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Smells or aromas that evoke feelings

bloodyfungus

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After recently reading a thread on food cravings it made me think about smells that make me reminisce, some weird, some not so. I also heard it was a bit of an INTP thing to get lost in dreaming about things in my past, which I tend to do quite a lot.

I love the smell of rain on concrete or asphalt, a very wet, dusty smell but very pleasant. It reminds me of being younger, playtime etc at school.

Also the smell of creosote, but i think thats more of a substance abuse thing :p

I'm not very into floral smells......I think that goes back to an old Physics teacher I used to have that doused herself in the latest Eau de Toillette to detract would be rapists with a toxic cloud.

Does anyone else have any weird aroma or smell that invokes some kind of memory or thought....or am i just a bit out there on this one?
 

Lady_X

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no not at all...i have weird ones like that too and i love the rain on asphalt smell too.

and what is creosote? a similar one for me may be skunk...from when i used to love to smoke pot and it has that smell...so skunk just smells like pot to me now and i kinda like it...is that kind of the same thing that you're talking about?

and i love the smell of clay and paint because my parents were artists...my dad was always sculpting...so that smell reminds me of them.

and cut grass and honeysuckle takes me back to this memory of playing tag with my sisters barefoot in the backyard.

i'm pretty sure there's a million smells that remind me of something...i think that's typically what triggers it for me.

----------------
Now playing: The Kooks - If Only
via FoxyTunes
 

King sns

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I like the smell before it rains
axe deoderant body spray
beer
gasoline
cut grass
barbecues
 

kiddykat

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Freshly mowed, green-grass reminds me of elementary school when my friends & I would run back into class for 'story-time' (that, and running into doggy poo- horrific for any kid).

I love the smell of popcorn.. reminds me of days when my buddy and I used to run up and down the ramp in Edward's movie theaters. Children.

I love the smell of candy cane.. reminds me of my dad, when we used to live in a run down apartment & he'd decorate this fake office planter with bright green, magenta, blue lights as our X-mas tree.. Good times..

I also love the smell of the ocean water. Reminds me of walks my mom and I used to take after church to the beach when I was 3. I remember the smell of morning ocean mist. I will always be an HB girl..
 

Kyrielle

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Love the smell of wet, decaying leaves in the woods on a humid morning/after it rains.

The smell of potting soil (or clay) just out of the bag. My parents kept a vegetable garden when I was little, and I threw pottery on the wheel often in high school. Both were soothing moments.

The smell of wood smoke in the fall. Reminds me of books and going on adventures and time.

The smells of pot roast and pancakes both remind me of safe places (not at the same time mind you).

And I like the way my dog's fur smells. It's kind of like corn chips.
 

pholiveira

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The morningrise breeze that blows into my room's window has a scent I could best describe as wet chocolate with grass.

Any extremely sweet scent strikes me as joyous because they remind me of the perfume I wore during historical nights of partying.
 

Prototype

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Why?
Music usually leads me to remember scents... Music is heavily involved in my life..
 

iwakar

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Gardenias remind me of my grandmother. She used to grow them in her backyard and we'd tend them together when I was little. They were her prettiest blooms.

My grandfather used to tell us that we were his. <3
 

simpleamazement

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According to the RAC Foundation:

--Salty sea air: Encourages deep breathing and helps relieve stress.
--Fast food wrappers, fresh bread and pastry: Can cause driver irritability and a tendency to speed.
--Peppermint, cinnamon, lemon and coffee: Can help make us more alert drivers.
--Chamomile, jasmine and lavender: Can cause drivers to relax too much or fall asleep.
--Odorless interior: Can create irritability and even olfactory hallucinations.

That being said, I love the smell of salty sea/ocean air.
 

Ism

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The scent of this one kind of cologne flavor--I don't know what it is-- always reminds me of the scene in 'Pay It Forward' in which the boy is stabbed in the abdomen after trying to defend his friends from bullies. For whatever reason, I associate that scene with that smell, even though I was at home and that fragrance wasn't in the air.

For the more foody smells, I've got nothing.

It's not unusual, by the way. If I could remember what I learned in psychology, I could tell you that humans typically associate surrounding factors picked up via the senses with past memories because (kind of obvious) those stimuli were present at the time of the event you're recalling.

That phenomenon might also explain the deja vu feeling you get sometimes. Even though your mind filters a lot of the outside stimuli, you may still pick up some stuff unconciously. Later on, when you get that feeling of deja vu, it's probably because your mind is recalling the surrounding factors, but you yourself weren't concious of it, so there isn't a particularly precise memory tied to those feelings.
 

Valiant

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- The smell of summer rain on hot and dusty ground. Makes me relaxed and happy somehow. If circumstances allows for it.
- Salty sea air combined with the smell of warm sand and tanning skin makes me feel free.
- The smell of wood, you know that particular smell often found in carpentry workshops, it makes me feel at home. My dad has a workshop at home, and I have spent many days in there as a kid, carving things out of wood.
- The smell of CLP and gunpowder makes me feel good. This is weird.
- The smell of all sorts of cooking makes me feel relaxed, too. And curious of what's cooking. Cooking is one of my chief interests.
- The natural smell of clean, sun dried hair without any smell of shampoo or such in it makes me relaxed.

There are many neutral smells to me, and those that I do not like... But I don't think there are any that evokes negative feelings in me. Well, disgust or such, but only because they smell bad. :D
 

Athenian200

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The smell before it rains, for me, seems to make me feel alert and curious. The smell of sugar seems to make me lethargic and distant. The smell of a newly opened magazine, book, or piece of software makes me feel excited.
 

swordpath

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Sex Panther. It evokes feelings of sex.

IMG_0421.jpg
 

Journey

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The smell of lavender oil makes me feel like I have made a cosy nest of my home.
The smell of gasoline makes me long for the open road.
The way cinnamon and cloves smell at Christmas time makes me a child again.
Opening a new book is rewarding--that's why I'm a librarian.
 

alexx

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Freshly mowed, green-grass reminds me of elementary school when my friends & I would run back into class for 'story-time' (that, and running into doggy poo- horrific for any kid)


That is the best. That smell reminds me of 2nd grade, windows open and daydreaming for a full hour.:wubbie:
 

kiddykat

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That is the best. That smell reminds me of 2nd grade, windows open and daydreaming for a full hour.:wubbie:
Yeah.. me too, the warm sun light and the sound of tether balls clanging on poles, kids playing handball as it hits the wall while the teacher tries her best (in which she does) to tell an awesome story.. the smell of freshly cut green grass can evoke some pretty intense nostalgic moments in elementary school.

For some reason, I also think of Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Grover, Oscar, Cookie Monster dancing on Sesame Street. :) (Except Oscar- he can't dance when he's stuck in a trashcan).
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The smell of freshly baked, chocolate chip cookies also reminds me of Mrs. Fields Cookies, which to my surprise, whenever I bite into one, when I think of the name "Mrs. Fields," I get an image of a granny crocheting a sweater with bifocals on. Mrs. Fields looks nothing like that. She looks like a playmate. Wow! :D
 

Dwigie

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- dirt.(it smells different from place to place!Believe me! I can usually recognize the smell of the dirt I've stepped on, it's homey. I know it smells strange xD Makes me homesick a lot. I miss dirt, NYC is all stone!Dirt makes me feel homesick)
- a specific perfume ( my family, traveling. It makes me feel at ease and at peace with myself.)
- The smell of people. People have this "general smell" to them in my opinion. Whenever I come to New York the people smell...different than the people in my home country for example. It kind of allows me to focus and concentrate because I try to "identify" things and when I switch to a different activity I'm "ready to go".
 

Qre:us

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Freshly done warm laundry - so comforting.

Jasmine & Sandalwood - mmm.

My mama's perfume - haven

Baby powder - innocence

Gasoline - freaky-deaky
 

Lexicon

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The smell of rain on pavement/wrought iron on a warm day is quite reminiscent of childhood for me.

Lived in FL. Thunderstorms raged through, and passed. Sun came out, and we'd run out into our suburban neighborhood, down the sidewalks, steam rising from the pavement in the street. Playing on the monkeybars at the damp playground.

Ah, bliss. :rolleyes:
 
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