Can you really tell what's in a scent?

[wormspank]

I have read and watched lots of soap reviews, and it seems typical for reviewers to state what they smell off the puck and while lathering. I hear things like "Right off the puck I'm getting hints of xxx and yyy with mild undertones of aaa and BBB."

Now this is not to berate them, nor call them liars, etc., but rather know if I'm the only one who doesn't smell these things or even know what they smell like. I will admit, my nose isn't the most refined, as my wife will attest.

I've never smelled oud or oakmoss, that I know of, and sandlewood smells quite different in its pure state then when it's in almost any soap or aftershave. Soaps with a citrus or mint scent are easier to pick out the scent for me, but all the other fragrances/ingredients, not so much, if at all. For instance, I love the scent of DG Massacre of the Innocents; it's my favorite of what I own. I have no idea what I am smelling.

So am I the only person like this? If you were blindfolded or not given a soap's ingredient list, could you really tell what was in it, barring any very specific, undeniable scents (e.g. orange, mint, banana, rose)?

 

[FarmerTan]

I have read and watched lots of soap reviews, and it seems typical for reviewers to state what they smell off the puck and while lathering. I hear things like "Right off the puck I'm getting hints of xxx and yyy with mild undertones of aaa and BBB."

Now this is not to berate them, nor call them liars, etc., but rather know if I'm the only one who doesn't smell these things or even know what they smell like. I will admit, my nose isn't the most refined, as my wife will attest.

I've never smelled oud or oakmoss, that I know of, and sandlewood smells quite different in its pure state then when it's in almost any soap or aftershave. Soaps with a citrus or mint scent are easier to pick out the scent for me, but all the other fragrances/ingredients, not so much, if at all. For instance, I love the scent of DG Massacre of the Innocents; it's my favorite of what I own. I have no idea what I am smelling.

So am I the only person like this? If you were blindfolded or not given a soap's ingredient list, could you really tell what was in it, barring any very specific, undeniable scents (e.g. orange, mint, banana, rose)?

VERY well written question my friend!

I sometimes watch youtube stuff of guys sniffing soap for the same reason I sometimes watch Televangelists on TV: comedic relief!

They probably believe that stuff, so it makes it palatable to sell it to us!

Don't get me wrong, I'm a follower of the Way, I just don't think Jesus would slap people on the forehead and heal 'em through some guy with a bad haircut, so I sure have a hard time believing a guy in a wife beater can smell the daisy oil in a shave soap any better than I can.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

 

[Boogley12]

I have absolutely no idea what’s in any of the soaps I buy unless it’s very top heavy like rose or orange or mint or something.

Top notes of this middle of that and bottom of that are totally lost on me.

I don’t know my oud from my elbow that’s for sure.

This does cause problems because I end up buying the product based on whether the packaging is cool or not. I must be a salesman’s delight.

That has lead to some delight and some disasters. Particularly on the high end soaps I like to buy.

So I like the smell or loathe it. But I’ve already bought it in order to fine out.

Same problem with wine. Fine or otherwise. It tastes like wine. Any subtle flavours experts espouse on are lost too

Peoples opinions count for little in these circumstances.

Binned a lot of good soap bought off a picture LOL

Makes the Mail delivery fun. Shame everything is male order and you can’t pre smell them like days of old

 

[Atlantic59]

It really depends on the scent and how complex it is. Certain scents from essential oils are pretty easy to identify, like lavender, eucalyptus, clove, for example. Others come from synthetic aroma chemicals that give an "impression" of something else. What are "woody notes" or "green notes" or "floral notes"? There are machines used in chemical analysis (gas chromatograph, mass spectrometer) that can be used to identify what is in a scent pretty closely.

 

[AimlessWanderer]

Nope. I'm useless with scents. I get a rough idea of the overall scent, and decide if I like it or not. I am clueless as to what's gone into it, and I don't search for individual scent profiles within the whole.

Thomas Beecham (famous conductor) once said "The English might not like music, but they absolutely love the noise it makes". I have a similar imbecillic simplicity in my appreciation of scents.

Thankfully, I don't need to understand a scent to decide if I like it or not.

 

[emwolf]

There are times I can pick out scents in a soap or cologne, but for the most part I leave that to experts. I do know that things with oakmoss generally smell pretty good to me. I like citrus, I'm not a fan of pear or apple. Vetiver I like, but it doesn't like me. There are a lot of great resources out there that have taught me a lot about the type of scents and their compositions, but for the most part I just sniff and enjoy.

 

[Hannah's Dad]

There are times I can pick out scents in a soap or cologne, but for the most part I leave that to experts. I do know that things with oakmoss generally smell pretty good to me. I like citrus, I'm not a fan of pear or apple. Vetiver I like, but it doesn't like me. There are a lot of great resources out there that have taught me a lot about the type of scents and their compositions, but for the most part I just sniff and enjoy.

‘Sniff and enjoy’ +1!

 

[Burundian Hawk]

VERY well written question my friend!

I sometimes watch youtube stuff of guys sniffing soap for the same reason I sometimes watch Televangelists on TV: comedic relief!

They probably believe that stuff, so it makes it palatable to sell it to us!

Don't get me wrong, I'm a follower of the Way, I just don't think Jesus would slap people on the forehead and heal 'em through some guy with a bad haircut, so I sure have a hard time believing a guy in a wife beater can smell the daisy oil in a shave soap any better than I can.

It's close to midnight, so i am very tired to read an entire document about rules, so i won't post directly. But i advice you to go to the well known video channel hosting website and search for Cathol vs Orthod vs Protest (i don't write the entire words because the post automatically links there!) and select the "Parody" result... I think you will like it!


As for the scents, well, as long as i don't go to expensive soaps, that have cologne scents, where you need to go to fragrantica and scratch your head, i usually get the main theme. Like, the Goodfellas smile, was called "Grapes Blueberries". It also have about 9-12 notes in total according to specifications. I got the Grapes and Blueberries. The rest, nothing.

 

[BudgetShaverGuy]

I am hyper-sensitive in all my senses, so yes, I cork-sniff my software always trying to determine all the notes. I am confident I could pass a blind test with flying colors as long as I have a reference point for the product in question.

It’s just like food and music, it’s complex unless you can’t detect it or don’t care to!

 

[RayClem]

I can usually pick out at least a couple of the more prominent notes. However, some scents are quite complex. If they are well blended, it is nearly impossible to pick out the individual scent notes.

As an example, I recently purchased a tub of Ariana and Evans Kaisen 2 Tibetian Temple. According to the scent notes, it is a complex blend of tobacco leaf, honey, iris, sandalwood, amber, musk, frankincense, myrh, smoke, rose, patchouli, Himalayan cedar and hay. However, when I smell the soap, it reminds me of a chocolate brownie hot out of the oven, yet there is no chocolate used in the scent. A delicious aroma.

Another puzzler is Murphy and McNeil Kodiak Old Sport. It has scent notes of Almond, Myrrh, Tonka Bean and Vanilla. Yet the scent smells much like sweet pipe tobacco although there is no tobacco used in the scent.

I love complex scents that are so well blended that you cannot pick out the individual scent notes. It is a sign that the perfumer took care in crafting the scent.

 

[Nik870]

I am with you I can’t pick out individual scents. I smell something it is either smells good or smells bad.

 

[shavefan]

There are few things in shaving more subjective than scents, maybe post shave feel.

I get a kick out of descriptions such as. . .

The scent harkens back to another time, an exotic location, a 19th century Tibetan monastery
or. . .
A scent that whimsically whisks you away to a Taha’a beach where you will doze in a hammock and dream of only good things.

Err, whaaaat?

 

[bjm]

If it were an actual diagnosis, I would consider myself legally nose-blind. I either like the way a soap smells or I can't really pick up enough "notes" to feel one way or another. My sense of smell isn't refined enough to warrant making a purchase based primarily on scent profiles, so I guess that can work in my favor. But since I have more than enough soap and don't plan to buy any for quite some time anyway, I'm in a good place and can remain focused on performance. I hope that addresses the original question.

 

[DCRIII]

I pride myself on having a heightened sense of smell and use it constantly to reverse engineer food recipes that I like for my own personal culinary delight, but when it comes to nearly all fragrances for soaps, perfumes, and colognes I'm at a complete lost as to what's in them. Synthetic are the hardest. So when someone asks me what a particular soap smells like I mostly give one of two answers. It smells nice or it smells bad/strange.

 

[wormspank]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who is "nose blind". Although this isn't a big deal for me, it does seem to make finding soaps that I might like a little harder. If we use my original example, DG Massacre of the Innocents, I'm not sure what would be a similar scented soap. I don't have the money to spend on a a ton of soaps, and I can't look at a list of ingredients and guess if the soap will be close since they share some similar ones.

 

[RayClem]

I pride myself on having a heightened sense of smell and use it constantly to reverse engineer food recipes that I like for my own personal culinary delight, but when it comes to nearly all fragrances for soaps, perfumes, and colognes I'm at a complete lost as to what's in them. Synthetic are the hardest. So when someone asks me what a particular soap smells like I mostly give one of two answers. It smells nice or it smells bad/strange.

One thing that I did that does help me pick out some scents is that I purchased small bottles of about 25 essential oils. Once you know what the essence smells like, it is easier to pick it out in an accord. I suspect you have a cupboard full of various herbs and spices. Once you know what they smell like, it is much easier to detect them in foods. The same thing goes for fragrances.

 

[Ravenonrock]

I’m terrible at distinguishing anything nuanced. Bold floral, spice or citrus I might distinguish......might. I like it or I don’t.

 

[Ad Astra]

I can read a scent profile and not pick up all the notes... But when I do smell something new I generally know its components.

Recommended: Turin/Sanchez book, Perfumes A-Z. College course in one book. You can buy oakmoss and tree moss essential oils if serious about learning, I did.


AA

 

[SydneyShaver]

I mean if you've smelt the scents before you know what they smell like. If you haven't you aren't going to be able to recognise it. I try and stick with clean, crisp, simple scents. I don't like extremely complicated and cologne type scents. When something tells me it only has one to four things in it, it is extremely easy to pick out. When it has 30...who knows. I know what Oud smells like because I've actually smelt the wood and the essential oil. Easy to pick out. I haven't smelt juniper berries. I've tasted gin so I can kinda inference but not really. The more products you use, the easier it'll be to pick out scents because you've actually smelt them before and know what they are!