Is there a pattern to your favourites?

After many years collecting scents that appeal to me, I have discovered that the vast majority of favourites contain Pelargonium/Geranium.

I was not aware of this pattern until one day I scanned through the lists of accords in each of them, and found this common note. I now intentionally seek out fragrances with geranium when sampling or shopping, and have confirmed that this pattern does exist.

For me, the common denominator is a style -- "green." If a scent is that style, and if it is dry (not sweet, heavy or too floral) then I am almost certain to like it. There can be many sub-groups within that style (e.g., herbal, grassy, forest) or different families associated with it (chypre, fougere) but generally speaking I find that I am predisposed towards liking that style. To me it represents and conveys Nature, and I appreciate it.

I do like scents with other elements and styles (wood, spice) but green always appeals to me.

For me, I find that many of my favorites evoke a vivid image of a landscape.

Bergamot seems to be prominent in the majority of my favorites.

Definitely. I like sea scents, and patchouli based fragrances, and just stick around here long enough and you'll notice that instead of just one pattern, many basenotes members have MANY patterns, like branches on a tree... One branch is rose based fragrances, then iris based, etc. All the same person, many many different desires, and for a while one will follow a certain note or accord and that will lead to another, and another, and...

Such an interesting Topic

i believe we all follow some pattern...just like food..we all have our favorites and along the line come across something new which clicks...

i have noticed i like the following genres...

strong herbal concoctions...like for eg. Santal Noble, Amber Sultan, LDdM

earthy Patchouli based: Voluer Du roses, Black Oudh, Fumidus, thunra, gentleman to name a few...

Earthy vertiver: Encre Noir, Vetiver Extraordinaire

Florals(especialyl white): fleur Du male, Rose poivree, Leau D'Hiver, Voluer Du rosesm Fleur d orange etc

powdery/musky scents: yerbamate, Helmut Lang edc, Bois DIris, Dior Homme, white musk

Incense : lot of them...but i do not like scents like Avignon..thts too loud and the use of Frankicense is exploited...i like Dzhongkha, Rock Crsytal, Jubilation XXV types...

so overall if i observe...intense scents with earthy and natural vibes keeps my interest...

Definitely. I like the girly colognes for some reason. Usually gourmand, sometimes floral, sometimes woody (tending to sandalwood). Musky is also acceptable.

For example I'm loving this L'instant de Guerlain pH - it's like a chocolate cake on me. I can't stop smelling myself.

Sure, there are many different ways I could categorize my scents or label them, but for the most part, I tend to like:

Green scents, gentlemanly/"barbershop"/classic types, and exotics/leathers.

Green is just so earthy, natural, refreshing. I love oakmoss, which as far as I'm concerned, is THE green note.

The whole gentlemanly/barbershop/classic theme IS kind of vague, but it basically refers to the old-world classical blends and traditional ingredients of English perfumery...refined citruses, shaving products/scents, simple but rich and elegant combinations. Not very sexy, per se, but astute, logical, and well, gentlemanly.

And as always, if you can catch my attention with something exotic that might be totally unexpected, against the norm, or exceedingly rare or renowned, I'm definitely interested. I don't really ever wear "avant garde" fragrances, but it is great to sample them. I do have a few great leather scents that are just too unique and interesting, as well as a bit sexy, to let go of. (Daim Blonde, Cuiron)

There are many patterns to my favourites.

I love citrus in general, lime, lemon, bigarrade.
I like moss and sandalwood as base notes.
I dislike most synthetic musks (haven't smelled any deer musk as far as I know). White musk is the devil's work .
I generally dislike vetiver as a supporting note, I love it as a feature (i.e.fragrances with "vetiver" in their name)
I love florals but rose should be featured not cluttered with other stuff.
I like natural smelling stuff, don't mind if it doesn't last.
I prefer the complexity of a single high quality natural to the complexity of a dense blend of synthetics (mostly). Floral heart notes in masculines are the exception, if they are subdued and blended then sythetic muguet, jasmine etc can be wonderful.

Very insightful, Hirch

I like quite a few different styles, but looking at my wardrobe I have a bit of a fancy for the sweeter scents.

JPG Le Male, Burberry London.

I'm also very fond of woody frags, Gucci PH comes to mind first.

I guess it would be considered an aqua to my nose is GIT, I'm absolutely nutty for it. And am praying to get some money for a bottle of my own soon.

I don't like Musk for the most part, and I can do without Vetiver and strong florals as well. Powdery and soapy scents I do not like at all.

Mild floral notes I really like and can appreciate. Black Aoud, while not mild by any definition, has a very subtle and beautiful rose note, but FdM is some vile raunchy juice to my nose.

Thanks, but only for me .

Leather and Musk

My common denominator seems to be "Olivia Giacobetti" at this point.
Seriously, though: all my FB purchases after getting the perfume bug have been hers (Jour de Fête, Philosykos and Hiris). A fact I only found out quite recently, too. I think that something in her style of composing fragrance appeals to me: there's a clean, quiet, effortless sort of elegance about them.

I'm still too much exploring to make any definitive statements as to my likes and dislikes as far as notes go. I've fallen hard for subsequently almond/nutty, iris and incense notes, and I'm sure there are many more to come. Woods have long been something I thought I needed to avoid (blame Light Blue), but I'm coming to terms with them.
I don't like soapiness in fragrance, so I tend to avoid that - recently I'm learning that what I call soapiness does in fact refer to indolic flowers.

For me, oriental scents are the way to go.

I can't stand the fresh/aquatic scents for some reason. I always get a headache from them and end up wondering why I even put the stuff on.

There most certainly is!

My fragrance house of choice is L'Artisan. My type of fragrance is woody oriental because I enjoy warm, sweet smells for cold weather. I enjoy smells in general but my favorites come from that fragrance class, especially from that niche house.

My pattern? I pretty much like most scents but if someone else, male or female, compliments me, it's bottle time!

A common theme personally is incense and vetiver, dried woods or stuff that smells surreal.

It's beyond strange that I never noticed this until I listed my perfumes (and not all of them are in the directory, so they don't show up in my wardrobe-- like Linden and Verveine by Provence Sante, Trebol (clover) by Gal, Violettes de Toulouse by Berdoues)) but when I look at the list it is obvious: I love soliflores and citrus.

I like this rather organic way of looking at it and find it to be a true description in my case.
as for myself, I was initially taken in with scents that I associated with an "alto" vibration,
creamy sandalwood, soft musks, leathers, spicy woods. (Tabac Blond, En Avion, Madame X, Jasmin Impeatrice Eugenie, Ambre Sultan, Feminite du Bois, Opium)

then I was seduced by the rose. I am still finding amazing variations of scents with rose notes, and I think this is a major branch on my tree...MAJOR, Sa Majeste la Rose gives me comfort and it is a pretty straightforward, true, wet rose, but even recently I discovered Ta'if which is pencil shavings and rose, and L'Inspiratrice, light creamy patchouli and rose, and on and on...even Chanel no. 5 I perceive as a rose chypre on some level.

Another theme for me is how I texturally relate to a perfume, some are creamy, others suedy, some felt like...perhaps chypres attract me in part due to their textural quality.
Take Sacre Bleu. I don;t know what the heck it is, an oriental? What matters to me is its texture. Like rubbing a cashmere scarf on my cheek. Dans Tes Bras is a new textured love. Jicky got texture. Attrape Coeur. Chanel no.19. Some call it green. I call it smooth.

my sweet tooth is a tiny branch on my tree, there are only a few scents that I want due to sweetness...Lolita Lempicka, Un Bois Vanille, Ava Luxe Vamp, Love's True Bluish Light are at the top.

Then I have the outrageous branch, like Bandit, Musc Ravageur, Carnal Flower, Rasa and Jalaine Patchouli. Tabac Blond can go here too.

This is fun to explore, not sure how clear it is, but fun nonetheless.

I would say incense and lavender are my common denominators. Almost all my choices have one or both in them.