What are your favorite and least favorite scents and smells?

There is definitely some science behind the fact that certain smells can invoke all kinds of different emotions or memories. Aromatherapy can induce all kinds of moods, and certain smells can disgust a person or make them angry.

This thread is about your favorite and least favorite smells and scents. I think it would be interesting to see the variations that people will have in their preferences.

So I'll go first. I really like the smell of a beautifully and well cooked meal. It really gets my appetite going.

I also like the scent of gasoline at gas stations. I don't like sniff it directly type of thing, but the lingering smell of it present at gas stations has a unique and slightly desirable smell to me.

Vanilla is probably one of my all time favorites. Mmm. It excites me. Freshly roasted coffee also has a piece in my heart. This next one is a strange one. When I was little, I had this really special blanket. When I felt sad or down, I would inhale the blanket deeply and it would calm me. Yeah, kinda weird I know. I also like the scent of most dogs as long as they are not super stinky.

Now my least favorite smells. Too much perfume, stinky trash, bad breath, or the stinky odor that males can get sometimes. I had a few (sorry to sound racist) white friends that would stink to high heaven when they started sweating. The white guy scent. Have you guys experienced this?

Well there are some of my faves and my not so faves. Please share yours. I'm curious if people will have similar likes and dislikes when it comes to smells.


[edit on 29-4-2010 by SolarE-Souljah]

[edit on 29-4-2010 by SolarE-Souljah]

reply to post by SolarE-Souljah



Grass...no, not weed, but grass-grass.


I still get memories of playing AYSO and Little League every time I stumble upon it...especially if it is freshly cut.


That in of itself reminds me of a much younger time where there were no bills, no stresses, only kick-the-can and cartoons. A time I seem to yearn for more and more...


Ya - grass rocks...

Originally posted by happygolucky

I still get memories of playing AYSO

AYSO was the best! Wow, thank you for reminding of this.

Good times for sure. The scent of mud was also a part of my AYSO games. Some of the fields we played on would get so muddy the soccer games would just become a slide tackle contest type of thing.

I love the smell of freshly cut grass, skunk (that's weed for the uninitiated), my wife and babies heads...they just smell so huggable! lol

I hate the smell of my ex-girlfriends farts, dirty cat litter and death.

Rev

Favorite: Blooming Jasmine

Lest: Poop

Good topic.

i love the smell of petrol and the stuff you treat fence's with.

as a kid....the smell of grease from old wooden roller coasters

the smell from the old fiberglass insulation plant (mmmmmm)


[edit on 29-4-2010 by TrainDispatcher]

There are so many scents I like it's hard to decide...

The smell of rain, blooming wisteria, and freshly tilled earth are up there.

I hate the smell of boiled eggs, incense (any kind), and lysol cleaner.

Originally posted by revmoofoo
I hate the smell of my ex-girlfriends farts,

This one cracked me up. Yeah, certain people have the most vile, rankest farts ever. Hehe, I remember reading something once that said they could determine which of their friends had farted based on the smell.

Exhaust from a car burning cam 2 race fuel smells great

Burned manual transmission gear oil is by far the worst smell in existence

Favorite smells: Glue,paint, gass

Least favorite smell: candy corn

Favorite smells are my wifes perfume (she still wears the same stuff as when we first started dating) and the mountain air in Alaska.

Least favorite are a gut shot deer when you slice open the cavity to clean it and my sons diaper...both make me gag

Smells that I like:

Freshly laid tarmac.

The smell that whooshes up the steps as a train departs when you're going down the steps to the platform of an underground/subway station.

Pine needles from a Christmas tree.

Mown grass and hedge clippings.

The smell of a bakery !

Sun-drenched skin.

Bonfires.

A misty winter's morning.

New appliances.


I can't think of too many that I dislike ( other than all the obvious ones ), but fields of rapeseed are pretty pungent.

I reckon Asafoetida powder is my all time annoying, awful and worst smell. that it actually makes me angry.
I love the smell of Lavender and Rosemary.

Originally posted by SolarE-Souljah

Originally posted by revmoofoo
I hate the smell of my ex-girlfriends farts,

This one cracked me up. Yeah, certain people have the most vile, rankest farts ever. Hehe, I remember reading something once that said they could determine which of their friends had farted based on the smell.

Her farts actually smelled like my dads...and his burned holes in his briefs!

Rev

Ever been in the desert southwest after a summer rain shower?

That is absolutely the best smell ever!

The list of bad smells would be long and really, I just finished dinner.

Favorite smells:
Tuber Rose blossoms
Pink Mimosa trees in the spring
Strawberries
Flower Child, Geranium or Zanzibar soap from HeavenandEarthbody.com (No I am no way affiliated with them. These soaps live up to their name!) Absolutely wonderful smelling soaps.
Fresh baked bread
Pizza
Pine trees
Dirt
Blue Cheese
Lilacs
Sea air
My husband
My grand daughter
All three of my sons
My dog
The scent of the air right before it rains
Lavender Oil by Lost Mountain Lavender Farm (Best lavender oil on the planet. Just three drops in your bath is calming before bed. One bottle will last you two years.
Vanilla
Yellow Tail Merlot Wine
Cucumber melon candle by Healing Garden
Light the cumber melon candle, grab a glass of Yellow Tail Wine add one of the above mentioned soaps and three drops of Lost Mountain Lavender oil - inhale deeply and take a long hot bath. Also listen to Qui Nous Demaine by Corvus Corax - your soul will be uplifted I promise you.
Tea Rose Perfume
Eucalyptus
Chai Tea
Cinnamon
guacamole
Basil Plants (Fresh, I grow my own) Their smell is truely sacred.
Ultra Body Butter - Coconut from Heavenandearthbody.com (lip balm scent matches and is divine. Like a day at the beach.
books
egg nog
fresh mowed grass
Honey suckle
melted chocolate
Frankinscence & myrrh
Violet oil by Sweet Cakes
Sage oil by Mountain Rose

Least favorite:
Gas
Oil
hot asphalt
excrement
urine
nail polish remover
skunk spray
meat
brussel sprouts

[edit on 30-4-2010 by ofhumandescent]

I love the smell of cucumbers, coconut, that ozone-like zap after a heavy thunderstorm........ my Bride thinks the smell of Hoppe's gun oil is an aphrodesiac, real leather, unpolluted sea, I like the smell of soil, and fresh-cut wood, especially old, seasoned wood.

I work hard most days, and one of those awful people who take on a sort of nasty ammonia-like reek, especially when I don't meet my water demand. Terrible. When you stink to yourself, you really stink.

I can smell something dead from quite a ways. It can be a life-saving trait, but one I wish I didn't posess. The smell of Fabuloso or other fake pine cleaners makes me gag. I loathe the smell of burning plastic.

I love the smell of my Bride's skin. 'nuff said.

The smell I hate the most is a wet dog, I cant take the smell for more than a few seconds before I have to get away from it.

My favourite smells are Musk, the smell in a Pine Forest after a lightning storm which is a mixture of pine and ozone, makes me feel like building a cabin and living there, I like the smell of old buildings, it brings back memories from when I was a kid, opens up my mind like I can actually feel like I am back there as a kid, Liver and onions cooking is another one, even though I don't like Liver, and I love the smell of a new road being put down, while the surface is still steaming hot, and coal burning on a fire place.

I love smells that induce memories of good times, I can close my eyes and visualise things I had long forgotten about, when I smell things like that I become determined to remember exactly what and when it reminds me of, like watching a TV inside my head as clear as daylight.

Originally posted by argentus

I love the smell of my Bride's skin. 'nuff said.

I'm sitting here like a weirdo smelling my own skin on my arm... Anyway, I have definitely met people who have some delicious smelling skin over the years. That sounds so weird.... Sounds like I want to eat them or something.

But yeah, the scalp produces a lot of scent to it, and I have definitely been attracted to a female more if they have a naturally sexy scent to them, especially their hair.

Okay this post is getting really weird.

Oh yeah, I hate the smell of a stinky aquarium. Makes me angry and want to scream.