puppy belly: so very warm and SO velvety soft, and the overall smell of a tiny puppy (if you stay away from his mouth!) is like heaven. Babies usually elicit a “meh” from me, except in rare cases of cuteness or blood relation. But a puppy turns me into a blithering idiot every time. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/32 "2006-08-11T18:00:52Z")
lavender (surprised this hasn’t been mentioned so far) Fresh roasted green chiles Hoppe’s #9 gun cleaning solvent A pack of fresh cigarettes - which is odd since I don’t smoke, but an unlit cigarette smells good ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/33 "2006-08-11T18:18:29Z")
[QUOTE=Dag Otto] A pack of fresh cigarettes - which is odd since I don’t smoke, but an unlit cigarette smells good [/QUOTE] I’ll second that, though I never thought about it until now. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Grossbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba8739/32.png) [@Grossbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grossbottom)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151/34 "2006-08-11T18:30:51Z")
[QUOTE=LunaV] But did you fan the stack close to your nose and truly inhale? [/QUOTE] I did. In fact, it was an accordion-style post-it stack, so I played the accordion with it so as to establish sufficient airflow. The smell was vaguely reminiscent of Wilmington, Delaware. On that basis alone, I must say nay. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fragrances-aromas-smells-yea-or-nay/368151.md?page=1)