“I have a really acute sense of smell”

[INXS]

I know it’s not something anyone can do anything about. But whenever I hear a statement like the one in the title, it sort of sounds like the person with the nose like a bloodhound is secretly quite proud of their extra special abilities to detect cigarette smoke from one hundred paces, or the smell of someone else’s unwashed bra.

But I don’t like the idea of people who are, unbeknownst to us norms, secretly revolted by everyone around them. That they know that I ate a curry last night, and are resentful that I was so rude as to eat something with spices the day before going out in public (I actually read that on here). That my house stinks to them, or that they have to scrub their house after I’ve been to visit.

AIBU to dislike the idea of someone else having a supernatural sense of smell?! It makes me not want to be around them!

[mrsharrison]

My urine smells like corned beef to me.

[crunchymint]

If DP sneakily eats some chocolate in the kitchen, I can smell it on his breath as soon as he comes into the living room.

[MyRelationshipIsWeird]

I have a dog nose apparently! I can tell what DP had for lunch, or whether he's been snacking when he pops to the kitchen. He can't get away with anything!

I love the smell of his top lip - that's probably pheromones more than actual smell I think.

I can often smell my own bra, or if my - short - hair needs a wash (I wash it every other day) when I'm sitting in the car or watching TV, but I can't really smell anyone else's body.

I do struggle with children though. DP says I'm like Roald Dahl's witches because I think children smell bad Not of dog poo, but just sweaty and dribbly with undertones of rancid butter I'm ok with my own DCs (although I've never been one of those baby-head-sniffers) but I cannot abide the up-close-and--personal smell of non-related children.

My DD can tell which of her friends has left an item of clothing behind by sniffing it too.

Do other people notice when the radiators are on by the smell too? I can also smell if someone has left my hair straighteners switched on as I walk upstairs, which is handy! Not sure if either of those things count as unusual though, as I guess heated things are bound to smell more.

[blackteasplease]

I thought everyone could smell a frost on the way, snow and rain?

[blackteasplease]

I've always thought I have a very weak sense of smell, perhaps because ex h is one of those super smell people.

But some of the things you describe on here do affect me, like smelling if someone has had spicey food the day before. Sometimes I've been able to spend people's always scented sanitary towels without being partkculalry close to them. That's a bit gross. And i do have strong reactions to some smells.

[TinklyLittleLaugh]

Hmm, I don't think I have a particularly strong sense of smell, but I do pay attention to how things smell. I can smell when my children are going to be ill. I could probably be blindfolded and recognise all the men I have ever slept with by smell. I could recognise people's houses by smell and most of my friends. I can walk around a garden and recognise a plant by smell, then spot it hiding away in a corner. I can smell if babies are breastfed or not.

I really like natural smells though; I don't really like perfume or room fragrances or that kind of strong fakey stuff.My godson says my house smells of curry and washing powder though, which is probably not a good thing.

[RoseRuby26]

I have a very weak sense of smell so you'd love me. I worry about smelling and being completely oblivious.

[paddyplaistow]

I have a strange sense of smell. One example is that I find that people with ginger hair smell very vinegary to me. Dyeing it makes no difference- I can still smell vinegar. However, I have never told anyone, only us. Some people could take offence over something that is not their fault at all .

[CatastropheKate]

I smell different at the moment as I'm taking some medication. I can identify the kids friends by smell, eg clothes left after parties, or coming home in the wrong jumper. Also the weather / soil temperature and sick kids (my own) although they smell differently - both sweet, but one with wild garlic.
It's getting worse as I get older, as I can't be close to stinky people anymore in shops or queues. Sense of smell is same,but no longer have tolerance.

[Doobigetta]

As if they are above that, their role is only to endure other people’s foul stench, but that they themselves are above reproach

I have a fairly strong sense of smell, although not to the degree of some posters here. I can assure you that this is not the case. I pick up every little hint of a smell on me- deodorant wearing off, jeans that should have gone in the wash, foody hands- x1m and obsess over it. And that is far worse than smelling other people.

[Upsy1981]

My DD used to be like this when she was younger, and still is to a degree, although its fading a bit as she gets older. She would frequently say 'Ew what's that smell?' when I couldn't smell anything at all and she hated eating in a restaurant if someone in the vicinity was eating fish as it was just overwhelming to her.

[AgathaRaisonDetra]

My MIL wears a perfume that I cannot bear and she insists on spraying it on every hour. 😷😷😷😷

[INXS]

“And yes of course I can smell that I have a smell. All humans do. I had a shower this morning and can still smell my smell.”

But most people become “blind” to their own smell, which is why we aren’t driven mad by the smell of the inside of our own noses!

[BlackEyedKid]

This thread is fascinating.

[crunchymint]

I have read how Drs a hundred years ago used to use smell to help with diagnosis. Some illnesses have a particular kind of smell.

DP thinks it is weird that I can smell when he is getting ill. I will say - are you feeling all right, and its always when he is coming down with something.

Most smells don't bother me at all, even strong ones. And I love the smell of petrol.

And yes of course I can smell that I have a smell. All humans do. I had a shower this morning and can still smell my smell. I love the smell of DP.

[INXS]

“Rain has a particular smell too, although I can't precipitate it.”

Haha

The smell after rain is called petrichor.

[BillyDaveysDaughter]

MaidenMother I had a recent day surgery, and when I crawled into my own bed after 10 hours trying to shake off the anaesthetic I definitely smelled like an old meat pie! Kinda meaty and cheesy, eww.

I struggled into the shower and sat down to wash, it was too grim.

[BillyDaveysDaughter]

I smell weird stuff in odd places (peanut butter when driving along the motorway, coffee when walking in a field, balloons in the kitchen, etc etc) - DH calls it my "tumour" because he thinks I can't possibly be really smelling those things, it's just some freak misfire in my brain.

It's called Hyoperosmia I believe. As well as identifying odd stuff that isn't there, it makes normal smells very intense. It ruined a theatre night for me when the people two rows down smuggled in some kind of spicy chicken, and commuting was difficult - some people have odd odours. The dogs breath is especially vile for me, DH doesn't think it's that bad.

Oh, and the other night DH let the dog out and said, it's getting really cold out there. I murmured that I could smell the frost coming, and he looked at me like this .

But I can smell a frost on the way, and snow - it's a really clear smell to me! Rain has a particular smell too, although I can't precipitate it.

See what I did there

[badbadhusky]

I am not a super-duper smeller, but I’m at least 50% bloodhound. I can smell on DH’s breath when his asthma is going to get worse (“liver lungs” - smells like raw liver). I can smell when my kids have tonsilitis. The OOH GP looked really skeptical last time I took DS2 & was surprised to see the start of mucky tonsils when he had a look down his throat. Pregnancy was challenging - especially my walk to work on bin day. Saddest of all, I noticed something “off” about a friend who regularly had pressure sores, but was too polite to mention it - turned out she had a fungating tumour and her late diagnosis meant she didn’t last much longer.

[MaidenMotherCrone]

Throw not through

[MaidenMotherCrone]

I've never mentioned to anyone apart from on this thread about the period detection. Why would I let on I'm some kind of freak.

I don't pick up on a rusty odour or blood or anything to do with vaginas. It's a sickly sweet, slightly mustyness that comes ( I think) from the skin/pores.

As for smelling myself, oh yes and I cannot get away from it. It's nothing to do with washing though. It's just there.

Through in night sweats that make you smell like an old meat pie too. ( me that is)

[ScrambledSmegs]

Sorry for double post

[ScrambledSmegs]

It might have been a line he used on lots of women, IHeart. If he used it on enough he was likely to get it right with a certain percentage and discomfit more just because it’s a really creepy thing to say.

[ScrambledSmegs]

It might have been a line he used on lots of women, IHeart. If he used it on enough he was likely to get it right with a certain percentage and discomfit more just because it’s a really creepy thing to say.

[INXS]

expat if people can smell illness, which isn’t necessarily “on” the body - I guess it’s possible that smells from almost inside the body can be smelled!

Although the blood doesn’t come out, there is an opening there, so I guess smells could escape that way.

I was going to use the smell of a plug hole as a simile - although the smelly matter is inside the drain, you can still smell it - but it seemed like too vile a comparison. Whoops, I wrote it anyway.

I do think though that anyone can say “I can smell women’s periods” and use that as a way to intimidate/shame people, and they will never be called out on it. It would be very rare for a woman to challenge someone saying that. “Go on then, am i on my period?” and people like the man mentioned above rely on that.