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12 January 2007

List your favorite smells! →[More:]
1. Freshly mown grass
2. Brewing coffee
3. Sheets laundered in Downy.
post by: LoriFLA at: 13:24 | 52 comments
1. garlic
2. pralines
3. whiskey
posted by jonmc 12 January | 13:26
1. magnolias
2. tea
3. the ocean
posted by BoringPostcards 12 January | 13:30
1. Cat paws
2. Equine muzzles
3. Rain on hot tarmac
4. Old english roses
posted by Arqa 12 January | 13:32
1. fresh rosemary as you rip it off the branch
2. gasoline
3. basmati rice
4. anything baking with chocolate in it
5. the everpopular New Car Smell.

coffee was taken, it's probably my number one.
posted by chococat 12 January | 13:36
fear
posted by weretable and the undead chairs 12 January | 13:41
Rosemary should be on my list, too.
posted by BoringPostcards 12 January | 13:43
The smell of pavement on a hot summer afternoon, as the first few drops of a sudden rain shower hit it. This smell seemed to occur with greater intensity in the midwest.
posted by pieisexactlythree 12 January | 13:44
I am going to be both brave and honest and say good buds.
posted by getoffmylawn 12 January | 13:45
talcum powder
puppy
fabric softener steam coming out of the dryer vent
baby
aqua di selva
christmas
bus exhaust
posted by iconomy 12 January | 13:45
we're being honest, goml?

1. My Own Farts
posted by jonmc 12 January | 13:46
1. Magnolia
2. Lime
3. Rain

(jonmc, you crack me up)
posted by rainbaby 12 January | 13:47
Oh, man. . .your first one cracked me up. The second one is gross!
posted by rainbaby 12 January | 13:48
Orange blossoms.
Vanilla.
The dust and madrone trees of Marin.
The sage and lodgepole pines of Colorado.
Girls.
posted by Triode 12 January | 13:48
I used to love the smell when you'd open a new can of tennis balls.
I don't think the idea of it appeals to me much anymore.
Also magic markers.

posted by chococat 12 January | 13:51
mmmmm, yes--rosemary
heritage roses
fresh lavender
freshly cut cedar
my cat when he's been outside
sauteeing garlic
evening-scented stock (I planted some outside my bedroom window one year. Heaven.)
and yes, yes--coffee

on preview: how could I forget (seeing as it's my perfume, fer chrissakes) Neroli/orange blossoms
posted by elizard 12 January | 13:51
(jonmc, you crack me up)

it's a mutual crack-up society, I assure you.

Oh, man. . .your first one cracked me up. The second one is gross!

actually the first one is serious. I do love all three of those smells.
posted by jonmc 12 January | 13:55
Napalm in the morning.
posted by mike9322 12 January | 13:58
1) redwood forest
2) redwood forest in the rain
3) fog on a california oak savannah
4) hot wind off a california oak savannah
5) rain on dirt or the sidewalk
6) plants and moss on a tiny stream
7) the mix of unfiltered diesel exhaust and cigarettes that reminds me of Russia
8) the metal shop/ mechanics mix of hot metal and raw oil

posted by small_ruminant 12 January | 13:59
1. cinnamon
2. mrs chewey's hair
3. honeysuckle
4. frasier firs
5. the first whiff of beer on my own breath after leaving a bar.
6. horses
posted by chewatadistance 12 January | 13:59
oh, and the dust and madrone smell that triode mentioned. And cat paws.
posted by small_ruminant 12 January | 14:01
Cilantro and lime together
wet dirt
jasmine
vanilla
honeysuckle
PVA adhesive
mint
posted by gaspode 12 January | 14:05
oh and to continue in mike9322's vein:

victory
posted by gaspode 12 January | 14:06
1. Basil, particularly cinnamon basil.
2. California Hydroponic skunky buds.
3. Tomato plants, the plant itself.
4. The ions in the air just after a rain storm.
5. Pine trees.
6. Cinnamon toast.
7. Garlic.
8. Microwaved popcorn.
9. Babies.
10. Mojito fixin's, particularly the lime, sugar and mint all smashed together.
posted by fenriq 12 January | 14:08
pot that's still growing. mmm - foresty.
posted by small_ruminant 12 January | 14:15
actually the first one is serious. I do love all three of those smells.


I know. That's what cracks me up.
posted by rainbaby 12 January | 14:35
as long as we're being honest:
1. sex
2. bannana bread
3. the BF, especially if he hasn't showered
4. rain on pavement when it's warm out
5. earthworms
6. herbes de provence
posted by youngergirl44 12 January | 14:40
- lemons
- limes
- oranges
- Cecil Bruner roses (hm, I wonder if I can grow one up here)
- coffee (tastes icky)
- chocolate
- sage
- rosemary
- thyme
- lavender
- lemon verbena
- magnolia flowers
- cinnamon
- cedar forests (after a rain is a plus)
- baby neck
- garlic
- frying onions
posted by deborah 12 January | 14:50
I know. That's what cracks me up.

OK. But all three of those smells are really nice.
posted by jonmc 12 January | 14:53
me too:
garlic sauteeing in olive oil
babies
horses
rosemary
heritage roses
rain
the ocean
tomato plant

also:
tea olive blossoms
dried peppermint
crushed fig leaves
sun-warmed pine needles
my mom's neck
dirt
a lover's sweat
posted by Specklet 12 January | 14:54
babies

so help me, I thought this said 'barbies,' and i pictured speck sitting in the middle of the Toys R Us doll aisle inhaling deeply.
posted by jonmc 12 January | 15:00
Home-grown tomatoes
Fresh-ground coffee
Peruvian-style rotisserie chicken

This last is one that took me years to identify--holly-tree blossoms. Sweet and heady, but oh-so-ephemeral. I've always loved the smell, but I was nearly 40 years old before I figured out what it was.
posted by mrmoonpie 12 January | 15:03
me too:

rain on hot asphalt
wet dirt
rosemary
antique roses
babies
the ocean

I have a friend that hates the smell of mint. Kooky.
posted by LoriFLA 12 January | 15:04
russian olive blossoms

they are tiny but there are thousands of them on a shrub and they are so fragrant that you can smell them fifty feet away or more when the shrub in my yard is in full bloom.

honeysuckle blossoms, although they can be overpowering at times. best when the vine is not in full bloom or you are some distance away but downwind.

the weird sulfur smell of the air during an intense lightning storm

the smell of warm rain in spring

sassafras leaves
posted by weretable and the undead chairs 12 January | 15:13
- verbena
- gin
- Scotch
- the smell of dirt in the air before/at the beginning of a rainshower
- lavender oil
- garlic frying
- mustard
- anise
- fresh coffee
- magnolia
- Thai curry
- pineapple
posted by me3dia 12 January | 15:17
Among many others:

garlic
mint
jasmine tea
ocean
ginger
lavender
tea tree oil
olive oil
bayberry
blue cheese

And, of course, pot.
posted by box 12 January | 15:25
- jasmine
- frangipani
- sciurus
- my pillow
- frying bacon and onions together
- clean laundry
- scotch tape
- BBQ
- forests
- the smell that your skin gets after being outside playing all day in the summer
- the beach (not so much the dead fish smell though)
posted by LunaticFringe 12 January | 15:28
weretable: OMG! We had those trees behind our house in CO when I was growing up! Where do you live? I am willing to prepay for you to mail me some olive seed things. I just love them!
posted by youngergirl44 12 January | 15:28
-garlic
-garlic and onions being sauteed together
-chocolate
-ginger
-sugar cookies
-coffee
-cilantro
-anise
-some paper with printing on it has a certain smell that I love
-Aveda products
-Makers Mark
posted by smich 12 January | 15:36
honeysuckle blossoms, although they can be overpowering at times. best when the vine is not in full bloom or you are some distance away but downwind.

It's the same with Confederate Jasmine, but I love that intense sickly sweet smell. Gardenia is another favorite.
posted by LoriFLA 12 January | 15:42
the smell that your skin gets after being outside playing all day in the summer

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah!
posted by Specklet 12 January | 15:42
weretable: OMG! We had those trees behind our house in CO when I was growing up! Where do you live? I am willing to prepay for you to mail me some olive seed things. I just love them!


I live just north of Fayetteville, Arkansas. I doubt it was this exact shrub you had, it is a big plant family. You probably had the basic Russian olive trees that get pretty tall. This one is in the same family but the tag on it said it was only hardy to zone 7 (which I am barely in) unless the tag was wrong. I doubt it would survive if it hit zero even one time.

Also I have yet to see any fruit on it. That might be because I only have one of them. Okay, I did some googling and although it is related, I don't think it really qualifies as a Russian olive (although the tag says it is) so I changed the Flickr info.
posted by weretable and the undead chairs 12 January | 16:33
i don't love the smell of pot so much as i love what it signifies.

Someone better run over and get me high, for
i am feeling the oppression of too much the sight of the underbelly of reality and its uniformly appalling inability to see above medocrity as a high point, and it has been too long.

Damn january abstinencers. Your timing sucks for me.
posted by ethylene 12 January | 16:40
1. new plastic/rubber: electronics, tires, dolls
2. my husband, even if he's dirty
3. my dogs, even if they're dirty
4. greenhouses
5. most incense
6. lots of the same botanicals ya'll like

posted by auntbunny 12 January | 16:41
nag champa
Old Bay
posted by box 12 January | 17:01
Dudes, lemongrass.
posted by joshuaconner 12 January | 17:28
  • A Balkan Sobranie Black Russian cigarette (long a thing only of memory, sadly), lit by a coarse, fizzly sulfur Russian kitchen match.
  • A kitchen full of baking bread.
  • Hot olive oil sizzling onions, celery, mushrooms, pepper and cumin, getting ready to be something great.
  • Franzikaner Weissbier.
  • Fenway Park grass.
  • Sleepy baby burps.
  • Swimming pool chlorine.
  • Ocean air.
  • Chanel no. 5
  • Peat fire smoke, especially dissolved in Scotch whisky.

posted by paulsc 12 January | 17:29
bookstores
the ocean
posted by elizard 12 January | 17:30
fenugreek
posted by danf 12 January | 17:47
man, weretable took mine, which I thought was gonna be unique. I never smelt it until I moved to CO, tho. It's a powerful combo of spice, eucalyptus and a faintly musky undertone that makes one sneeze and (to me) is the epitome of sunshine.

paulsc: I might be the only woman under 60 who still uses Chanel #5. It's a family tradition, I think. I don't use perfume much to begin with and can't stand trendy fragrances.

added to that:

- the sage/mesquite/dust combo unique to the local Colorado open space trails
- boxwood shrubs (Maryland)
- loamy oak forest floor where morel mushrooms grow (Ohio)
+1 on horse. my old show horse loved baths, to the point where he'd pester anyone using the hose on a hot day. We used strawberry shampoo on him. The combo of strawberry shampoo, sweaty horse and leather is near unbeatable.
- baking bread
- new mown alfalfa hay (or the flowers in spring, they're particularly pungent)
posted by lonefrontranger 12 January | 18:09
campfire
posted by box 12 January | 18:31
I'm so sad I can't get the Balkan Sobranies in the states anymore.
posted by Specklet 12 January | 18:56
weed

sex

roast pork

baking bread

the smell of rain kicking up dust on a dry day
posted by jason's_planet 12 January | 20:08
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