Is there any note that you are particularly sensitive to?

[insomniac]

I've sampled a fragrance and one particular note comes to the top, front-and-center above all others.

Occasionally I've sampled a series of fragrances and that very same note comes to the top. It's like my nose has hyperfocus on a particular note, and if it detects it in any decent quantity, it will focus on that note to the detriment of the complexity of the scent.

For me that note is lavender.

Pen's Blenheim Bouquet? Smells like lavender.
GFT Wild Fern? Smells like lavender.
Arden Sandalwood? Smells like lavender.

[hednic]

Not really in my case.

[Ulsterman]

Civet and heavy musks make me gag, any fragrance I try that includes those notes and that will be all I smell.

[JiveHippo]

Vetiver, sandalwood, and Iso E Super, they stick out like a sore thumb for me.

[Ken_Russell]

Almost anything containing apple (though, I don't seem to mind subtle apple notes mingled with many others) and too heavy incense- this one, giving me headaches, often strongones. Aside from that, even the most obnoxiously loud, overpowering smoky, leathery, spicy, powdery, floral, gourmand etc. notes seem to affect me very little or not at all.

[Homura]

Tonka and tobacco drives me into a sneezing fit!

[sjg3839]

Not a big fan of Civet.

[MonkeyBars]

calone, dihydromyrcenol, birch tar, ionones (violet) . . . also dislike these

[CompassRose]

Amber will actually come to the top if I put it on my skin; my chemistry pulls it all to the forefront at the expense of the entire rest of the scent. (Tauer's L'Air du Desert Marocain, on me? AMMMMMBBBEEEERRRRRR!)

The other one I know for sure is musk (or "musk" -- real deer musk, which I smelled once years ago, was not like that) -- almost all perfumes with any kind of significant musk content smell overwhelmingly like soap to me, on or off the skin. Light musk = guest soap, "dirty" musk = old-school Ivory or hand-made unscented lye soap. Spoils a lot of otherwise promising scents.

I don't like the "aquatic" note, which sometimes seems to define the mass-market male fragrance shelves. (Also, aquatic why? What is it supposed to smell like, other than "blue-toned ad copy"? It doesn't smell like any water or water-associated thing I've ever encountered.) There's also fake fruit smells, particularly berry and melon, which will ruin almost anything for me.

I'm really very picky....

[Ken Cosgrove]

Patchouli always stands out like a sore thumb to me. I've got three fragrances in which it absolutely dominates.

[drseid]

civet, fenugreek and cumin.

[Ryan1411]

Silver Mountain Water definitely makes me nauseous. Also rose with other bright notes sometimes bother me a bit too, I seem to tolerate rose with darker notes a little better.

[dougczar]

Civet. Not very "sensitive" to it, but I just don't care for it. Any fragrance that has more than just a small amount of this note is not anythng I would wear.

[Mandrake]

anise and cumin in excess

[MonkeyBars]

There's also fake fruit smells, particularly berry and melon, which will ruin almost anything for me.

oh yeah damascones . . . red berry etc, usually hate em.

ever notice that apples smell very little, and certainly nothing like "apple" notes in perfume? yeah. that stuff is nasty.

[onethinline]

One or more synthetic white musks end up being really loud and "screechy" to me (somewhat similar in effect to smelling the chlorine from a pool or, strangely, cat litter). Sadly the note then overwhelms a composition. I've found this in vintage M7, Ambre 114, and the latest version of Guerlain Vetiver. :-(

[insomniac]

Oh, and there's some top note in TF Grey Vetiver that I have a hard time dealing with. I think it's the "lemon" used.

[teardrop]

Galbanum usually comes off as harsh & bitter on my skin.

And +1 for those wretched fruity-berry notes. Citrus l can stand, but those...blech!

[frug]

I hate cilantro.

[colognejunkie2000]

Vetiver and Mint are not my favorites and make fragrances hard to wear for me.

[BrianH1016]

Leather can be a big no no for me. There are a few fragrances where I enjoy it, but many times it just explodes on my skin & becomes extremely cloying to my nose.

[Partario]

Orange, mint, tuberose, and sometimes vetiver depending on what it's mixed with.

[SaNielsen]

keep calones and aldehydes AWAY

[ILikePeeps]

I'm not sure if I'm allergic or what, but there might be something/some things in 'F by Ferragamo pour Homme Black' and 'Jaguar Vision' that irritates my nose to where I can feel like sneezing.

To perhaps further help pinpoint the type of smell, I just recently got in Gucci Guilty Intense Pour Homme, and it seems kind of similar to the particular note(s) in 'F by Ferragamo pour Homme Black'; BUT, it doesn't go as far as to irritate me. It's like a.. higher quality of that note(s)?

I don't know what it is. Thoughts?

[Jack Hunter]

Tar, if it's in a frag it jumps out and headbutt's me. Not my favorite note at all.

[Buzzlepuff]

benzoin + vanilla really attacks me with ultra sweetness and I am allergic to it.

Some of the new synthetic musks cause my sinus to close up. Its an immediate reaction and I know when to withdraw from them but I don't which they are. I don't think they use chemical names of these things when they are disclosed as a note - it will say "musk" and if it is vey new - look out. White musks and animalic musks - no problem. The new synthetic sueded soft fuzzy musks just close me up totally.

[rum]

I've sampled a fragrance and one particular note comes to the top, front-and-center above all others.

Occasionally I've sampled a series of fragrances and that very same note comes to the top. It's like my nose has hyperfocus on a particular note, and if it detects it in any decent quantity, it will focus on that note to the detriment of the complexity of the scent.

For me that note is lavender.

Pen's Blenheim Bouquet? Smells like lavender.
GFT Wild Fern? Smells like lavender.
Arden Sandalwood? Smells like lavender.

I hear you and feel your pain OP!! I have the same issue with lavender. I really like it, don't get me wrong, but in strong doses particularly and in other cosmetics or products with fragrance (e.g. shaving soap) I am unable to tolerate it. Makes me sneeze these days which I think could be a sign of hay fever. It's only with a certain type though so I am not too concerned. A few summers ago the lavender in a certain part of my city, I became quite sensitive to the flowers and grass (yet it's never happened anywhere else in the UK to me!).

[Scentsucker]

Honey is always the first note I smell in a perfume that contains it eg ambre narguile

[Marais]

Immortelle. Unless used with a very light hand, it dominates and drowns out all the other notes.

[JON RODGERS]

I can't usually tolerate oud, civet, or cumin.