Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Just Starting Out › Fecal Note in perfumes??
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Fecal Note in perfumes??

post #1 of 14
11/7/06 at 7:34am
Thread Starter 
I often come across reviews of perfumes where members describe some scents as having a fecal note! eeewwwhh! Should have taken note of those scents...

I mean...are there really perfumes out there that smell like poop?? Can someone give me an example? I've never detected that note in any fragrance in my lifetime. The closest thing was a scent by Frederic Malle that I tested at Barney's - can't remember the name, but it smelled like dried up spit and cigarettes.
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
post #2 of 14
11/7/06 at 8:02am
Hey there,

This has been a long running theme of discussion on the site. I can't say I've ever literally smelled a cologne or perfume that smells like "poop" but there are some floral notes and animal notes that give off, what could be perceived as fecal-like notes...

The often discussed "civet" note which, If I'm not mistaken is the secretion from the anal glands of some animal... is a note that has often been responsible for the "fecal" comparisons. Fragrances strong on civet often give off a funky type odor.. an animalistic pungent one <depending on how well it's been smoothed out by other notes>

I have smelled fragrances that have a strong "body odor" or sweat smell, but none I can truly say.. smell like "poop".. thankfully..since it's an aroma that people take great steps to mask or eliminate!

a.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 14
11/7/06 at 9:05am
Here's one that's got a definite fecal note:

Reply
Reply
post #4 of 14
11/7/06 at 9:09am
Thread Starter 
Lol
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 14
11/7/06 at 6:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by serene111

I often come across reviews of perfumes where members describe some scents as having a fecal note! eeewwwhh! Should have taken note of those scents...

I mean...are there really perfumes out there that smell like poop?? Can someone give me an example? I've never detected that note in any fragrance in my lifetime. The closest thing was a scent by Frederic Malle that I tested at Barney's - can't remember the name, but it smelled like dried up spit and cigarettes.

I get fecal notes from Aramis and Tabu and Acier Aluminium and several others. Many of the older scents have them--not so much the recent perfumes. The fecal notes are not persistant, they fade in and out the first few moments after application and then disappear--often I don't smell them unless I am specifically looking for them. They are not really odors from feces, so I don't let them bother me. They are used to give the fragrance longevity. There are several interesting and very knowledable threads on this subject in the basenotes archives.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 14
11/7/06 at 6:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rentboy

Here's one that's got a definite fecal note:



lol!
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 14
11/8/06 at 1:28am
What people usualli moan to smell like... ahem... is indole.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indole
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 14
11/8/06 at 5:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magnifiscent

What people usualli moan to smell like... ahem... is indole.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indole

Thanks for this - fascinating.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 14
11/8/06 at 5:33pm
I can tell you about a fecal note I derived in layering two scents I otherwise love individually.

I applied Black Cashmere. So far so good! I love it. Then decided to spray over it Iris Noir and in no time I was freaking out. It was fecal, it was carnal too and it was HOT... not hot in the sense of you look hot, but it actually made my skin hot and warm... NASTY!!!!
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 14
11/8/06 at 9:14pm
I can not find the site darn it, but it talked about animalic scents and I was really surprised at what they put in some of them. Human and animal sweat, urine, sperm whale leftovers that float at the top of the water, all kinds of animal secretians. Well, if it works fine and I guess it does, but I sure wonder where some people get there ideas.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 14
11/10/06 at 11:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by nearfantastica

Hey there,


The often discussed "civet" note which, If I'm not mistaken is the secretion from the anal glands of some animal... is a note that has often been responsible for the "fecal" comparisons. Fragrances strong on civet often give off a funky type odor.. an animalistic pungent one <depending on how well it's been smoothed out by other notes>

a.

Civet comes from the civet cat, a wildcat species out of west Africa. The musk from their glands is collected, which is only released when the cat is in heat. I've never gotten my hands on real civet, but every description I've read or heard is that on its own, it's pretty gross, but mixed into a perfume, it does something powerful in a good blend that makes a fragrance truly striking.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 14
11/11/06 at 7:42am
Thread Starter 
Very interesting indeed...I went back to sniff my Guerlain Pamplelune -"Magnifiscent" here provided a link to Wikipedia that talks about indoles, how they are a component in feces. And in small amounts, they smell floral -such a orange blossoms. Anyway, I do detect a note that smells "fecal" in the grapefruit scent.
Now I'd like to see what Ambergris (whale vomit that floats in the ocean!) smells like on it's own...
It's true, it's so strange that these chemists would experiment with all sorts of scents that one would normally find repulsive. I guess you'll never know what can be created!
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 14
11/11/06 at 10:53am
Bingo!!! with the grapefruit. You probably noticed the thread that says that grapefruit makes you smell as if you are seven years younger. I was out yesterday smelling all kinds of grapefruit scents. I will make myself enjoy it somehow. My husband doesn't even like it. Anyway I am in my fifties and heaven forbid, I smell my age, ha, ha. Just kidding. I'll smell the way I want and enjoy smelling others the way they want. If that takes feces and sperm whale leavings, oh well. But you have to wonder how anyone comes up with these ideas in the first place.
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 14
11/12/06 at 5:09pm
Eau Sauvage goes fecal on me, although its ingredients are quite innocent, after all it's a citrus basically. But I guess it has that name for a reason
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Just Starting Out

Features on Basenotes

Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Just Starting Out › Fecal Note in perfumes??