I enjoy natural fragrances the best. That being said I mainly use unfragranced products because I get sick of the smells. I hate washing my hands and having the smell from the soap linger for hours. But give me a rose plucked off a bush and I can't get enough of the smell.

Grace e

I like bottled products to be either fragrances, or not be fragrant. I find the scent of many products of poor quality and therefore disagreeable. I do like soaps that are scented with lavender and other natural essential oils. Of compounded fragrances, which I do like, I was told that the ones I like are generally classified as oriental types. Shalimar and Obsession are old favorites, and, as I mentioned, I like lavender. I'm fascinated by myrrh. Bottled fragrance aside, scent in the garden is important to me, and it matters a lot in food. Nothing smells better than a good navel orange or freshly cut lemon.

I like many scents and have three bottles at present, unusual for me. I remember many scents that are long gone and miss them, Noa Noa by Helena Rubinstein, Shocking by Schiaparelli, the old formula of Calèche by Hermès. A problem with getting older is that smells change on one's body and my own sense of smell is not as acute as it was so now I use only very discrete scents for fear of offending. I love Fendi but it would be impossible to wear for me now. I don't like rosy scents except in some soaps but prefer lavender and lemon verbena soaps. A rose scent I really hate is Trèsor that smells like old tobacco to me. I was not very fond of my brother's ex-wife at first but we bonded over our mutual dislike of Trèsor!

Scents from companies like Method and Caldrea are nice; I think they use essential oils. I can't stand the fake plug-in scents from Glade, Airwick and the like. I do have an essential oil diffuser, it's filled with white tea & ginger. I go out of my way to avoid the perfume department at Macy's and Nordstroms, mainly because perfumes make my eyes water.

dI buy everything unscented and the only perfume I have is Chanel No. 5, which I use rarely. There is nothing worse than walking by someone and being overwhelmed by a cloud of not-so-expensive perfume. In the garden Wild Edric (strong fragrance) and Duchesse de Brabant (subtle) are two favorites. SdlM, my best rose, has a fragrance I don't much care for much. The smell of bearded irises reminds me of my childhood.

I agree with erasmus about shampoos, and finally settled on el Cheapo, Suave, "Ocean Breeze", which I buy in big family size bottles. As for soaps, I love rose soap from Italy (only one I've found suits me, though), and most lavender soaps.

I've been wearing Shalimar off and on since my college days, and its formula has changed some (sneakily, the makers of fine perfumes do this tweaking to "modernize" the scents). They've taken the vanilla out of Shalimar, which makes its scent more harsh and modern. I still wear it, but miss the old one. I could never wear Chanel No. 5. My uncle gave me a big bottle of the stuff, perfume not cologne, when I graduated from high school, and after valiantly trying to wear it for ages, I gave up and gave it away.

Erasmus, a light fragrance I like very much is Clinique's "Happy". Have you tries that one? Diane

While I like sniffing soaps etc whenever I wander around beauty or essential oils shops, I cant deal with them on a daily basis..its just too much like "background noise" which either drowns out real smells, or sort of artificially coats an unpleasant smell without actually covering it up. Reminds me of the flatmate that was always burning incense sticks all over the house because she complained it was "musty" not as musty as cheap sandal wood bleurgh.

Only ever worn one scent, and that was because a boyfriend insisted he had to buy me some perfume as a birthday present. So after a trip to a department store we settled on CK as nice light and not too intrusive. I quite like it, but still have a half full bottle.

I can't use an fragrances. They choke me. Even some natural scents do that. Yesterday I was trimming junipers and I was overwhelmed by the scent and had to stop. I had a coughing fit for awhile. But roses don't do that to me at all.

There are times that people at work or elsewhere have so much perfume on, it makes me sick and I have to leave.

I don't wear much in the way of scents either. Most products I purchase are as scent-free as possible. I do have some French rose soap which is lightly fragrant. And I wear rose oil upon occasions, such as hot, sweaty outdoor weddings. Carol

I love them. Can't afford most.

I don't wear any perfume, the few bottles I have I couldn't tell you the name of. My mom has always used Vanillia Fields, and though I like it on her, it's just not for me..I do like a homemade rose soap I got locally.. I do like tone body wash..soaps don't really bother me, just dry out my skin. I love a rose herbal essance ( sp?) shampoo and conditoner, the scent lingers lightly. So I just don't like perfume pretty much. Some are so bad they give me headaches and make me sick, but it's just mostly the stronger ones that bother me. My roses do not bother me and I'm still got to try and make my own rose oil from it :)

I adore scent, but I, too, only like natural scents, such as found in plants and essential oils; I've found a Centifolia oil from India and an Alba Semi-Plena oil from... it's been a while, I think it was from somewhere in Africa. If I wear a scent it is usually a combination of natural rose oil mixed with a drop of lemongrass oil. I used to wear perfume when perfume was made from natural scent in the U.S., now most are synthetics. I read somewhere that the French perfumes are often formulated with synthetics for the American market ( much cheaper to make) and the real floral oils are used for the French market. I hope it's not true.

For natural rose scent I love the smell of Old Tea roses; especially Mme. Lombard and Devoniensis, and Etoille de Lyon which to me has a hint of honeysuckle in it., and the exquisite Alba Semi-Plena has a divine scent, Comte de Chombard is deeply fragrant and floriferous. Yum. Sometimes I squish a rose and rub its' scent on my wrists, the pedicals of Gloire des Rosomanes produce a nice spicy scent.

Lux.

My first job, back when I was trying to "find myself", was working as a rep. for Estee Lauder Cosmetics. I adore scents and so many things that are described as "girly", although, catch me in my garden, and one would never ever know.

I am consistently drawn to fragrances that have jasmine in their formulation, but also like the triple milled lavender soap from Trader Joe's.

In roses, I love, love, love what has been described to me as an old rose fragrance.

I like the Jo Malone red rose and I have a rose oil from India that someone gave me. It's wonderful but not lasting. The same person gave me a rose de mai soap from France which I like to smell in the bar when I use it. I don't think the perfume of soaps last too long on the skin.

Last year I gave my daughter Macaron Rose from Urban outfitters and she liked it. The rose part of the fragrance seemed a bit more lasting than the Jo Malone when I tried it and walked around with it for a while.

I do also like plain jasmine and violet essences.

I think it's true that the big-name fragrances have declined in quality from years ago. Can't afford the really, really fancy new perfumes but like to read about them and imagine what they are like.

I like patchouli too. I was a soapmaker for about 10 years, alot of goatmilk soap in which I got the milk from a local lady. I used essential oils in most and liked Sandalwood. Made my own skin creams which was nice. Stopped that a few years ago and now have enough soap to last a lifetime. I use to sell it, but I enjoyed making it very much that I went overboard.

Have a look at this site. Used them for my herbal teas and much more: [you may find an some body oils or sprays that are to your liking]

https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/catalog/aromatherapy

Patty

I'm newly addicted to Basir du Dragon from Cartier. Kiss of the Dragon, a heavy oriental scent. For daytime Chanel No. 5, and I ask and have trained my husband to ask for original scent. In winter, the warm scent of Chanel's Coco. Again, I ask for original fragrance. In the future, think I'd like to try Jo Malone's Red Rose. Have another scent by her, Pear with something, maybe fig, and am not impressed with the gift. To me it smells chemical and artificial, and I have no idea why that should be.

Nanadoll, I will remember to check out Happy next time I'm in a department store. Thanks for the link to the Mountain Rose Herbs, Patty. I have been thinking about getting a bottle of patchouli or trying to grow some. I never see patchouli plants for sale. I used to make soap too.

My daughter is on a perfume kick and she bought me a big bottle of something but I haven't worn it. Most of my perfume is old and inherited.

Fragrances seem powerfully evocative to me. Blue Grass and Shalimar bring up memories of my Aunt Lucy. Burning leaves brings up my grandmother, and then that memory brings up the caw of blue jays. I still have my mother's scarves and hats, and there is a faint aroma of Chanel No. 5 on them. So maybe scent really does add something to one's sense of a person since it sharpens memory of them. People have their own distinctive natural scents though which I like. One house repair person I hired said perfume is a big mistake to wear for those who would like to find a mate, because it masks the natural smell that might draw the right person to you. He had a rather strong unwashed scent if I remember.

"I am not of fan of perfume... but I love pure cocoa butter on my skin. Coconut oil too. I walk around smelling like a macaroon."

Okay... LOL!!, Cori Ann.

Fragrance is so evocative of people and memories. This thread reminded me that my mother was always scented with Arpege or White Shoulders when dressed up for an evening out. My grandmother regularly wore Blue Grass. I still associate those particular fragrances with them.

I wish companies would refrain from changing formulas. Perhaps they could keep a popular name but add a number or descriptive word to avoid confusion. My aunt used to wear Jean Nate, but when Revlon bought that Charles of the Ritz fragrance, the formula was altered at some point. Instead of the citrus floral splash of yesteryear, I gave my aunt a bottle of decomposing forest floor with a dash of stale lemon juice and isopropyl alcohol. Carol

I love perfume, have to wear it everyday, if I forgot, something is missing on that day. I spray perfume on my hair and clothes, not on skin, I have extra long hair, so the perfume won't get to my head. I do 10 sprays every morning to start a beautiful day. :-)

It's too true that they change the formula. The one I used to like was Givenchy, L'Interdit. But it changed and then they stopped making it. People actually buy 50-year old vintage bottles of this and other scents for huge sums.

Chanel maintains a farm in Grasse where they grow Centifolia roses and jasmine for perfumery. I believe they are the only ones in the world that still grow this variety, which used to be a staple of French perfumery. Everyone else imports damask rose attar from Bulgaria, Turkey or Egypt. Not that damask is bad, far from it. But still.

Chanel 5 is made from Ylang Ylang tree. I bought 1 baby Ylang Ylang tree once for the fragrance, it didn't make it in a pot. For the people in warmer zones, you might like this tree for its prefume, just put a bloom in your pocket..... http://mgonline.com/articles/ylang-ylang.aspx

For the most part, I like essential oils better than bottled perfume. Funny that I'm a fragrance freak, but I can't stand most perfumes/colognes. When I had my Ayurvedic analysis done, it was recommended that I wear rose and vetiver, and Floracopeia had both which I would mix. Then they made Savitri, which was a mix of rose and vetiver, which was delightful.

Most designers create scents that all have this acrid undertone, which I find annoying, both men's and women's but worse in the women's fragrances. They also smell so synthetic/plastic. That being said, there are some bottled fragrances I love. Olo uses natural fragrances, and makes a fragrance called Erastus that is delicious, described as "Imagine old man Erastus taking a walk through the Coastal Range.
He gets to a cliff overlooking the ocean, takes out the small cedar box
holding his tobacco and rolls up a smoke." And from the first time I smelled Olibanum by Profumum, my heart did a happy dance (I read a description of it once that called it "sex in a church"). When I wore it going out with friends one night, one of my friends grabbed my arm to smell it and I thought she would never let go, taking long deep breaths of my arm. I think we just both like woody/smoky scents. Maybe I need to remove all my roses and plant things like Cistus, and Chamaebatiaria millefolium.

Noseometer thanks for that link to Floracopeia! I'm going to try the Champa infused Almond Oil and maybe a few others. :-)

I love all these sensitive, and sophisticated, noses! What an enjoyable thread. I do believe that fragrance has a path to the brain that largely bypasses the reasoning parts of our intelligence.

I love the smell of certain roses. So much so I could actually eat them. (Neil Diamond, Jude the Obscure, Beverly, Sharifa Asman, Quietness are a few that I bury my nose in) As for other flowers I like are violets, and lilacs. The only place I can find lilac soap is in Sunapee NH. Everybody else that sells lilac uses French lilacs and I don't really care for that. Lilacs are my absolute favorite flower, yet they don't grow here in Florida. I use to try to put my vacation around the time they bloom, but I was always a week to early or week to late. Sad sad sigh. Another flower that I like is frangipanis. Aside from flowers, the other scent that I just love, that most people think I am strange for is fresh mowed grass. But I like it when it is a little on the over grown side so it smells like hay. Must be the farm girl in me. Once a farm girl always a farm girl.

Cori Ann, I at least can relate to your tendency to gravitate to food-type smells for the most part. When I test out the scented candles, almost always I gravitate to the vanilla or fruit scented kinds, and I gag on musk or patchouli type smells. Lavender is good in the natural scents but they don't seem to simulate it well.

I find perfume totally distracting to wear and I only do so on rare occasions - a bottle of Calvin Klein Escape that my husband gave me in our early marriage (at least 20 years old) is still half full and most of the loss was to evaporation. Mostly what I'll have as scented body products would be hand cremes, and they need to be a light "fresh" odor. I like the regular Nivea lotion smell and I have a "relaxation" lotion that's heavy on eucalyptus that I like too.

Still, I'll take the scent of freshly baked bread or cookies over any of the above. Those scents I don't usually get tired of, though I'm sure I would if I worked in a bakery. I enjoy the few roses that I can smell, but if I take them in the house and can smell them there, they often can get overpowering. I enjoy the scent of lilac or hyacinth outside but inside it gets to be too much. Guess it's good that my nose isn't that sensitive to smells anyway.

Cynthia

My favorite rosy perfume is 'Voleur de Roses', but there are many rose fragrances I haven't smelled.

In winter I like woodsy or oriental fragrances, but I do try not to wear anything strongly scented in public... too many people have been sensitized to fragrance by the overuse of synthetic fragrances in pretty much everything. (Can anyone explain why dishwasher detergent needs to be fragrant? And don't get me started on fabric softeners and air "fresheners"...)

In warmer weather I prefer greens and fresh florals, sometimes with a hint of fruit. I loathe sharp-smelling or plastic-smelling synthetic scents.

I used to love a lot of the classic French perfumes, but so many of them have been changed or discontinued. as has already been noted. For ages, my fave was Chanel No.19, which for me hit all the 'sweet spots' of florals, woods and greens. It has been reformulated at least once, though, and the magic is gone.

I tend to like different scents for different seasons/ moods, but can't afford to buy nice stuff in bulk. What I do now to splurge is buy samples of things I can't otherwise afford. A $3-5 sample will last me a long time, especially if I buy some other $3-5 samples at the same time. I generally know what kinds of things I like and don't think it's a crisis if I try a sample of something I end up not liking much. A few perfumes I love, and look for in sample sizes are Méchant Loup, Déclaration, Infusion d'Iris and Chinatown. I used to really like Magie Noire and Rive gauche, but haven't smelled them in ages; probably they have changed? I think of most of these as unisex fragrances, though some are sold as men's fragrances.

Perfumes are extraordinarily evocative for me. Smelling L'heure bleue or Ma Griffe reminds me of my grandmother. L'Air du temps makes me think of my mom, though I don't think she still wears it- or any perfume- anymore. Those are scents that don't suit me, but I loved smelling them then, and smelling them now brings back memories.

For those of you who like sandalwood, a fairly inexpensive (and all-natural) soap to try is made by Sappo Hill; my local health food store sells it, but I often buy it online. I also like their almond-scented soap and oatmeal fragranced soap.

Interesting thread- thanks, Linda!

Virginia