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Scents that smell like BO?!? :o

post #1 of 13
12/6/07 at 9:13pm
Thread Starter 
I've been reading about scents like Kingdom or L'eau d'Hermes that supposedly have notes that smell like sweat or body odor. Sounds quite interesting, but why would someone want to smell like they forgot to shower? I guess I'd have to smell them to understand, but I was just curious! Please share your thoughts.
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post #2 of 13
12/6/07 at 9:34pm
Cumin is a common note in many scents that people mention as smelling like body odor. Cardamom, another spice, can also occasionally generate this type of smell. And then, of course, musks of various kinds can also simulate b.o.

This said, I have to wholeheartedly agree that L' Eau d'Hermes smells somewhat like b.o., because of its' huge cumin note. I like cumin in my food, and don't mind a touch of it in a scent, but it is just over-the-top in this fragrance.

P.S. Welcome to these fora!
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post #3 of 13
12/6/07 at 11:49pm
Hi Sunshowers, welcome to Basenotes.
Another one that has a slight whiff of 'ooh you soap dodger' is Guerlain's Aqua Allegoria Pampelune. There's something very slightly sulphury in there. I still like it though.
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post #4 of 13
12/7/07 at 5:52am
I think its all subjective...but sometimes its refreshing to smell something that isn't purely "pretty". Rose Poivree is one of my favourite stinkers...a lot of people love Musc Koublai Khan, La Nuit, Bal a Versailles, etc. for the same reasons.
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post #5 of 13
12/7/07 at 8:42am
I understand sofresh's point. I happen to love Quorum for the same reason, and it's pure cumin overload. It's nice to smell something a bit dirty and a little "seedy" once in a while.
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post #6 of 13
12/7/07 at 9:40am
That whole Cumin thing does smell bad IMHO. I tried Kiss for Him and the Cumin in it was evident, no go on that one. lol

If you love spicy food then you know that Cumin is predominant in that food. On the skin....yek!
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post #7 of 13
12/7/07 at 9:52am
L'Autre is good for a heavy cumin dose.
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post #8 of 13
12/7/07 at 10:32am
I think Luca Turin talks about this, is it in Burr's The Emperor of Scent? The fact that French culture likes things raunchy. So Eau d'Hermes or Secretions Magnifiques would be par for the course, while Kingdom, if you assume a traditional British perfume context in this global age, was a case of "épater les bourgeois" (shock the middle class)
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post #9 of 13
12/7/07 at 11:06am
I once bought a bottle of Clinique Chemistry when I was starting to appreciate fragrances way back in high school. After a few days of wearing it, I became conscious of this sweaty b.o.-like odour that clung to my body whenever I took off my clothes at the end of the day. It wasn't really stinky, just the scent of musty sweat and dried up lemons. I guess my skin 'chemistry' really didn't agree with it. So i used it to spray on my clothes after washing them and put them in the wardrobe. Here endeth the tale.
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post #10 of 13
12/7/07 at 11:10am
I think Malle's Bigarade Concentree smells this way, on me anyway.

Or maybe it's just me.........:-P
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post #11 of 13
12/23/07 at 4:47pm
Pampelune and FM's Bigarade. Also i Profumi's Tobacco. I'm a fan of Pampelune and Tobacco but I'm too afraid to wear them out and about. : (
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post #12 of 13
12/23/07 at 10:02pm
We're are all the declaration haters...

Why oh people do you hate declaration?
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post #13 of 13
12/25/07 at 1:49pm
Cielo smelled great on me when I was really hot and sweaty, but not like BO.
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