What are your favorite smells?

[DrSmellThis]

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Idesign has nailed the theme of Old Spice, which is carnation. Very astute of you!

Interesting that a carnation scent is considered spicy, no? Also interesting about Old Spice is that it's classified as an "Oriental" (is that even politically correct to say that?). Also, I think you have to go to India to get the original Shulton Old Spice these days, or at least via the interwebs. P&G changed the formula.

Have to agree the inside of a bar isn't the greatest. But it would not be entirely unheard of to find a rotted fruit note in a French perfume. Like anything else, it's all concentration and context. As you all know, a lot of nasty scents can be quite nice in perfumes, in a context. Sometimes, the worse it is, the better it is. Real world example: Idesign's horse barn!

Chocolate scents are common, and fall under the heading of gourmand (food-like) scents, like coconut. They are common, but a bit controversial.

Yes, Pheros had an excessively complex spice note, and pepper was a part of it. Pepper is nice in that it occupys a certain range where it can stay out of certain things' way. It's different than other spices. Cardamom is unique that way too. Man I can talk about natural perfuming all day; it's so fun and interesting; so am honestly very thankful you gals and guys entertain such thoughts.

Not sure if I can do as well as I did before (not so much in terms of skill, but in terms of access to ingredients to play with freely), but I at least want to have something practical or useful for folks, so that it doesn't have to be brilliant to be OK. Funding will be more difficult this time (Who has lots of personal savings these days? Or maybe I should just speak for myself.), so that lots of care will have to go into planning and efficiency, etc. That's ultimately good for you, right? It would be different If I worked for a cosmetics company or something where you'd have a funded lab and could just show up to work -- but then you'd have to forget about trying to keep it more natural, which would drain some of the passion out of it. I just can't pretend to be all that excited about "perfume chemistry" perfuming, while a lot of those folks really believe in it, and have simply accepted those changes 100%. Man, being an idealist sucks.). At some point, I'll introduce the grand idea, when a bit more steam has gathered. I've been under the weather lately, but still have been working on R&D pretty steadily, and continuing the education in it, which feels good.

[DrSmellThis]

P.S. Hey paragraphs are working again!

[chas]

I always wondered what the smell of Old Spice was - carnation. I bought some a couple of years ago & it smelt different as I remembered it from years ago. More watered down & less rich. I had to apply a lot more than I used to. I was disappointed ...

Carnation apparently is included in female attractant oils like Satyr Oil The receipe for which is in on the web.

Chocolate smells better with a spicy note added. Faberge's Addiction 'Spice Fire' had a warm chocolately spicy smell which got a +ve female comment when applied to the neck.

[DrSmellThis]

Carnation apparently is included in female attractant oils like Satyr Oil The receipe for which is in on the web. Chocolate smells better with a spicy note added. Faberge's Addiction 'Spice Fire' had a warm chocolately spicy smell which got a +ve female comment when applied to the neck.

Smelled a chocolate scent yesterday that was basically vanilla with a caramel note. Not impressed. Carnation is indeed a nice attractant for men to wear to attract women, which is definitely one reason I like it. It does indeed also have a history in occult scentmaking, as you indicate. I know one Satyr oil (Crowley recipe, I think) that is jasmine based, though, so I think it's open to the perfumer's interpretation.

[Rbt]

I know I love the taste of chocolate (dark, not milk) of the European type. Most Asian chocolate recipies are not very good as far as I'm concerned. "German" is my preffered. And a small amount goes a long way.


However, I must say I'm not sure a chocolate scent would be something I'd like to have as a fragrance on either myself or someone else... I think I'd feel the same about any "food scented" product. And sorry Homer, I don't think I'd want a doughnut-scented fragrance.

[idesign]

Smelled a chocolate scent yesterday that was basically vanilla with a caramel note. Not impressed. Carnation is indeed a nice attractant for men to wear to attract women, which is definitely one reason I like it. It does indeed also have a history in occult scentmaking, as you indicate. I know one Satyr oil (Crowley recipe, I think) that is jasmine based, though, so I think it's open to the perfumer's interpretation.

Agree about Carnation Doc, I wonder if that's the reason behind its popularity as a corsage. It has a way of smelling slightly dirty underneath the peppery flower scent. Its attractant appeal could signal a desirable but slightly dangerous aura, as if the loveliness of the flower only lasts until deeper and naughtier urges take control. Old spice was a resounding hit for a reason.

I'm fascinated by the Middle Eastern love of Rose. In the West its decidedly feminine, but blended with woody and even soapy scents it becomes an intoxicating masculine mix. Oud certainly plays a role, and just that one ingredient can lead a perfume in many directions depending on the origin.

The term Oriental is not at all perjorative. I live in the Orient and the term is used often as a self description. In fact, educated and self aware women pride themselves on their Oriental traditions and sensibilities. However, there is a more nationalistic pride, its more common to hear someone to say they're Chinese or Thai or Malaysian.

I can only imagine the range of challenges you have to deal with in creating a new scent.

[DrSmellThis]

Thoughtful and stimulating responses from everyone. Thanks. I have been hard at work (though it's not an overnight thing for a variety of reasons) and am planning on incorporating many or most of the suggestions in this thread. So if you have any other faves or opinions please post them. I'm not ready to "unveil the grand concept" yet, but there are a number of things in the works, and things are taking shape. I pretty much have all the basic ideas. Should be interesting. I agree with everything idesign said about carnation. I think it's sort of underappreciated these days, due perhaps in part to an "old fashioned" rep.

[Rbt]

I remember from my much younger days that my grandfather and I think my father both used an aftershave that smelled of camphor (due no doubt to the aftereffects of blade shaving). Talk about really "retro." Not sure I'm ready to return to those days though...