Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › what's the deal with...
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

what's the deal with...

post #1 of 26
2/19/07 at 7:55pm
Thread Starter 
trying a new thread here. what notes are the most confusing to your nose? do they ruin what would normally be delightful? can you not get a good feel for them? inquiring minds wanna know...

mine is - what's the deal with carnation? this seems to be in everything. almost without fail, if i don't like something, it has carnation. even stuff that i do like has carnation, and i wish it didn't! what does carnation even SMELL like? people describe it as spicy, but...how? is it old-fashioned? and then if you have a real carnation, it smells like nothing. or is the supermarket version of carnation not the same one used in perfumery.

so...tell me yours!
Reply
Reply

Features on Basenotes

Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
post #2 of 26
2/19/07 at 8:05pm
Mine is not a note, it's a fragrance.

What's the deal with Angel?

I love gourmands and adore orientals. I can do heavy vanilla and tolerates patchouli well. I find chocolate notes interesting, sweet is good and powder is lovely. But I can't see what's so great with Angel or how it has won such a following? On me it's a blurry mess even if I apply it very lightly. Like an orchestra of untuned instruments. I would really like to, at least appreciate Angel. Can somebody help me understand my reaction?
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 26
2/19/07 at 8:14pm
What's the deal with MUSK! For the longest time I couldn't smell it, now God help me if a perfume has even a drop, because it's the ONLY thing I'll be able to smell. Some lovely scents have been ruined for me because the musk base makes me queasy...Sanguine, Eau de Mure, Carnal Flower, En Passant, A la Nuit
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 26
2/19/07 at 8:22pm
  • Roy
  • offline
  • Gender:
I'll go first, then respond. For me it's tea notes. I for the life of me cannot pick out a tea note in any of my fragrances but I'm told it's there. I like a cup of green tea now and again, but I'm just not smellin' it.

As for carnation, I have some of the absolute. Apparently the carnations we've got at the local keyfood are bred for looks, not smell. The real deal smelly carnations have a clove like note to them as well as the white waxy floral note expected. I don't think most fragrances contain real carnation absolute as it's prohibitively expensive, think thousands of dollars/kilogram. Likely they contain some chemically reconstituted approximation containing waxy white flower/clove notes. Hope that helped.

Angel, I dunno. I don't wear it, I don't hate it, and I don't love it. I'm certain it's innovative in its use of gourmand notes, but innovation isn't enough for those kind of sales. I guess it's just sexy to a lot of people...I'm just not one of them.
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 26
2/19/07 at 8:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by quinpus

trying a new thread here. what notes are the most confusing to your nose? do they ruin what would normally be delightful? can you not get a good feel for them? inquiring minds wanna know...

mine is - what's the deal with carnation? this seems to be in everything. almost without fail, if i don't like something, it has carnation. even stuff that i do like has carnation, and i wish it didn't! what does carnation even SMELL like? people describe it as spicy, but...how? is it old-fashioned? and then if you have a real carnation, it smells like nothing. or is the supermarket version of carnation not the same one used in perfumery.

so...tell me yours!


The carnations in my garden smell divine! Clove-like.


As for notes I know will be foul on me: apple and pear, now I like those fruits and I like how they smell, but the chemicals or essences or whatever they use to make them just won't worlk on me.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 26
2/19/07 at 8:32pm
Mine is leather. Several women here swoon for a great leather accord....I'm always thinking-- eh??? eww. uh uh.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 26
2/20/07 at 12:01am
Neroli, it just seems to get stronger and stronger on me as the day goes on. I am really convinced it is trying to strangle me.
Orangeblossom I like and can wear, as they both come from the same tree that is weird.

Vetiver I can only wear if well blended into a fragrance as one of the base notes. I love vetiver when it first hits my skin but then it morphs into bog body or swamp thing.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 26
2/20/07 at 12:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by donna255

Vetiver I can only wear if well blended into a fragrance as one of the base notes. I love vetiver when it first hits my skin but then it morphs into bog body or swamp thing.



Vetiver can be very murky, and makes me visualize Willa Harper's (Shelley Winters) body underwater, her hair wavering in Night of the Hunter...

But I do love vetiver, it took some time and testing to fall for it, though.

Not so lucky with violets. Love their smell but not on my skin.
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 26
2/20/07 at 1:09am
My nose is not sophisticated enough to pick up many individual notes, alas. I'm trying to get atuned to them as time goes by. There are obvious ones like orange blossom or verbena, but others which elude me even when I'm told they are there.

I'm currently struggling to find out what is the common denominator in the scents which have really put me off, like Madam Rochas and an over-application of lovely La Perla. I wonder if it is the type of sandalwood in the basenotes. There is something which, on my skin, smells like a stale ashtray, even in some renowned fragrances.
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 26
2/20/07 at 1:30am
I'm right up there with Tinker. I always thought I hated musk but I've discovered it's not all musks (I can wear Poison and Hypnotic Poison, for instance), but certain musks - white musk in particular. It makes me retch!

Sesta - there is something in certain scents that smells terrible on me, too. I'm not sure what it is though it could be a certain aldehyde. It smells somewhere between soap, cleaning agents and sweaty knickers. Yuck.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 26
2/20/07 at 2:01am
What's the deal with synthetic, sweet notes?
I can't do sickly, pink, girly frags (Miss Dior Cherie included.)
Not sure what makes them so - is it cherries or raspberries?
Give me dry and ambery any day.
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 26
2/20/07 at 3:46am
...apples? DKNY Be Delicious =
...booze? Dzonghka = Fou d´Absinthe =
...tobacco? Habanita =
Reply
Reply
post #13 of 26
2/20/07 at 5:22am
Quote:
Originally Posted by quinpus

trying a new thread here. 1)what notes are the most confusing to your nose? 2)do they ruin what would normally be delightful? 3)can you not get a good feel for them? inquiring minds wanna know...

mine is - what's the deal with carnation? this seems to be in everything. almost without fail, if i don't like something, it has carnation. even stuff that i do like has carnation, and i wish it didn't! 4)what does carnation even SMELL like? people describe it as spicy, but...how? is it old-fashioned? and then if you have a real carnation, it smells like nothing. or is the supermarket version of carnation not the same one used in perfumery.

so...tell me yours!

dear e.e. cummings (just kidding!) 1) frankincense and myrrh in that i confuse them with each other sometimes 2) no 3) am working on it.

4) like roy says, sort of clove-y. my boss - the horticulturist/florist points out that all commercially grown flowers are hybridized for longevity and color and that the "pinks" or dianthus (which is the true name for what we call carnations) we buy in supermarkets or at florists have little or no fragrance. Ava-Luxe White Carnation is pretty true. I'm sure there are others. (oops! there's those capitals!!)

i have found that age is an advantage. some aldehydes and the greener notes that shrieked on me when i was in my twenties to forties have quieted down and now that i am in my late 70's my skin/bod can handle almost anything. something to look forward to - you boomers and x,y z'ers!! :bounce:

P.S. Can't live without my shift key!!
Reply
Reply
post #14 of 26
2/20/07 at 5:54am
I am a confessed scent whore.
I used to dislike some olfactive families, but I'm becoming open to them.
I used to dislike some notes, but I've learned to like them within context.

Not all fragrances are five-stars. Some are still ones and twos. But it is the overall composition, not any single note or olfactive family that bothers me.

For example: Anise. I love it within a woody context, but not in my roses. Smoke. A little bit is great, but start a fire and I'm outa here. Vanillic Orientals. Used to think they were too sweet, love them now. Greens. Used to make me sneeze, crave them now.

I bet the "peppery" note in carnation is bothering you. It tends to be dusty.

Tinker, I agree about the musks. They have changed them alot since the 60s. I used to smell them well, though. Now I think they smell differently, sweeter, flatter, less complicated.
Reply
Reply
post #15 of 26
2/20/07 at 8:53am
Aldehydes. I have a hard time understanding them. Can you actually smell an aldehyde?
Reply
Reply
post #16 of 26
2/20/07 at 9:13am
It's not so much that I don't LIKE the stuff, but I sure as heck can't wear it.

SANDALWOOD. It's ruined many a good fragrance for me. It's just something with my skin, I guess.

and...aldehydes--specifically, aldehydic white florals. INSTANT headache. Running away and screaming headache. I don't even have to wear them, I just have to sniff sometimes.

Sigh.
Reply
Reply
post #17 of 26
2/20/07 at 9:24am
I find it depends on the sandalwood. It can be fantastic, like church incense, or it can smell like soap. I have a perfume made by a chocolatier called Eau de Chocolat, which is a mixture of sandalwood, vanilla and spice, and it is lovely. But it's not great in everything, I'll give you that.
Reply
Reply
post #18 of 26
2/20/07 at 2:40pm
I have issues with sandalwood, too. I like it, but my skin amplifies it to such a degree that it can totally take over unless it's used in an eensy minute amount.
Reply
Reply
post #19 of 26
2/20/07 at 2:54pm
For me it all depends on the blend or composition of notes in a fragrance. I like magnolia in Envy Me 2 for example but not in Curious. I thought ambery frags were a bit of a problem for me but then I discovered Crystal Noir. I hesitate to mention aniseed, liquorice, and carnation because you never know there may be some frags out there with one or some of these notes which I will love! I think the worst combo in one perfume that I could imagine would be aniseed, liquorice, carnation, peach, blackberry and civet but then that might be a whole new thread!
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 26
2/21/07 at 4:32am
What's the deal with Tonka Bean? I don't know what it is or what it smells like but I've noticed this ingredient in some fragrances that I can't wear (e.g Samsara) even though they seem to smell lovely on others.
Reply
Reply
post #21 of 26
2/21/07 at 5:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lalage

What's the deal with Tonka Bean? I don't know what it is or what it smells like but I've noticed this ingredient in some fragrances that I can't wear (e.g Samsara) even though they seem to smell lovely on others.

Tonka bean smells vanillic. It's used to scent pipe tobacco, so it smells like that, too.
Reply
Reply
post #22 of 26
2/21/07 at 7:05am
Thread Starter 
lol, taolady! ee cummings i'm not, but i did grow up with instant/text messaging, in which CAPS simply waste time. hopefully it's still legible?

so carnation is spicy/peppery/clovey. if it's dusty/powdery too that's the problem. i did try poivre the other day and it was nice. i wonder what is the difference between ACTUAL clove and carnation clove. i will investigate.

interesting that so many people have issues with sandalwood. aldehydes too - are they artificial?

so what's the deal with oakmoss? i may have related this story before, but there is a potted plant at work that has some green, mossy stuff at the base of the plant. one day i stuck my nose in the green, mossy stuff, expecting to smell dirt, and what i smelled was fragrant, almost cinnamony. i thought, "if this stuff was a perfume...." so was that oakmoss?
Reply
Reply
post #23 of 26
2/21/07 at 8:54am
This is the first time I have heard someone else who can't stand carnation. I love the fresh flower itself, but when it's put in perfumes it truly makes me sick. It smells too minty to me. The others I really can't stand are cinnamon, anything sour, leather, tobacco, smoke, florals. Big time UPCHUCK! However, I do love to smell florals on others for florals can have a beautiful smell. They just don't work for me.
Reply
Reply
post #24 of 26
2/21/07 at 9:57am
I totally agree about tonka bean....Can't wear Samsara and can't wear Addict either.Both of them unfortunately made me feel a bit nautious I suspect it's the tonka bean!
Reply
Reply
post #25 of 26
2/27/07 at 1:38pm
i agreee cannot get Angel- I do not like it and simply cannot understand why so many women do-

carnation oil has no smell from what i have heard but i think the flower smells clean and fresh.
Reply
Reply
post #26 of 26
2/27/07 at 1:57pm
If you haven't already, you might want to chek out Chandler Burr on the subject:http://community.basenotes.net/showthread.php?t=193356

Ah! Text messaging is what is killing punctuation!! Not terrible - but must be horrific for our German friends!! :bounce:
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Female Fragrance Discussion

Features on Basenotes

Basenotes Reader Awards 2013 - Finalists Announced.
Greatest Hits: Annick Menardo
Petals Falling From The Sky - A Report From The Cote d'Azur's Bataille De Fleurs
Basenotes › Basenotes Forums › Fragrance Discussion › Female Fragrance Discussion › what's the deal with...