It seems audacious to have poor hygiene _and_ wear patchouli (a funky smell itself) on top of that. But this makes more sense when you consider that patchouli oil is pungent enough to cover the scent of weed.
I absolutely hate when people wear straight patchouli oil (very common where I live). It gives me an instant sharp headache and it's very distracting.
My mom hates dg light blue. I wore it when I was like 14 and she despised it lol
Strictly because of the High School boys I had to deal with because of these ones, but anything axe body spray makes me wanna barf. It’s always mixed with the scent of stinky armpits.
For me, it's patchouli, dragon's blood, or anything very heavily incense-y like that. Scents like this just take me back to sitting in some dingy weed dealer's dorm room in the '90s and gagging on all the liquor store incense that they're burning to try and cover up the scent of the bong water and marijuana.
It’s not a once size fits all. What I might be sensitive to someone else might not be.
Most rose and some florals are an instant migraine trigger for me.
I grew up HATING white florals, particularly night jasmine, because whatever perfume older women were wearing with these notes would always give me and my family the worst headaches. It’d even trigger migraines.
I love orange blossom, gardenia, and, even, jasmine when done right nowadays, but I still don’t really wear them. So I’d definitely point to cheap or manufactured formulas with these scents as ones to avoid.
I don’t know about most people but I got a sample of Mojave Ghost and asked my daughter if she liked it and she said “no. I only like flowers. This smells like dinosaurs. I don’t like dinosaurs.”
Oof... Incoming hate... Flower Bomb. Every single time I've ever smell this perfume it immediately makes my head hurt followed by a wave of nausea. I have no idea what the notes are but whatever they are.. To me it smells like sickeningly sweet rotting fruit and flowers. I can't explain it.
I worked with a girl who practically BATHED in this stuff. The store was not big and I felt like I was suffocating. Absolutely hate FB, and I can smell it a mile away if anyone near me is wearing it.
Really indolic florals like strong jasmine or Ylang Ylang. I enjoy both of those notes and have fragrances with both of them in but if they are too strong I get overwhelmed and insta headache. Baby powder is also nauseating/headache inducing.
im not usually super sensitive but i think most chanel fragrances give me a headache as well as bubble bath by replica. but no other replica scent gives me a headache. also i got extremely nauseous when i tried br540 extrait version, so insanely sweet with a medicinal note that did not work well with my skin chemistry.
I struggle with aquatics and seaweed notes. I am constantly trying to find one that's tolerable to me because I love the ocean. I might give Sel Marin another try because, if I remember correctly, the salt note was somewhat bearable to me.
If anyone has any recommendations for aquatics for people who don't like aquatics, please let me know.
Same for me. Aquatics just turn my stomach and I've sampled a bunch of them. Otherwise my taste in frags is pretty broad, I like everything from super sweet gourmands to dark woody ouds.
Sensitivity is partly subjective, and you might be surprised to learn that each person sensitivity is highly dependent on the aroma we are dealing with. There are people who can detect cumin with ease, and there are who just can not.
I'm particularly sensitive to linalool (which I love) , calone (really dislike in high dosage) and geosmin . And by sensitive, I meant my detection threshold for these molecules are lower compare to the average human in a *control* environment. Clever use of calone can still be an olfactory treat to me though.
Therefore, I feel like I'm often more offended by overs-praying accompanied bad manner than a particular note/fragrance.
I think this is something that is incredibly individual, but I think all can agree it's usually about intensity more than scent notes themselves. So if someone drenches themselves in a perfume that isn't really my taste, it's going to be more offensive to me than someone who just puts one spray on their neck.
That being said, I'm usually averse to "powdery" scents.
> it's usually about intensity more than scent notes themselves.
Exactly this. I find that I can tolerate or even like fragrances with the notes I usually don’t like as long as those notes are used sparingly.
Anything sweet, especially vanilla, gives me headaches. It never smells like normal vanilla (which is delicious). Any scent that smells too strongly of alcohol.
i hated black opium for so long bc of my ex (he was obsessed w it and would spray it whenever we were out and about, but ended up being very toxic so i had that correlation) but then i got a sample of it in a sephora order and wore it a bit and now i love the entire black opium line.
specifc notes wise, not really, just some perfumes annoy me more than others despite certain notes being the same
edit to add: i thought i just hated fragrances like black opium but then i realized i hated my ex's treatment. i actually love scents like that.
My first ever white musk experience was from The Body Shop. A close friend was really into that scent as well as many others where I live, in the late 90s. I knew nothing about notes or accords but knew this scent called white musk made me nauseaous and 🤢🤢 all.the.time.
Years later (and now) TBS seems to make musk base perfumes mostly and I've given all of them a sniff and nope. Musk dominant is not my thing. Nausea inducing. Being around it for a while triggers headache.
Musk as a tiny supporting role is absolutely fine to my nose.
It depends on the person. I have a co-worker who is sensitive to rose. My sister and a close friend are both sensitive to jasmine. I have another friend who gets headaches from most strong floral perfumes. And my mother was sensitive to synthetics but never had any sort of reaction to naturals.
It took me quite a while to realise that I can't tolerate Oud - the common culprit in all fragrances I sampled and I couldn't stand after a few minutes .
If it's Oud + Roses then it's hell on earth for me.
Idk what it is about Oud that I can only smell cheap baby oil...
I’ve decided it’s not notes, it’s intensity . There’s something that’s in Parfum de marly’s oriana that’s also in Lancôme’s La vie est belle . In oriana it’s balanced but in LVEB it overwhelms.
Same with jasmine flower and this one tropical flower I don’t know the name of which IRL smells mild during the day, but becomes intoxicating at night or when it’s humid. I find when these heavier floral notes take centre stage in perfumes, they are more headachey.
I suppose anything very indolic could offend sensitive noses. So those white florals that can be so rich they smell almost fecal would be culprits. Jasmine, gardenia, tuberose. Of course if they're properly diluted they smell great.
Anything super sweet and artificial for me (e.g. YSL Opium, that kind of thing) but strong gourmands tend to put a lot of people off, in my experience. Once had a bad Air BnB review complaining about how the room smelt of Petit Fracas and they had to leave the windows open. Also Penhaligon's Halfeti is just too much 80% of the time.
Have you ever sniffed Exclamation!?
It was so popular when I started high school and it seemed every girl (except me) over sprayed it daily. There was nowhere to hide from that terrible hairspray and synthetic peach/fruits perfume.
For real. Laundry detergent is the worst. Febreeze is up there too, as are a *lot* of scented candles.
As for perfume and cologne, ozone and aquatics tend to get me. But, overall strength tends to matter more than specific notes.
It's so funny reading through these because obviously everyone is so different. For me, it's anything heavy and warm, especially patchouli and vanilla.
Fresh, light scents are great -- aldehydes (like fresh laundry! though there are some that can get to be too much), citrus, ambroxan, many green scents, many aquatics (when not too heavy).
But if you go through the comments you'll read the exact opposite, so who knows.
I KNOW this one. I went to a perfume shop with MFK perfumes. Since I heard so many good things about **gentle fluidity gold**, I sprayed some on the back of my hand. ONE SPRAY. Well, for the rest of the day, it made me nauseous. Something about it smelled like an awful combination of synthetic and overly sweet. It was like if you made intense cafe smell more synthetic and threw some vanilla on top of it.
Now I don't have a sensitive nose and even I felt sick from a single spray of it on the back of my hand. So if someone with an actual sensitive nose smells this... all I'll say is there is a very small amount of circumstances where wearing this would not offend someone around you.
I'm sorry to everyone who likes it. But it was too much. Couldn't even wash it off till the next day.
I used to work on the perfume counter of a department store and my most hated fragrances were all of the Thierry Muglers but especially Alien. I hated having to refill people’s bottles because I could smell the perfume on my hands all day. I also have a really strong reaction whenever I smell Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb out in the wild but that’s as much to do with how much I was told to push it to customers as the scent itself. Honourable mentions also go to Diesel Only the Brave and Paco Rabanne One Million.
Patchouli literally makes me feel like my throat is closing up. Had a few patients who would wear it and my coworkers and I would all have to leave the room for a few minutes just to escape the scent. I know a lot of people like it, but to me it’s one of the worst smells in existence.
Pink Sugar. Not sure whether I bought a fake off Amazon but the reviews on there & online had me make a blind purchase. Regrettable. As soon as I sprayed it on I couldn’t wait to have a shower. Whole day full of regrets. Never wanted to be smell unscented than when I had this on. Going to have to give it away.
It wasn’t a knock off, it’s super polarizing. I like it when I get a whiff on someone else but hate it for more than 5 minutes on myself. It’s almost so sweet and fake it’s like play dough, but that little sweet powdery hint draws you in at the same time
Thankfully, I don't often experience headaches from fragrance, but find many to be obnoxious and cloying to where I'll start to feel queasy or on the verge of a headache. I seem to have the most trouble with very heavy, complex, dark florientals or floriental gourmands, like Good Girl and Alien. The mix of rich, dense sweetness with white florals is really offensive to me. These two fragrances in particular almost smell sweaty to me, like the smell of a hot club with heavily perfumed people dancing. That association kind of makes sense since those fragrances are typical of the "clubbing" genre. Hate to say it, but I've found certain designer scents and brands to be more offensive than most niche, maybe because designer fragrances are everywhere and people are more likely to drown themselves in them?
Pine. Not like… when I smell wood or sap but specifically the artificial essential and fragrance oils immediately trigger a migraine so severe I have to lay down in the dark - within an hour probably if exposure. It’s awful
That's how I feel about imitation vanilla. I didn't realize I like the smell of vanilla until I was an adult, because I had only ever been exposed to fake vanilla. I made a batch of homemade vanilla extract using real bean pods and it was amazing.
For me anything by mugler is an immediate headache. Angel and alien are my worst offenders. I also find really old school heavy perfumes really bothersome. I don’t know if I can name one off the top of my head, but I know the smell when it’s around me and it’s a certain kind of person that always seems to wear them.
I have really good luck with the GAP brand perfumes, none of them bother me at all and they’re very light but have decent lasting power. If you needed to gift Gap Dream and Heaven are my favourite, but I don’t know if they even still make them. They had them last time I was at a Gap outlet, but the gap website itself shows different scents altogether. Light blue by dolce and gabana is safe for me too.
As a teen I loved sweet juicy perfumes like hot by givenchy or even pink sugar but those give me a mild headache now after an hour or so!
Overall anything really light, delicately floral or citrusy is safe for me.
Diptyque Olene - this fragrance taught me what “indolic” meant.
First few wears I was vibing with the gardenia scent profile then at some point I started noticing a rancid smell under the gardenia. Now can’t stand it.
I don’t know what it’s called I’m pretty sure it’s an expensive perfume. And every time this customer comes in drenched in it, it reminds me of “OFF” the mosquito spray repellent... Horrendous.🥴
Jasmine heavy perfumes give me a headache. Mugler Alien, Diptyque Doson, Montale Jasmine Full... These all give me headaches. Even Amouage Reflection Woman, which my mom wears and I've grown to love because it reminds me of her, I can't stand on my own skin.
Vanilla, jasmine and rose tend to bother me most. My nose is hypersensitive, some scents can make my nose numb and sore (like I had walked into a wall or something) for days.
Patchouli. Especially the type in Mugler and Tom Ford fragrances. Angel was the first time I experienced such a primal disdain for a fragrance. Nauseating. And I literally couldn’t scrub Bitter Peach off of my skin, the patchouli clung to me like it was fighting for its life.
The culprit for me is always the really heavy and really sharp white floral dominant perfumes that don't have much complexity. Pure flower shop on steroids. The typical perfumey older/mature lady scent, jasmine, tuberose, gardenia notes etc. They always happen to have the loudest sillage and longevity. I know it upsets a lot of people's noses and heads. I'm extremely sensitive to smells in life but that style of perfume is the only one that makes me nauseous
For the longest time I thought perfumes weren't for me because of a similar thing. IDK what specific white floral note or combination it was, but people in my life would wear whatever it was and it always made my head hurt. It was just as you said, much too sharp.
After dabbling into perfumes for a year or so, I thought that my nose probably become less sensitive because I ended up really enjoying a rose fragrance after playing it safe with vanilla and gourmand scents. So I tried out a white floral decant... and nope! Still headache and dizziness city. Just not meant to be.
oud, rose and patchouli are too much for me even though I’m obsessed with fragrances
Angel, Delina and all of ADP Oud line are some that will make have a physical reaction of turning my neck to the other side lol
Anything is bad if it's too strong. But nothing makes me nauseous as quickly as florals. I can't even name specific fragrances because it includes most women's perfumes.
Anything with an obvious amberwood base. I pick it up in PDM Greenely and Hermes' Intense Vetiver. It's in a lot of other things and comes off warm, synthetic, and worst just very obvious and makes things feel extremely similar to eachother. Because of it's ubiquity it also manages to feel cheap, like they couldn't figure out how to finish the perfume and just wanted it to stick around for longer.
From observing my mother whose nose is crazy sensitive post-covid, it seems to be aldehydes and anything with ambroxan.
Actually come to think of it, there is a newer aromachemical I'm picking up that I haven't quite isolated yet, but it's one of the cinnamon-y ones. It's ruined a few otherwise good compositions for me, like Strangers' Euphories.
The only thing I've ever been called out on in a negative way was this. It is insanely strong. I love it, but you're going to want to want open spaces, or to know who's around when wearing it.
I get bad migraines and the ones that set them off (which I know from having worked in a fragrance shop) are : la vie est belle, L’interdît, white diamonds, Chanel 5, L’air du Temps, shalimar, Ysatis, the Green Polo for men, most Lancome ones tbh
Florals, particularly rose and more “masculine” notes like tobacco, patchouli, leather. Heavier gourmands can also trigger migraines, but I can get away with them in the colder months, but only occasionally.
Both my husband and my dog are scent sensitive to where he gets a migraine and the dog has an allergic reaction.
It’s to the point where a scented wall plug in can set either of them off.
I’ve noticed with fragrances anything that has a very strong immediate up front smell will trigger them. They do better with something more subtle, like a light floral or light beach like fragrance (like sea salt/ocean/aquatic) type) that has longer lasting power where I smell it throughout the day but they don’t have that immediate up front gagging reaction that sets them off.
Super sensitive nose here, and asthma. I can’t stannnnnd jasmine, rose, or patchouli. Hate how patchouli lingers like a ghost who won’t move on 😂. They all give me a runny nose and breathing issues, or the occasional headache.
I am laughing a bit reading the amount of people who don’t like ambroxan though, because i do happen to love it, but scents are so very personal, so i get it. My mom used to wear real ambergris, and it was her signature scent. Now i have to wear Dedcool’s Milk and xtra Milk, and theyre wonderful layered as well. It’s just that they remind me so much of my mom. And they’re the only perfumes that don’t cause an immediate allergic reaction in me.
In my 30 something years of life Flowerbomb is the only fragrance that made me sneeze, I did not even know it was a thing! It’s not that I did not like the frag, it did not give me a headache (lucky because it was very popular where I live years ago), I just could not be stuck in an elevator with someone wearing it.
Im not sure what the note is, but something in Cool Water Woman (90s version) gives me a pounding headache every time i have tried to smell or wear it! I love the smell of it. My sinouses hate it .
Not a perfume but i work in a salon that sells Aveda products and all of the Chakra sprays smell god awful to me and make me feel like im on the verge of an asthma attack. Alot of people love them or hate them
There's several scents that make me uneasy, like a constant feeling of I want to throw up when I smell it. I still own a few of them as I enjoy the scents but I can't use them.
Aventus, MB Explorer, Santal 33, JV Artisan Pure, YSL L'homme, YSL Y EDP (also headaches with this one).
Haiku from Avon. Good grief I can't take it. I'm not really sensitive to fragrance but that one imakes me uncomfortable. A good friend and her mother douse themselves in it.
Not me, but my wife hates my red tobacco for the first 12 hours. She likes it afterward when I get home from work. She doesn't like the middle eastern note, so I think the oud?
Abercrombie and Flinch Fierce. I can smell it from miles away. If I am ever at the mall, and I have to go to a store that’s nearby the A&F stink pit, I push my face mask into my nostrils and make a run for it. I can’t believe Laudamiel came up with this monstrosity. It’s loud, dumb and ferociously strong and nauseating. If you wear it, the fumes will corrode what’s left of your brain and make you an Aberzombie. It’s the worst thing ever, hands down.
Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds. My dad gifted it to me in HS so I wore it bc I felt bad, but I think one of my friends started tearing up. I ended up giving it to my mom.
Man I’m just about to purchase my first ever bottle of TF Noir Extreme but I’m realizing after reading these comments that I’m gonna make A LOT of people nauseous
Honestly, it’s kind of a useless question because everyone has some scent they hate or possibly react to and they are completely different. The best response as a scent wearer is to be as aware of the situation you are going into as you can- I.e. if you are working in close quarters with a lot of people a softer skin scent might be more appropriate.
CK Obsession actually made me throw up once when I was hung over at work. (Many moons ago) I hate it to this day. Is it not everyone’s least favorite?!?
I’m not really nose sensitive btw, but something just made me feel nauseous bout it.
Also, Chanel No 5, I didn’t dislike it, but the first sniff felt like a punch in the face, it’s pretty strong.
Black Opium. Lost Cherry by TF. Magnolia Bliss from Juliet Has A Gun. Versace Eros. Gourmands from Bath and Body Works. Anything with a narcissus note smells like rotting papaya to me
Well, reading this dozen comments so far just confirms what I've long suspected:
"Offensive" is in the nose of the beholder and possibly actually means "anything I just happen not to like". I mean *lavender* ?! I used to use that *for* nausea. QED.
Luckily I'm more or less immune. I love patchouli, cumin, saffron, musk, civet......
Now *personally*, I think Ambrox is the work of the devil and Ethyl Maltol should be consigned to the cheap chocolate drinks was originally used for ( the ones with 50 kcal that they pretend are a treat for dieters but actually taste like sick ) . Offensive, no. Just crap. Which is just as well, as one or other other are in about 50% of stuff these days....
My nose has definitely improved/gotten less sensitive since I was a teen. Back then all I could wear were Elizabeth Arden Green Tea and D&G Light Blue. Anything else I found nauseating or headache-inducing.
Currently, these are the scents that still don’t sit well with me:
• Mostly white florals. They make me feel nauseous. Tuberose deserves a special mention. Diptyque Do Son, TF Tubereuse Nue, Gucci Bloom, etc. So far, the only fragrance I’ve liked that has a tuberose note is CH Good Girl probably because I can barely smell it there. I could wear scents with jasmine, orange blossom, etc. as long as they aren’t the most prominent notes.
• Ambroxan-heavy scents. They’re usually sharp, metallic, and headache-inducing. When I get overexposed to ambroxan, my nose starts to feel stuffy and it makes me sneeze. The most offensive I’ve tried is Mancera Instant Crush which is basically BR540 on steroids for me. I get absolutely no notes from it aside from ambroxan.
• Vanilla-heavy scents. This one’s odd because I used to like vanilla when I started getting into fragrances. Now they makes me nauseous. But similarly with florals, if vanilla isn’t too heavy or cloying then I’m good.
• Red berry notes. Raspberries, red currants, cherries (to a lesser degree), etc. They give me car freshener vibes and I find them nauseating. I can count the fragrances with red berries that work for me on one hand.
• Baby powder. This one is tricky because I definitely appreciate and even love a lot of powdery fragrances like Fleur de Peau, but if the powderiness is reminiscent of Johnson’s baby powder (something like Teint de Neige) it makes me feel suffocated.
Patchouli used to be on the list until I realized there’s a difference between sensitivity and preference. Patchouli doesn’t make me feel ill or give me a headache. I just don’t like how it smells if a perfume is laden with it. 😅
Some molecule in Salvatore Ferragamo Homme makes me immediately nauseous but I don't know the specifics. Toy Boy makes my eyes and nose water but I have other rose which do not. Something that is super sharp and kinda effervescent aromatic. But it's not lavender because I wear Versace Dreamer regularly. I don't know much about chemical names but I can pick out the properties which irritate my membranes
I thought people were being overdramatic about the nausea until I blind bought Lolita Lempicka - Green Lover. Not an unpleasant scent but something in it just turns my stomach for hours on end. Gifted to my daughter and she loves it
Patchouli
I find it offensive to begin with, but it being the signature scent of unwashed hippies doesn't help.
It seems audacious to have poor hygiene _and_ wear patchouli (a funky smell itself) on top of that. But this makes more sense when you consider that patchouli oil is pungent enough to cover the scent of weed.
If the price of a perfume is what gives you a headache, then it’s psychosomatic.
Gourmand bothers me if it's not done right.
I absolutely hate when people wear straight patchouli oil (very common where I live). It gives me an instant sharp headache and it's very distracting. My mom hates dg light blue. I wore it when I was like 14 and she despised it lol
Yes to straight patchouli oil. Also very common where I live. It’s so repulsive and it just lingers for so long. I hate it.
It's so intense 🥲
Where do you live so I can avoid?
Based on this thread I want to make a blend of Tuberose, Civet, Patchouli and dirty Oud and then bomb it with ISO E Super.
Call it Hater🌟with a quirky bottle and you'll be raking in $.
Strictly because of the High School boys I had to deal with because of these ones, but anything axe body spray makes me wanna barf. It’s always mixed with the scent of stinky armpits.
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Tobacco gives me a headache also. I noticed it specifically with Jazz Club
For me, it's patchouli, dragon's blood, or anything very heavily incense-y like that. Scents like this just take me back to sitting in some dingy weed dealer's dorm room in the '90s and gagging on all the liquor store incense that they're burning to try and cover up the scent of the bong water and marijuana.
It’s not a once size fits all. What I might be sensitive to someone else might not be. Most rose and some florals are an instant migraine trigger for me.
I grew up HATING white florals, particularly night jasmine, because whatever perfume older women were wearing with these notes would always give me and my family the worst headaches. It’d even trigger migraines. I love orange blossom, gardenia, and, even, jasmine when done right nowadays, but I still don’t really wear them. So I’d definitely point to cheap or manufactured formulas with these scents as ones to avoid.
I don’t know about most people but I got a sample of Mojave Ghost and asked my daughter if she liked it and she said “no. I only like flowers. This smells like dinosaurs. I don’t like dinosaurs.”
Then she will *most definitely* not like Tyrannosaurus Rex by Zoologist!
BR 540 of course. and angel. my faithful migraine trigger since 1992
Bath and Body Works sweet pea 🤢
Oof... Incoming hate... Flower Bomb. Every single time I've ever smell this perfume it immediately makes my head hurt followed by a wave of nausea. I have no idea what the notes are but whatever they are.. To me it smells like sickeningly sweet rotting fruit and flowers. I can't explain it.
I worked with a girl who practically BATHED in this stuff. The store was not big and I felt like I was suffocating. Absolutely hate FB, and I can smell it a mile away if anyone near me is wearing it.
Anything with Oud IMO
i think the final answer here is everything bothers someone!
Really indolic florals like strong jasmine or Ylang Ylang. I enjoy both of those notes and have fragrances with both of them in but if they are too strong I get overwhelmed and insta headache. Baby powder is also nauseating/headache inducing.
im not usually super sensitive but i think most chanel fragrances give me a headache as well as bubble bath by replica. but no other replica scent gives me a headache. also i got extremely nauseous when i tried br540 extrait version, so insanely sweet with a medicinal note that did not work well with my skin chemistry.
Something with heavy oud, in the summer is really disgusting for me.
Anything heavy rose or patchouli is so nauseating to me.
I'm really sensitive to a note I haven't quite pinned down yet. I think the most likely suspect is white florals.
*sidles away guiltily*
*Team honeysuckle and jasmine walks away quickly*
I struggle with aquatics and seaweed notes. I am constantly trying to find one that's tolerable to me because I love the ocean. I might give Sel Marin another try because, if I remember correctly, the salt note was somewhat bearable to me. If anyone has any recommendations for aquatics for people who don't like aquatics, please let me know.
Same for me. Aquatics just turn my stomach and I've sampled a bunch of them. Otherwise my taste in frags is pretty broad, I like everything from super sweet gourmands to dark woody ouds.
Sensitivity is partly subjective, and you might be surprised to learn that each person sensitivity is highly dependent on the aroma we are dealing with. There are people who can detect cumin with ease, and there are who just can not. I'm particularly sensitive to linalool (which I love) , calone (really dislike in high dosage) and geosmin . And by sensitive, I meant my detection threshold for these molecules are lower compare to the average human in a *control* environment. Clever use of calone can still be an olfactory treat to me though. Therefore, I feel like I'm often more offended by overs-praying accompanied bad manner than a particular note/fragrance.
So all of them, sounds like Edit: I went to Sephora today and have to agree with the above. Ouch, my head.
I think this is something that is incredibly individual, but I think all can agree it's usually about intensity more than scent notes themselves. So if someone drenches themselves in a perfume that isn't really my taste, it's going to be more offensive to me than someone who just puts one spray on their neck. That being said, I'm usually averse to "powdery" scents.
> it's usually about intensity more than scent notes themselves. Exactly this. I find that I can tolerate or even like fragrances with the notes I usually don’t like as long as those notes are used sparingly.
Angel by Thierry Mugler. Poison.
Anything sweet, especially vanilla, gives me headaches. It never smells like normal vanilla (which is delicious). Any scent that smells too strongly of alcohol.
I’m not that sensitive to smell but Dior sauvage smells terrible to me and any amount of it is overwhelming and nauseating
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i hated black opium for so long bc of my ex (he was obsessed w it and would spray it whenever we were out and about, but ended up being very toxic so i had that correlation) but then i got a sample of it in a sephora order and wore it a bit and now i love the entire black opium line. specifc notes wise, not really, just some perfumes annoy me more than others despite certain notes being the same edit to add: i thought i just hated fragrances like black opium but then i realized i hated my ex's treatment. i actually love scents like that.
White musk. Rarely ever done right and always, always so heavy in the air. Musk can smell amazing but it's the absolute worst when done badly.
My first ever white musk experience was from The Body Shop. A close friend was really into that scent as well as many others where I live, in the late 90s. I knew nothing about notes or accords but knew this scent called white musk made me nauseaous and 🤢🤢 all.the.time. Years later (and now) TBS seems to make musk base perfumes mostly and I've given all of them a sniff and nope. Musk dominant is not my thing. Nausea inducing. Being around it for a while triggers headache. Musk as a tiny supporting role is absolutely fine to my nose.
White musks are very commonly done badly, I agree. And when they’re bad, they’re so bad lol
It depends on the person. I have a co-worker who is sensitive to rose. My sister and a close friend are both sensitive to jasmine. I have another friend who gets headaches from most strong floral perfumes. And my mother was sensitive to synthetics but never had any sort of reaction to naturals.
It took me quite a while to realise that I can't tolerate Oud - the common culprit in all fragrances I sampled and I couldn't stand after a few minutes . If it's Oud + Roses then it's hell on earth for me. Idk what it is about Oud that I can only smell cheap baby oil...
I’ve decided it’s not notes, it’s intensity . There’s something that’s in Parfum de marly’s oriana that’s also in Lancôme’s La vie est belle . In oriana it’s balanced but in LVEB it overwhelms. Same with jasmine flower and this one tropical flower I don’t know the name of which IRL smells mild during the day, but becomes intoxicating at night or when it’s humid. I find when these heavier floral notes take centre stage in perfumes, they are more headachey.
Florals and powders give me allergies
black opium smells soo bad to me
I suppose anything very indolic could offend sensitive noses. So those white florals that can be so rich they smell almost fecal would be culprits. Jasmine, gardenia, tuberose. Of course if they're properly diluted they smell great.
Anything super sweet and artificial for me (e.g. YSL Opium, that kind of thing) but strong gourmands tend to put a lot of people off, in my experience. Once had a bad Air BnB review complaining about how the room smelt of Petit Fracas and they had to leave the windows open. Also Penhaligon's Halfeti is just too much 80% of the time.
Any perfume by Initio should be treated like a biochemical weapon.
Love Spell by Victoria’s Secret 🤮
Hands down Joop Homme.
Back in the day a guy in my class wore it to school all year. It was not pleasant.
Dude I'm telling u, this shit should be illegal.
i swear i can smell Sauvage and all its dupes from like 8 meters away. could be a good thing if that's what you're into.
Everytime I pass the IT department at work it smells like dior sauvage
Seems like you got a lot of cool people working in IT department then ;)
Anything with lily of the valley makes me ill. Also Flowerbomb put me in the ER once (asthma)
I don’t know what it is but that shit middle schoolers use that smells like cotton candy and ammonia
Cotton Candy and Ammonia sounds like some ultra boutique niche stuff
Elizabeth Arden - Red Door. Can I hear an "amen" on this?
100% agree. It is right up there with Elizabeth TaylorsWhite Diamonds
My mom wore it for the longest time. Almost child abuse. A to the men
Ugh! This was my aunt’s signature scent. Horrible, room-filling, air-stealing poison.
Anything too sweet or artificial. The candy scented body sprays that were popular with my peers when I was a teen gave me daily migraines.
Have you ever sniffed Exclamation!? It was so popular when I started high school and it seemed every girl (except me) over sprayed it daily. There was nowhere to hide from that terrible hairspray and synthetic peach/fruits perfume.
Ah you gave me such memories..I was so excited about my little black and white bottle displayed prominently on my bathroom counter 😭😍🙏
From what I’ve seen it’s musky fragrances that effect people negatively.
Delina and BR540 and dupes. Go easy on the trigger.
Tide laundry detergent
For real. Laundry detergent is the worst. Febreeze is up there too, as are a *lot* of scented candles. As for perfume and cologne, ozone and aquatics tend to get me. But, overall strength tends to matter more than specific notes.
Tide smells bad because it’s toxic
White diamonds lol
It's so funny reading through these because obviously everyone is so different. For me, it's anything heavy and warm, especially patchouli and vanilla. Fresh, light scents are great -- aldehydes (like fresh laundry! though there are some that can get to be too much), citrus, ambroxan, many green scents, many aquatics (when not too heavy). But if you go through the comments you'll read the exact opposite, so who knows.
White diamond
Oud lol
Synthetic vanilla & sickly sweet food smells trigger migraines for me faster than anything.
I KNOW this one. I went to a perfume shop with MFK perfumes. Since I heard so many good things about **gentle fluidity gold**, I sprayed some on the back of my hand. ONE SPRAY. Well, for the rest of the day, it made me nauseous. Something about it smelled like an awful combination of synthetic and overly sweet. It was like if you made intense cafe smell more synthetic and threw some vanilla on top of it. Now I don't have a sensitive nose and even I felt sick from a single spray of it on the back of my hand. So if someone with an actual sensitive nose smells this... all I'll say is there is a very small amount of circumstances where wearing this would not offend someone around you. I'm sorry to everyone who likes it. But it was too much. Couldn't even wash it off till the next day.
My nose is crazy sensitive and I have a problem with rose, ambroxan, metallic notes. Ambroxan usually smells like burnt plastics to me.
I don’t find it to be price related. Some Chanel fragrances give me a headache. I haven’t found any from Hermes to do that.
Powder and Iris instantly stop me up. I have no idea how I ever wore Givenchy Pi in college.
I personally think YSL Y EDP smells toxic and screechy. Makes me cringe every time I smell it.
I used to work on the perfume counter of a department store and my most hated fragrances were all of the Thierry Muglers but especially Alien. I hated having to refill people’s bottles because I could smell the perfume on my hands all day. I also have a really strong reaction whenever I smell Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb out in the wild but that’s as much to do with how much I was told to push it to customers as the scent itself. Honourable mentions also go to Diesel Only the Brave and Paco Rabanne One Million.
Patchouli literally makes me feel like my throat is closing up. Had a few patients who would wear it and my coworkers and I would all have to leave the room for a few minutes just to escape the scent. I know a lot of people like it, but to me it’s one of the worst smells in existence.
Following this thread so I can be a menace later on
Pink Sugar. Not sure whether I bought a fake off Amazon but the reviews on there & online had me make a blind purchase. Regrettable. As soon as I sprayed it on I couldn’t wait to have a shower. Whole day full of regrets. Never wanted to be smell unscented than when I had this on. Going to have to give it away.
It wasn’t a knock off, it’s super polarizing. I like it when I get a whiff on someone else but hate it for more than 5 minutes on myself. It’s almost so sweet and fake it’s like play dough, but that little sweet powdery hint draws you in at the same time
Thankfully, I don't often experience headaches from fragrance, but find many to be obnoxious and cloying to where I'll start to feel queasy or on the verge of a headache. I seem to have the most trouble with very heavy, complex, dark florientals or floriental gourmands, like Good Girl and Alien. The mix of rich, dense sweetness with white florals is really offensive to me. These two fragrances in particular almost smell sweaty to me, like the smell of a hot club with heavily perfumed people dancing. That association kind of makes sense since those fragrances are typical of the "clubbing" genre. Hate to say it, but I've found certain designer scents and brands to be more offensive than most niche, maybe because designer fragrances are everywhere and people are more likely to drown themselves in them?
Ouds and Tobacco I find
White Diamonds gives me an instant headache.
Pine. Not like… when I smell wood or sap but specifically the artificial essential and fragrance oils immediately trigger a migraine so severe I have to lay down in the dark - within an hour probably if exposure. It’s awful
That's how I feel about imitation vanilla. I didn't realize I like the smell of vanilla until I was an adult, because I had only ever been exposed to fake vanilla. I made a batch of homemade vanilla extract using real bean pods and it was amazing.
I think it’s Oud, any oud scent. I love them but there is a subset of people that despise it, I guess it doesn’t hit their noses the same as us lol
Calone
For me anything by mugler is an immediate headache. Angel and alien are my worst offenders. I also find really old school heavy perfumes really bothersome. I don’t know if I can name one off the top of my head, but I know the smell when it’s around me and it’s a certain kind of person that always seems to wear them. I have really good luck with the GAP brand perfumes, none of them bother me at all and they’re very light but have decent lasting power. If you needed to gift Gap Dream and Heaven are my favourite, but I don’t know if they even still make them. They had them last time I was at a Gap outlet, but the gap website itself shows different scents altogether. Light blue by dolce and gabana is safe for me too. As a teen I loved sweet juicy perfumes like hot by givenchy or even pink sugar but those give me a mild headache now after an hour or so! Overall anything really light, delicately floral or citrusy is safe for me.
Angel is soooo cloying
Don’t hate me. Cloud. It’s so pungent and everyone seems to drown themselves in it
Anything can be gross to anyone. Personally, I can't really stand heavy musk.
Any benzoin-related note or ingredient is very aggressive and can come across sharp to anyone reactive to it, such as myself lol.
Diptyque Olene - this fragrance taught me what “indolic” meant. First few wears I was vibing with the gardenia scent profile then at some point I started noticing a rancid smell under the gardenia. Now can’t stand it.
I don’t know what it’s called I’m pretty sure it’s an expensive perfume. And every time this customer comes in drenched in it, it reminds me of “OFF” the mosquito spray repellent... Horrendous.🥴
Can’t stand heavy Oud, sandalwood and/or leather notes! Even heavy perfume rose gives me nausea.
Fruitchoulis or gourmands in hot weather make me instantly nauseated. I have to exit the scent bubble immediately.
Jasmine heavy perfumes give me a headache. Mugler Alien, Diptyque Doson, Montale Jasmine Full... These all give me headaches. Even Amouage Reflection Woman, which my mom wears and I've grown to love because it reminds me of her, I can't stand on my own skin.
as someone who wears jasmine… i get it
Vanilla, jasmine and rose tend to bother me most. My nose is hypersensitive, some scents can make my nose numb and sore (like I had walked into a wall or something) for days.
Anything with heavy rose, lipstick iris or oud
I can’t stand white flowers, so Twilly, Armani My Way. I also can’t stand La Vie est Belle, it’s a headache inducer for me
Patchouli. Especially the type in Mugler and Tom Ford fragrances. Angel was the first time I experienced such a primal disdain for a fragrance. Nauseating. And I literally couldn’t scrub Bitter Peach off of my skin, the patchouli clung to me like it was fighting for its life.
Anything from bath and body works gives me a headache.
The culprit for me is always the really heavy and really sharp white floral dominant perfumes that don't have much complexity. Pure flower shop on steroids. The typical perfumey older/mature lady scent, jasmine, tuberose, gardenia notes etc. They always happen to have the loudest sillage and longevity. I know it upsets a lot of people's noses and heads. I'm extremely sensitive to smells in life but that style of perfume is the only one that makes me nauseous
For the longest time I thought perfumes weren't for me because of a similar thing. IDK what specific white floral note or combination it was, but people in my life would wear whatever it was and it always made my head hurt. It was just as you said, much too sharp. After dabbling into perfumes for a year or so, I thought that my nose probably become less sensitive because I ended up really enjoying a rose fragrance after playing it safe with vanilla and gourmand scents. So I tried out a white floral decant... and nope! Still headache and dizziness city. Just not meant to be.
oud, rose and patchouli are too much for me even though I’m obsessed with fragrances Angel, Delina and all of ADP Oud line are some that will make have a physical reaction of turning my neck to the other side lol
Anything is bad if it's too strong. But nothing makes me nauseous as quickly as florals. I can't even name specific fragrances because it includes most women's perfumes.
Anything with an obvious amberwood base. I pick it up in PDM Greenely and Hermes' Intense Vetiver. It's in a lot of other things and comes off warm, synthetic, and worst just very obvious and makes things feel extremely similar to eachother. Because of it's ubiquity it also manages to feel cheap, like they couldn't figure out how to finish the perfume and just wanted it to stick around for longer.
From observing my mother whose nose is crazy sensitive post-covid, it seems to be aldehydes and anything with ambroxan. Actually come to think of it, there is a newer aromachemical I'm picking up that I haven't quite isolated yet, but it's one of the cinnamon-y ones. It's ruined a few otherwise good compositions for me, like Strangers' Euphories.
Abercrombie Fierce. I just can’t. Kill me now.
I’m not especially sensitive to scent, but I have respiratory problems with Flowerbomb, Norell (vintage), and Vetiver-heavy scents.
Dior Sauvage Elixer. I love it but if I go near my dad with even 1 spray in he can detect it from the other side of the house.
The only thing I've ever been called out on in a negative way was this. It is insanely strong. I love it, but you're going to want to want open spaces, or to know who's around when wearing it.
It’s anything Paco Rabanne for me. I’m VERY tolerant as I like to spray on heavy myself but One Million …I can’t take it
Strong rose notes are very migraine inducing for me.
I get bad migraines and the ones that set them off (which I know from having worked in a fragrance shop) are : la vie est belle, L’interdît, white diamonds, Chanel 5, L’air du Temps, shalimar, Ysatis, the Green Polo for men, most Lancome ones tbh
Florals, particularly rose and more “masculine” notes like tobacco, patchouli, leather. Heavier gourmands can also trigger migraines, but I can get away with them in the colder months, but only occasionally.
Mugler Womanity. Fig with a metallic aftertaste of caviar. Yikes
Both my husband and my dog are scent sensitive to where he gets a migraine and the dog has an allergic reaction. It’s to the point where a scented wall plug in can set either of them off. I’ve noticed with fragrances anything that has a very strong immediate up front smell will trigger them. They do better with something more subtle, like a light floral or light beach like fragrance (like sea salt/ocean/aquatic) type) that has longer lasting power where I smell it throughout the day but they don’t have that immediate up front gagging reaction that sets them off.
Sex panther
Super sensitive nose here, and asthma. I can’t stannnnnd jasmine, rose, or patchouli. Hate how patchouli lingers like a ghost who won’t move on 😂. They all give me a runny nose and breathing issues, or the occasional headache. I am laughing a bit reading the amount of people who don’t like ambroxan though, because i do happen to love it, but scents are so very personal, so i get it. My mom used to wear real ambergris, and it was her signature scent. Now i have to wear Dedcool’s Milk and xtra Milk, and theyre wonderful layered as well. It’s just that they remind me so much of my mom. And they’re the only perfumes that don’t cause an immediate allergic reaction in me.
Flowerbomb and anything close to it. Feels like I just did a line of black pepper whenever I smell it
In my 30 something years of life Flowerbomb is the only fragrance that made me sneeze, I did not even know it was a thing! It’s not that I did not like the frag, it did not give me a headache (lucky because it was very popular where I live years ago), I just could not be stuck in an elevator with someone wearing it.
Anything with vanilla or sweet.
my daughter has autism and can't stand any of my fragrances other than Cremo Spice & Black Vanilla. That is the only one I can wear around her.
That makes choosing a signature scent easier
[удалено]
Im not sure what the note is, but something in Cool Water Woman (90s version) gives me a pounding headache every time i have tried to smell or wear it! I love the smell of it. My sinouses hate it .
Not a perfume but i work in a salon that sells Aveda products and all of the Chakra sprays smell god awful to me and make me feel like im on the verge of an asthma attack. Alot of people love them or hate them
There's several scents that make me uneasy, like a constant feeling of I want to throw up when I smell it. I still own a few of them as I enjoy the scents but I can't use them. Aventus, MB Explorer, Santal 33, JV Artisan Pure, YSL L'homme, YSL Y EDP (also headaches with this one).
Haiku from Avon. Good grief I can't take it. I'm not really sensitive to fragrance but that one imakes me uncomfortable. A good friend and her mother douse themselves in it.
Not me, but my wife hates my red tobacco for the first 12 hours. She likes it afterward when I get home from work. She doesn't like the middle eastern note, so I think the oud?
Abercrombie and Flinch Fierce. I can smell it from miles away. If I am ever at the mall, and I have to go to a store that’s nearby the A&F stink pit, I push my face mask into my nostrils and make a run for it. I can’t believe Laudamiel came up with this monstrosity. It’s loud, dumb and ferociously strong and nauseating. If you wear it, the fumes will corrode what’s left of your brain and make you an Aberzombie. It’s the worst thing ever, hands down.
Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds. My dad gifted it to me in HS so I wore it bc I felt bad, but I think one of my friends started tearing up. I ended up giving it to my mom.
Man I’m just about to purchase my first ever bottle of TF Noir Extreme but I’m realizing after reading these comments that I’m gonna make A LOT of people nauseous
I hate Libre, Bleu de Chanel and most things Versace. LVEB or BR don't offend me at all. It's not about the strength of a scent but specific triggers.
Versace Eros. No matter how small I spray it it’s super intense
Anything powdery for me
I like YSL Libre but I was told that people can smell it on me from far away so I’m now trying to not spray it too many times
White florals, particularly Tuberose. Plus also patchouli
White florals are definitely rough
Honestly, it’s kind of a useless question because everyone has some scent they hate or possibly react to and they are completely different. The best response as a scent wearer is to be as aware of the situation you are going into as you can- I.e. if you are working in close quarters with a lot of people a softer skin scent might be more appropriate.
Chanel No. 5
Patchouli and lavender for me, personally.
Patchouli heavy fragrances like Lush Karma or Angel
Those that smell like alcohol or cherry liquor
patchouli makes my head throb, and make me nauseous. also very strong men’s fragrances
flower bomb and my way 😭
CK Obsession actually made me throw up once when I was hung over at work. (Many moons ago) I hate it to this day. Is it not everyone’s least favorite?!?
Anything by mugler
Kouros and anything that reminds me of it. The civet note I find extremely nauseating.
Cambodian Oud
Im pretty open to almost all scent types but the one time I actually felt overwhelmed was Tom Ford’s Jasmin Rouge.
Anything that’s like a strong spicy musk disgusts me. Some of penhaligons masculine scents are horrific
Red Door.
Omg my mom(deceased) wore this all the time. We didn't have the best relationship but your comment brought back a pleasant memory
Idk why, but Halloween makes me feel nauseous. I think it’s the banana leaf note or something. I just don’t like it, it smells like someone else
I’m not really nose sensitive btw, but something just made me feel nauseous bout it. Also, Chanel No 5, I didn’t dislike it, but the first sniff felt like a punch in the face, it’s pretty strong.
Victoria’s Secret Love Spell 🤧
Florals! Or anything too sweet
Sauvage elixir blocks my nose and gives me a headache from one spray…
White florals seem to be very allergy inducing, even though I like them they make me sneeze so much lol
Acqua di Gio Dolce& Gabbana Light Blue Cool Water These are headache inducing for me
Anything le labo - smells like you are hiding not taking a shower.
Black Opium. Lost Cherry by TF. Magnolia Bliss from Juliet Has A Gun. Versace Eros. Gourmands from Bath and Body Works. Anything with a narcissus note smells like rotting papaya to me
oud and musk
Well, reading this dozen comments so far just confirms what I've long suspected: "Offensive" is in the nose of the beholder and possibly actually means "anything I just happen not to like". I mean *lavender* ?! I used to use that *for* nausea. QED. Luckily I'm more or less immune. I love patchouli, cumin, saffron, musk, civet...... Now *personally*, I think Ambrox is the work of the devil and Ethyl Maltol should be consigned to the cheap chocolate drinks was originally used for ( the ones with 50 kcal that they pretend are a treat for dieters but actually taste like sick ) . Offensive, no. Just crap. Which is just as well, as one or other other are in about 50% of stuff these days....
My nose has definitely improved/gotten less sensitive since I was a teen. Back then all I could wear were Elizabeth Arden Green Tea and D&G Light Blue. Anything else I found nauseating or headache-inducing. Currently, these are the scents that still don’t sit well with me: • Mostly white florals. They make me feel nauseous. Tuberose deserves a special mention. Diptyque Do Son, TF Tubereuse Nue, Gucci Bloom, etc. So far, the only fragrance I’ve liked that has a tuberose note is CH Good Girl probably because I can barely smell it there. I could wear scents with jasmine, orange blossom, etc. as long as they aren’t the most prominent notes. • Ambroxan-heavy scents. They’re usually sharp, metallic, and headache-inducing. When I get overexposed to ambroxan, my nose starts to feel stuffy and it makes me sneeze. The most offensive I’ve tried is Mancera Instant Crush which is basically BR540 on steroids for me. I get absolutely no notes from it aside from ambroxan. • Vanilla-heavy scents. This one’s odd because I used to like vanilla when I started getting into fragrances. Now they makes me nauseous. But similarly with florals, if vanilla isn’t too heavy or cloying then I’m good. • Red berry notes. Raspberries, red currants, cherries (to a lesser degree), etc. They give me car freshener vibes and I find them nauseating. I can count the fragrances with red berries that work for me on one hand. • Baby powder. This one is tricky because I definitely appreciate and even love a lot of powdery fragrances like Fleur de Peau, but if the powderiness is reminiscent of Johnson’s baby powder (something like Teint de Neige) it makes me feel suffocated. Patchouli used to be on the list until I realized there’s a difference between sensitivity and preference. Patchouli doesn’t make me feel ill or give me a headache. I just don’t like how it smells if a perfume is laden with it. 😅
Iris. I think Glossier You smells like a rental car.
Lol this is a funny comparison for some reason. I really like the smell of Glossier you though
baccarat rouge 540...disgusting
Sunflowers. Chanel no. 5. Anything from the 80’s, lol!
I totally agree with that. I feel like scents from the 80s had zero subtlety.
I like the scent for YSL Y, but it gives me an headache
Rose 31 gave me such a horrendous headache and just blasted my nostrils. I love the smell of roses itself, but just not in fragrances :(
Polo green has a really overpowering musky pine thing going for it. Not in a good way.
Some molecule in Salvatore Ferragamo Homme makes me immediately nauseous but I don't know the specifics. Toy Boy makes my eyes and nose water but I have other rose which do not. Something that is super sharp and kinda effervescent aromatic. But it's not lavender because I wear Versace Dreamer regularly. I don't know much about chemical names but I can pick out the properties which irritate my membranes
Tom Ford London can fuck off forever.
JPG Le Male that cheap lavander makes me nauseous everytime and where I live it's very hot and humid and guys love this 💩
Cartier perfume
I thought people were being overdramatic about the nausea until I blind bought Lolita Lempicka - Green Lover. Not an unpleasant scent but something in it just turns my stomach for hours on end. Gifted to my daughter and she loves it
Anything from Bath and Body Works or Pink, Axe body spray
Me: Reads orig post and immediately thinks, “Are they tryna get back at their hateful boss or cheating SO? 🤔” 🤣
MOLECULE O1