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03 August 2010

These are a few of my favorite smells... Gasoline, rubbing alcohol, those big fat Marks-A-Lot permanent markers, Home Depot, tire stores, inflatable swimming pool floats, and the aisle with all the school supplies. Yours?
post by: Atom Eyes at: 10:43 | 48 comments
The newly arrived National Geographic magazine.
posted by Melismata 03 August | 10:58
My dog's paws, which smell like Fritos, and the warm fur on his back after he's been in the sun. Fresh laundered sheets. Melting butter, baking bread, and Indian spices. Leather. Roses. Sun drenched berries.
posted by bearwife 03 August | 11:03
Orange zest, fresh rosemary and basil, fresh cut lemons, baking bread, marshmallows, gasoline, and the utterly toxic new-shower-curtain off-gassing smell, that thick chemically puff of dryer smell that laundromats vent out their back door or side wall, the wood smoke from the brick-oven pizzeria around the corner.

Also, there's a little local houseware shop that sells several kinds of soap and candles, nominally unscented. The whole place smells like beeswax and linen. Whenever I go in, I find myself taking deep heady breaths.
posted by Elsa 03 August | 11:04
Freshly cut grass, leather, ginger, coffee beans, basil, lilacs, jasmine, sandalwood, bourbon, the oak-y yeasty red wine-y smell of certain wine tasting rooms, salty ocean air, lemons, cedar, lavender.
posted by occhiblu 03 August | 11:15
Ooh, and tomato leaves.
posted by occhiblu 03 August | 11:15
cilantro, lemons, limes, mint, cucumber. They all smell like summer to me.

The smell of walking through a New Zealand forest (can't be North American, needs more undergrowth) after the rain.
posted by gaspode 03 August | 11:15
And old books.
posted by occhiblu 03 August | 11:16
Clothes fresh from the dryer. A clean house. The curly head of my grandbunny. Coffee. Focaccia. The saddle and boot shops in Fort Worth. My beagle. Fresh cut tomatoes and herbs.
posted by toastedbeagle 03 August | 11:17
Sautéing garlic and onions. Campfires. Bleach. Sharpees. Pumpkin pie. Paint. Bourbon. Coffee. The library. Forests after rain.
posted by ecrivain 03 August | 11:18
Oh, and gin.
posted by gaspode 03 August | 11:21
Evergreens. Jasmine. New plastic. Clean linen and cotton. Tide (well, back when my family didn't use Tide and my high school boyfriend['s mom] did).

Ooh! I love the new-plastic-shower-curtain and dryer-vent smells, too!

We live next to a mediocre Italian restaurant. They burn the garlic every morning, but damn if I don't want to go over there.

My sweetie.
posted by Madamina 03 August | 11:23
Yes, my sweetie is on my list too. Especially his hair and his neck.
posted by bearwife 03 August | 11:28
I keep a jar of cardamom on the kitchen shelf for aromatherapy. Strawberries smell like summer. Baking anything, but bread and pie especially. Turkey roasting smells like a holiday. The smell of tomato plants because it means there will be home-grown tomatoes. Horse barns. Cilantro. There's a special aroma of balsam, woodsmoke, seaweed and damp ocean air that smells like arrival at the summer camp. Just reading this is relaxing.
posted by theora55 03 August | 11:29
Oh, yes, The Fella's hair smells so sweet and clean. It's not soap or shampoo, it's just him.
posted by Elsa 03 August | 11:31
Kool-aid, gasoline, motor oil, old books, new car smell, Office Depot, melty cheese, pizza, most citrus-y cleaning products.
posted by sperose 03 August | 11:31
Mild low-tide beach smell. Gasoline (of course). Leaf litter. Dry pine needles in warm sunlight. Lime zest. Tomato greens. Sauteeing garlic, especially if you catch it from a restaurant prepping the night's marinara as it wafts down the street around 4 PM. Rosa rugosa. Coppertone. Coconut oil. Woodsmoke from a campfire, or drifting down from autumn chimneys. The morning of the first snow of the year. Caramelizing onions. The inside of a torn leaf. Mint. Vanilla. Vanilla pipe tobacco. The sugar-blast smell of an air-conditioned candy or ice cream shop on a hot summer day. Oily tools. Bakeries. Drying hay.
posted by Miko 03 August | 11:39
These are all wonderful. This is my favorite topic ever.
posted by toastedbeagle 03 August | 11:59
Magnolia blossoms, lime, rain, fresh cut grass, autumn leaves, pot roast, chilli, this one guy's cologne or soap (I usually don't like any, I don't know how he gets away with it, probably because he's Canadian), the inside of a good dance studio, and yes bearwife - the frito dog foot smell!
posted by rainbaby 03 August | 12:02
If I ever decide to start a jam band *shudders* I will name it Frito Dog Foot.
posted by Atom Eyes 03 August | 12:13
Cinnamon anything. Cloves. Cookies baking. Garlic roasting. Dead leaves in the woods. Otto. The bowling alley. Honeysuckle. Horses. Mrs chewie's hair. Steaks on the grill. nthing freshly mowed lawns & chimney smoke in the fall.
posted by chewatadistance 03 August | 12:13
My dog's paws smell like popcorn. . .but I obviously have a higher class of dog.

I love that smell of the ocean, when I go back to Hermosa. The sort of rotten, tarry creosote salt smell. It's in my blood.
posted by danf 03 August | 12:20
Oh ho, danf! Maybe your dog walks upon differnt type surfaces that nuance the paw smell. So there!
posted by rainbaby 03 August | 12:26
Your mention of school supplies takes me back to how much I always loved the smell of the purply ink mimeographed copies.
posted by JanetLand 03 August | 12:28
Freshly cut grass

This is an interesting one. I'd always assumed it was different levels of unpleasant for different people. For me, it is one of the worst smells in the world (along with coffee and smoke from cigars/cigarettes/joints). I have likened it to "plants screaming." It's like knives up my nostrils. You cannot pay me to mow a lawn. When neighbors cut their lawns, if the noise does not wake me the smell will.

So naturally, I assumed everyone hated it—they just hated it less than I do. But humanity with its seemingly-infinite diversity never fails to surprise.
posted by Eideteker 03 August | 12:33
I mean danf, I can see that in the PNW you may very well have a higher class of grass. But leave the dogs out of it! Ha.

Eideteker, I had that reaction to the various mentions of gasoline. It's a terrible smell for me and I didn't know people liked it!
posted by rainbaby 03 August | 12:35
Eideteker: Are you Data?
You might be Data.
posted by Atom Eyes 03 August | 12:56
rainbaby. . Your dog is fine. The world needs all kinds of dogs, and I'm sure that your dog is a valuable part of your family. We wish your dog the best of luck in his or her future endeavors.
posted by danf 03 August | 13:20
Occhi tomato leaves is a GREAT one!

Nearly anything baking, but especially the bread pudding I make (link), lavender, new carpet/new car, pine trees, coffee, husband's aftershave and cologne, rosemary, basil, Hawaiian Tropic sunscreen, fabric softener, Expo white board markers, popcorn, barbecue, the list goes on.
posted by viachicago 03 August | 13:23
garlic and onions, bacon frying, cinnamon, basil, ginger, coffee, Sharpies, banana bread baking, ribs on the grill
posted by smich 03 August | 13:41
Bleach, because the chlorine smells like swimming in a big blue pool on a scorching hot day.
posted by marsha56 03 August | 14:26
Bread hot from the oven.
Doggie fritos feet.
Salty ocean breeze.
The mister's shirts.
New tires.
Highlighters.
Campfire smoke.
posted by rhapsodie 03 August | 14:43
Anything citrus especially limes
Cinnamon, cloves
Woodsmoke
The ocean/beach*
Rosemary
Lavender
Roses
Berries
Honey
Beeswax
Baking bread
Cedar forest after rain
Freshly laundered sheets
Garlic and/or onions frying

*Mum brought sun block lotion on our road trip and each time she put some on it took me back to the beaches of Southern California. Which, of course, smell different than the beaches of the PNW. Both smells are wonderful.
posted by deborah 03 August | 15:16
Wow, Atom Eye's favourites are my worst nightmares. All those smells give me an instant headache and like as not a wave of nausea. Fascinating!

I have so many favourite smells and would love to go on about them, but must go take care of a million pressing things I must bow out.
posted by Specklet 03 August | 15:19
My sweetie. Diesel fuel and gasoline. Car exhaust. Patchouli. Fresh box of Crayolas. Fresh Paint. Garlic. Meat cooking (especially lamb). Lilacs. Basil.
posted by not_on_display 03 August | 16:41
Oh man - I forgot two big ones:

Frasier fir trees
wood framed houses under construction
posted by chewatadistance 03 August | 16:42
Tea leaves, ginger, lime, gin, mint, bourbon. Bay rum soap, bayberry candles, silk. Lavender, jasmine, honeysuckle, magnolia. Cheese melting in the oven. Sun-warmed bricks. The salty, seaweedy, sandy smell of the beach. Things that smell like watermelon but aren't, like freshly mown grass and the air just before it snows. Unsmoked cigars, pipe tobacco and woodsmoke. Old books.
posted by EvaDestruction 03 August | 17:13
During the heatwave, there were bad cases of wee scraped knees here. I got out a a bottle of old-fashioned iodine, and I spilled quite a bit in my white kitchen sink. Afraid it might stain I turned on the hot water tap to flush it down the drain and the smell of hot water on iodine on a humid day is exactly like perfect neverending summerdays of childhood. Woah did that ever take me back.

So, iodine. New favorite smell.
posted by dabitch 03 August | 17:46
burnt caps, blank dvds, reefer, my fiance post-shower, most hard liquor (even if it's a kind I don't drink), burnt caps, ginger, ice cream/popsicles (I have to smell them, I don't know why), burnt caps
posted by jtron 03 August | 17:57
Nthing lilacs. We once visited a huge garden/arboreteum in Ontario. My husband and I still talk about the hour or so we spent among the lilac bushes, smelling and smelling. (We do the same in rose gardens.)

Also fresh dill, fresh tarragon, fresh sage, and fresh marjoram.

The bouquet of a great red wine.

Popcorn popping.

Sea air.
posted by bearwife 03 August | 18:43
Brewing beer
My arms after tying up tomatoes
Pesto
Fresh mimeographs
Snow
Thunderstorms
posted by plinth 03 August | 18:54
Fresh mint, coffee, tobacco, tobacco smoke, cloves, from when tubes and discrete transistors were more common: electronic repair shops (some combination of insulation material, soldering, organic chemicals, I guess), new car, shoe polish, and seconding mimeographs and burnt caps!
posted by Kronos_to_Earth 03 August | 18:57
pralines, garlic, bourbon, middle eastern food, my own farts.
posted by jonmc 03 August | 19:26
Most of the smells that waft through my nostrils while riding my bike.

Burnt cheese on the pizza pan.
posted by Doohickie 03 August | 19:34
Ooooh, caps....sparklers, too.
posted by Miko 03 August | 22:29
The smell of burning methanol, especially when it comes from one of these. Combined with that noise, it's almost better than the smell of sex.
posted by dg 04 August | 06:27
I can't believe I forgot:

Chocolate. Also (related) the smell of baking brownies.

And gardenias. Heavenly.
posted by bearwife 04 August | 11:21
A big bunch of CILANTRO.
posted by DMelanogaster 15 August | 16:58
apple trees.

I didn't realize that until today, but apple trees smell like home
posted by dabitch 15 August | 17:14
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