# What are your favorite smells? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 20, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450 "2006-09-20T18:22:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/1 "2006-09-20T18:22:17Z")
Based off of this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=7794278#post7794278), I started thinking about my favorite smells. There are certain scents that make me just feel good: Sawdust Burning leaves in the fall The air after a thunderstorm Warm pumpkin pie Roast turkey fresh from the oven A new leather coat Sautéed onions and garlic My wife when she is fresh from the shower. She uses unscented soap and her shampoo has a mild lavender scent, but mostly it is just her. A baby’s head. The combination of baby shampoo and that new born baby scent is so relaxing it just makes me smile. Steaks on a charcoal grill (have you noticed a lot of my favorites are food related?) New car Baby powder Freshly mown grass Evergreen trees and boughs at Christmas (but it sucks because I’m allergic to it!) The incense they burn in Catholic masses (wish I could remember what it’s called. It’s been about a century since I was an altar boy) What are some of your favorites? ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/2 "2006-09-20T18:25:13Z")
Fresh ice laid down for hockey season. puppy breath. clean kittens. yeast bread baking. ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/3 "2006-09-20T18:31:23Z")
The smell of my wifes skin, especially around the small of her back. It is just so natural. Rain on asphalt. Hot dogs at a local baseball or football game. Beer at a family get together (and I rarely drink beer). My son’s hair when he was a baby. Gasoline. Marijuana (and I have not touched it since July 1st, 1994). Thanksgiving dinner. The smell of sex (after sex is over). A new leather jacket. I used to enjoy the smell of a new car, but now I can’t smell it at all because I am always around them. ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Sweet\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/4 "2006-09-20T18:48:06Z")
My girlfriend’s skin. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/5 "2006-09-20T18:55:48Z")
Gasoline Magic Markers Pipe Tobacco The outside of Subway The drycleaners ---
**Author:** ![Sweet\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Sweet\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sweet_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/6 "2006-09-20T18:59:42Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] Gasoline Magic Markers \*\*Pipe Tobacco \*\* The outside of Subway The drycleaners [/QUOTE] Pipe tobacco… that’s a real good one. And so rare, considering everyone I know who smokes just smokes commercial cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/7 "2006-09-20T18:59:52Z")
Cocoa butter, and anything containing same. Old public buildings with steam heat and waxed floors. The residue of Prell shampoo on demure young Midwestern women with no-nonsense clothes and low-maintenance hair. Fresh concrete or lumber on a building site. Line-dried washing. Does it smell of ozone? Always thought so. Fresh baked anything. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/8 "2006-09-20T19:03:11Z")
:smack: **Coffee!** Ye gods, no one’s mentioned coffee? ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/9 "2006-09-20T19:04:31Z")
> [@](#): > > The incense they burn in Catholic masses (wish I could remember what it’s called. It’s been about a century since I was an altar boy) Most Christian incenses have frankincense as a base. the above-mentioned incense. rose and lavender woodsmoke my g/f the smell of clean babies Wilson’s Best SP snuff McChrystal’s Original and Genuine snuff unscented pipe tobacco smoke, whether virginia- or oriental-based cigarette smoke new tires Jannat ul-Firdaus attar rubbing alcohol the smell that hits you when you first walk into a tobacconist’s ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/10 "2006-09-20T19:06:52Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Fresh concrete or lumber on a building site. [/QUOTE] Yes. Fresh cut lumber, especially pine and cedar. I wonder why attics keep the wood smell for so long. Is it because the attic is warm from the sun? I’ll add railroad ties in the sun, when the tar or asphalt is starting to soften a bit. Sweet corn and tomato plants, and cut alfalfa – the smell of summer. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/11 "2006-09-20T19:07:52Z")
Cinnamon baked goods Freshly mowed grass Something cooking that contains garlic Popcorn Freshly dug soil Salt air at the beach Smoke from a fireplace Freshly fallen wet snow Diesel exhaust ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/12 "2006-09-20T19:10:49Z")
Burning leaves Purple mimeographs Baking bread Pipe tobacco Fired gunpowder Freshly mown hay Newly sawn wood Maple smoke A dog’s paws Salt air at the beach Steaming lobsters and clams Newly turned earth ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/13 "2006-09-20T19:11:14Z")
Cinnamon Apple—fresh apple, baked apples with cinnamon, apple cider, etc. Pizza Sunday dinner at mom’s. Or grandma’s. Pumpkin pie (Boy, am I hungry this afternoon or what?) Burning leaves (I had a candle called “Harvest” once that had a hint of burning leaves in it. It was the best candle ever.) Freshly mowed grass Pine trees Swimming pool Clean laundry, especially clean sheets when you get into bed the first time after washing them. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/14 "2006-09-20T19:11:56Z")
Frying bacon Fresh brewed coffee Fresh baked bread New mown grass Cut timber ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/15 "2006-09-20T19:12:19Z")
A hot apple pie. And also…possibly something else. As a young lad, I found that there was a scent that some women would wear at parties that would occasionally drive me to madness. I was desperate to know what it was and at one dorm party, I finally broke through my shyness enough to ask. “Excuse me,” I blushed, “But your perfume is Fantastic! I Really want to buy my girlfriend a bottle. Please tell me what perfume you are wearing. What’s it’s name…?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied cooley. “I’m not wearing any perfume.” (yeah, That scent… 😉 ) ---
**Author:** ![FormerMarineGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/65b543/32.png) [@FormerMarineGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FormerMarineGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/16 "2006-09-20T19:13:45Z")
[QUOTE=Count Blucher] “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she replied cooley. “I’m not wearing any perfume.” (yeah, That scent… 😉 ) [/QUOTE] Yes, I love that smell. ---
**Author:** ![mrklutz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@mrklutz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrklutz)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/17 "2006-09-20T19:17:51Z")
wood fires cedar steaks on the grill the hair of every woman I’ve ever dated skunk (I know, I’m weird) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/18 "2006-09-20T19:37:16Z")
Bread baking on a Sunday morning, newly washed sheets, fresh rain falling in a mountain field, and my own farts. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/19 "2006-09-20T20:14:07Z")
My husband Wood smoke Pipe tobacco Wet cement, especially Spring-smelling rain in the city New books The incense/cloves cigarettes/alcohol smell of my favourite nightclub The smell of home- laundry soap, lavender, baking bread, food cooking Does anyone else identify people by scent? ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450/20 "2006-09-20T20:16:06Z")
I mean, I can tell from the top of the stairs at work who’s in the basement. I know the scent of everyone’s cologne, perfume, or shampoo. It’s not something that anyone ever discusses, but I can’t be the only one. Right? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-your-favorite-smells/373450.md?page=2)