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'Sickly' fragrances

post #1 of 43
12/30/07 at 4:03am
Thread Starter 
Years ago, friends and family, for some reason, would buy me Rive Gauche for Christmas and birthdays. Until I told them to stop, because I couldn't wear the stuff. I found it 'sickly'. I've sampled some perfumes recently that have been instantly discarded, because they too have that 'sickly' note in them, but I have no idea what it is, or even if it's the same note. However, my husband has also said to me that some of the ones I've sampled are a bit 'sickly' on my skin (and these are the same ones I found sickly, but didn't communicate my opinion to him first).

Does anyone else get this reaction to certain fragrances? I don't wear Chanel no. 5, because I find that sickly. I have a severe, nauseous reaction to Angel. And as I've already mentioned, Rive Gauche. I'm wondering if it's worth checking out the notes in some of the fragrances I have this reaction to, to see if there's something common to them all. I know I always find vanilla too sickly, and can't wear it. My daughter wears Datura Noir, and I can't bear that one - it smells great on her though.

The more I write the word 'sickly' the more ridiculous it sounds. What I mean by it is, it causes a gut reaction akin to nausea. It's not a sharp smell, it's actually very dull and heavy, and rather sweet, but in a 'gone over' kind of way. It's very difficult to describe when you're not a perfume expert! I get a similar reaction when bananas get over-ripe. This isn't the smell I'm trying to isolate, but there is a similarity in terms of the physical reaction.
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post #2 of 43
12/30/07 at 5:42am
i've had that reaction when I tried to wear Hypnotic Poison, which I think is a good fragrance, on others, and at a distance. Angel has a touch of this for me as well.

I wonder if it's sensitivity to certain ingredients?
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post #3 of 43
12/30/07 at 7:24am
The only scent that made me feel very sick right away is Kenzo's L'Elephant. I don't know what's in it but whatever it is made me gag. After wearing Boudoir a few times it started making me ill as well.
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post #4 of 43
12/30/07 at 8:41am
Yes, I unfortunately have that reaction to the revered Shalimar. In my case it is--ahem--psychological. It was the favorite and heavily used scent of a difficult relative.
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post #5 of 43
12/30/07 at 9:09am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Therese View Post

Yes, I unfortunately have that reaction to the revered Shalimar. In my case it is--ahem--psychological. It was the favorite and heavily used scent of a difficult relative.

Ah, I can relate, but yes, this is different. Fragrance is so memory-evoking, isn't it? Unfortunately, I can't look up notes at the moment, but when I can, I'll see if I can find some common ones.
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post #6 of 43
12/30/07 at 9:13am
Usually happens when I have headaches or other things wrong.
Then I "turn off" to scents--even some that I normally like.
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post #7 of 43
12/30/07 at 9:26am
I get this occasionally from frags as well, but fortunately have pretty much pinpointed it to very "heavy" tuberose or anise/licorice scents. I can wear these in extremely light concentrations where they are more in the background. If they're front and centre, it's scrub time for me!
I can get a little "sickly" from syrupy-sweet scents as well, but can sometimes wear them if they calm down quickly and a spice, wood, amber or strong musk note appears to overwhelm the sweetness!
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post #8 of 43
12/30/07 at 9:41am
I had this reaction to Ava Luxe's Love's true bluish light - I don't think the vanilla/amber combo sits well with me.

You could try Osmoz while the directory is down for looking up notes if you haven't already?
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post #9 of 43
12/30/07 at 9:42am
B&BW Velvet Tuberose, JM Tuberose and L'Artisan Tubereuse all make me feel ill. I also get that sickly note in Vesace Woman and Amarige. I know it is not just tubereuse because I love Fleurissimo, La Chasse aux Pappions and Tubereuse Indiana. It must be the way it is handled.
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post #10 of 43
12/30/07 at 10:04am
I know that Rive Gauche and Chanel No. 5 both have aldehydes.

I can't wear certain fragrances that contain some kind of synthetic musk. They really made me ill.
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post #11 of 43
12/30/07 at 10:09am
Aldehydes and coumarin are notorious for inducing nausea. Tuberose is a lesser offender. Most of the ones mentioned contain at least one of these "tricky" notes.
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post #12 of 43
12/30/07 at 10:35am
Angel. 'nuff said.
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post #13 of 43
12/30/07 at 10:55am
Yes, I know what you are trying to describe. I cannot say that I actually get nauseated (I have a fairly sturdy constitution), but there some frags that physically bother me. Generally, it is with frags that would be considered heavily floral and sweet in a strongly "chemical" type of manner. Notes are so hit or miss on those lists, I'm not really sure whether I can sort it all out. It may not even be a fragrance "note" per se - it may be the chemical soup the notes are in or something used to "bond" the notes together, heighten their effect, or some preservative - who knows....
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post #14 of 43
12/30/07 at 1:27pm
Thread Starter 
I took a look on Osmoz, and compared Rive Gauche, Angel, and Chanel no. 5. The top notes for Chanel no. 5 and Rive Gauche are identical (aldehydes, bergamot, lemon) - with the exception of one note, which is leafy green in Rive Gauche, and Neroli in Chanel no. 5. The ONE common note in all three fragrances is bergamot. Both Angel and Chanel no. 5 contain vanilla. I think it may be the combination of aldehydes and vanilla that causes me a problem - but I wasn't aware that I had any kind of problem with bergamot. Vetiver also appears in two of the fragrances, but I know I don't have a problem with that. I find vetiver refreshing and highly appealing, so I've ruled that out. I'm going to take more notice of the contents of other fragrances that I both love and hate, and see if I can pinpoint 'troublesome' notes. I have a feeling it's more to do with the combination, as seattlelight says, rather than one particular 'culprit', as it were, but I'm now hugely curious to know if I just have an aversion to one ingredient, or a combination.
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post #15 of 43
12/30/07 at 2:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rtamara41 View Post

i've had that reaction when I tried to wear Hypnotic Poison...

Me too! I never even attempted to try some on though, just one whiff of it made me feel like gagging. I have a friend who wears it sometimes and it makes me feel ill just to be around her. The sensation of smelling it to me is like drinking medicine. Yuck!
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post #16 of 43
12/30/07 at 3:39pm
I adore Lauder's Beautiful; however, its opening notes remind me strongly of cherry cough syrup.
(So much so, in fact, that it makes me nauseated.) After the first 20 minutes or so, I'm OK with it.

I deplore A*men. (Ask anyone who's been on Basenotes for more than five minutes.)
It literally makes me sick to my stomach and also gives me splitting migraines.

Heaven Sent can also make me a little sick if worn in abundance -- it's positively cloying that way.

I don't know if this is what you meant by "sickly" or not. In any case, I've put in my five cents' worth.
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post #17 of 43
12/30/07 at 3:44pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by tvlampboy View Post

I adore Lauder's Beautiful; however, its opening notes remind me strongly of cherry cough syrup.
(So much so, in fact, that it makes me nauseated.) After the first 20 minutes or so, I'm OK with it.

I deplore A*men. (Ask anyone who's been on Basenotes for more than five minutes.)
It literally makes me sick to my stomach and also gives me splitting migraines.

Heaven Sent can also make me a little sick if worn in abundance -- it's positively cloying that way.

I don't know if this is what you meant by "sickly" or not. In any case, I've put in my five cents' worth.

I also adore Beautiful, and for years, it was my SOTD, every day. In fact, my husband can still recognise it now, on the rare occasions that I wear it, because it's the smell of 'me' to him. Back in the day, Beautiful was my HG. I never got the nausea from the top notes though. I don't know A*men, or Heaven Sent, but the sickly smell I'm talking about is a kind of soft, sweet - and yes, cloying - smell that makes the perfume 'dull', and that's the only word I can conjure up to describe it at the moment. In some perfumes, I'd call that softness a 'warmth', but in the ones I find objectionable, it's not warmth, but 'mush' that I'm really talking about. I suspect the culprit is probably vanilla, or aldehydes, but it could just be a combination of notes. I think synthetic musk may also be a problem. I adore musk, but I have to be very careful if I'm going to wear it, because it has to be good quality. Otherwise, I get that nausea problem.
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post #18 of 43
12/30/07 at 5:16pm
I call some perfumes sickly when they are just overwhelmingly too.... something. Usually for me, if it is too flowery, that does it for me. There are so may perfumes- famous, historic perfumes, that I can't wear because of "it".

Lally
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post #19 of 43
12/30/07 at 6:13pm
The much-beloved Pink Sugar (well, maybe not here, but much beloved in a lot of places!) makes me want to urp! That and chocolate notes. I don't know why.
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post #20 of 43
12/31/07 at 5:46am
I don't do well with aldehydes, I find them too soapy.
The one fragrance I get a really bad reaction to is L'Eau d'Issey. If someone is wearing that on the tube I will have to change seats to avoid them. Ugh.
Is it calone that has that watery smell? I really can't abide it.
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post #21 of 43
12/31/07 at 5:22pm
I'd have to say that it's the overly sweet fragrances that induce many a headache for me. I've been smelling sweet just about everywhere lately, especially now at the local Panera.
CKone and CKbe are also scents that give me a bit of a headache.
But generally, anyone who smells like they've bathed in an entire tub of fragrance generally makes me sick (that's just overdoing it).

As for Chanel No. 5, I do have a soft spot for it, but it's a perfume that's best experienced in small doses. I usually keep it down to one or two small dabs and that alone gets me through the day. I can definitely understand how it can make someone's stomach do backflips, especially with the onslaught of aldehydes in the beginning.
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post #22 of 43
1/2/08 at 10:48pm
In the Mid-80's I was stationed in DC. I remember Poison and Georgio attacked me from everywhere, especially on the DC Metro. Chanel #5 never did it for me either. Clininque Aromatics I love on some and can't stand on others. Claiborne Perfume from the 1980's fried my nose---I did NOT like this stuff. It ruined my love for Mondrian (not really) No present scents yet.
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post #23 of 43
1/2/08 at 11:02pm
I've said it often that the original Comme des Garçons EDP smells like sickness to me-- it's supposed to "work like a drug" but it smells like an old bottle of pills. Smells like a nursing home. Smells like an iron lung machine.
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post #24 of 43
1/3/08 at 4:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Indie_Guy View Post

I've said it often that the original Comme des Garçons EDP smells like sickness to me-- it's supposed to "work like a drug" but it smells like an old bottle of pills. Smells like a nursing home. Smells like an iron lung machine.

Damn! I just ordered a sample of that...
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post #25 of 43
1/3/08 at 5:04am
At least it was only a sample!
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post #26 of 43
1/3/08 at 5:23am
Certain musks and soapy ambers give me the whole "nauseated / sickly / hospital room" vibe. Particularly when I am not feeling that good.

Which is a shame, because I love ambers and musks - but I find I have to approach new scents in these classes with caution (and a sink).
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post #27 of 43
1/3/08 at 5:37am
Isn't it strange how we can react physically to a smell? You wouldn't think there would be enough molecules getting into the bloodstream to create a strong and immediate 'there goes lunch!' - but if you've ever experienced morning sickness when pregnant, you'll know how strong the reactions can be. (One interesting note: after developing a strong morning-sickness reaction to the powerful cheese and smoked meats of the classic Alpine fondue/raclette/tartiflette/ variety that I adore, I'm left with a little lingering 'euch' reaction even now. Could this be relevant to you, Clemmie?)

I know it's supposed to be a protective mechanism, to ensure we don't eat foods that have become rotten or to expell something we have eaten that is bad. This might explain why it's a sweetness that is making you react - you mention over-ripe bananas making you react in the same way, though it's not the same smell.

As we know there are more chemicals in fragrances than just the 'advertised' notes, possibly there's something they have in common - anything from the juice's colourant to the alcohol it's diluted with. Do we have any insiders here on the boards who can tell us more about the other things in perfumes?
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post #28 of 43
1/3/08 at 6:17am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wordbird View Post

Isn't it strange how we can react physically to a smell? You wouldn't think there would be enough molecules getting into the bloodstream to create a strong and immediate 'there goes lunch!' - but if you've ever experienced morning sickness when pregnant, you'll know how strong the reactions can be. (One interesting note: after developing a strong morning-sickness reaction to the powerful cheese and smoked meats of the classic Alpine fondue/raclette/tartiflette/ variety that I adore, I'm left with a little lingering 'euch' reaction even now. Could this be relevant to you, Clemmie?)

I know it's supposed to be a protective mechanism, to ensure we don't eat foods that have become rotten or to expell something we have eaten that is bad. This might explain why it's a sweetness that is making you react - you mention over-ripe bananas making you react in the same way, though it's not the same smell.

As we know there are more chemicals in fragrances than just the 'advertised' notes, possibly there's something they have in common - anything from the juice's colourant to the alcohol it's diluted with. Do we have any insiders here on the boards who can tell us more about the other things in perfumes?

I certainly experienced nausea (though not the typical 'morning sickness') during both my pregnancies - and was completely incapable of drinking or even sniffing coffee (which I adore the smell of most of the time) during both. I could only stomach tea. But the 'sickly' smells I'm talking about caused that reaction long before pregnancy, so I think it's much more visceral and instinctive than memory evoked. I think it's certain 'soft' notes in fragrances, and anything that smells aged or 'gone over' (like the reaction I had to my Mitsouko EDT - though thankfully not the EDP). I think anything that smells stale to me is a definite no-no, but 'stale' is very hard to quantify. I'm intrigued though to compare the notes within the fragrances that I have trouble with, because I know it's not just me. A perfume I sampled recently caused me to think 'ugh, sickly' and then my husband used exactly the same phrase when he sniffed it on me - so there is definitely a smell that classes as 'sickly' and I don't mean it smells like vomit. Nothing like that at all. It just seems to evoke that kind of description, for whatever reason.
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post #29 of 43
1/3/08 at 6:26am
Oh Clemmie, sounds like aldehydes are your enemy...for me, Liz Claiborne's VIVID truly makes me feel sick. Even though it's been discontinued, there still seems to be plenty of it around. Once we (hubby & I) went to a movie and had to switch seats because a woman wore Vivid - in fact, I think she dipped herself in it. BLECH!
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post #30 of 43
1/3/08 at 9:33am
I'm betting on the aldehydes, too. You might want to try a line of natural perfumes and see if that keeps the ick factor at bay....
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post #31 of 43
1/3/08 at 11:46am
Thread Starter 
I think you are probably right...aldehydes may be the problem. And thankfully, most of the frags I wear don't have aldehydes. What I'm going to do is go on a little perfume quest. When our directory is back, I'm going to look for perfumes with aldehydes and then have a sampling spree, and see what I can come up with. I might even be able to compile a personal 'black list' or something!
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post #32 of 43
1/3/08 at 2:06pm
I think I know what you mean by "sickly", but it doesn't always bother me. When I try and conjure the smell of musk in my head, it makes me feel sick. But a lot of fragrances that I actually like have it. Er, hopefully this makes sense...
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post #33 of 43
1/3/08 at 2:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by bernat View Post

I think I know what you mean by "sickly", but it doesn't always bother me. When I try and conjure the smell of musk in my head, it makes me feel sick. But a lot of fragrances that I actually like have it. Er, hopefully this makes sense...

Yes, it does, because some musks do that to me too. I love white musk, but I can't wear it. On other people, it smells great, but if I try to wear it, it distracts me constantly. However, perfumes with musk as a basenote can be fabulous, and I love Ave Luxe Gardenia Musk (for example).
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post #34 of 43
1/3/08 at 3:52pm
I totally know what you are talking about. Chanel No 5 makes me sick! Most any perfume that I consider a sort of grande dame perfumes does that. I'm so modern--I like the stuff that is more a scent than a proper traditional perfume.
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post #35 of 43
1/3/08 at 3:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by JickyMan View Post

In the Mid-80's I was stationed in DC. I remember Poison and Georgio attacked me from everywhere, especially on the DC Metro. Chanel #5 never did it for me either. Clininque Aromatics I love on some and can't stand on others. Claiborne Perfume from the 1980's fried my nose---I did NOT like this stuff. It ruined my love for Mondrian (not really) No present scents yet.

I think Chanel No. 5 is one of those perfumes that people either love or hate, it all just depends on personal taste.
Quite frankly, I love it, and I think the one thing that keeps me coming back is progression of the scent on me during the dry down. On me it is a bit floral, but it develops into something quite fresh with just the slightest hint of sweetness.

The scents from Liz Claiborne were AWFUL though! Next to any overly sweet fragrances, Claiborne scents probably had (and still have) the most upchuck factor as far as I'm concerned. When I think of Claiborne scents, I think of that gawdawful tacky red triangle bottle that was just SO very representative of 80's. Just thinking of it now makes me cringe!
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post #36 of 43
1/3/08 at 4:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clemmie View Post

I think it's much more visceral and instinctive than memory evoked. I think it's certain 'soft' notes in fragrances, and anything that smells aged or 'gone over' (like the reaction I had to my Mitsouko EDT - though thankfully not the EDP). I think anything that smells stale to me is a definite no-no, but 'stale' is very hard to quantify. I'm intrigued though to compare the notes within the fragrances that I have trouble with, because I know it's not just me. A perfume I sampled recently caused me to think 'ugh, sickly' and then my husband used exactly the same phrase when he sniffed it on me - so there is definitely a smell that classes as 'sickly' and I don't mean it smells like vomit. Nothing like that at all. It just seems to evoke that kind of description, for whatever reason.

It sounds as though you have a highly sensitive ability to detect 'dangerous foods' (I'm still thinking in terms of a biological explanation for your reaction I'm afraid). Can you tell by sniffing it when food is going bad? Some people are better at it than others and many of the putrefaction smells are sweet or sickly.

I must admit to having just giggled at a stray thought - if those Britney Spears frags are very sweet, does that mean Britney makes you nauseous? How about Paris Hilton? Sorry, sorry, could go on snigering like this all night but we're just back at Paris Hilton's CanCan again and that's getting to be an old joke now.

I know Osmoz is often useful in finding out the notes in fragrances and I think Quarry or Shycat posted a list of useful resources on the Newbies board. I'm very interested to find out what you discover. There's every chance you'll get me sniffing things in department stores and muttering 'yep, she's right; sicky'. :-)
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post #37 of 43
1/3/08 at 5:06pm
I guess i'm a lucky chap, i've never felt any sickness coming upon me when i smelled something out of a bottle.
My sister though, she got a mild rash with the original ParisH fragrance for women, and that was her first time that ever happened with a scent as well.
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post #38 of 43
1/3/08 at 7:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clemmie View Post

I think you are probably right...aldehydes may be the problem. And thankfully, most of the frags I wear don't have aldehydes. What I'm going to do is go on a little perfume quest. When our directory is back, I'm going to look for perfumes with aldehydes and then have a sampling spree, and see what I can come up with. I might even be able to compile a personal 'black list' or something!

There are hundreds of aldehydes and many women's fragrances (some men's too) would be worthless without them. They don't all smell like the ones in No.5 and Rive Gauche. Mitsouko for example, is built on an aldehyde known as C-14 and it contains massive quantities of it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by bernat View Post

I think I know what you mean by "sickly", but it doesn't always bother me. When I try and conjure the smell of musk in my head, it makes me feel sick. But a lot of fragrances that I actually like have it. Er, hopefully this makes sense...

There are hundreds of musks (mostly synthetic today) and many of them smell vastly different from one another.
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post #39 of 43
1/4/08 at 2:54am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wordbird View Post

It sounds as though you have a highly sensitive ability to detect 'dangerous foods' (I'm still thinking in terms of a biological explanation for your reaction I'm afraid). Can you tell by sniffing it when food is going bad? Some people are better at it than others and many of the putrefaction smells are sweet or sickly.

Oh god yes! Bad food triggers a severe response, and my family tend to bring things to me for the 'sniff test' rather than rely on their own ability to tell if something has had it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pluran View Post

There are hundreds of aldehydes and many women's fragrances (some men's too) would be worthless without them. They don't all smell like the ones in No.5 and Rive Gauche. Mitsouko for example, is built on an aldehyde known as C-14 and it contains massive quantities of it.



There are hundreds of musks (mostly synthetic today) and many of them smell vastly different from one another.

This could explain my 'oh my god that's off' reaction to Mitsouko EDT. Even the EDP, though hugely better, had to dry down for quite a long time before I started thinking 'hey, this is gooood'...so if the aldehydes are the top notes, that would explain why Mitsouko wasn't working for me. Perhaps the EDT formulation holds onto the aldehydic qualities for longer than the EDP (I have no idea, I'm guessing wildly here). Maybe aldehydes, to me, are the equivalent of 'bad food' in a perfume.

Re the musk thing: I was referring to Body Shop white musk, because that's really the only one I've had any acquaintance with as a specific musk-related fragrance, other than Ava Luxe Gardenia musk and other fragrances that have musk as an ingredient. I should have specified that when I said I can't wear it but like it on others. My daughter wears TBS White Musk beautifully, but on me it smells sickly (there goes that word again...).
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post #40 of 43
1/4/08 at 2:58am
You are Remy the rat!
(If you haven't seen the film Ratatouille you may have just thrown something at your computer...)
;-)
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post #41 of 43
1/4/08 at 2:01pm
Most of the fragrances where I used to work, modern ones mostly. One in particular was Mademoiselle Coco, oh and also Miss Dior Cherie. One of the girls I worked with would douse herself in one of these two, every time she worked. Goodness I wanted to vomit, or at the least go unconscious so I would not want to vomit. I, in turn would douse myself in Shalimar, which I have worn since I was around 6 years old (thanks Mama for the perfume in the Pretty bottle), which for some reason has always been a comfort scent to me. If I do dot feel well, Shalimar actually alleviates feelings of nausea (go figure).
But, those two fragrances would make me just feel soooo ill, even when I pass someone who is wearing one of them I have a moment of queasiness.
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post #42 of 43
1/4/08 at 3:37pm
Thread Starter 
I am now thinking the culprit may be bergamot. I'm wearing a spritz of jasmine de nuit (The Different Company) on my hand, and it has bergamot and that sickliness is there. I know it will wear off (very soon), which is a relief, because I do like this fragrance.
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post #43 of 43
1/6/08 at 4:50pm
Clemmie, I'm like you. I feel nauseous and get headaches from my mum's favourite - Chanel No 5, Youth Dew, L'Air de Temps etc. They smell sickly and powdery to me. When I looked them up here they all had aldehydes listed as one of the top ingredients, so I'm avoiding that now. Sadly most of the guerlains have the same effect on me, although I'm in the process of retrying them.

I'm incredibly sensitive to smell (ones other than fragrances I mean), and some days even car fumes as I walk down the street make me feel ill.
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