Repulsive perfumes

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I like natural fragrances, like the scent of lavender, some essential oils etc. But for some reason artificial scents like in washing powder and perfumes make me want to gag. They really unsettle me. What's that all about?

YABU - I smell gorgeous when I put three cups of fabric softener in the machine, and adorn myself with a bath of duty-free spoils.

YANBU - People overdo fragrances, they are tacky and make me want to gag too.

Haven’t seen La Vie Est Belle mentioned yet which is a relief as I’m quite fond of it

I also wear Miss Dior Absolutely Blooming quite often - a few years back my in laws recalled this and gave me a bottle for Christmas, except they didn’t quite catch the Absolutely Blooming bit and got me the original Miss Dior which in my opinion smells like old ladies (I was 27 at the time)

I’ve come round to it and started very sparingly wearing it as it was such a thoughtful gift but it’s an acquired taste!

I stayed at a friend's last month. She uses fabric conditioner and I could barely breathe when I was in bed because the smell of the sheets was overpowering. I hate most artificial smells.

I had an Oud which agreed was very strong, so it just needed the tiniest spray.

I have a collection of perfumes so I rotate them seasonally, and anything Oud is very wintery to me.

I used it for one winter and then shoved to the back of the cupboard during summer. Come next winter I sprayed the tiniest amount again, and it seemed to have multiplied in strength about x 1000.

Now I love a perfume (except BKR) but this was horrendous. I thought that I'd use it as a toilet spray instead, the kind you spray into the bowl. Nope even I got an instant headache and had to throw it away.

And since then, now I cannot abide any Oud scent.

Flowerbomb. Awful, awful stuff.

I generally steer clear of anything scented like candles, room sprays, fabric softener etc. because they give me a headache.

I wear Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker. It’s a gentle delicate scent so it doesn’t trigger a headache.

I'm a perfume whore and have about a ridiculous amount (around 15), and Narcisco Rodriguez For Her EDP is my favourite. It's not trying to catch attention from a distance, it's more close, like a halo or scent.
Now I have a baby I wear perfume much less and tend to stick to light ones (also recommend Chanel Chance Eau Splendide, Estee Lauder Beautiful Magnolia and Jimmy Choo Floral). Or hair mists of stronger ones- my other favourite is Coco Mademoiselle and that's more gentle (and much cheaper!) in a hair mist.

I find Joop headache in a bottle- I made my husband get rid of the 200ml bottle his parents brought him from duty free 10 years prior, after he doused himself in it during peak pregnancy sickness.
La Vie Est Belle I find a headachy, sugary sweet assault (on me). Also tried on that Dolce & Gabbana one that came out a couple of Christmases ago (advertised by Katy Perry), I think it's called Devotion? Or my god it smelt like orange bathroom air freshener on me. Totally gross, I was scrubbing to get rid of it.

No one says it in real life because they don't want to risk offending the person they're speaking to. On the Internet people feel much freer to say what they really think.

I work in a school so I hate anything and everything worn by teenagers.

Lovely is a great perfume, I'd forgotten about that one.

I like perfume and I’m happy to see mine haven’t been quoted as awful! 🤣
DM and MIL wear La vie est belle - I don’t know what it is but it makes me feel sick. Trying to move DM on to something else.

I like perfume, if lightly applied.

Like a previous poster, I like Narciso Rodriguez for Her, it's a lovely soft smell, that's the type I prefer.

And I also dislike La Vie est Belle - I find it such an aggressive smell, for want of a better description. I keep being given it as a gift, I've no idea why!!

@PortSalutSherryHello I’ll bet that felt good to get off your chest 😊. Completely agree.

Yeah, it's very easy to wear but also sophisticated enough to be interesting.

Most of the scents people don't like have strong sillage so are easy to overspray, particularly if you get nose blind to them (which explains the midday spraying). I was surprised by the hate for L'air du temps though, I think of it as a clean powdery scent that's suitable for work (whereas something like Poison is an evening out smell).

Me too, I LOVE perfumes. Nothing makes me happier than going into a department store to smell all of the perfumes & rotating my perfumes according to the seasons. We should start a separate thread 🙂

Angel smells like when you take fresh flowers, throw them in the bin where they mix together with a bin juice and then put freshly dug up black soil on the top and mix it all together.

I voted YANBU even though I’m not really bothered. That said, I can’t walk into the aisle of laundry products in a supermarket. It makes my eyes stinging and watering. Worse than hay fever in mid summer.

Poison and Lulu from the 80s were nasty...

Anything by Lush. Just walking thru a high street somewhere and you know there's a Lush coming up because the stench drifts for 500m...

No idea what the hype is for Chanel No. 5 🤷‍♀️ smells yuck

Anything by Estee Lauder...the base smell seems to be the same in all perfumes (to me) and it's horrible.

Nude by Rihanna 🤮 is awful. I got given a bottle, tried it once but had to give it away.

I cant bear aerosol room sprays, candles, wax melts, plug ins, reed diffusers...you can just smell the fake essential oils and chemicals.

I've hardly ever smelt any perfume or clothes washing scent on anyone. If I have it's a couple of seconds waft before the smell disappears. It's why I jever wear perfume myself. I can't smell it and don't see the point.

I've occasionally smelt washing powder on something second hand someone has donated and not particularly liked it but not to the point of finding it offensive.

And I love perfume and fabric conditioner and reed diffusers! It is weird (as others have said) how many mumsnetters gag at smells. Everyone I've ever known likes those smells!

Opium and Poison. Worked at different times with two women who wore them. I used to try not to breathe it was so suffocating. Hideous smells.

My ex husband bought me (Christmas 1977) an Estee Lauder makeup box with Youth Dew perfume in it. I bravely wore it as he bought it for me but it was way too overpowering for me and I jettisoned it gradually and wore something else.

I like Chanel No. 5 but wear No. 19 a lot. Currently wearing Green Tea by Elizabeth Arden as it was recommended on here recently by several posters. It's lovely, very light and fresh smelling.

I must be the only one here that loves Aromatics Elixir....... Sorry!.
Hate those Oud stalls in shopping malls I think the smell clings to you as you pass.
Most hated has got to be Youth Dew.

EA tea ranges are my every day go to's as well. I have a few but the good old original White Tea is by current daily right now. It's very subtle and I think a close scent, but I have quite a few people comment in how lovely it is. Not overpowering either.

My friend wear SP Lovely and it suits her so well. It is just 'her scent' to me as it's very natural on her. I used some of hers once, yes only once, and it was just dreadful on me.

Body chemistry definitely plays a part in how scents come across.

I like Coco myself and those others sound like scents I’d like too.

I used to detest Body Shop Dewberry. Not sure if it is still around. Very sickly. Also their Fuzzy Peach.
Anything with Lily of the valley or the scent of real lilies.
All the Lush products I have had the misfortune of encountering smell horrible.
They seem like overly sweet tween scents to me. Maybe that’s their market though, overgrown 12 year olds?

Way back I used to wear Tresor but it just seems so overpowering .
These days , I don't wear any perfume and dh doesn't wear aftershave . I've stopped buying fabric conditioner as well .

I absolutely love Princess by Vera Wang but sadly it's not available here in the Middle East so I make sure to stock up on visits to UK. I also loved Simply by Clinique it was just so warm and comforting until they changed the formulation and it smelled like I was wearing a pair of smoked kippers. For the home I love Bath and Bodyworks Laundry Day spray and Winter Candy Apple is gorgeous for the Christmas season.

That’s exactly what was said at the initial meeting when discussing the project! I think their target audience was decided as “Corpse Bride bakes cookies”!